Chapter 1

Kingdom By the Sea

"It was many, and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea"

I listened to the sound of the waves hitting the shore, a sound that I found comforting to me as I walked along the shore of the beach, the water once in a while covering my feet in a cool embrace. I often came out here to think, the sea had always been my home away from home in many ways. The place i would go to clear my head, to get away from reality if only for a short while, the sound of waves, the sound of the sea, was a melody that I ever so desired as I came here, to my kingdom by the sea. Not a great big kingdom to others by any means but a kingdom I consider my own, and mine it was, right by my beloved sea.

And please excuse my manners for not having introduced myself yet, it seems my mind was swept away by the sea breeze someplace else. I am, Crown Prince Hadrian of Valona, son of the radiant Queen Eva and the valiant King Caspian. The kingdom that my family and I rule is not a great big kingdom that at all, but it is a beautiful land that is located close to the ocean, where all at a good height are blessed with the sight of the sea at sunrise and sunset. My family has ruled this kingdom for generations and I am proud to call it my home and the place that I will rule in the coming future. I am reminded everyday of how lucky I am to have parents such as mine and to be surrounded by such amazing people. Not everyone is as lucky as I have been to be surrounded with over whelming love, and it is with that in mind that I do not take the love that is given to me by granted, to disregard the admiration my people have for me, nor to look down at those of lower standing as though they aren't worth my attention.

It is a rule that my parents have drilled into me since I was but a small child. 'It is not how we sit with the great that define who we are but how we walk with the broken' is a saying that my father told to me as he sat me down on his knee one stormy night by the fire place. We often had such conversations with each other, I have since that moment striven to not let my heritage get to my head. I have sat with the great. And I have walked with the broken. So trust me when I say that the only difference between the two are the garbs that they are dressed in, and the view of the world they hold. Having spoken, dined, and walked with both it is easy to tell that we are all man. No matter the jewels I wear or the silks I dress in, the lessons that I have learned from the broken and the advice I received from the great hold more value that the diamonds that sit in my vault. Soon, I will be a ruler of this beloved land, and I intend to be the best one that I can possibly be, to rule is not the same as to govern. You must govern with your mind but rule with your heart, the combination of both is ideal. I still have a long way to go I believe, but the future awaits, and I have a feeling that it will be an interesting one.

"It was many, and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea. That a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee. And this maiden she lived with no other thought, than to love and be loved by me. I was a child, and she was a child in this kingdom by the sea. But we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee" Hadrian read out loud as he sat on an arm chair by the window in the palace library, a book in one hand and a warm cup of hot cocoa in the other. He was once again reading his favorite poem by Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee, it was one of his favorite pass times. He could sit for hours on end with a stack of books on a table, just content to read them throughout the day. He was always a firm believer in the fact that if you did not read than you had lived quite a boring life. Hadrian loved the fact that he could live thousands of lives in the books that he read, in each one a different life. He could be a pirate in one and a thief in the other, he could be anyone he wanted and go anywhere he wanted, all in the comfort of the palace.

"Annabel Lee again? My son, do you never get tired of all these books?" Hadrian turned his head towards the door as his father chuckled at him and his constant reading of books and his favorite poem. Hadrian shook his head as a smile began to form and he rolled his eyes at his father in exasperation. His mother, Eva, had always been the one who was the more literary out of his parents, having always read to Hadrian as a child, his father on the other hand had always whined about how he was stuck with two bookworms and jokingly scowled at his wife for corrupting their son.

"What can I say father? Edgar Allan Poe is a man after my own heart" Hadrian dramatically put a hand to his heart before bursting out into hearty chuckles with his father. He loved these moments when he would just laugh with one of his parents or both of them for the most ridiculous things.

"Well if you men are quite done, this Queen right here would love to have tea with her husband and son" Queen Eva had arrived just in time to witness her husband and son laughing and while she hated to cut the sweet moment between father and son short, she would like to spend sometime with both of her most precious people before her son went off too school once again. Her baby was growing up faster than she could handle and while it tore her apart that he would soon no longer need her, it filled her with pride to watch as he grew to become the man she always knew he would be.

You see, Hadrian was a much anticipated and welcomed surprise. The King and Queen tried for years after they had wed for a child and when they had almost given up hope, Queen Eva had fallen pregnant with Hadrian. It was the one of the happiest moment of their lives, the day they were told that they would be having a baby, rivaled only by the birth of their son. After Caspian had been told that she was expecting he had went to the balcony and shouted as loud as he could that he was going to be a father, grin splitting his face even as tears continued to fall down his face. The kingdom was in a frenzy after that, all humming with anticipation and excitement for the birth of their new prince as it has always been when a new monarch is expected. The kingdom had been waiting for the good news since their prince had gotten married to the Princess of another kingdom.

The birth itself had been a hard process on Eva who was a petite woman, the pain was worse for her than it would have been on any other woman but as soon as she held her baby boy, her son, she let out quiet sobs of relief and happiness as she captured the image of her beautiful son in her mind. He was beautiful, tufts of black hair, soft pale skin and later, wide green eyes. And as any good mother in the world, she promised her child the world as she held him in her arms. Hadrian just as he enchanted his parents, soon enchanted his kingdom and all others he met with his charm. Children were a gift, Eva always believed, and her child, her gift, was the most beautiful, precious gift she had ever gotten.

"Well, we can't deny the queen now can we Hadrian?" Caspian jokingly asked his son who grinned before laughing.

"No, we most definitely can't or the next command will be 'Off with your heads!'" Both father and son fell to their knees in laughter at their wife/mother's playful scowl. Eva looked on with warm eyes, her husband's blue eyes twinkling and her son's green eyes gleaming as they laughed at her expense.

"Well I suppose I will have to have tea and scones by my self then? What a pity," Eva made her way out of the library knowing full well that the two were scrambling to follow her. Even with their stony masks that they put on, they were always as predictable as children to her.

"Now now mum, you won't deny your handsome son scones will you?" Hadrian wrapped an arm around his mother's waist giving her his best kicked puppy look.

"Or your dashing husband tea?" Caspian also wrapped his arm around his wife giving her the dame look the his son was giving.

The two of them looked so alike that she burst into a fit of giggles, shaking her head and leading them both into the garden where their afternoon tea table was currently being set. Her son would be leaving to go back to school in just a few day and she intended to spend every last minute with both him and her husband. Since the next time she would see her son unless there was an emergency was going to be during the winter holidays. But for now she was just content to have him in her arms.

Hadrian looked at both his parents, knowing that when the time came to leave for school he would be reluctant to part with them. This year was going to be different, he just knew it. He of course didn't know if it would be a good thing or a bad thing but for now he would spend as much time as he could with his parents, content in knowing that whatever happens, he would make sure that hey would be safe and hopefully this feeling he was having would turn out not being bad.

A/N: Major change, I know