Tadrinus’s eyes went wide, and he could barely keep from jumping for joy. He bounced in place as the rest of the names were called. The group left the arena together, and as soon as he could, Tadrinus ran off to town. He was planning to tell his parents, but there was somewhere he had to stop at first.
     

Near the center of town, in a side path was a mural of the three heroes. They were the three guards for the Royal twins Verisdon and Amalane. The painting was years old, but Tadrinus still admired the painter's skill.
     

The paint was fading, but the vibrant color was still strong. The painter had also used some stone to represent the seven gems each was known to have on their chest. The gems were special. 
     

When Princess Amalane was born, the tears she cried turned into gems–twenty-one of them, three different colors, seven of each. No one knew why it happened or why it never happened again, but it was assumed that it was her power. They were given to her personal guards to show they were for her and her brother.
     

No one knew where the heroes came from. Just that one day, the town was informed that the twins were being given personal guards. Tadrinus had always wanted to be in the royal guards but didn’t think he had a chance with his illusion ability until he got a lucky break. 
     
     

When Tadrinus was twelve, he was walking around town, looking for something to do as his parents were working. When he heard a young girl crying down an alleyway, he walked down it to find a girl curled up in a corner, crying to herself. He didn’t recognize her but noticed she wore a fancy dress.
     

He moved closer to her. “Are you okay?”
     

She sniffed and looked up at him. “Who are you?”
     

He smiled at her. “I'm Tadrinus. Who are you?”
     

“My name is Amalane,” she muttered.
     

Tadrinus stared at her, surprised that the princess was in one of the back alleyways of town. “Oh…you must be lost.”
     

“I left the castle and can’t find my way back,” she said with tears in her eyes.
   

 Tadrinus held out his hand to her. “Do you want me to bring you back?”
   

“Could you?” she asked, taking his hand. He helped her stand up, and once she did, he spun her around, making her laugh. They started to walk back towards the castle, him swinging their arms. 
   

When they got to the main street, she stopped and pulled his arm closer to her. He stopped to look at her as she looked around. “Why are you so nice?” she whispered.
     

He gave her a small smile. “Who wouldn’t be nice to the princess of their kingdom?”
     

Amalane gasped, looking up at him. “You’re one of our people?”
     

Tadrinus chuckled, “how could I be here if i wasn’t?” He waved to himself. “I might be a little older than you, but I’m still a kid. I can’t travel that far.”
     

She nodded and looked back at the people walking around. He squeezed her hand, and she took a small breath before the two started walking again. He could see the castle over the buildings, so it was easy to figure out what way to go.
     

As they approached the castle, Amalane seemed to calm down. Tadrinus was fine without talking, letting Amalane look at whatever she wanted, even stopping sometimes to let her look into shop windows or watch people do things.
     

Once they turned on the road leading to the castle, Amalane gasped and ran to a group of people, ripping her hand from his. He followed her only to see the people she ran to all had similar uniforms. There were three of them, and the one in the front of the group kneeled and held out their arms for her to run into. When she did, he pulled her closer and then started to look around.
     

Tadrinus moved over to them. “Um…” the three uniformed people looked at him, though he could only tell because the front of the helmet pointed towards him. “Are you okay with me leaving you with them?” He recognized them from the armor, anyone would.