The Prince's inability to act

[Alice’s POV]

[Present day: 10 minutes until the attack]

What was that? It was like seeing a nightmare but I'm still awake. Godmother, what did you do to me?

     “Alice, are you okay? You suddenly stopped walking and you're sweating all over.”

I guess I got lost in thought over how surreal the scenario looked. Stay calm, Alice, for now let's just focus on the enemies coming here.

I shook my head to get rid of this daze.

     “No worries, Brother. It'll be okay, promise!”

How do I even tell him about all the stuff that's been going on with me today? From the looks of it I can't keep hiding what's been going on with me, Youm will catch on eventually at some point.

Not much later after I answered Brother we arrived at the ball room. All the nobles were in a huge panic. I guess warning father about the attack was too late.

     “Alice! Youm! Are you okay…?” Father asked.

He quickly ran up to us giving Brother and I a quick hug. Imagining him being worried is kind of funny given how he keeps his feelings together. If he's this worried then the invasion must be more serious than I thought.

     “Father what's going on, why are we being attacked?” My Brother replied.

     “The scouts saw their flag, apparently it's from the kingdom of Homuze.”

Flare and Marcella don't usually say anything when in front of Father unless they're being spoken to but once Flare heard the name of that kingdom she spoke out.

     “The kingdom of Homuze??? We've been in an alliance with them for ye—!”

Before she could finish, Marcella placed her hand on Flare's mouth. You could hear Flare trying to speak.

     “You idiot we're in front of the king right now! Mind your manners.” Marcella whispered to Flare, although it was more of a scolding.

     “It's okay Marcella, like your sister said we've been in an alliance with them for years but I don't know what could've caused them to betray us like this. What I want you four to do is get out of here before the fighting breaks out.”

     “What do you mean Father!? I don't wanna run and hide, I wanna join you in this fight as well!”

I have a bad feeling, perhaps that vision I had was a message telling me to stop that outcome.

Can I really do that though? When it happened I was all alone… Maybe this could work.

I tugged on Brother's sleeve to get his attention, he noticed, beginning to look at me.

     “Please brother, let's just do as Father says. He's never been wrong has he?”

There was a moment of silence until a nameless noble yelled out in a panic.

     “THE CITY IS ON FIRE!”

     “THE CITY IS WHAT?!” Father said in shock.

The man was right as you could hear the cries of all the townspeople even from up in the castle. 

How could that be? We just figured out they were here, there's no other way to have already gotten in town unless…

They must have shot fire arrows, meaning they must be still outside the walls.

     “Father there's still time you can—”

The last thing I remember seeing was hitting my head on the floor, goddamn it, they had catapults too.

[Youm’s POV]

[1 hour after the attack]

My knees gave out, I stared blankly at the floor out of sheer shock. 

After the boulder hit we all got separated. I woke up not too long ago, but when I awoke the invaders were already close to the palace. Are they gonna die? I've never seen a dead body.

The cries of the townspeople echo into my mind like a drum that just won't stop. Make it stop, all of this destruction.

I can hear the fire cracking from the surrounding debris. Because of the fire it's getting hard to breathe from all this smoke.

Maybe I should get out of here, but I can't muster up the courage to run. I don't wanna run away from my problems, that's so cowardly. I wanna fight with my father, but… I'm so scared.

From a young age I admired kings, and being the son of a king only made me wanna train and become stronger so I can gain that title. The stances I learned, the rigorous training methods. All to be blown away because I'm too scared to fight.

Was it all for naught? A king is nothing without his kingdom after all, let alone a prince. I don't even have a sword to defend myself.

I can't believe that the kingdom I wanted to protect the most out of everyone is getting destroyed right in front of me.

I didn't just want to protect the kingdom, but Flare, Sis, Marcella, Father, Everyone.

There's someone crying out to me, who is it? It's faint, and all I can hear is my name, but not the person.

*Smack*

I was slapped by... Flare? So it was you who was calling out my name.

Wait—

     “Why are you crying?” I said out loud.

A streak of her tears ran down her cheeks as her face was already dirty, probably from the debris.

I think she bruised me with that slap from earlier. 

     “What's wrong with you? You trained for times like this right? I watched you train your hardest day and night. You could have been like other nobles and not lifted a finger until the crowning ceremony but you studied, trained, learned the stances you were able to, and even though you have no experience… You were still able to become a Prince many would already consider a King.”

I guess she's right… So what if I don't have territory, I'm still a prince in my own right.

I wrapped my arms around her giving a light hug, her robes were dirty but still she exuded a lot of body heat.

     “Thank you, Flare. Ever since we were little you've always been there until I'm on my last leg. Let's figure something out about this invasion.”

She smiled softly, wiping away her tears that were pouri

ng down earlier. Now she looks more confident than ever before.

     “Yes!”

And so the story continues.