As Mark stood outside of his father's room, a maid walked by. Mark quickly stood up and tried to distract the maid. He didn't want anyone in the castle to think that the king was weak.

"Ummmm... Can you play with me? My mother isn't here anymore, so would you like to play some tag?"

"Sure," the maid replied with a smile.

"Okay, I will be 'it' and you will be the one running. The limits are the garden only," Mark said, "I will come after you in one minute. Ready... Go!"

The maid started running. As a matter of fact, she took off her shoes and ran. Mark became relieved; however, he could still hear his father crying. Mark leaned against the door and thought about how he would comfort him. Mark realized that he couldn't, because he was also on the verge of crying. As Mark was in deep thought, he realized that one minute was up. He ran towards the garden. In a minute or two, he arrived at the garden. He looked around to see if the maid was around, and with luck, he saw the maid around the corner. He chased after her.In a few seconds, he caught up to her and tagged her. 

"Wow, young master, you are so fast," the maid said while trying to breath.

"It's because I used to play this with my mom," Mark said with a gloomy face.

"Lets get you back to your room. You must be tired," the maid said as she ushered Mark back to his room.

Later that night, Mark cried for the first time as a boy.

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                 -two years later-

The king reamarried to a rather beautiful woman. Her name was Stephannie.Even though the king remarried to another woman, the king was will mourning over his wife. Mark was now fifteen years old. He became more matured and took up some work that the king gave him. Mark grew up to be a handsome boy. He had the fairest skin, hair that was beautiful and shiny, and eyes hat resembled jewels. Everyone loved Mark, everyone but Stephannie. As a matter of fact, Stephannie despised Mark. She hated how he was prettier than her. She hated how the king used more of his time to talk with Mark than her. She hated how the kingdom loved him more than her. She hated everything about Mark. She wanted to make him suffer as much as she did. She needed to kill somone close to him, his father. 

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One night, Stephannie and the king were having their daily afternoon tea. The king needed to get more sandwiches; therefore, he left to ask the maid for more.Stephannie took out a bottle of poison that she had obtained from her "friend". She carefully poured a small amount into the tea cup that the king drank from. She then poured the tea in to make sure the poison dissolved evenly. She shoved the bottle back into her pocket and sat back down, drinking her tea like nothing happened. When the king came back, Stephannie smiled a bright smile ,like nothing was wrong. A moment later, the king took a sip of the tea. Stephannie cracked a smile. After a minute, the king fell to the floor and writhed in pain. Stephannie acted like she was worried and called a maid. A few minutes later, the king died. 

"Perfect crime," Stephannie thought to herself. 

Mark ran over to his father. Crying, he shook his father  a million times. 

"Father? Wake up... Is this a joke again? Hahahaha..... It's so funny, but you have to wake up now. Didn't you promise me that we were going to take me outside and see the city? Please, wake up," Mark sobbed.

The king laid on the floor, refusing to move. Stephannie saw the pitful Mark, crying on top of the  lifeless body of the king. Stephannie had another plan.

"Since I am a nice mother, I shall reunite him with his parents," Stephannie snickered.

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When Stephannie returned back to her chambers, she called her "friend" back. 

"I need you to kill Mark," the queen said.

Her "friend" was in shock. Even thought he was loyal to her, he was more loyal to Mark. He couldn't say this to the queen because she would have him fired in a second. 

"But Mark didn't do anything to you; therefore, there is no need to kill him," he negotiated.

"Did i hear something that I shouldn't have?"

"No mam, I shall dispose of Mark straight away," he replied.

The 'friend' walked over to Mark's  room with the knife that the queen gave him. He slowly opened the door and saw Mark reading a book. He quickly ran over to him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Prince Mark, I need you to run away. Don't ask questions, just run," as he squeezed Mark's shoulders.

Mark looked at him and nodded.

"I understand, please take care of everyone, Sinbad. When I am gone, please make sure everyone is treated equally. I will be back," Mark said as he grabbed his backpack and ran outside.

Sinbad quickly ran to the farm and cut a pig's heart out. He put the heart into the box that the queen gave him. He made sure the pig was taken care of and ran back to the queen.

"Sorry I took so long, Mark was very fast. He ended up going into the farm where i lost him, but don't worry, I got rid of him," Sinbad lied.

"Good, as expected of my loyal servant. You are now dismissed," Stepahnnie said as she walked back to her chambers.

"I hope you are alright, Mark. Please don't die," Sinbad said as he squeezed the pendant that Mark gave him before he left.

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Mark ran through the forest. He was getting tired. When he realized that the tall castle wasn't in sight, he stopped and started walking. He needed to conserve energy so that he could survive; however, when Mark was walking, he realized that, he left his home. He lost his parents. He didn't have any more friends. Mark realized that in this world, it would be eat or be eaten. HE needed to survive on his own. He didn't need anyone to help him because that would result in him getting hurt.Mark didn't need anyone, he needed to be independant...

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                    -two days later-

Mark clenched his stomach as she trudged himself up the hill. He was out in the forest, alone, and without food.  He was suprised that he didn't die, because his main staple food was the chips that were given to him. He slowly, but surely, started to feel sick. He felt his eyelids drop and he collapsed on the floor of the hill, waiting for death to arrive....

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Hi guys.Thanks for reading this chapter of the story. I tried to make this story as interesting as possible. So i hope you guys like this story. PLease comment and thanks for reading this.