Banished Prince Charming

As soon as I lay down and placed my head on the knapsack, I immediately dozed off and had a dream. In that dream, I saw myself in a big and magnificent courtyard, surrounded with guards and soldiers, all wearing their suit of magnificent armour and carrying various sets of weapons according to their class and type.

The looks on those guards and soldiers were very solemn and as I walked through the aisle, their leader immediately gave a command and everyone went down on one knee and raised their right fist to their c.h.e.s.t as a soldier's salute.

I looked around me as I walked down the aisle towards a raised platform where a solitary throne was set in the centre of it and 2 helpers were standing on each side of the throne.

As i walked along the aisle, i looked down and, saw that i was dr.a.p.ed on a long robe that was made up by some kind of woollen material and it was warm and fuzzy to touch. On my fingers were several rings that were made up of precious stones and it shimmered slightly when rays of light fell on it.

"Son, you made us very proud of you and your achievement." I looked in the direction of the ever-familiar voice and saw my parents, the long-gone King and Queen along with Tanya, my younger sister, waiting at the sides and waving their hands and bowed slightly as I passed them.

Their expressions were lit up with some kind of light as if an aura was diffusing from them at that moment. Their smiling faces were contagious as smiles were all brought to the faces of the masses. I wanted to approach towards them but a force beckoned me to walk straight along the aisle towards the solitary throne ahead.

I tried to open my mouth to speak to them instead but no words escaped from my lips as I was steered right to the present raised platform where a knight in shining full armour plate assisted me as I walked over the throne.

"Your Lordship, it is time now..." I heard a voice spoke right beside my ears and I tried to focus my sights before me. Almost instantly the images of the subjects including my parents slowly dissipate on a glimmer of light and the surroundings around me turned from being magnificent into ruins.

Creepers lined the walls, broken pillars strewn across the grounds and cracks began to form on the stone floor. "Your Lordship..." I heard the voice again and suddenly a soft pair of hands were placed on each side of my shoulders and gave a slight shake.

I could smell the earth, moistened by the morning dew and the distinctive smell of burning wood. I opened up my eyes and adjusted to the rays of sunshine as it broke through the horizons, giving it a hue of red and blue.

"Wh...where am I?" I sat up and rubbed my pitiful sleepy eyes as I was slowly able to recognise my surroundings. "Take your time, Your Lordship. We would be moving out and breaking camp once you have something filled in your tummy."

A pang of remorse tugged at my heartstrings once again as I recollected the uneventful event the night before at the demise of my dear parents and sister. I noticed that several of the citizens that I was travelling with were preparing some hot beverages and were roasting some meat over a bed of embers.

"You were tired and were talking in your sleep, Your Lordship. I didn't try to wake you up and I know that you had gone through such an ordeal. Cone, let's have some breakfast first before we head out." Heather spoke to me as she shoved a mug of warm tea towards my hands. The scent of the freshly brewed tea tickled my nostrils and it was truly a blessing.

"Would we be making a kind of permanent camp very soon?" I queried to the group of travellers as Gwen the huntress replied, "We are still in the vicinity of the rebels' influence. We have to get to higher ground where we would have a vantage point as well as locating bountiful resources around us. All we need is a body of eater close to our proximity."

I knew that Gwen the hundreds would be able to lead us out from our predicament and to settle down as soon as possible. The thought of querying if we could settle down in the nearest town surfaces but was soon dismissed as I soon realised that the settlement would be suffering the same fate as Darlington.

I sipped my warm cup of tea and had 2 skewers of rabbit meat that had been roasted earlier. The fire was immediately doused and signs of a fireplace were quickly being covered up to hide the existence of any activity the night before.

Before long, we made our way with Gwen the huntress in the lead. We skipped through a small brook as the wild forest behind us got denser. We had trekked for half a day and were fortunate not to meet with any reconnaissance scout from the rebels.

We soon reached a wide body of water about 10 meters across. Before the stream, there was a clearing that would be suitable to be made into our settlement. "This would be perfect for our main encampment. We have bountiful resources within our reach. Wild game and fish could be found in the stream as well as around the forest."

"There might be some stone and mineral deposit around us here. This is part of no man's land and it had never been ventured this far. No rebels would find themselves here since there's nothing for them to loot. The forest where we had come from is v.i.r.g.i.n forest and there's no sign of deforestation so far." Gwen the huntress explained the whole situation to us as we sat down in a circle and listened.

"We need tools in order to build this piece of land to call our home. I am a blacksmith by trade but I'm pretty sure we could work with some stones to make into basic tools and weapon. It may be crude but it's a start from now." an elderly man named Jack Levi spoke up as he pointed out his point of view.

Jack's hair was silver due to his age but his bulging muscles on his arm indicates that he had been working behind the furnace for many years. his wife, Kayla, was a short and stocky woman. Her skin was quite weathered through the years working as a gatherer and herbalist and she spoke about her future contributions.

Soon I got to learn the rest of the survivors' names as well as their trade and profession. I made a mental note of their names and their abilities before I finally spoke up. "From now on, I am just like any of you. Please do not use any honorifics to address me. This would reduce the risk indefinitely."

"We can't do that, Your Lordship. You are the surviving heir of the Royal Family," suggested Frank the Woodcutter while everyone around nodded their head. "Would calling you Young Master be alright? At least it's less conspicuous but no lesser than a noble."

Crystal spoke up as she was used to dealing with the nobles as a livestock herder and had been managing various kind of farm animals for the past 5 years or so. Her exposure with the nobles was vast and was in favour of several of the employers she had worked for.

"I guess it would be alright to address me as a Young Master and patron me if I would be calling you by your first names then," I replied approvingly and soon the first initial work of setting up our permanent took place.

The young children were assigned to gather up the stones and rocks around the clearing and placing then into a designated collection point. Frank and Been proceeded to gather the fallen branches for firewood as well as building materials and placed them next to the stones and rocks that were collected by the children.

Kayla and Heather were gone inside the forest in search for edible plants together with Gwen to hunt for small game and setting up traps as well. The rest of the tools that were brought along with several if their essentials were placed on the ground and were marked as a designated location.

I looked at the orderly manner that they had partaken in this process and was surprised at how meticulous their methods were. it was as it set up a settlement had been in their blood and everyone knew their roles and responsibilities. I hung my knapsack and cloak on a nearby tree branch and helped the children to clear the ground as much as possible.

"Hmm...Uncle. Are you really a Prince?" a boy around the age of 5 asked me innocently as he squatted down to pick up the rocks around me. I looked at him and gave him a rub on his head and replied, "I am just like you and your friends. I am just a Fallen Prince." I tried to put on my best smile but somehow the events that took place the night before tried to rear its ugly head once more.

Avoiding the subject, I asked the boy for his name and he answered gleefully, "My name is Devon, what's yours?"

"Just call me Audemars, and I would like to be your friend so don't call me Uncle."

"Ok Big Brother..." Devon flashed his toothless from at me and scuttled away carrying a pile of rocks in his hand before he deposited it at the designated collection point.