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In fact, Jaron never fully understood that anyone in his family, other than his mother, truly loved him Until it was too late and they were all dead

Shortly before his eleventh birthday, Jaron’s parents called him for a private council Both Gelyn and Avenia pressed at Carthya’s borders, threatening war The regents were in an uproar, threatening to depose Eckbert if he didn’t push their enemies back Jaron was a distraction for the country and so had to be done Eckbert had found a school up north in the country of Byive him an excellent education and teach hirily protested He swore to his father that if he tried to send hiain Eckbert retaliated, telling Jaron that if he did not go, it could mean the end for Carthya He had to prove to both his own country and to the enemies at his border that he could be decisive He would send his own son away and end the embarrassment

Erin pled with Jaron to accept Eckbert’s decision To do it for Carthya To do it for her

"I will do it for you, Mother," Jaron had said "I’ll leave you for your own sake But you will never see ain"

He hadn’t ry and felt horrible even as the threat tumbled from his mouth But he also hurt in a way he couldn’t describe Enemies weren’t at Carthyan borders because of him They were there because his father had looked the other way for too long Perhaps there were Carthyans who laughed at the prince’s latest antics, but they would stand by their king when he called them

Jaron left the very next day, rather quietly There was no farewell supper, no grand entourage to accompany him to the docks at Isel Only a few officers would journey with hiates of Byot onboard the ship and i seasickness, despite the fact that the ship had not even left the harbor A cal medicine was offered to hio to his room belowdecks to rest

Jaron never took the medicine, and it was no easy matter for him to slip out the small porthole of his room Still, he had a smaller build than most ten-year-old boys, and after he worked his shoulders free, the rest was simple Unaware that Jaron had left, the ship set sail without him The ship was attacked by pirates late that afternoon

When news of the piracy returned to Carthya, a search was made for any survivors There were none, all of the the pirates or drowned at sea Because Jaron’s body was never found, a search was hout Avenia and Carthya for any hope of his survival Before long, most people believed he had joined dozens of others in the ship at the bottom of the sea

Safely on land, Jaron quickly found he had skills that enabled hiood with accents and had studied enough of foreign cultures to st them like a native He pickpocketed for spare coins or worked odd jobs wherever he found theryto go unnoticed by the street thugs who patrolled the darkness

It was Darius who found Jaron first Jaron had dropped a coin in an offerings dish at a church The priest there recognized the young prince and sent word to Darius, as known to be searching for his brother in a nearby town To stall for time, the priest kindly told Jaron he had soreed to wash the church steps, he could stay the night Darius arrived early the next , alone Over a s of their parents, who had tortured the lost their son

Jaron dissolved into tears and said he would gladly return home if his parents would allow him to come Darius told him to stay at the church and he would ask their father what should be done

Darius left Jaron in his room, thanked the priest for his services but infor boy was not the lost prince of Carthya However, he expressed his pity for the boy and paid the priest to continue to watch over him for another week

One week later, Jaron would finally begin to understand his role in the future of Carthya

At the end of the week, a man came to meet with Jaron in the church If anyone had asked, the priest would have said he did not knoho the reat importance But nobody asked As far as they knew, the boy living in the church was an orphan

Jaron recognized his father iuise They did not embrace It was not his father’s way But there were tears in his father’s eyes, and for the first ti