It throws a lot at you in this chapter, and some of it doesn't really flow well, like we're suddenly seeing the prince's depressing past in a rather jarring way, before suddenly being shot back to the present - it probably would have worked better if we see all of the princes backstory, have him get captured (and the likely betrayal that caused said capture), and then the attempted execution, in proper sequential order. I'm guessing they did it in this way out-of-order manner because they felt it would be more interesting for the reader.
Also, I really hope that the prince has a strange power that effects memories, or how people perceive him, or something... or that entire bit with the elf knight's memory would have just been extremely forced and stupid. It really came out of nowhere.
Anyway, the initial chapter, though rushed, seems like an interesting set up, so I'll give it a few more chapters.