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  Luckily, Elan was strong. He was able to speak on behalf of the family to the King. My mother fulfilled her role as a lady even through her grief and was able to thank the crown for its generosity.

  I had not been as strong, keeping mostly to myself. I felt some shame that my sadness has overwhelmed me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  The day after the service, I had breakfast with my family. Elan tried to lighten the mood, but fell silent after failing to cheer us up. Afterward, my brother easily slid into his new role as Lord and left to discuss business with some bankers. I waved to Matiss, our cook, as I grabbed some bread, and slid out of the house on my way to the palace.

  Doing the work there was where I felt most comfortable. To be at the beginnings of rebuilding a kingdom was exhilarating. As I read the books in Lee’s office, I started to feel a connection to a place to which I had never been. It seemed so wonderful. The books told of art and innovations, some of which were still in use today. Reading about it made it seem so close. It made me angry to think that the kingdom was being so abused by Dommeran.

  I waved to the familiar guards as I passed the entrance gate, chewing on the last crust of my bread. As I made the long walk to the palace, I tugged my jacket tighter. We were just starting to get our first winter chill. Glancing up, there was nothing but gray skies to be seen.

  Entering the warmth of the palace was a relief. I will have to buy a new jacket for tomorrow’s trip, I thought to myself. I made my daily journey up the spiral staircase, following the familiar path to King Eberon’s quarters. I always appreciated the friendly environment of Alsselya’s rooms. It was so different from what I experienced while assisting my father. There was so much tension amongst the Lords in King Kendrick’s court. Of course, now I understand that was due to the treasonous activities of Lord Hannen.

  The wonderful aroma of sweetbreads greeted me as I walked into the suite. I always ate before leaving the house, but these palace-baked sweets were irresistible. Looking them over, I grabbed one with custard on top.

  “Ryan, my boy. How are you?” Father Yagen asked. He was a large, intimidating man to look at, but inside he was friendly and gentle.

  “Fine, sir,” I lied. “Thank you for asking.”

  The priest smiled as he acknowledged my lie, but decided not push me. I really appreciated that. Everyone had given me space since my father’s death, so I could find my own acceptance. Grabbing another sweetbread, this one with chocolate, I made my way to Lee’s offices.

  Looking around, this was my world, these books. I had documented most of the books now, but they were so fascinating that, with many, I stopped working just to read. No one seemed to mind. Grabbing a stack of books, I made my way out to Arthur’s desk and started looking through the titles.

  I was lost in thought, buried in my third book when Lee walked through the door from his room. “Ryan! Good morning. How are you feeling today?”

  “Fine, Sire.”

  Lee could also see through my lie, but let it slide. It seemed like he caught everything. I wondered if his magic helped. “Well, I am glad to see you. As a matter of fact, I bought you something,” He said with a smile. “One Moment.” He quickly darted into his bedroom, returning with a blue handled knife. He handed it hilt first to me. Pulling it out of its sheaf I saw that it was a full sized hunting knife. While I had owned smaller knives in the past, I had never had one like this.

  “It’s beautiful Sire, thank you.”

  “I thought it might come in handy for you on our trip.

  I glanced up. “Our trip? I’m not going with Arthur to Coneer?”

  Lee looked surprised. “I had just assumed you want to come with us to visit the elves.”

  “Of course I would! I just thought you wanted me to travel with Arthur to stay at the Fox Guild,” I said with an excited tremble to my voice. I had never imagined they would take me with them to see the elves.

  “What? And give up the only person in this crew that I can have a conversation with that doesn’t involve swords?” Lee asked with a smile. “No, I’ll need you here bright and early. Make sure you pack warmly. We will be heading north and winter is just now coming. You may wish that you went to Coneer by the time this is done.”

  I left the office feeling good for the first time since my father died. I was going on an adventure! I thought to myself. I saw Arthur talking to Barad. I quickly ran over to them, giving Arthur a big hug. “Arthur! I am going With King Eberon to the elves!”

  “Oh?” He asked with a smile. “And how shall I survive without the kingdom’s best assistant?” He said jokingly.

  “Ugh, you already knew, didn’t you?” I asked. “Of course you would, you know everything.”

  “Yes, but it’s more fun you finding out this way. I will miss you though,” Arthur said, giving me another hug. In a way, he had adopted me, even before the night my father was killed. I felt very close to him and suddenly realized I was going to miss him greatly.

  “So, another soldier for our trip, eh?” Barad said with a smile. “Are you armed?”

  “Of course I am,” I replied smugly holding out my new knife.

  Barad took it from me and examined it. “That’s a fine knife. It will come in handy on our trip,” He said as he handed it back. “Still, since we are traveling together, why don’t I teach you sword basics? It will help fill the time.”

  “Really? You’ll teach me how to fight?” I asked in shock. I have always been treated as an academic. No one ever offered to teach me how to use a sword before.

  “Oh?” Brianna said as she walked up behind Barad, putting her arm around his shoulder. “You’re not going to hog him all to yourself. I get to help teach Ryan too.”

  “Well, it looks like you are in trouble, but it’s too late to save you now,” Barad teased. “We have some time, how about we wander down to the blade smiths and get you a sword? I’m sure Lee would be happy to pay for it,” Barad said as he waved his hand out to Arthur.

  Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some silver coins, placing them in Barad’s hand. “The kingdom budget will be much safer once you leave for the Veluvian Mountains.”

  “Always a pleasure doing business with you, Arthur,” Barad said with a smile. “Especially, when the business is you handing me money. Come ‘on Ryan, let’s go have some fun.”

  “Not without me to babysit you,” Bri called after us as she followed us out of the room. “You always get into trouble when I let you out of my sight.”

  “Of course I do, love. That way I am guaranteed you’ll always come with me,” He said, taking her hand.

  I could hardly contain my excitement over this turn of events. I thought I was going to be shuffled off to Coneer to continue helping Arthur. Instead, I was traveling with a group of heroes going to visit an elven city that no human has been to in centuries. Along the way, I was going to be trained how to use a sword! I had to stop myself from running through the market. The sword smith’s shop was all the way on the far side. I did stop briefly at a stall to get a thicker jacket. I sure didn’t want to be caught traveling north when the snows hit without one.

  Entering the shop was like going into a candy store. Swords of all sizes hung from the walls. You could hear the clatter of swords from the back of the store where there was an exercise yard.

  A large man approached us from around the counter. He had a gray beard, still tinged with the dark hair of his youth. His leather apron was blackened with multiple burn marks. “Can I help ya?”

  Barad stepped forward. “Hello, we are looking for a sword for this young gentleman,” He said as he nodded to me.

  “I see,” said the smith. He looked me over and came out with a short, skinny sword. “This looks about right,” He stated as he started to hand it to me.

  Barad stuck out his hand and pushed the sword away. “Maybe you misunderstood. This is for a man, not a boy. He doesn’t need a toy.”

  The
sword smith gave me a glance like he would argue that, but shrugged and went back to the wall. Looking over the blades, this time he picked out a different, bulkier sword and brought it back over to us. This time Barad took the sword and started examining it.

  Shaking his head, he handed it back to the smith. “This one is brittle. You let the blade get too hot before quenching.”

  The smith jerked it back and examined the sword. “Humph, must have been one of my apprentices,” he replied, flustered by being caught.

  “Of course sir, I never thought otherwise,” Barad replied with his most winning smile.

  “Well, if it isn’t little Ryan Albright,” came a familiar voice from the practice yard door. “You must be lost, the quill and ink store is down the road.”

  Unfortunately, since my family had never trained me how to fight, I had been picked on by some of the young Lords. I groaned to myself that this was happening in front of Barad and Brianna.

  “Friends of yours?” Barad asked.

  “Not exactly,” I mumbled. “That one is Lord Breen’s kid, Oric.”

  I turned to look at my tormentor, “Oric, what are you doing here.”

  “Me, oh I’m here to pick up my father’s new sword. It was made special for him. But you, you aren’t buying a sword, are you?” He continued with the mocking. “We can’t let you do that, you might hurt yourself.”

  You had to know Barad to read his face, and I could tell he was angry, but he turned to Oric with a big smile. “Tell me Oric, how many friends do you have with you?”

  “Four, why? Are you here with him?” He asked as he motioned to me. “You think you can take us all on to defend little Ryan?”

  “Not me,” Barad shook his head. “Her.” With that he nodded over to Brianna. I looked over to her and realized she had murder in her eyes. She marched towards the yard, pushing Oric out of her way.

  Let’s have some fun boys,” Oric called to his friends. “After we are done with her, we’ll teach Ryan another lesson.”

  Bri walked empty handed out to the center of the yard. “No killing, Honey!” Barad yelled as he sat down, leaning his back against the wall.

  I walked up looking for a sword. “Shouldn’t we help her?”

  “Nah, just sit and enjoy the show,” Barad said as he pulled me down next to him.

  I knew these boys too well. They had picked on me my whole life. Each was around my age of 17. Brianna just watched them as they formed a circle around her.

  Oric looked at her questioningly. “Are you really going to try to fight us without a sword?” Bri just nodded, anger still blazing in her eyes.

  Oric shrugged and charged her with his sword. Bri stepped into his swing and grabbed him around his wrist. Spinning herself around, she tossed him over her shoulder and into one of his friends that was trying to attack her from behind.

  She jumped onto Oric’s back and kicked out, hitting another man across his head and collapsing him onto the ground. Barad grimaced as he watched him fall. “Good thing we are leaving tomorrow,” he muttered.

  Brianna jumped off Oric’s back and ran forward punching another bully in the stomach before he could even swing. He fell down gasping for air. The first man that tried to attack her from behind yelled as he charged at her again. Swinging wildly at Brianna, she was able to lean backwards as the sword slid passed, just narrowly missing her. Using her momentum, she swung her body around clipping the man’s head with her heal. He dropped soundly to the ground.

  Oric was just getting up and gathering his wits. Brianna walked casually up and stood before him. Oric looked her in the eyes. “Who the hel…” Before he finished, Brianna pulled back and punched him in the nose. Blood sprayed as he grabbed his face and fell to his knees.

  I stood shocked as in just a matter of moments Brianna had completely cleared the yard of opponents. She marched straight up to the sword smith, who had been watching from the doorway.

  “Where is the sword that boy was to pick up? The one for Lord Breen.”

  “Here it is,” The smith quickly ran over to his counter and pulled out a very expensive looking blade, handing it to Brianna. She looked it over and swung it a couple of times.

  “This is now Ryan’s sword,” she stated.

  “Yes, ma’am,” The sword smith agreed.

  Chapter 3

  (Lee)

  “Good morning, King Eberon,” Kendrick greeted, as Merret led me into the room. This morning I had been invited to a ‘farewell breakfast’ with the King.

  “Your Highness,” I replied as I joined him at the table.

  “So, are you prepared for your trip?” The King of Vaelin asked.

  “As much we can be,” I said. “There are some things about this journey we may not be able to predict, and once we arrive, well, there may be all new problems.”

  The King nodded, “I have gone back through our records and reviewed previous dealings with the elves. They can be a challenging people with which to negotiate.”

  I shook my head, “And without Arthur. That is good to know.”

  “You are leaving Arthur behind?” Kendrick asked, surprised.

  “We will be going up into the Veluvian Mountains in winter, I am not sure he is up to it at his age. Instead, he will travel with Max back to the guild and start organizing from there. In fact, if you need anything from Alsselya, reach out to him.”

  Kendrick sighed. “Ah, but he is not the one we would need. You will be missed, my friend.”

  I smiled at the King’s compliment. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I know we will all miss your gracious hospitality.”

  “I spoke with Lady Itchard, she asked that I pass on her well wishes. Also, if you travel south, she has made a standing offer for you to visit,” Kendrick smiled, “Word has it she was responsible for fending off two Dommerian’s with nothing but a serving fork.”

  I smiled at the thought. Lady Itchard had a rough manner about her that I found appealing among all the stuffed shirts of high society. “I believe it. If we travel that way, I’ll be sure to stop by. Of course, right now our path will be northeast.”

  As we chatted, the servants brought in our breakfast. Once again, I was impressed by how perfect all the food was, and wondered how Kendrick remained so thin eating this way.

  “How goes the hunt for Hannen and his son?” I asked after we ate.

  Kendrick shook his head. “Frustratingly slow. The army is scouring the land, but I fear he may have already escaped into Dommeran. Still, we have disrupted their supply chain. There will be no more goods shipping to the Dommerian’s. We have made sure of that. The army has been bolstered at the border, and I’ve sent a call to arms for our Lords that we need young men for the army.”

  I nodded in agreement. “This failure will not sit well in Dommeran. They played their ace and were exposed. They can no longer pretend they are Vaelin’s friends.”

  Kendrick’s expression darkened. “They were never our friends. Oh, how I wish we had caught Hannen! Just one more day and we would have foiled their whole plan. After the ball, I would have rounded them all up and had them in chains.”

  “How is the court recovering?” I asked. Many of the Lord’s Kendrick was counting on were murdered the night of the ball.

  Kendrick smiled. “That is going well. Almost all the Lord’s had children ready to fill their positions, like Elan Albright, all now with a healthy dose of hatred for Dommeran. They are young and idealistic, just what we need for going to war.”

  “That is good. I had worried about the loss of so many. Now if you will forgive me, I need to prepare for leaving tomorrow. I have a very upset Captain of the guard that wishes I would travel across the kingdom with an army at my back.”

  The King sighed. “I wish you would allow me to have a ball in honor of your departure. Some public sign of gratitude, maybe a parade.”

  “No, thank you,” I said, shaking my head. “I would prefer to silently slip away.”

  “Then it is goodbye, for n
ow,” Kendrick said, shaking my hand.

  I left the King’s rooms feeling much better about leaving Vaelin after so much turmoil. It seemed Kendrick had things well in hand. Now, I sighed to myself, to deal with my own house.

  “But they are your Royal Guard. You can’t just leave them behind!” Whilhoit complained.

  “As I’ve already explained, Captain. I’m not going to travel across two kingdoms and into the Veluvian Mountains in a military parade. Besides, everyone that is going along is deadly in their own right.” This was not the first discussion Whilhoit and I have had on a military escort. “The guard can be used in the meantime to improve our army at the Fox Guild. Each one of them has been trained in techniques that no one else uses. We may be presenting only a few soldiers when the war begins, but dammit, they will be the best!”

  Whilhoit, who sat before my desk, finally leaned back in his chair in defeat. “Well, I’m coming with you.”

  “Sure. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just dress as a civilian. We don’t want to attract attention.”

  He smiled, shaking his head. “You sure have the stubbornness of a King.”

  “Arthur tells me it’s a very important trait in royalty,” I said, smiling back. “Tell Arthur to buy another horse for you to ride.”

  Buying horses was a big splurge with our budget, but without knowing how long our trip would be, the cost to rent would likely be too high. The alternative would be walking, and that would take months on foot. That wasn’t an option, especially in winter.

  Whilhoit sighed as he rose, “Very well, I’ll go organize my men.”

  At that moment Barad popped his head through the doorway. “Hey Lee. Just want you to know it wasn’t our fault.”

  “Ok,” I said without thinking. “Wait, what wasn’t our fault?” By then I was too late. Barad had disappeared again.