Isilma, the queen of the mightiest kingdom in all of Elnyr, hadn’t slept much that night. Her apple of her eye, hadn’t given her the courtesy to sleep peacefully. Ilmur was her second son and she still hoped for many more children. Her husband Elram had suggested giving him to the maidens over the night, but she couldn’t part with him for even a second. She could already tell that she would grow up to be a handsome, strong boy, a mother could always tell.

There was one thing on her mind that troubled her. Elram was going to travel south today to visit an old childhood friend. She believed that he had too few men with him, but Elram didn’t want to hear about it. She had even asked Geor, their trusty bookkeeper to try to persuade the king but to no avail. The king was simply too anxious to go. It had been too long, and her husband longed for adventure, she was just afraid that he would get more than he bargained for.

It was hot today and even though she wasn’t properly dressed it didn’t bother her at all when she reached out from the window, the night gown was almost too much even, the hottest summer days were around the corner. The peasants’ certainty felt it, toiling on the fields. She was not envious of them.

The whole city had a light blue hue in the stone since the dwarves had helped with the building of the city so long ago. They had the largest walls even though the city had never witnessed a siege.

Even the most humble shops had gems above their doors to indicate what their trade was. The city guard was large, and so far no shop had lost their gems to thieves. She could see his banner with the two towers fluttering in the wind at the guard towers. The symbol of House Avar.

Elram was anxious to go but she on the other hand had no need for adventure at all, or maybe the real reason was that there was no reason to go anywhere else. Everharn had more excitement than you could ever ask for. She suspected that the other cities were incredibly dry in comparison, and she couldn’t fathom what Elram was going to do in the lesser cities in the south.

She lost her trail of thought when Elram stirred awake. She wanted to try to persuade him one more time but she had to wait until he had woken up a little bit first.

“Ilmur makes Saran quiet in comparison,” said Elram and groaned. “However, he’s a prince, and a prince should be all but quiet. Maybe he will grow up to be a fighter, Saran doesn’t seem to have the knack for it, but maybe our newborn?”

“He’s a prince, husband. They will all struggle in their own way. The burden on their shoulders will be great.”

“Right you are, for the moment I struggle to stay awake.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe some kings are too comfortable on their thrones.”

“Not me, I would have a pillow there if you hadn’t forbidden it.”

“It would make you look weak, your lords would never respect you,” she said. She kissed him while fondling his beard and decided that now was the right time.

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“I still think it’s a bad idea, Elram,” said she seriously.

“What to carry all this luggage with me?” said Elram pretending to be ignorant, even though he knew very well what she was referring to.

“No, the matter that I regarded previously this week. I still think you have too few men on the journey.”

“Oh, for the light of Gothmor, how can you believe such a thing?” he said defensively.

“If you would be assailed by goblins, you wouldn’t mind more men with you.”

“Goblins? My dear, where do you get all your ideas from? I haven’t seen a goblins head since I was five years old. I still remember when my father showed it to me. How frightened I was!”

“Imagine how frightened you would be if the head was still attached to something.”

“Maybe you should have the bards to write down what you have to say, I had no idea you had such a vivid imagination.”

She sighted, her husband could be so stubborn sometimes. Kings were perhaps too used to always getting their way for their own good. “But that is not the only danger. Bandits, brigades, turn cloaks, to name a few.”

“Enough, I forbid you to speak more about this. Feorn is the mightiest kingdom, and the roads are safe. You will see how wrong you are when I return from my journey.”

“I really hope so, your grace.” It was frustrating it was almost word for word when they had argued previously, Elram still didn’t budge.

“Are you afraid to rule while I’m gone? Don’t worry, you have Geor, he hasn’t stirred me wrong yet. You will do a terrific job while I’m away. The people will demand that I abdicate when I return.”

He looked at her lovingly, but there was also something hard in his eyes, barely visible, she could only see it for a fraction of a second.

“I am not going to delay here any longer, if you had your way all the knights of the kingdom would need to accompany me. To gather such a host would take weeks. Two dozen of our best men will be more than sufficient.”

“I hope you are right on this,” she said defeated.

She could see the cart pass through the gates, he had only two dozen men with him, she could only hope that it would be enough. It was his closest knights, they were used to protecting him, even though the peaceful years have made them a little bit too relaxed.

*

She was standing at the gates, looking at the men making the carriages ready for their departure. She still couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling she had. Geor was standing next to him, with his black robe and his writing pad. His fingers were black for all the ink bottles he had in his pockets.

“Thank you for trying Geor, I know that you did your best in convincing him,” she said earnestly.

“I share your worry, your grace,” said Geor.

“You do?” she said, a little bit surprised.

“The king and the knights have become too comfortable, but troubles will never cease, man will never be fully good, and there will always be people with less, that try to steal from people that have more.”

The gates closed when the last carriage left the capital.

*

It was several months before Elram returned to the capital, and when he returned he had a baby in his hands.

“So this was the adventure that you were looking for? I thought higher of you Elram,” she said angrily.

“Calm down, it’s not what it looks like, he is not mine, there were complications on the road… Most of the knights that originally went with me are dead.”

“I told you not to go! I told you several times! But you wouldn’t listen!”

He sighted. “Well, it is as it is, the fact is that this boy’s father saved my life on the road, and I will raise him as my own. I owe the dead father that much.”

She looked at the baby, his skin wasn’t as snow white as the royal family of most people of Feorn. His hair was red and there wasn’t an ounce of resemblance to Elram. She believed that he spoke the truth. He hadn’t made a reason in their marriage to not trust him yet.

“He’s the same age as Ilmur, only one month apart. I heard from the survivors that his name is Gandon, a southern name,” said Elram.

“Well that was fairly obvious when you look at him.” She picked him up and held him. If this father had saved her husband’s life, then she was in his debt as well. She was going to raise him as one of her own. They couldn’t give his dead parents back but they could make sure that he would always live a life in luxury.

“Would you like to meet Ilmur, Gandon? Since you both are the same age, I’m sure the two of you will get along just fine.”