The King

For days Brian travelled, following the river as he went. He only stopped here and there to rest when he found his journey becoming too weary. What he wanted more than anything at that point was to get back to his real home, as soon as possible. He’d already put it off for so long, he didn’t want to waste anymore time.

In just a matter of four days, unknowing of the party following him along his journey, Brian made it to the outskirts of the village of his kingdom. It was almost as if he passed as invisible border between his kingdom and the outside world. Where once was green was now nothing but dry arid dirt. Buildings and storefronts looked disheveled from years of abandonment. Windows were smashed in, presumably from looters when things began to first unravel. Everywhere he turned, Brian was faced with gloom and despair, as if a black cloud was hanging over the kingdom.

The farther he made his way into the kingdom, the closer Brian got to the castle. From a nearby hill lined with run down shacks and shops, Brian was able to get a good look at the castle, his old home. And the longer he looked at everything around him, the angrier he grew, unable to believe what his uncle had done to the place.

And then Brian’s anger changed course, and he began hating himself for leaving the way he did, for being such a coward in the face of his uncle. Unable to will himself forward because of the fury coursing through his veins, Brian stayed where he was, just watching.

“Brian!” he heard a female voice call. Brian turned around, hearing the sound of feet hitting the cobblestone road behind him. Lyndsey was racing toward him.

“I’m so glad I caught you,” she gasped, trying to control her breathing. “I didn’t want you to have to face this alone.”

Brian was glad to see her there with him, standing by his side, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. So he just gave her a sad smile before looking back out at his home.

“It’s terrible… to come all this way and see this… isn’t it?” Lyndsey asked quietly, finding herself looping her arm through Brian’s at his side.

“I didn’t want to believe you, Lyndsey. It was easier for me to just pretend none of this existed anymore,” Brian said, looking over at her again.

“What changed your mind… to come back?” she asked, clutching to him a little tighter as she caught sight of storm clouds beginning to roll in overhead.

“I think I finally got some sense knocked into me,” Brian said, thinking back to his conversation with the friar, and how there was still a sore spot on the back of his head. “The truth is, this is my kingdom. It’s my responsibility. If I don’t fight for it… who will? If I don’t fight for it, my father will have died in vain.”

“I will help you fight for it. We all will,” Lyndsey proclaimed.

“You sure it won’t be too dangerous for you?” Brian asked. Lyndsey just laughed.

“I got on just fine coming all that way alone to find you. I think I could handle this. Just give me a sword, and I’ll be ready,” Lyndsey assured him. Brian smiled down at her, and was about to say something when they were interrupted by the sound of more feet racing down the cobblestone, panting breaths along with them. Turning, they caught glimpse of Matt and Zach racing toward them.

“For a lady, you sure do move quickly,” Matt said as the two caught up and had a change to catch their breath.

“Nothing gets between a lady and the thing she wants most. Not even distance,” Lyndsey beamed, and she caught Brian smiling at her out of the corner of her eye, and she blushed crimson.

“What are you two doing here?” Brian then asked, turning his attention on his two best friends.

“Well we can’t let you go off and have all the fun, now can we?” Zach asked with a cheeky grin. Matt then took the time to look out at the view. He cringed at how dirty and desolate the kingdom looked. Everything was grey and shabby looking now, and it seemed there was not a soul in sight except the four of them.

“We came all this way to fight… for this?” he then asked, not meaning to come off as rude as he sounded.

“Yes. This was… is… my home.”

“It was beautiful in it’s glory days, when Brian’s father held the throne,” Lyndsey spoke up.

“I bet it was,” Matt replied. “Regardless, if this is important to you, we’re with you to the end. No matter what.” With that, Matt put his arm across Brian’s shoulders, standing side-by-side with him.

“A real fight to the death, if you will,” Zach added with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood, though inside he was filling with dread.

Sighing, Lyndsey tugged on Brian’s arm, causing him to look down at her.

“We’d better go,” she said, lowering her voice. “Before one of the Renegades finds you out here.”

“How will we get inside? They’ll probably be all over the place,” Brian asked, just picturing the difficult journey ahead.

“How good are you boys at scaling walls?”



“Here,” Lyndsey said, her voice hardly above a whisper. She’d led them to the outer wall of the lower garden – the wall she’d escaped over just a few weeks before. Pointing at it, she waited for Matt and Zach to begin climbing, fingers and toes digging into the stone crevices until they reached the top. After a moment of them glancing down from the top, Matt and Zach dropped to the other side, landing with a soft thud on the grass.

“Do you need help?” Brian whispered as Lyndsey began to climb her way up. She opened her mouth to decline, knowing she could manage just fine, but instead just smiled down at Brian and nodded. She reveled in the feeling of his hands as they grabbed her hips, holding her steady as he gently lifted her up. In no time Lyndsey had joined Matt and Zach on the other side of the wall, landing gracefully in the once-plush grass that had withered to a dull brown. Brian soon joined them, nearly stumbling as he landed.

Without a word, the four friends slowly moved through the grounds, keeping an eye out for any movement as they passed. No one knew what they’d do if they were caught – the plan hadn’t been thought out that far ahead.

As they made their way from the garden to the courtyard, Brian caught his eye on something else; the stone bench he and Lyndsey had sat upon the night of his ball, when he was only sixteen years old. Brian slowed to a stop as he looked at the spot, once teeming with greenery and flowers, and remembered back to that night.

Realizing he was no longer with them Lyndsey stopped too, turning back. She saw the way his eyes gazed longingly at the spot, and she, too, remembered what had nearly happened on that night two years ago.

“Brian, what is it?” she asked quietly as she went back to him, wondering if maybe he had seen something else.

“This was where we sat, that night,” Brian said, tearing his eyes away only for a moment to glance at Lyndsey. She sighed and gave a little smile.

“I used to sit out here as often as possible, thinking about you. Sometimes every day, before things started to get really bad,” Lyndsey spoke. “I used to pray and hope and wish constantly that you were still alive. That you were out there somewhere, and that you were okay, and that maybe someday you’d come back to us.”

Lyndsey couldn’t hold back the tears as they pricked her eyes. She had been so sad for so long and now that he was back in her life, she felt so overcome with emotion. Brian felt the same way, overwhelmed with how much Lyndsey cared, even when she thought he was dead and gone. He was truly moved by the fact that she never gave up on him, that she risked her life to come find him.

Without wasting another moment, and briefly thinking about what lay ahead, Brian turned to Lyndsey, pulling her close and not caring that both Zach and Matt were waiting nearby, and he kissed her. There was a raw, hard passion in their kiss, Brian pulling Lyndsey closer as she in turn did the same. Their mouths seemed to fit with each other’s so perfectly, and Brian wondered to himself why he hadn’t done this sooner. Because now, with Lyndsey in his arms, and her lips pressed hard and smooth against his, Brian was flying.

After a few moments the two parted, having heard Matt clear his throat.

“We need to keep moving,” he said lowly, somewhat dreading what was about to happen in the next few hours, or maybe even in the next few minutes, if trouble found them.

Realizing he was right, Brian took Lyndsey by the hand and pulled her with him toward the castle, a new wave of determination welling up in him now that he had one more thing to fight for.

It seemed eerie, once they were inside. Brian was disturbed to find such a strong sense of strangeness in the place that was once his home. There was an unsettling feeling growing in the pit of his stomach as Brian finally realized in full what he was about to face.

“Wait…” Zach hissed, and they all paused as his voice echoed softly against the cold stone walls. The others turned to him, pressing him to continue with their eyes. “We need weapons… swords… right?” he asked, hoping they hadn’t really forgotten such a necessity. Brian gave a short nod.

“To the armory.”