Chapter 3

Leon woke up and got dressed for the day before heading to breakfast while on the way to the dining hall he noticed how everyone seemed busier than usual barely even noticing him to give a greeting. Once he steps into the dining hall the king and queen beckon him over he sits across from them "what's happening in the castle" the two look at each other then the king looked at the leon "my son the swordsman is going to face off against knights" he said in a joyous tone the queen gave him one look and he quieted down she then looked at Leon "sweetie look it's like this" she then frowned "the adoption went through but no one will officially see you as our son so well have you face off against a knight and you'll have to beat him in public before we can present you as our heir" she hugged Leon "sweetie I don't want to see you get hurt but you must do this" she hugged him tighter Leon then pulled away "mom I promise to win" she then started crying and hugged him "i know you will sweetie but be careful" the king then pulled her away "Leon later I'll send a servant to your room well be training together" he then led her out the hall Leon sighed then decided to take a nap in his room.

 Leon was standing face to face with the king "do we really have to do it like this" the king shook his head "relax boy plus I made it as fair as possible" the two stood there with nothing but a pair of trousers and a shirt on the king holding a long sword and Leon holding a halberd "ok boy on the count of three ...one ...two ...THREE!!!" the king charged at lightning speed and the boy was knocked to the floor in an instant "whoa how did you move so fast" Leon looked amazed the king laughed "that my boy was these" the king then pulled up his shirt to reveal three stones embedded in his chest Leon then followed after and did the same showing seven stones embedded in his own "i have those two" the king shouted "why didn't you come to me first" Leon waved his hand "they haven't granted there power yet" the king looked relaxed then scared "oh your mother is going to kill me when she finds out" he then stepped closer to Leon "hide these from your mother at all cost" "hide what from me" the king stiffened and didn't look back Leon then leaned over to the side and waved "hi mom and I think dad is talking about these" Leon the pointed to his chest" the queen then looked angry and grabbed them both by the ear and dragged them "well be having a talk about this" she then dragged both boys through out the castle and all the servants gave the queen a bow and the other two a prayer and Leon could swear he saw his friends laughing at him. The king and Leon were being scolded by the queen for not telling her about Leons gems and trying to hide it from her though she let Leon go after and the king had to stay. Leon stood out side the door and winced at the kings crys of pain then went to train by himself. Leon was standing in the training yard with the same get up he had with the king though this time Leon was using his soul halberd striking at the air over and over then he created a earth golems that would copy his techniques and use them against him, Leon side swiped one golem when another tried to slash him from above he blocked the strike and pushed the golem away just when another slash at his back he cried in pain and spun and slashed the golem in half just when a golem thrusts at him he then jumps in to the air and thrusts into the golems head then spins mid air and slashes down on another golem when one uppercut him he then cried as the pain increased then slashed the golem with one hand on his halberd then brought the other to catch a thrust from another golem and then uppercut the golem after bringing his hand back to his halberd this cycle of pain and gain went on for hours. The king and queen sat in the dining room waiting for there son who was late after a while they told a servant to go fetch him but the servant came back with a panicked face then they told her to take them to there son they then came to the training yard where servants and the squires were surrounding someone once they got through they were shocked of what they saw there he was surrounded by hundreds of destroyed golems standing in the center passed out in nothing but his trousers his torso was covered in cuts and stab wounds balancing just by his halberd they all stood in shook at the boy till the queen called out his name and he opened his eyes and then stumbled and pointed his halberd in the air "i will win" he managed to say before his head fell and he just stood there everyone started clapping and cheering for the boy to win in the upcoming test. For the next week this continued Leon would go out after breakfast and train till point where he passed out he always awoke in his bed in fresh bandages the next day. The day before the competition the queen told him to relax and this was hard for Leon he sat in his room after dinner and it was still light out he sighed then he spotted the rose garden "i haven't seen Brunhild for a week I hope she won't mind if I visit a little early" Leon then walked around the rose garden and couldn't find her so he knocked on her door "hey its me Leon" it was quiet for a moment "go away" Leon fell quiet "why" "I don't like liars" Leon then tried to open the door and found it locked "look I'm sorry" "don't care" Leon then sat and leaned on the door "I'll go away but first let me tell you about my week you see" Leon then went to tell her his whole week "well then I guess I'll go" Leon sat up and started to leave only for the door to open and Brunhild grabbed his hand "don't go we haven't finished talking I haven't told you about my week" Leon then looked at her "i thought you were the one who told me to go away" she then frowned "I'm joking tell me about you week" she smiled and brought him inside and they sat on her couch and talked till sunset Leon then got up "well I got to go I have to be up early tomorrow" Brunhild then walked him out "see you tomorrow" see then waved to him as he walked away and went inside. Leon woke up the next morning and went to breakfast then the king and queen led him to where he'll be facing the knight. Leon was standing there in his armor with his halberd in hand facing off against the knight who wore full plate armor and wielded a claymore on a stage surrounded by the citizens of BrightFall in the audience on the opposite side was the king and queen with their inner circle the king then shouted "let the battle begin" the knight then spoke to Leon "let's end this quick I'm very busy honestly I don't know why they have me face off against a simple squire" he then charged at Leon and gave a poor swung and Leon catching this knocked his weapon out his hands hoping to end this battle quick the knight was surprised then smiled "not so simple are we" the knight then reached for his chest and his weapon disappeared then he pulled it out from his chest "fighting someone who wields a soul weapon such tatics won't suffice " he then slashed at Leon with great speed and Leon barely had Tim to block the strike the knight then followed up with another strike and Leon barely blocked this cycle went on for a while, while the knight looked unfazed Leon was losing strength with each strike till the knight finally knocked his weapon away "give it up boy you lose" hearing those words something happened to Leon like something was just released Leon jumped back at great speed then reached to his chest and his weapon disappeared then he pulled out his halberd the knight was surprised once again "keep it up boy bring me more excitement" the knight then slashed in the air and a wave off fire was released Leon slashed back and a wave of lighting was released this attack resonated with his stone and he begun to generate lightning all around his body and once the two attacks clashed the sound of lighting striking was heard through out the arena this was when Leon strikes the knight he was covered in lightning dancing around his body the knight saw this and generated flames around himself and Leon jumped back at the speed of lighting the back striking the knight who blocked and strike back the two clashed for hours through out the stadium the sound of lighting striking and fire erupting could be heard everyone was stunned to see this boy fight on par with a knight suddenly the two sounds stopped and the two were standing on opposite sides of the stadium now covered in charred market and multiple cracks both panting the knight spoke to the boy "give it up boy at this rate well both faint and it'll still be my win since I'm a knight and your a squire" hearing this Leon heard this and released more lightning extended the reach beyond his body the knight saw this and raised his sword in the air "i lose" Leon seeing this stopped generating lightning all together stood there shocked the knight looked at him "you have what it takes to be a knight sad to tell you I'm barely a knight myself so defeating me won't give you a promotion now run along boy" the queen then levitates Leon up to the judge stand he stood there between the queen and the king "i announce the winer of this grand battle is Leon the Royal Squire" the king smiled and pulled Leons hand in the air and cheers erupted all out the stadium the queen spook up "a moment please I have an announcement" the stadium became quiet in an instant and the queen and king step forward "we have found our heir" they ushered Leon forward "Leon the Royal Squire named Leon BrightFall shall be known as Leon the Royal Prince from this day forward" Leon stood there in worry that the people would reject him to his surprise the audience roared in cheer for the new prince Leon stood there "mom dad" they looked at him and he looked back "this is the happiest day of my life" the two smiled and hugged the boy, later that day a grand party was to be held for the new prince. Leon was with his friends siting around a tree in akward silence till Fiona spoke up "How are you my lord " she said akwardly Leon sighed "are you guys really going to treat me different if you are then why did you come with me" things fell silent "well nice to know I don't have friends" Fiona spoke up "HEY you were the one to tell us to come with you and we're still your friends so shut up" she covered her mouth Leon looked at her "thank you I was worried for a moment there...why are you covering your mouth and if you didn't want to come you could of said no" Fiona relaxed "well your obviously are going to allow us to act the same as usual and we can't very well tell the prince no" Leon sighed "for things like this it's your choice I guess I'll go walk around" she looked at him "oh we'll go to i never said that we would say no nice to know we can though" she looked at the rest of them tensed up "you heard him" they all relaxed and Morris started to follow and spoke up "totally thought you were going to change" Leia followed along "agreed good to know you didn't" she smiled a little and stared at Leon "yeah" he said then slowly looked towards Royse "..." "wait you knew I wasn't going to change but just followed along" Leon exclaimed "..." Royse looked at the others "yeah just say something next time" Leon said while looking forward the others all say "how do you understand him" Leon shrugged "just do I thought you did too" they look at him "we just follow his body language" Leon looked towards Royse who was holding his stomach silently laughing "yeah that works too" they all start laughing, as there walking through the training yard all the knights see Leon and stiffen till they see him laughing along with the other squires and relaxed and gave him there usual greeting which he returns though the servants give him a formal bow instead of a wave he just waved to them and guessed it would be best to let them. Leon was sitting with is parents in a royal party suit they were telling him all the appropriate party etiquette for a prince he sat there and memorized it all then they told him schedule would change starting tomorrow for he would have to learn more about magic and politics but that would still be able to train with the knights Leon was a little sad that he had less free time though he knew this would happen when he became prince. Once them time for the party came he followed his parents to the party hall while going through all the proper etiquette once there he was greeted by servants and thanked them for their hard work his parents smiled at the fact he already seemed like a prince he then greeted the guests and gave a speech how he would serve the Kingdom ad a just prince and after all the formal parts were done came the dance where Leon thought he could relaxed but then he was approached by multiple female nobles hoping to dance with him while he wanted to turn them down and relax he remembered how his parents told him to dance and get acquainted with the nobles so he accepted but once the party started to settle he took the chance to step out and went to the rose garden to relax while he was walking around Brunhild spotted him and called out to him he heard her went towards her only he stopped when her saw how she looked in the moonlight she was wearing a sleeveless black dress that ended at her knees and had a slit on the side leading up to her thigh with black high heels on and black elbow high gloves she started to move closer to him since he stopped and he uttered the words "so beautiful" unconsciously she heard him and stopped two feet from him with a blush on her face "w..why th..thank you" when he heard her he snapped out of it and realized what he just said and looked down while she looked to the side they were standing there in silence till Leon spoke up "may i have this dance my lady" he said slightly kneeling and offered her his hand she stared at him and smiled while her blush grew more and took his hand "why yes my prince" Leon smiled and pulled her close in one motion and she gasped then they started dancing together as the moonlight shined apon them, anyone watching to two dancing so in sync and fluently could of sworn they were lovers at least the those who actually saw them dancing did, the king and queen watch the two as they danced the queen spoke to her husband "he may just be the one to save my sister" the king held her "i hope so but we can't force her and you know it might not be possible he's not royalty by blood he can't stop a decision of the Escolon Council" the queen pulled him closer "i know dear I'm just hoping i already can't be around my own sister but i can't take if she were to die by the council" they watched the two for a moment before heading back to the party to see the last of the guests out. Leon and Brunhild danced while staring into each others eyes till Leon leaned her over for the bow where the stood there for a moment they started to lean there faces closer till Brunhild snapped out of it and spoke "umm can you let me go now" Leon snapped out of it and brought her back up and let her go they stood there for a moment till Brunhild spoke "you know your a much better dancer than you look" Leon then smiled "that's because my partner such a lavish lady" she blushed and things fell silent Leon then saw a bench "how bout he go sit" he pointed at the bench she then smiled "sure I'd be glad to" he smiled and grabbed her hand and lead her over to the bench they sat in silence till Brunhild asked him to let go with a huge blush on her face then the two talked for the rest of the night till they had to bid each other farewell.