“Your Highness, are you absolutely sure about that?” asked the commander of the Royal Guard while shooting suspicious glances at the looming gate in front of them. Even the horses could sense the heavy atmosphere, anxiously digging the ground with their hooves. The surroundings weren’t helping either since the climate was exhausting for the men; sweat beads were gathering on each of the soldiers’ foreheads and heavy breathing could be heard all around them.
“No,” came the Crown Prince’s curt reply. Only the prince looked unfazed by the weather, but nobody questioned that; it was to be expected of the pure-blooded heir to the throne. “Nonetheless, there’s not much I can do about it now, is there?” he continued after taking a deep breath and absentmindedly straightening his already perfect attire. He turned slightly in his saddle to face his most trusted men and looked each one of them in the eye to which they saluted one after another. At last his eyes rested on the commander’s face and lost a bit of its sharp glint of well-respected authority.
“Mark my words, Commander Chen, this is a historical moment for all of us,” he paused, looking back at his men so that every one of them would feel the weight of his speech. “For we shall remember it as the day our kingdom is no more.” At the Crown Prince’s words, the men, including the commander, held their breath, not even daring to utter a single sound. “Fear not, brothers. It may be the end for Glaciera’s glory, but it sure will be a beginning of a whole new era,” the Crown Prince finished confidently, but inside he was full of doubt. “Commander, shall we?” he fixed the said man with a questioning look.
“After you, Your Highness.” Commander Chen bowed slightly and listened for the sound of the prince’s horse trotting, before he nudged his own horse with his boot and followed closely behind. He glanced over his shoulder once to make sure the soldiers guarded the entrance until discharged later on today. He was surprised to find some of them holding back tears, but then again, most of them spent the bigger part of their lives devoted to this kingdom. Side by side with the Crown Prince, they bravely fought in battles against Embersa. Honour and Glaciera was everything to them, so no wonder hearing the Crown Prince speak of abandoning their kingdom made them emotional. But it wasn’t their decision to make and they respected and favoured the king no matter his choices. As if to confirm the commander’s inner thoughts, the soldiers discarded their tears and proudly saluted in unison upon seeing him looking. He saluted back with a confident smile and sped up to join the prince. Once the deed is done, they would see each other soon.
“They’d die for you, you know?” he muttered quietly enough for only the prince’s ears to catch his words.
“Well, it’s their job, isn’t it?” the Crown Prince casually replied, at which the commander shot him a doubtful glance.
“You can drop the princely attitude now, Minseok, we both know you’d bawl your eyes out if either of them died.” Commander Chen rolled his eyes and the Crown Prince cracked a smile.
“You know me too well, Dae, it’s bad for my reputation considering your loose mouth. I wonder if I should replace you,” he said teasingly, but before the commander could protest, odd sounds from behind the enormous gate announced its opening routine and a moment later, the doors cracked open. The loud creaking of its wings made their skin crawl, but they both clenched their teeth and straightened their back, giving each other one last encouraging nod before assuming their respectful roles in social division. Commander Chen ordered his horse to backtrack a couple of steps behind the prince while the latter put his Crown Prince mask back on. When the gate wings were wide open, both of them were greeted by Embersa’s Royal Guard. They bowed deeply, receiving acknowledging nods from the visitors.
“Greetings, Your Royal Highness. His Majesty King Yon is expecting you in the Throne Hall, Your Highness,” one of the guards announced, not daring to look up to meet the eyes of the Crystal Crown Prince. The guests were surprised to hear him speak in Glaciera’s mother tongue - Glacieran. Yet despite his attempt to sound impeccable, a slight accent was still apparent enough for the two native Crystalians to detect. What also did not go unnoticed by the prince was the guard’s fearful attitude; one of his hands was trembling continuously and sweat gathered around his forehead, which couldn't have been the weather’s fault since Pyrenians are immune to heat.
“My reputation precedes me, I see. Raise your head, my friend, I like seeing the face of the person speaking to me, not their helmet,” came the prince’s gentle yet peremptory response in Pyrenish - language of Embersa. After a second of hesitation, the guard straightened his back, however his eyes were still glued to the ground, that’s as daring as he could get. The rest of the Royal Guard remained bowing. The prince sighed dejectedly, but did not push any further. “Lead the way then. We shall not make His Majesty wait any longer.”
The guard bowed yet again and then turned around with the rest of them. They began marching in unison all the way to the palace’s entrance.
“Having fun, aren’t you?” whispered Commander Chen behind the prince’s back when the guards were out of earshot.
“Dunno what you’re talking about,” the prince muttered quietly.
“I saw that. You wanted to torture the poor guy even more.” The commander smirked, but the Crown Prince could not see that.
“It’s called being nice, Jongdae, something you should’ve learned years ago, but apparently had failed at miserably.”
“Not as long as you’re the one being nice, Minnie. It’s just like torture when you force them to do something they’re not used to. It’s not… natural, for lack of a better word, to treat you like an equal. And that will never change no matter how hard you try.”
“Will you stop calling me that, it’s embarrassing,” the prince hissed.
“Is that the only thing your brain managed to process from my marvelous speech?” Commander Chen sounded more than offended, but one of his cat-like corners of the mouth was still raised in a somewhat amused sort of smirk.
“Yes. Now be quiet, we’re almost there and I don’t want the king to see me grinning like a fool.”
“Your wish is my command, Your Highness,” the commander responded in a mockingly serious way, adding a fabulous bow for better effect.
“Oh, shut up.” Now it was the Crown Prince’s turn to roll his eyes.

The commander’s and prince’s brotherly banter died down when they neared the palace. At first, it didn’t make as much of an impression on both of the men as it probably should have, but it was still stunning. The walls were almost entirely black, like coal, but they were used to it by now; it was a signature architecture of this land, every house, every hut coal black. Still, there was something different about this particular building, something they couldn’t put their fingers on yet. At first glance, one may think the royalty favoured simplicity, but upon closer inspection, very detailed and intricate gold patterns could be seen engraved onto the walls of the palace, so small and delicate that it was easy to overlook them from a distance. If it weren’t for the sun shining off the gold, they also would’ve missed it. However, as they were nearing the main entrance, still fascinated with the patterns, they couldn’t help noticing exactly what was carved so deeply into the black stone.
“The history of Embersa,” both of the men gasped quietly, eyes scanning quickly the nearest wall. As the letters got larger, so did their eyes, now almost entirely out of their sockets.
“And in ancient Pyrenish,” whispered the Crown Prince still awestruck by the beauty of the inscriptions.
“It’s like an old chronicle, but much, much better,” added Commander Chen not being able to tear his eyes away.
“Jongdae, am I going crazy, or is the gold really flowing?” the Crown Prince asked while squinting his eyes.
“In that case, we both need a Healer, because I’m seeing it too,” the commander replied while blinking rapidly. The both of them couldn’t stop staring at the liquid gold moving slowly in one direction, like a mountain water stream they were so used to seeing in their kingdom. “Simply exquisite,” he added as an afterthought.
“As expected of the Pyre King.” The Crown Prince nodded in approval with a ‘not bad’ expression etched onto his pale face. Now that he knew magic was used to make that stunning castle, he could sense it giving off pulsating waves of great power, which he didn't pay attention to before. He was so accustomed to it by now that it became almost undetectable if he didn't focus on it, like perfume that after some time becomes impossible to smell on oneself unless you breathe in over that particular fragrant spot. He then noticed the guards marching further away from them while they were marvelling at the castle’s beauty. “Let's hurry up, Dae.” The Crown Prince nodded his head at the Royal Guard, successfully gaining his companion’s attention. They nudged their horses and quickly caught up to the men unnoticed.

Finally they arrived at the grand staircase leading up to the impressively massive black wooden double doors also decorated with gold inscriptions, but this time of all the names of the royal families’ members throughout generations, with the current family ruling at the top of the door and the letters double the size of the lower ones. This time though they weren't flowing. The Crown Prince’s eyes trailed up to the name of the current king, the most intricate in design, just to involuntarily land on his children’s, one in particular at that. It was the name of his soon-to-be-betrothed, the only daughter of King Yon that he not so eagerly wanted to marry. He frowned and brought his attention back to the matters at hand. When the Royal Guard stopped marching and formed a corridor on both sides before the stairs, both of the visitors pulled their horses’ reins and dismounted them. In an instant, two unfamiliar faces of servants appeared before them, taking the horses’ reins from them and leading them to the royal stable. Then the Royal Guard bowed deeply in unison, which the two men took as their cue to ascend the stairs. The Crown Prince was the first to reach the top with Commander Chen closely behind him scanning their surroundings for possible danger. Not even a moment later, the door started shimmering mysteriously, catching them off guard, and then t