Pierce sighed as he heard the crashing and yelling outside his home. He knew that the queen and king of Allaver could help, but his parents were always the ones to say that the royals have a lot more to worry about than their small town.

They had responsibilities that spanned further than any of them could imagine. Far bigger than what little Pierce could conjure up. Or at least that’s what his parent said.

When he was awoken almost every night from the violence and crime, he couldn’t help but feel differently.

But he chose to try to be like his parents. Hopeful.

That was a mistake.

After the unchecked crime took the lives of his parents, him and his sister, Jade, lived on the streets. It wasn’t an easy life, but they had each other.

He became bitter. The royals didn’t know what it was like to be living in their kingdom. So far removed that he almost couldn’t blame them. They were just unaware.

When a man with a truly evil accomplice took them in, Pierce learned to shape and form that bitterness into something else. Rage. Power. Control.

With the disciplined training, he and his sister never had to be those helpless little kids, hiding in the shadows, stealing food. No, they were survivors. Warriors

The man that housed and trained them, Griffin, saw potential in them. Somehow saw strength behind the skinny bodies and scared eyes. His accomplice had a plan. A plan to attack the mighty kingdom of Allaver.

Pierce wavered. He would follow Griffin to the end of the earth, but to attack a Royal family, who were too sheltered to know anything, felt wrong. His parents’ attitude lived inside of him, a deep dark corner of his mind. That part screamed at him that this couldn’t be right.

Yet when Griffin reminded him of the loss and sacrifice the people at the bottom face, he knew he had to follow.

He never planned on attacking them. He didn’t want revenge; he didn’t want a war. But a war was brought to him, and he couldn’t just run away.

OoOoOoO

Growing up never knowing anything about the royals except their names and ages, he assumed that they were all the same.

The royal children were like fairytales parents told their own kids at night. Unreachable, fabricated characters that didn’t do anything.

Pierce believed that. Until he met Spade.

Spade is everything that he thought royals were: sheltered, innocent, and unaware.

But he was also more than that. He was passionate, goofy, observant, and sincere. Everything Pierce thought that royals weren’t.

So he didn’t tattle to Griffin about Prince Spade and where he was hiding, but it created a conflict within Pierce.

His heart shouted for Spade, but his mind screamed loyalty to Griffin. Being yanked in two different directions, it was a mentally exhausting tug of war.

Spade wanted to get back his home. Take back control. Griffin wanted to stay in control of Allaver. Make the changes that need to come.

Who is right and who is wrong?

Is anyone fully wrong?

Is anyone fully _right_?