Danish watched as his family made their way back into the castle, meanwhile he lingered near the stables. Eyes locked on the cart they had used during their trip. No horses needed to be detached since the specters Dante summoned had returned to the shadows upon their arrival. He was unable to get the image of the rangers during their last moments. The action was so far divorced from the man he called his father. How could someone so kind and loving do something like that?
Then it dawned in him: Danish was alone. He looked around the stables, and aside from the stable hand tending to some of the horses, he was alone. His usual guards were not at his side. Leaving him free to wander about on his own for some time. He knew it would not be long before his parents sent knights to collect him.
His mind lingered to the Runebound Grove. To the figure he watched step from the woods each morning and night during the twilight hour. An hour which had already passed, but he wondered if the man would appear if he went to the castle wall.
Rushing through empty halls and climbing towering stairs; Danish found himself watching over the iridescence Grove. Just as he had thought, the man was not waiting outside the Grove. Danish felt a twinge of sadness tug at his heart. He had hoped to see the stranger he was starting to think may be waiting for him.
I’m on my way.
Danish’s mind wandered back to the dream he had had the night he first saw the figure. He’d been called to reach the Grove. Though he had initially thought it nothing more than a nightmare. But after having learned about the nature spirit said to live in the woods, he couldn’t help but think that was what he had seen each time he watched the Grove. And that figure had continually watched Danish. It was not just a coincidence the figure looked his way. It had all been purposeful.
As he darted back through the castle, he ran into Seraph—head of Dante’s Crown Guard, and at only twenty years of age. Some of the knights even though Seraph would have rivaled Danish’s brother, Horace, had he not died during the raid.
Danish gave pause, but then tried to back away from the knight. Being so close to the king, Danish couldn’t risk Seraph discovering his plan. Plus, he had never felt comfortable around Seraph. There was always something off about him. No one else within the castle seemed to feel the same way about the knight as Danish. Which made him wonder if it was all in his mind.
“Step-prince,” Seraph said, smiling as he did so. “By yourself tonight? That’s rare.”
Danish didn’t speak.
“Staying out of trouble?”
A nod was the only way that Danish could answer.
“Good,” Seraph stood tall, knuckles rested against his hip. He then leaned over. Cupping a hand at the side of his mouth. Whispering to the prince. “Do you want to cause trouble?”
Danish shook his head. Voice still trapped.
“Well,” Seraph said. Scratching at the back of his head. “I suppose I should congratulate you on behaving. But it would have been fun if you said yes.”
“Sorry.” That uncomfortable feeling that came with the knight remained, but it lessened to some degree. Here before him was one of the greatest warriors in Caembra, and he seemed to be aloof.
“No big deal,” the pep in his voice returned. “Have fun, uhh, behaving. I’m going to go release a few rats in the kitchen.”
“Why?” Danish asked before he could stop himself. It was true that he wanted to know what compelled Seraph to do this strange act, but he needed to be free to leave the castle before someone else found him.
Seraph wore a mischievous grin as he leaned over once more. Whispering to Danish in complete glee. “Right now, Virgil the cook is preparing roasted lamb, as well as tarts filled with various jams. What a lot of people don’t know is that he’s scared of rats. If he sees even a single rat, he’ll run out screaming.”
Danish could recall such a thing happening once or twice in the last month. It made him wonder if those incidents were also Seraph’s doing.
The knight continued. “So, if I let one or two rats free for him to see, all that delicious food will be unguarded. And we can’t risk the rats getting into it, right? So, I’ll be the hero. I’ll catch the rats that I trained to obey me, and snag a treat while I’m at it. And do you know what the best part will be?”
“What?” excitement bled into Danish’s voice.
“If you’re with me, then the other guards who hang around you won’t be needed. So you can enjoy the spoils with me. If you’ve changed your mind on not causing trouble that is.”
He knew he shouldn’t. It was wrong to scare people and to steal from the kitchen. Beyond that, he still needed to make his way to the Grove while he had the chance.
Before he knew it, he was following Seraph to the knight’s room to collect his pets. Three rats he called Chunk, Husk, and Bloat. Clearly named for their rotund bodies. “Chunk is my favorite,” Seraph said. Sticking carrots through the cage to feed them before they pulled off their prank. “Had him since I was a little older than you.”
He put the cage into a box and then threw a drape over it. It would have been suspicious if someone caught him carrying rats before they were found in the kitchen.
Thinking about it, Danish could recall a time or two that he had seen the knight carrying that exact box around with him. Proving that Seraph had caused the last few “outbreaks” Virgil had brought to the king’s attention.
As the two of them made their way through the castle, they passed by many of the king’s servants. Knights greeted the two of them as though it were a common occurrence for the pair to be together. When they passed by the usual guards that stood by Danish’s side, they stopped for a moment to speak with him. Neither seemed too pleased by the prince hanging around Seraph—though it was difficult to tell why, seeing as the two of them had never spoken ill of him before. One of them had asked about the box that Seraph carried. He quickly lied about it, telling them it was old junk he was planning to toss out.
Satisfied, the two of them went off. “Close one,” Seraph smiled. With a bob of his head, the two of them continued on their way.
They stopped at one of the ventilation shafts down the hall from the kitchen. Aromas of the dinner he cooked wafted out the hole cut into the stone. Drool began to leak from the corner of Danish’s mouth. When he had first decided to go along with Seraph’s plan, he had only wanted to see how he went about doing this. But now he was overtaken by hunger. Even if he felt he could eat an entire lamb on his own, Danish knew he could only grab a quick taste. Otherwise, his father would be suspicious as to why he was not eating dinner.
The rats crawled into the walls. A moment later screams echoed out. Virgil burst from out covered in flour, ladle in hand. “Vile vermin, raucous rats.” Insults were hurled at the rats he’d left behind as he ran off to find someone to help.
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With practiced steps, Seraph took off to collect his rats and reward. Danish trailed close behind. All it took was a single sound for the rats to know the fun was over. Scurrying over to climb into their cage.
While Seraph collected the rats, Danish grabbed a plate and piled tarts and strips of lamb high. The two of them escaped the kitchen before Virgil returned with help. Through the wall they could hear him stumbling over his words about how ‘they were just here.’ Taking in the situation, Danish realized this was the first time he had done something he knew his father would not agree with. And it was thanks to someone who worked directly under his father. It got him wondering if Seraph would be willing to help him make it to the Grove.
“I lied earlier,” Danish admitted.
“Lied about what?” asked Seraph. He took one of the tarts and devoured it in a single bite.
“I was up to trouble when you ran into me.” Why am I telling him this? Danish looked to the face of curiosity the knight wore. “I noticed father left me alone. I’ve never been alone, and I have had strange dreams. Dreams telling me to go to the Runebound Grove, but the Grove is forbidden.”
“The Runebound Grove?” echoed the knight. He took another tart. “Oh yea, that weird forest not far from the castle. Nature spirit and all that, that Grove?”
Danish nodded.
“Do you want to go there?”
Danish had to stop himself from dropping the plate he carried. “But it’s forbidden! Punishable by death.” His words held no effect on the knight. Seraph continued to devour his portion of their collective bounty. Even sharing crust from the tarts with his rats. Leaving Danish with a majority of the lamb, and a couple of tarts for himself. “I can’t ask you to come with me.”
“It’s no problem.” Cracking his neck, the knight began to stretch. “Just let me drop off these adorable little vermin, and we’ll be on our way.”
Danish wanted to protest, but he was interrupted each time he tried. It was too easy to get him to agree. Something was off about this. Was he put up to this by his father? Would Seraph lead Danish to the king’s office and turn him in for wishing to break the most fundamental rule? Or worse, turn him over to Queen Ariya.
Dante might follow through with execution, but Ariya would find ways to make Danish wish he’d been given that choice. But at the same time, he couldn’t just run off without alerting Seraph that he was on to him if that was the case. And if Seraph was genuine about helping him in this situation, then running might cause the knight to change his mind and turn him in. Leaving him with the only option being to go along with his current situation.
As Seraph put away his pets, he questioned if Danish needed to pack anything for the trip. Seeing as he still carried with him the orb left by his parents, Danish declined. Anything more would only slow them down. Plus he was unsure what would happen after they reached the Grove, and there was nothing else he cared to keep on the chance he was unable to return home.
At the stables, Seraph began to dress a roan for riding. “Which one is yours?” Seraph asked.
“I don’t have a horse,” admitted Danish. “I have yet to learn to ride.”
“At your age? You’re what, twelve?”
“Ten,” corrected Danish.
“Ten! Ten and you cannot ride? What have your parents been teaching you? No matter.” He removed the saddle he had chosen and replaced it with one slightly larger. Giving room for them both to sit upon the back of the roan. “Sunburst here will carry us quite nicely.” He helped Danish onto the saddle and then took his position behind the boy. Letting Danish take the reins. “I’ll guide you, don’t worry.”
“I don’t understand,” Danish said. “Why are you doing these things?”
“Doing what things?”
“Asking me to pull a prank with you, helping me learn to ride a horse: Disobeying father and putting your life on the line. You have no reason to do these things.”
Seraph put a hand on top of Danish’s head. “I’ve been watching you, Danish. And I’ve noticed you’re always alone. Sure, you have guards, but you are never with someone your own age. Well, most of the time. Prince Gregor and you have spent some time together. Point is, you’re just a kid. So, let me let you be a kid. Kids cause trouble, kids disobey their parents. Kids ride horses.”
Seraph guided Danish on how to get the horse to take off. Teaching him the ways to pull on the reins to give quick, non-verbal commands. He let Danish start off slow. Taking him around a riding course built into the training fields. Once he showed some degree of comfort in guiding the mount, Seraph spurred Sunburst to move faster.
Even if their riding speed hadn’t increased by much, it was enough to add difficulty in Danish’s task of stirring and controlling her movements. But even that began to have a degree of ease to it. Before long, he was in complete control no matter the speed in which she paced.
“Now that the easy part is over,” Seraph sounded a bit too excited to be breaking the rules. “Let’s go.”
Their triumphant quest was quickly cut short as they reached the front gate. Two guards stood by. “Where are you and the prince going?” one of them asked.
“Out,” Seraph replied. “I’m teaching the prince to ride, and he needs to get experience on open terrain.”
“Neither king or queen have instructed us to allow young Danish to ride in the fields.”
“That’s because the king and queen don’t know about this.” Seraph said the words as casually and confident as he could. Leaving all three of those close by speechless. “Danish is a kid with a lot of promise. I want to ensure he gets the most out of every lesson he learns. Aeric is already teaching him to fight, so I thought I’d secretly offer my own teaching to the prince. He is expected to know how to do this. I’m only teaching him sooner than his parents expected.”
“You cannot be seri—”
“I am the captain of the Crown Guard. In case you forget, that means I outrank you and I work directly under Dante himself. Friendly as he was, when Seraph wished to show his authority, he could sound quite intimidating. Danish was not the only one who thought so, seeing as both guards flinched at the sudden outburst.
Stepping aside, the guards allowed the two to pass through the gate. The moment it slammed shut behind them, Seraph let out a relieved sigh. “Wasn’t entirely sure that was going to work.”
“If they tell father,” Danish’s knuckles paled as he gripped the reins. “You won’t get in trouble for what you told them, will you?”
“Maybe,” the knight laughed as he pulled a tart from the pouch on his hip. While Danish had chosen to leave his portion of their ill-gotten dinner back in Seraph’s room, he had decided to bring the remainder of his. “But nothing too serious, I’m sure. And then he’ll probably make me your teacher anyway after he sees how good you got after a single lesson. Now, lesson two. Break the rules.”
“I don’t think that’s a lesson you should be teaching me.”
“Probably not, but it’s on the agenda tonight. Now, off we go.” He brought Sunburst to a steady trot. Guards were always on the watch. So their departure from the castle was bound to be reported. Thanks to that fact, they couldn’t just dash right for the Grove. Instead, Seraph directed Danish to ride in a wide arch. The same path that messengers would use to carry news from the castle to the neighboring town.
After they wrapped around the Grove, it would be difficult for the king—or anyone for that matter to see them approach from the other side of the Grove. However, this also meant that the ride out toward the Grove would end with them arriving just before dawn. And the two of them riding out all night and not returning by sunrise was sure to bring the ire of Queen Ariya. Seraph assured the young prince that all would be fine upon their return. He had come up with a lie he said was fool proof.
It would have to be to get around the Ariya. As they continued to ride, Danish learned quite a bit about Seraph. How, just like Danish, he had lost his parents at a young age. And that he was adopted by the previous Crown Guard captain. How he had trained in four different cities under masters. Once even spending a week training at Ankaa under Andreas himself.
From there he began to tell Danish about his father. While the king had done so in the past, Seraph told a much different version of his father. In the eyes of the king, Andreas was a kind man, and a good friend. Almost a brother. For Seraph, Andreas sounded like a tyrant. A man not to be crossed.
Every morning, he would wake him by tossing ice water over his head at the crack of dawn. Then they would drill the different guard positions for the weapon of the day. Followed by cutting practices, and finally matches.
When they weren’t training, Andreas had Seraph performing menial tasks around the Keep. Carrying buckets of milk as he walked laps around the perimeter. Running plows through fields, and many other things. But he spoke of these moments fondly. Making it clear that these things are what shaped him into the warrior he was now. And that given the chance, he would do it all over again.
“I don’t think I could have survived training with my father,” Danish said. Holding back an awkward laugh.
“I think you could have,” reassured Seraph. “I mean, I was no bigger than you back then.”
Danish was unable to picture what a young Seraph might look like. But hearing that even an accomplished knight of Caembra had started as small as himself, it caused him to wonder if one day he too could be as skilled a warrior as the Crown Guard captain, or the father he never knew.