“You got tall.”
The Prince laughed and cried simultaneously.
“You got old.”
The King laughed weakly.
“Cruel boy.”
The Old Archer turned away to hide tears.
The Captain dropped to one knee.
“My King.”
The King looked at him.
For several seconds, pain passed between them.
“You lived.”
The Captain lowered his head.
“I failed you.”
The King reached out.
“Then help me stand.”
No absolution.
No accusation.
A task.
The Captain did.
The King’s legs nearly failed.
They supported him.
Then alarms sounded below.
The Prince looked toward the corridor.
“Regent?”
The King’s face changed.
“He’s here?”
“He escaped the capital.”
“Then he knows.”
“Knows what?”
The King looked at his son.
“Why he kept me alive.”
The fortress shook.
A deep boom echoed from below.
The King whispered, “He wants the Oath Stone.”
The Prince frowned.
“The what?”
“No time.”
They descended toward the harbor.
Enemy soldiers filled the lower courtyard.
The Regent stood at the far end.
Black-and-gold robes beneath armor.
He looked older than he had in the capital.
More dangerous too.
The King stopped.
The Regent smiled.
“There you are.”
The Prince moved in front of his father.
The King put a hand on his shoulder.
“No.”
He stepped forward.
Weak.
Unsteady.
Still King.
The soldiers hesitated.
The Regent saw.
“You think a crown remembers you?”
The King answered, “Apparently you do.”
The Regent’s face hardened.
“You should have drowned.”
“You tried.”
“I gave you seven years to die.”
“And disappointed you daily.”
The Prince almost smiled.
Definitely his father.
The Regent drew a sword.
The Captain stepped forward.
Mercenaries surrounded them.
The Regent looked toward the Prince.
“Your mother should have accepted my protection.”
The boy raised his bow.
“She prefers honesty.”
“Then she married poorly.”
The King lunged.
Despite weakness, his movement surprised everyone.
He struck the Regent across the face with the chain still hanging from one wrist.
The Regent staggered.
The Captain attacked the nearest mercenary.
Battle exploded.
The Prince fired.
The Old Archer fired beside him.
The King grabbed a fallen sword.
The Regent recovered.
He charged.
Their blades collided.
The King’s strength failed almost immediately.
The Regent kicked him backward.
The Prince shouted.
He fired.