The King

Once Lyndsey was able to get a hold of herself, she pulled away from Brian and glanced shyly at the two men who accompanied him.

“Who are your friends?” she asked, her voice quiet as the two men looked her up and down, wondering the same thing about her. They’d never seen this girl in their life, and had never seen Brian around with her either.

“These are my friends, Matt and Zach,” Brian explained, pointing to each of them respectively. The two boys waved, though were still confused, waiting for the girl’s introduction. “Guys, this is Lyndsey. She was my best friend… back home, before I came here.”

Matt and Zach slowly nodded. It was the first time since the day they had met, that Brian had openly talked about something, anything from his past.

“So… what are you doing here?” Brian asked Lyndsey as the four of them made their way back to the abandoned shack they called home. “I mean to say, how did you even get here?”

“I walked here,” Lyndsey stated matter-of-factly.

“By yourself!?” Brian asked, the mere thought of it entirely incredulous.

“Yes, I just… I can’t believe you’re here, Brian, I really can’t! Ever since you let, nothing has been the same. Your uncle took the throne,” Lyndsey explained briefly, thinking Brian would understand immediately what that meant. When he didn’t say anything in return, she continued, saving the details of that for when they could be alone.

“All I can think of is… wait until everyone finds out you were here all this time. Your mother!” she gasped, following Brian as he led her into a run-down looking building. “She was devastated when your uncle told us the news. What will she think of this?”

Brian felt confused by Lyndsey’s words. When Bartholomew told them the news? He hoped she meant merely the news of his father’s death, not that he was the cause of it. Though he was certain that Lyndsey wouldn’t have been nearly as ecstatic as she had been to see him if that were the case.

“She doesn’t have to know,” Brian said defiantly, and he could see a sudden flash of confusion in Lyndsey’s eyes. “Nobody has to know. I don’t want them to know. I like it here,” Brian finished, flanking at Matt and Zach who had sat down on some chairs they had salvaged, watching and listening intently to the conversation.

“Of course they need to know! Everyone thinks you’re dead, Brian!” Lyndsey finally exclaimed, taken aback by Brian’s selfishness.

Shocked, Brian’s mouth fell open. His confusion only grew further.

“What? What do you mean they think I’m dead?”

“Bartholomew told the entire kingdom you were killed during the siege, alongside your father. And when no one could fin you, it wasn’t too hard to believe him,” she explained. “But here you are. And you’re alive. This changes everything, Brian. With you still living, this makes you the king, not Bartholomew.”

Brian closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh as he heard his two friends gasp from across the room.

“What?!” Zach yelped, sitting up much straighter, eyes wide.

“A king? This guy? No way. He’s one of us,” Matt insisted, looking between Brian and Lyndsey. “I think you’re confused.”

“I’m being serious,” Lyndsey said.

“Wow. Do I need to call you Your Majesty or something?” Zach snickered.

“No. Stop,” Brian sighed, putting his hands out before him as if shielding away anything that might be said. “I’m not a king.”

“Brian!” Lyndsey scolded, amazed by the way he was acting.

“No,” he defied her once more. “I’m not. Do you see me? Do you see what I am!?” Brian asked, gesturing to himself as he stood before her. “I’m not a king. Maybe I was going to be one, but… so much has changed about me that you don’t know,” Brian explained with a sigh.

“So wait just one minute,” Matt interjected. “You’re a king, and you never thought to tell us?”

“What does it matter? I’m still the same guy. I’m still me,” Brian said, worried that things were going to be drastically different from that point on.

“But you have power! We could be living the easy life!” Zach exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

Lyndsey and Brian sighed collectively, knowing Matt and Zach were distracting them from the real situation at hand.

“Do you boys mind excusing us for a minute? I think Brian and I need to speak privately,” she said, glancing at Brian and nodding subtly toward the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Brian had taken Lyndsey down to his private spot down on the bank of the river, where he and his friends had laid and joked around just a few nights before. They sat there quiet for a few moments, Brian throwing pebbles haphazardly into the water.

“Sorry about my friends back there. They mean well. I think they were just… overwhelmed with the gravity of the situation,” he said in an attempt to break the silence. Glancing over at Lyndsey, he frowned at the wounded look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“This is all just so unbelievable,” she whispered, looking up at him. “It’s… it’s like you’re back from the dead. You’ve no idea how much this will mean to everyone… Your family, the kingdom… what it means to me.”

“Hey, everything is okay,” Brian cooed, putting his arm around Lyndsey’s shoulders and pulling her closer. “I’m right here, see? I’m perfectly fine.”

“I know.” She sniffled, trying to keep her tears at bay. “But I’ve really missed you, Brian. We’ve all been so scared without you there.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Brian whispered, lightly kissing the top of her head, feeling her arms close around his middle. It fell silent between them after that. Before them the sky was darkening, the clouds turning pink and purple and orange through the sunset. . All they could hear was the sound of the water as it lazily passed by.

Once the sky grew darker, Brian squeezed Lyndsey’s arm lightly, making sure she was still awake, as she had fallen so silent and still next to him.

“It’s late,” he said quietly. “We should head back.”

The entire walk back home, Brian couldn’t help but think to himself. What if he did go back with Lyndsey? Would it change anything? Would he be able to face the fact that he was the cause for his father’s death? And what would happen once everyone found out? Surely he’d be exiled again.

No, Brian was certain of it. It was best to stay here, in his new home, with Matt and Zach. There was no turning back now.