Chapter 1

The world as Robert knew it ended at the docks. As a child he would often watch the new ships arriving. He always enjoyed watching these big ships unload all the new and exciting goods they brought to Azurdon. He would just sit there, watch the ships and forget everything around him. Sometimes the sailors would give him something. A small trinket, a toy, or something to eat. Everyone knew him and everyone loved him. His mother always had to drag him home, otherwise he probably would have boarded one of those ships in search of an adventure.

His first encounter with the docks was purely coincidental. He was in the castle with his mother, who had worked as a maid there. He was a curious child and one day, he stopped to listen to a conversation through the crack of a door. Unfortunately for him, a passing guard caught him. The guard that had found him, pulled him away from that door and had thrown him out. He had wandered around and ended up at the docks. That was where everything began. He came back to the docks all the time after that. Each day he learned something new and became friends with sailors from all over the world.

Sometimes he missed those times. The simpler times.

It was not much of a surprise when he decided that he wanted to join the royal navy once he was old enough. Though it was much duller than he thought it would be. The trips he had taken so far were short and not far from the kingdom.

His whole life he had spent on the docks. And now it was time for him to go farther. Now his story just began. Though Robert did not know it yet, his whole life was about to change.

Robert was called into the office of a high-ranking ex-navy captain. He had retired years ago and was now in charge of governing over the navy.

“Mr. Thorne.” The man got up and shook Robert’s hand. “Please, take a seat.” Both men sat down at his desk. “I have a mission for you.”

“A mission?”, Robert asked.

“Yes. As you may know, Princess Eveline was abducted long ago. We have done everything in our power to find her, but we have failed to locate her. Until now.” He pulled out a map with dots and crosses in different locations. “These markings show sightings of her in the last few months. We have reason to believe that her current location must be in the vicinity of these sites. I want you to find her and bring her back to us.” He rolled the map back up and handed it to Robert. “Can I trust you to complete this mission?”

“Yes, sir. I will not disappoint you.”