Abdul stood before the people with royal guards standing on either side of him. Three large bird cages covered in curtains stood in a giant wagon behind the general. “Subjects of Eden, time to pay your weekly taxes.”

In front of the people was a large wooden bucket the size of a bathtub. Kovu’s eyes trembled as he saw the people give up any and everything they had into the bucket that seemed more like an endless pit.

Kovu then spotted the young girl he met earlier. She trembled as she tried to hold onto her wealth. Her mother kneeled behind her with her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “You have to give it to them.” The mother gave her daughter a gentle smile.

The young girl went up to the bucket and dropped the coin into it. All the coins inside the bucket barely covered a fourth of its total depth. Abdul glared at the sight in displeasure. “What is this?” Abdul stared at the people. “The king expects this bucket to be full. What games are you trying to play?”

The people stared angry and confused. They balled up their fists, they shouted: “What do you expect? We need work. We’re starving. Have mercy on us.”

Abdul narrowed his eyes. “Enough, you know what happens when you don’t pay your taxes.”

The guards pulled off the curtains to the bird cages. Three harpies screeched out of their cages that frightened the masses.

Abdul faced the cages, swinging his arm out of to the side. “Release the harpies!”

“No, not that,” one man yelled.

“We’ll pay, we’ll pay,” cried out a woman.

The bird cages opened. Screeching beasts were the harpies. Their short blue hair shot backwards as if they were draggers. They held talons and wings of a bird. Their faces and bodies resembled those of a woman gone mad with collars of gold. Each of them set their eyes on their victims outside the cage. All of them swooped out of their cages and over the crowd. The people scattered, running for their lives as the harpies flew after them.

“Stop!” Kovu rushed forward. He pushed his way through the crowd in the direction of the guards. His body slammed against the wave of fleeing people. He made it over to one of the royal guards and yanked the man’s sword from its sheath.

“Hey!”

Kovu drop kicked the guard across the face.

One of the harpies grabbed the young girl by her wrist, lifting her up as she screamed.

Kovu searched around and found a piece of rope. “There.” He grabbed the rope and tied it around the hilt of the soldier's sword. He twisted around to face the harpy that grabbed the girl.

He hurled the sword through the air like a javelin. The blade sliced through the harpy’s wing.

The harpy screeched. She arched her back before she dropped the child back to the ground.

Abdul stared at the sight. “Who is that?”

Kovu pulled on the rope, bringing the sword back to him. He caught the hilt before he ripped off the hood to reveal his face.

Abdul jerked his head back as he stared. “Prince Kovu?!”

Kovu faced Abdul. “What is this, Abdul?”

Abdul was about to speak when… the three harpies swooped down and attacked the prince on all sides. Kovu swatted off their attacks the best he could. Feathers and wings flapped all around him.

Kovu raised his left fist in front of his face. The sharp talons of a harpy slashed into him. Talons and wings were all around Kovu, but he wouldn’t simply allow himself to fall. He swung his blade at one of the harpies as she flew back.

One harpy bit the young royal in the shoulder. The prince roared out in pain.

Kovu stabbed the beast in the side to get her to let go. The prince was only shortly relieved. In mere seconds another harpy grabbed him by his hair with her talons while another ripped through his clothes and across his bare chest.

Every one of his scars glowed. He dug his feet into the dirt ground as he showed his teeth. The road around him turned into grains of sand as the scars he once bared slowly faded away. He swung his blade to slash the female monsters.

But the harpies would not be done in so easily. They came at him once more with their claws and teeth, stabbing into him. Kovu swung wildly as his blood pumped madly. He was desperate and hated everything. He just wanted to crush them with everything he had.

The sand beneath him rushed forward that pushed the two harpies in front of him aside. His back had been completely exposed for the last harpy to attack him. Kovu did not notice or care. He just kept pushing his sand forward without understanding what he was doing.

The last harpy had been ready to rip out the young prince's back to save her sisters from his assault. Unfortunately for her a burst of lightning blasted into her back that had her collapsed onto the ground below her. Dayo had stood behind her, letting off his lightning through his sword.

Kovu continued to push the other two harpies away with his sand. Just then the remaining scars on his body had finished healing. The sand collapsed, freeing the beasts. They were still covered in the sand that stopped them from attacking right away.

“Why has it stopped?” Kovu looked down to examine his own hands.

Dayo's sword sparked with lightning as its owner prepared to fight in his brother’s place.

The royal guards stabbed their blades down into shinny, blue Redemption Crystals, scattering them. A blinding light shot out like a wave that consumed the harpies. The harpies screamed in painful terror as their bodies turned to ash.

General Abdul bridged the gap between him and Prince Kovu, standing in front of him. “Prince Kovu, what are you doing here? I did not want you to ever get involved in this.”

Dayo walked up beside his brother, placing his hand on his back. “So you thought you could hide this from us forever?”

Kovu looked over at the frightened people in front of him. It was his first time before a crowd of common people. If his mother had shown him what she wanted all those years ago he would have seen this before. If he had known he would have...

“The prince,” the man said.

“Prince Kovu,” a woman responded.

“Isn’t that Prince Dayo as well,” a second man replied.

Kovu looked to see the mother from earlier tightly holding her daughter.

“Did they come to tax us personally?” a man responded.

“They’ve come to hurt us,” a woman screamed.

Kovu backed away. He looked at all the people. “No, I…”

“…want to slay us,” said the mother.

“…enslave us,” cried a man.

Kovu’s body rocked. “NO!!!!” He ran pass the royal guards, avoiding Abdul’s hand as it reached out for him.

“Wait, Prince Kovu!” Abdul shouted.

Dayo ran in front of the people, stretching out his arms. “My good people of Eden you are mistaken. My brother saved you from the monsters, did he not?” The people looked at each other with confused looks.

Abdul looked over at his men. “Finish collecting the taxes.”

“Yes, sir,” said the guards.

Abdul ran after Kovu.

“Delay that order. Wait for me.” Dayo went after his brother and Abdul.

“Yes, your highness.”

*

Kovu stormed through the main hall of the castle with his jaw clenched and his shoulders hunched. Fierce anger radiated off the young prince's body. He had only one thing on his mind.

“Prince Kovu, wait. Where are you going?” Abdul turned the prince around in the middle of the hall.

“To talk to my father.” Kovu pulled his arm back.

“Now is not the time.”

“You believe I should listen to a word you say?” Kovu pointed at him. He glared at Abdul ready to kill him. “When all you ever did was deceive me? My kingdom, my strength, any and everything you said were all falsehoods.”

Abdul gazed down. “I am sorry, but these were your father’s orders.”

Dayo ran up behind Abdul, finally catching up with them.

Kovu balled up his fists. “I am going to make father change things around here.” He turned and headed down the hallway.

“At least change clothes,” Abdul said.

“These are the clothes of the people. This is exactly what they had to endure."

Kovu turned around and headed down the hall to the double doors of the throne room.

Abdul and Dayo followed after him. “Then at least wait until your father finishes his meeting,” Abdul pleaded.

“I will not wait any longer.” Kovu pushed open the thick double wooden doors, heading inside.

Dayo began to follow his brother when Abdul laid his hand on his shoulder to stop him. He shook his head. Both of them looked on to see Kovu step into the throne room.

Kovu entered the stone room. Golden angel statues acted as pillars with a blue and gold carpet that went over the floor leading up to the steps of the throne. “Father.”

The fat noblemen covered in garments and jewels of the court turned in the direction of the prince. Two guards stood before the throne with their spears. King Oman, the princes’ father at the grand age of forty-five though looked in his fifties sat in his throne in the back of the room. The man was rather plump like a pig with black hair and a beard. His very being spoke of greediness and so did his clothing. The man's black and gold clothing were complimented with his rich blue cape, golden sandals and jewel pins that held the top of his clothes in place to show off his riches as well as the crown that presented his status that no one else possessed. “Kovu, what are you doing here? And what on earth are you wearing?”

Kovu stood in the middle of the room, looking up at the king. “Father, why are you doing this?”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw outside the Noble District.”

King Oman stood up, his face burning. “Who told you to do that? Did you forget the last time you tried that?”

“I have not. Father, how can you steal from your people like this?”

King Oman glared down at his son with a dark look in his eyes. He stared at his son like he was only a naive brat who understood nothing of the real world. “I am merely making them pay their taxes.”

Kovu curled up his hands into fists. “Sending harpies if they do not pay you? Father, you have more riches than you could possibly spend.” Kovu gestured his hand back to the doors. “Give the people their wealth back.”

King Oman laughed madly.

His noblemen quickly followed suit.

Kovu glared at the men on either side of him. Their jewels and gold bounced off their full bellies. Their laugher like devils who seek to destroy all that was good.

“Silly boy. This is exactly why I never told you about this.” King Oman sat down in his throne. “Then what would you have?” King Oman rested his fist on his cheek with a smug look on his face. “You like your slaves do you not?”

Kovu lowered his head. Sweat dripped from his brow. “I thought they were servants.” Kovu glared up at his father. “I thought the people loved us!! They hate and fear us!”

“Commoners need to learn their place,” King Oman said. “You know nothing of their wicked ways.”

Kovu stepped forward ready to attack the corrupt old man only to be stopped by two guards who crossed their spears in front of him. “Father!”

Dayo marched through the throne room. Sparks of lightning leaped off of his hands as his brother continued to try to push pass the guards. Dayo came up behind Kovu. The younger prince wrapped his arm around his brother’s throat. Using the smallest sparks of lightning he could produced to shock his brother into submission.

Kovu shouted. He collapsed into the younger prince's arms. Dayo looked up at his father. "Forgive him, Father. Brother has had a long day and has gotten into one of his moods. I am sure he will be more understanding tomorrow after he gets some rest.”

"I certainly hope so, Prince Dayo."

Dayo bared his teeth and glowed. He glared back to see none other than the queen herself, Aaliyah, the princes' stepmother. The very standard of womanly beauty, her skin a lovely coco brown with such well define curves it made men’s mouths water, her face smooth and daring as her black hair had been tied down into several braids that flowed down around her. She held a staff as long as her body. Her dress a stunning rich purple with off the shoulder sleeves along and a golden V plate attached around her waist. The queen also wore a large golden necklace.