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There was only so much a Prince could do.
It had only been a few months since his father and Llyr's departure, but it hadn't taken long until everything went wrong. Very soon after, Borlath had returned and assumed the crown. For the safety of their people, Amadis hadn't fought him and hoped that his brother had changed.
He hadn't. Unsurprisingly, Borlath turned out to be a terrible king. Amadis frequently found himself cleaning up his big brother's messes: organising the castle's defenses, solving disputes and many other things.
His newest worry was the rationing of food supplies.
When their father had been king, this had not been a problem at all because of his ability to multiply. Now, their supplies were dwindling. And there was nothing Borlath was going to do about it.
They were not tilling fields or hunting in the forest. It was just a matter of time before they ran out. On top of that, Borlath had explicitly forbidden him from leaving the castle because apparently defending the people outside of the castle from invaders was a waste of resources.
Amadis had tasked some of his animal friends to bring him supplies, but they could only bring so much and he knew he shouldn't burden them with such a task. Their time was running out and there was nothing he could do about it.
He had already reduced his own food intake so that it could last longer, but in his heart he knew it was a futile effort.
The heavy rationing was only occasionally complemented by his animal friends' gifts. Borlath himself frequently circumvented Amadis' rules, which certainly didn't help the provisions.
"Enter," said a voice and Amadis opened the door to the nursery.
He held up a handful of fruit. "A little birdie gave me these," he said. Elin smiled and gestured for him to come closer.
In a little bed laid his littlest sister. Soon, she would be a year old.
"Hey," he said, softly. "I brought you some fruit."
She answered something incomprehensible, but was very excited about the berries.
"You have such a lovley brother," cooed Elin. She snatched Amadis' berries and began feeding them to Amoret.
"Thank you for taking care of her," Amadis said fondly. "You should eat one too. God knows you deserve it."
Elin paused her activities and furrowed her brows at him.
"I'm fine," Amadis said. She just shook her head.
He hadn't even realised that he had been swaying until he was hit by a sudden wave of nausea. He steadied himself on a wall.
Almost immediately, Elin rushed over and guided him into a chair, rubbing cirlces on his back while he tried not to throw up what little he had eaten.
When his vision cleared, he faced Elin to give her a reassuring smile. She looked thoroughly unconvinced.
"You need to eat more,* she said.
He shook his head. "We don't have more.*
She pursed her lips and went over to her bag. She rummaged through it and then handed him a piece of leftover meat.
Amadis took it. It smelled amazing.
"Where did you get it from?", he asked.
"It's leftovers from yesterday," she answered.
"Yours?", Amadis said. "You should have eaten it."
"You need it more than I do," she said sternly.
"But..."
"Eat."
He obeyed.
A little while later, Amoret has fallen asleep. They watched her fondly.
"We can't keep this up," Elin reminded him.
"There's nothing I can do, here," Amadis said.
She took his hand.
"Maybe we have to leave."