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Good Old Bill

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“This story starts five years after ‘Sorcerer’s apprentice Alex Azarus’ disappeared with The Journeyman." Although it doesn’t actually start with him.

It was written down by Minerva duFont, whom you may know as Queen Minerva the fourth. She is one of the few living people aside from Azarus to have spent a significant time on The Journeyman. At the time she was studying economics and mathematics at the highly acclaimed Royal Academy of Denfield.

Those of you that have studied their history may know that all was not well in the kingdom during this time…

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Minerva (as told by Bill)

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Minerva woke up with a fright when her servant girl rushed into her room in the middle of the night. For a split second she thought about how rude the servant girl was being. But she quickly realized that something must be wrong. She was proven right when the servant girl urged her to get out of bed immediately.

“Hurry and escape milady! There are ruffians coming for you!” She said in a panic.

Minerva shot out of bed and she could hear the scuffles outside her room. It seems the ruffians had gotten the drop on her guards because otherwise they would have escorted her out.

A voice she recognized shouted at her guards that they should stand down because they were ‘here under orders of High King Marcus.’ The voice belonged to one of the lackeys of her brother, crown prince Marcus.

That made the situation immediately clear to Minerva. If her brother’s lackey was claiming to be here on behalf of ‘King Marcus’ than it is very likely an ‘accident’ had occurred to her father. And of course, there shouldn’t be anyone around to challenge Marcus’s claim to the throne…

Minerva ran to the window as fast as she could, from the sound of it, the door was no longer an option. She started climbing out of the widow with all haste. The servant girl hadn’t properly realized the situation yet and was still at the door. When she looked back and saw Minerva climbing out the window she looked confused at first. But that didn’t take long because Minerva was proven right.

Men came barging through the door and unceremoniously knocked the servant girl out of the way. The last thing Minerva saw in the room was the girl landing hard. Luckily, it seemed the men hadn’t seen her immediately and, from the sound of it, wasted some time looking for her in her room.

Eventually one of them looked out the window and saw Minerva climbing down. But by then it was already pointless to chase her down the building. She was almost at the ground floor already. They shouted for someone to grab her but Minerva was already running into the wilder areas of the University grounds, it would be tough to spot her there in the dark.

No doubt Marcus’s men would have blocked the campus exit though, Minerva thought. It would have been exceedingly dumb for them to not have even this simple contingency in place. No matter, students wouldn’t be students if they hadn’t found a way to sneak out within the first week of their studies.

There was a well known spot at a wall where, on both sides of the wall, a tree was situated in such a way that even a moderately drunk student could climb his way back into the university. Or in Minerva’s case, out. The students might know about it, but Minerva gambled on the fact that Marcus’s men wouldn’t.

She found her way to the ‘secret exit’ without incident and her gamble paid off when she found that there were no men waiting for her on the other side of the wall.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The problem was what to do now. If she was going to set this right somehow she would have to make her way to the capital. But she couldn’t just get her carriage and have her take them there. If Marcus’s men were willing to fight their way into her room at night they shouldn’t have a problem of attacking her on the road.

Minerva found a fallen log she could sit on for now and thought about her situation. She soon reached the conclusion that the best thing she could do right now is to seek shelter with the lord of Denfield. Even Marcus’s men couldn’t demand he hand her over under his protection. Especially if Marcus wanted to keep up appearances of a legitimate inheritance. She could then take stock of the situation from relative safety.

She started moving again, confident that she made the right decision. As long as the Lord wasn’t in on this coup at least, she thought bitterly…

She slowly made her way towards the Lord’s keep. Trying to remain unnoticed. This was easier said than done however, she was moving through the city in her nightgown. The back alleys would likely see her caught by unscrupulous fellows just as likely as sticking to the main roads would see her caught by Marcus’s men…

Her paranoia made her slow. A mistake, as it turned out. When she was just a few streets away from the keep she found the streets occupied by Marcus’s men. They had obviously reached the same conclusion as she had as to where she should go.

She despaired. After some time of thinking she decided she should make it back to the university grounds. It should be possible to hide there until daylight. After that she might be able to explain things to the director who could contact the lord for her.

However, on the way back she had finally pushed her luck too far. One of Marcus’s men had spotted her and the chase was on.

Minerva panicked as she frantically ran through more and more obscure alleys as she made wild and random turns in an attempt to lose Marcus’s men. She was successful for a short time but she knew the net was shrinking around her.

She had to think quickly. Where could she go? She realized she had just one chance left. The harbor.

If anyone could get her out of the city, possibly even all the way to the capital. It would be a ship. It would be dangerous. And finding a trustworthy crew would be another dangerous gamble. Especially since she had no money and could only pay them with a promise of wealth after everything had been solved.

But it was her only chance, the only option left.

She ran to the harbor, hoping to outpace the men chasing her for once. She made it, but she heard the din of the chase not far behind her. She looked at the ships…

...And had no idea where to go from there. How would she pick a ship? She knew next to nothing about them. She had to make a decision fast though. The noise was getting closer.

She ran further up the docks towards the larger ships. She was getting more and more lost when all of a sudden a girl grabbed her arm out of nowhere and spoke to her in a low but insistent voice.

“Follow me!” The girl looked to be around 20 years old and, more importantly, didn’t look like one of the people chasing her. So Minerva, having no idea what else to do, went along with her.

Minerva did take the time to notice that the girl was oddly well dressed for one alone on the docks this late. Not to the standards of a princess of the nation of course but she wore a well-made dress, had long hair, and she wore some simple jewelry. A merchant’s daughter? Minerva decided to trust her for now.

It didn’t take long for the girl to lead Minerva onto a ship. A big one, easily the biggest in the harbor.

Minerva was led into a cabin under the quarterdeck. It wasn’t very big and it was simply decorated. It had a wardrobe and what seemed to be some sort of hanging bed. Minerva couldn’t see very well, the only light was the moonlight that came in through a small window.

“You should be safe here” the girl told her. Minerva had to take some time to catch her breath after all that running but in the end she managed to thank her “Thanks for the help. Why did you help me?” She asked. But the girl just smirked “Couldn’t leave a distressed damsel alone now could I? Looked like some mean guys that were chasing you.” She said. Minerva nodded, still processing what had happened tonight.

“So where is this? Is this your father’s ship?” Minerva asked. But the girl shook her head. “No, this is the ship of a friend of mine. I’m sure he won’t mind if you stay here for a bit. It’s called ‘The Journeyman’, have you heard of it?” She asked. But Minerva had not heard of a ship called that way. She barely knew the names of a few ships in the navy. Let alone the names of merchant ships.

“No, I’m afraid I’ve never heard of it.” She said. The girl just shrugged “No matter. Besides, you look tired. You’ve been chased all night haven’t you? You should get some rest.” The girl said and she indicated the bed. “We can talk later.” She finished.

Minerva looked at the bed once more and felt her fatigue rapidly catching up to her. “Maybe you’re right. Are you sure it’s not a problem if I sleep here?” Minerva asked nervously. The girl smiled and made the bed ready for Minerva “No problem at all. My friend is a good guy. I’ll tell him that I invited you.” She said as she tucked Minerva in.

Minerva felt herself fall asleep almost immediately as she lied down. The last thing that went through her mind is that she hadn’t even asked the girls name yet…