I am Aidan, Prince of Lineria

I open my eyes with a start and sit up urgently in my bed. I got outmanoeuvered, my troops are fleeing, the battle is lost. Now I am going to die, my sister is going to get ****, all that I hold dear will perish or be tainted because I wasn't good enough!

For a few seconds I struggle in the dark against a devious opponent that I can't get rid off. Then my nightmare clears. My opponent is nothing else than some too heavy bed sheets. I am not on the battle field, but in a room. Mine? No, but a room still. I look around at the wooden walls of a medium sized room, at the dawn's light filtering through the heavy wood shutters of the window, at the simple but quality furniture. Yes. That comes back to me, I am at a tavern close to our eastern border. This is our last stop before we reach the agreed upon meeting point where my sister Leona the Queen and Sylenia the High priestess will continue into what was, a few years back, the neighbouring country of Rives and is now the new province of the Orzan Empire, while I bring back an imperial princess as hostage back to Limoa, Lineria's capital.

There indeed has been a battle a few weeks back, probably the biggest to have shook our country for centuries, but we won. And despite what eveybody seems to think, my sister isn't the only one to commend for it. Sure, she was in the thick of the fracas while I was overlooking it from the closest hill, and it is true that I didn't even have to draw my sword while she must have killed at least thirty men by herself, however it was my knowledge of the lay of the land, of the empires prefered tactics and my take on how to disrupt them which allowed her to lead her soldiers where she was never was pinned down or surrounded, which exposed our enemies to her might.

I sigh. What use is there to thinking like that? If Sylenia could see me right now, she'd know exactly what's in my mind and scold me for it. My sister is the Queen, the champion of the Lady of Light. It's normal and actually beneficial for all of us that she gets our people's respect and love. I am but her advisor, and as such, I have to make sure that everything goes right. When I counsel her on the legal grounds on which to arbitrate a dispute, when she leads our troops in battle, or today so that we aren't ambushed in case the empire's delegation is as dishonest as I fear them to be.

I get up and go to the door of my room. When I open it, a soldier standing next to it in the corridor straightens up and salutes.

"Your Highness?"

"At ease, soldier. Please go downstairs to see if the tavern's owner or some of his staff has woken up already. If so, have them fetch me some breakfast and some hot water so that I can freshen up."

While the soldier goes down the stairs, I get back in my room and lay down some more. It is still early but I know that I won't sleep anymore. I just hope that Leona and Sylenia have had a better sleep than me.

A knock at the door and three tavern maids come in, one carrying a tray with enough food for three persons while the two others carry a heavy tub filled with hot water. After they have put down their burden, they bow and two of them exit while the youngest and prettiest looks at me and asks with a shy smile if I need something else. I know that I am supposed to be good looking, rather slim, with fair hair, blue eyes, a quite soft face and an almost beardless face eventhough I am already 25. I am graceful, well formed more than handsome but not unattractive. Had I been someone else I would be flattered, however, I may not be the queen, but I am the closest thing to it a man can be in Lineria, I am a prince. I know that she is attracted by my rank, not by me. Sighing internally, I thank her and close the door.

She isn't the first woman to flirt with me thus, probably won't be the last, some of those who tried to approach me might even have been interested by more than my lineage but how could I know? And that's how at 25 I still am mostly inexperienced.

Pushing these thoughts away, I ravage the sausages and beans that have been prepared for me, eating far more than I had anticipated, then punish myself for these excesses with some fitness exercises that leave me panting before soaking in the now not so hot water.