"Your Majesty, the queen just went into labor!" a servant came rus.h.i.+ng in exclaiming. The stern man on the throne furrowed his brow ordering, "Let a servant take the child through the secret pa.s.sageway to run away. As long as one heir survives there is hope. Make sure to have them all run in different directions so the chances are higher..." he paused then let out a long sigh. Was this how the Ley kingdom with a thousand years history would fall? He suddenly seemed to age ten years."Your Majesty, should you not take this chance to run away as well?" the servant inquired.
"No, I will fall with the kingdom. Otherwise my infamy as king would only be worse. What kind of ruler would I be if I ran away while my citizens and soldiers fought back the enemies with their life? Just take your orders and leave." The servant knelt down and saluted the king in reverence then quickly ran out with the orders. Upon seeing the servant get smaller and smaller, the king finally slumped down and cried. The disappointment of letting the kingdom fall in his hands was too great. How would he face his predecessors?
...
"Your Majesty, it is a prince! Congratulations!" the old midwife shouted.
"Let me see him." a clear, yet exhausted, voice ordered. The queen looked down to her dear newborn son with tears streaming down her face. Her heart broke knowing this was most likely the first and last time she could hug her son.
"I"m sorry, my son. I hope, no matter what, you will be loved by whoever brings you up in my stead. Mother loves you with all my heart." she slowly whispered to the prince while kissing his forehead. Strong attachment still lingering in her eyes, the queen finally allowed her maidservant to take the prince away.
"My lady, I will protect him with my life." the maidservant bowed down then quickly ran away down the prepared pa.s.sageway. Quietly weeping, the beautiful queen looked towards the throne room. Determined to die with her beloved, she ordered a servant to help her change then take her to the king.
...
The maidservant was the queen"s loyal guard and a decent magician. She quickly reached the exit far away from the kingdom and took one look back at the burning capital city. Quickly turning, she dove into the dense forest surrounding the city. The Snow Country was just like its name suggested; it was snowing all year round. The maid was not properly dressed, but, as a native resident and fire magician, she was naturally resistant towards the cold. She ran for 10 days through the forest crossing into the neighboring Edysa Kingdom"s land. Killing magical beasts along the way while barely resting, the maid was haggard and exhausted. She luckily had only run into low level magical beasts that she could fight off. Her only reason for living was the beautiful baby boy in her arms. Although she barely knew the child, his stunning features made it easy for her to adore him. He had beautiful white hair and ever-changing eyes. Such odd eyes caught her attention early on. One day they would be a deep blue, another day they would be an emerald green. Throughout the days she has seen blue, red, green, brown, purple, gold, and black. They fascinated her and she wondered what triggers his eye color changes. She began to relax the further she traveled and sat to rest midday instead of only at night.
Unfortunately, her luck had run out as she heard a loud roar sound behind her. Her face draining of color, she looked behind her only to spot a large white tiger. It"s ice blue eyes locked onto her with magical power radiating from its large body.
"A 4th level Frost Tiger?! Oh no, what should I do? I can"t escape too far with only my 2nd level fire magic." the maid quickly panicked at a loss and began to run away. But would the tiger let her escape? With a swipe of its paw, spikes of ice flew out. The maid quickly turned and while whispering the spell for Fire s.h.i.+eld. The s.h.i.+eld managed to block most of the spikes, but one stabbed right through her side. Bleeding profusely, the maid took out her Wind Locket and activated it. The wind magic lightened her body allowing her to burst with high speeds as far away as she could. Calming down at the face of death, she knew that she would attract all sorts of beasts from the blood. Looking around, she found a tree with a large hole and placed the baby inside.
"Seventh highness... I will probably be the only person to call you this... please live on for the rest of the Ley Kingdom." Crying, the maid quickly saluted and knelt before running far away from the tree.
...
Silence pervaded throughout the forest. The next morning, a humble hunter came about. He was stalking a common Snow Deer when loud crying broke out. Alerted from the sound, the Snow Deer quickly ran away leaving the hunter behind. Cursing under his breath, the hunter began to look around for the culprit. He walked up to an una.s.suming tree and inside a hole saw two sparkling blue eyes. He reached in and pulled out the baby in confusion. He knew he could not afford to take care of this child, but at the same time his conscience was telling him not to leave the child in the wild to die.
"Wait... Doesn"t that church take care of children like this? I"ll just leave him with them!"