Ch. 13.1 — Ezra looked down from his window and watched his brothers sword fighting in the practice yard. He sighed. His brothers were all strong, brave, and valiant — experts with the sword and all other weapons of war. He, on the other hand, was not even allowed near a butter knife. It was so unfair!
“Come away from that window, Sire,” said his bodyguard. Franklin’s black suit was impeccable. His crisp white shirt had been properly starched. Not a hair on his balding head was out of place.
“Bother. Do you really think I’m going to jump to my death or something? Come on, Franklin. I’m bored. I’m never allowed to do anything fun.”
“You’re ten years old now, Sire. Attempts on your life might begin to increase this year. We must be extra vigilant.”
Ezra rolled his eyes. “Oh, please.”
“There have been rumors of a mad ax-man running around in the Tulgey woods. You wouldn’t want to meet him, would you?”
“Better than dying of boredom.”
Ezra faced his bodyguard. “Father is going overboard. How will an assassin even get into the castle, let alone the kingdom? Meanwhile, what am I supposed to do?”
He began to pace back and forth.
Ezra’s siblings were all busy. Matthew worked daily with Father, preparing to be the next king. He had married a girl whose foot had fit into a glass slipper – the lovely Ella (who had turned out to have royal blood on her mother’s side). Mark had heard of a beautiful princess with long golden hair who was being held captive in a witch’s tower. He suspected that it was his own betrothed, who had been stolen away as a baby. Mark was now preparing for a journey to Lake Land in order to rescue her. Ezra’s sister, Esther, was sewing her own dress for her upcoming wedding to Prince Jeremiah, one of the Elf King’s sons. Eli was…
Ezra paused. He would miss Eli most of all. Eli was his best friend, his comrade in all kinds of mischief and trouble. Eli was now sixteen, and he was preparing for a journey to Saltonia to meet his betrothed, the Princess Zelda Mary. She was reported to be as beautiful as the sun and moon.
Ezra thought it strange that she’d never come to Nelsonia before. Matthew’s betrothed had visited them quite often from her kingdom in the north. That was before she’d been eaten by a bear.
Ezra wondered if he could hire someone to eat his betrothed. He’d heard that the Princess Janine was extremely ugly. On second thought, his mother would be very unhappy with him if he actually tried something like that. Oh, well. It would have made life interesting — for a while.
Anyway, After Eli met Princess Zelda, he would spend all his free time with her. Ezra hated her just for taking Eli away from him.
Ezra stopped pacing and yelled at Franklin. “And what do I get to do? I’m told to stay out of trouble, that’s what. I never get to do anything with my brothers.”
“You see them at mealtimes.”
Ezra snorted. “They’re all so busy filling their faces that they don’t talk to me.”
“Princess Esther would be glad of your company.”
Ezra grimaced. His sister was kind, but from the time she’d been a small girl, she had been forcing him to play dolls with her, or paint, or sew, or read her stories. He was sick of it.
“I’m ten years old now. I want to do something manly.”
Just then the gong went off.
Ezra leaped to his feet. “Dinner!” He raced past Franklin and down the long hallway.
“Wait! Your Highness, wait for me.”
Ezra ignored him.
Carol Nicolas 