Part V: The King is Found, Too Bad for Him
Clack
“Tell me again, child, what did you see? And don’t leave anything out.”
Laci looked abashed. “I-I might have yelled at him. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. He wasn’t listening to me.”
I cringed. I didn’t remember the former King and Queen, but even I knew that despite being beloved by our people, they were not ones to tolerate disrespect. I hoped their son didn’t take the girls' insubordination too badly.
“We’ll address that later, start from the beginning and tell me everything you saw.”
The girl nodded and retold the story. This time she added the part where she caused an earthquake when he refused to listen. I silently reminded myself to begin training her immediately, starting with teaching her not to yell at a King or create an earthquake when she didn’t get his attention. May the Gods help this kid.
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Laci, you should’ve been warned. The youngest member of the King’s Guard is the messenger between the King’s court and the Guard. So anyway, the King is unaware of who he is… which is problematic. Did he tell you where he was? How to find him?”
The girl shook her head. “No, I-I didn’t think to ask.”
I nodded. “Okay, well, if you see him again, you must ask where he is and how we can find him. I’m guessing, since he doesn’t have his powers, he was brought to you through someone who is in charge of caring for him. Maybe they will reach out again. If they do, you must find his location.”
She nodded, then sighed. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yes,” I said, then regretted it. “I don’t know, you can’t speak to a king like you did, even if he doesn’t know he’s the king. I don’t know what will happen when he becomes King. I don’t even know what kind of person he is, but if you’d done that to King Atticon, well, you wouldn’t still be standing here.” The poor girl swallowed hard.
I hated to be the one to tell her, but she needed to know that insubordination with the wrong elves could spell disaster for her.
“I’ll tell the others what you’ve seen. For now, we’ll keep that
part of the story to ourselves,” I said, knowing how hard the older warriors could be on the young. “For now, go to bed. I’m sure the lead guard will want to interview you."
“Should I tell them that I…you know?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, it’s best you just tell them the basics.”
I left the girl to find her way back to her tent in the apprentice area and went to see Olcarlamon. The old guard was over three hundred years old, but none of us really knew how old he was. He refused to tell us. He also refused to let us use a nickname for him, although I’m guessing Carl would be it. Old Carl is what we sometimes called him back when I was sleeping in the apprentice tents myself.
“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you, but we’ve been contacted by the King.”
“King Atticon?” he asked, surprise flitting across his face.
I shook my head. “No sir, King Repratian.” I said.
The old warrior’s face fell. “Oh, well, that’s too bad.”
Next Week: Follow the story as Milo discovers his foster parents aren't exactly who he thought they were... |
