Three months after my birthday, the palace was draped in mourning black. My mother had passed. An incurable illness, they said. But I knew the truth. She was worn down, exhausted from childbirth, stress, and magic overuse.
Kael knelt beside her body, his young face carved with grief.
"I promise, Mother. I'll protect Mira and Aeric. Always."
I tried to cry, but my tears wouldn't come. Not because I wasn't sad. But because I'd seen death before. Too many times.
I hated it.
The palace became a cage. Etiquette lessons, political games, forced smiles. I didn't belong here.
I longed for the forests outside the castle walls. For the sky. For peace.
"Aeric, stop daydreaming," Lady Seraphina snapped one day during a formal dinner.
"I'm sorry," I muttered.
Thorne, her son, smirked. "He's the weakest of us. Couldn't even stay awake after a single fire spell."
Kael slammed his hand on the table. "Don't talk about him like that."
The room went silent.
Kael always stood up for me. Trained me in secret, held my hand during nightmares, and told me stories about heroes.
But even he couldn't understand.
Because I wasn't just a child.
I was a warrior. A prince reborn. A soul torn between worlds.
---
One evening, I sneaked out of the palace library and climbed up the watchtower. I sat there, staring at the stars.
"What am I doing here?"
I remembered my final battle. The wish I made. "Let me live in peace."
This world… was peaceful.
But not for me.
---
I wrote a letter.
"To Kael,
I'm sorry. I know you promised to protect me. But I need to leave. I can't breathe in the castle. I'll find a way to live quietly, like I always dreamed.
Please protect Mira. I know you will.
Tell no one I left.
Your brother, Aeric"
---
At dawn, I slipped away.
One small satchel. A hooded cloak. And a soul full of fire I didn't yet understand.
Freedom.
I didn't know where I was going. But for the first time in either life, I could feel the wind on my face without chains.
I smiled.
And walked into the unknown.
---
End of Chapter 2