My world has shuttered to the ground. I watched it burn and fall to the ashes. My heart felt so tight that it almost stopped beating for a moment. Now I think it might have been better that way. After all, what am I now? A prince of a non existing country, a useless relic of the past, a lost soul. I didn’t even have any more tears to spare.

 Father was killed as soon as the enemy entered, the Prince of Moreta simply beheaded him with one mighty swing of his sword. Mother drank poison along with my sister and my older brother died on the battlefield. The only one remaining is me, Prince Kian. Why did I survive? Well I was trying to fight using my bow and somehow we got surrounded by the enemy. The soldiers saw me wearing elegant clothes and thought I might be someone important, so I was tied and left alive only to watch my city’s downfall. So much for my brave attempt to die fighting.

The screams of dying people and even louder of those who remained alive were keeping me awake the whole night. I was held hostage with many others in a pen guarded by seven soldiers. All of the others were nobles too. I knew a few of them. As the youngest member of the royal family I didn’t attend any political meetings so I only saw them during official banquets. 

Now we were flocking on a muddy piece of ground without a single place one could rest. After a whole night in the cold and then a rainy morning all of us were frozen and angry. 

It was Dillion Roberton, the former Minister of Inner Affairs who raised his voice.

“You savage people, how dare you keep us here in such inhumane conditions!!” For a moment I admired him and I felt jealous. It should be me who says something to protect my people but somehow my voice didn’t come out. I only felt a great lump in my throat, making me unable to speak.

One of the guards turned around and without a single word stabbed that brave man in the stomach. 

“Silence, you’re no different than a bunch of pigs.” The guard’s voice was strong and drained of any emotions. 

Sir Dillion fell to the ground, his hands were tight and he couldn’t do anything to stop the bleeding. None of us could help him either, we only stood there frozen watching that man bleed to death. He didn’t die right away, it took a long time till he did and we all just stood there petrified by the strongest emotions, fear and hope to survive..

That moment I learned something new about myself. I thought I was ready to die, I imagined myself as a courageous hero. The enemy shuttered that image in my head as well. I realized I was afraid, I didn’t want to die in a mud like this. My head was a mess and so were my emotions. Why was I suddenly clinging to a life like this? Yesterday I was sorry to be alive and today I was afraid to die. After all, death is so … final. So we were standing there. Sir Dillion died and his corpse lay in the mud. The day was passing slowly, I was thirsty and I felt that my stomach was reminding me that it was empty. It hurt. For the first time in my life I felt hunger, real hunger. I was ashamed to think about the food while so many people lost their lives, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to use a toilet but there was nothing of that kind here. Even if it was, my hands were tight behind my back. I saw a few men pissing their pants and I felt pity for them. I could sense their shame. After two older men fainted, people started to feel uneasy.

“Prince Kian, do something!?” Another nobleman suddenly woke me out of my stupor. 

“Stop it, what can this kid even do?” Somebody responded before I did. 

I wanted to say something, thus this short exchange brought unwanted attention from the guards. 

“Prince? Do we have a prince here?” As soon as he said it, people around me stepped aside making me stand all alone. That moment I knew that this might be my only moment to show some dignity. I raised my chin up and looked the guard straight in the eyes. 

“Yes, I’m the last Prince of Deremoth.” My voice might sound a bit harsh because of the lack of water and  after not using it for almost a whole day, yet it  wasn't trembling. 

“You are still a kid, come here.” The guard ordered me and I obeyed. My courage was only strong enough to keep appearances of being confident and fearless, the reality was different. 

They let me out and the guard told me to follow him.

“Where are you taking me?” I managed to form a question.

“To the new ruler of Deremoth.” The guard smiled viciously. 

“Sir, could you untie me. I wish to wash my face.” I suddenly demanded. My clothes were a mess, my face was surely dirty and I really needed to use a toilet. 

“You think he cares about your looks?” The man laughed.

“No, but I do. And I need to go to the toilet.” I looked at the guard hoping he would understand.

He looked back at me with a grin on his face. 

“Please sir.” So much for my dignity.

The guard took out his knife, for a brief moment I wasn’t sure what he would use it for. I was lucky though, he cut my ties. 

“You got one minute.” 

I turned around and made a few steps, it felt so good to finally be able to let it all out. There was a barrel with water, I held back the urge to lap up the water like a dog. I washed my face and tried to clean my clothes a bit but it was in vain. I gave up and allowed the guard to tie my hands again. 

We  were walking through the  destroyed city. signs of violence were visual everywhere. There were still a few corpses lying here and there but the once so proud citizens of this magnificent city were now collecting the dead ones and bringing them to a pile in the middle of a square.  I remembered that once a beautiful fountain was standing in the middle, now there was rubble and a huge fire into which the dead corpses were thrown. The smell was so nauseating that I threw up. There wasn’t much in my stomach so I only felt strong cramps.

“Keep going.” The guard rushed me. 

Soon after reaching the palace, I noticed that the once beautiful flower garden was trodden. The palace looked even worse. All the family paintings were removed, anything that had a value was robbed and I saw it being taken out of the palace. Barbarians. I took a deep breath and entered the great hall. It was busy, many soldiers were running around and a group of men were talking gathered around a table. The throne was empty, the coat of arms picturing a deer and a golden crown was removed. 

I was wondering where the Prince was. I haven't seen him yet, I only knew from the other eye witnesses that he was tall, strong and capable of killing a man with one swing of his blade. Deep inside I expected to see a monster.