Chapters 3 and 4 Summary

In Chapter three, Ben talks about Queen Sophia. She says her father, Walter, and his brother, King Ferdinand, were raised by loving parents in the same home but chose very different women as wives. Ben's mother was a healer, devoted to her family and to helping others. They lived not in the castle but in the soldier's barracks, away from the "haughty aura" of the home ruled by Sophia. Sophia has never had a child though she sought the advice of many, including Ben's mother. A year earlier, it was announced during a formal event that Ben is the recognized heir to the throne considering the fact that Sophia had not produced an heir. Sophia wanted, at that time, to begin Ben's training as future queen but Ben's mother refused.

Back in the present, Ben arrives in the throne room. Sophia...