The Slumberer and His Dream

Part 7 - Sir Diamond

When George woke from his nap, the sun was shining warmly on his face, and he was lying comfortably under his sheets. He opened his eyes and rolled over, only to see Dream reading a book on the floor. It was the same book George had dropped that morning and read the night before. He watched him for a moment, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Dream looked up from the book and smiled at him.

"Hey, sleepyhead." George allowed himself a small smile, then rolled back over. "It's 2:30. Your mom came home, she's in the living room." George sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I slept a lot, huh," he commented quietly. He laughed softly and turned to face Dream. "Did you tuck me in?" Dream's eyes widened and he looked away, embarrassed.

"Look-- you didn't seem very comfortable, and I was bored, okay?" George opened his mouth to continue to tease him, but a sharp knock at the door drew a gasp from him instead. Dream turned his head toward the source of the noise.

"I've got it!" called George's mother, and they both heard her quick footsteps to the door. Dream and George exchanged confused looks as they heard the door open, followed by hushed voices. "George, Dream! Sir Diamond needs to speak with you."

George cocked his head. "Is he back already? I thought he was staying in Emberstone Kingdom for a week." Dream furrowed his eyebrows.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted them and their truce," Dream muttered, rising to his feet and setting George's book down. George got out of bed and stretched his legs.

"Well, let's see what he has to say. Try not to make any assumptions, alright?" Dream shrugged and opened his bedroom door.
When they stepped into the living room, they saw Sir Diamond, who seemed to be slightly panicked. He seemed well-composed enough, but something was definitely wrong. "What happened, Sir?" Dream asked, giving a short bow.

Sir Diamond patted his forehead with a handkerchief. "The citizens of Emberstone Kingdom have resigned their truce!" Dream scoffed quietly.

"Told you," he muttered to George, who huffed dismissively.

"They have grown angry with us. During the meeting with their King's advisors, I mentioned our plans for your journey, and they threatened me! They asked that I promise to split the wealth from the mountains with their Kingdom, and I answered that it was your choice and I had no control over the matter. George, they are greedy and violent by nature, you know this! Violence and money are how they rose to the top and established such a fine Kingdom," Sir Diamond explained hastily. "They said that if I had no plans to control your actions and decisions as your superior, then they would make sure they got the money from you themselves! George, they want to kill you!"

George blinked. "Wh-What? They want to kill me?" He shared a terrified look with his mother and Dream. Sir Diamond approached Dream and rested his hands on his shoulders.

"Yes, George. They began sending troops as soon as I left. You need to leave now before they find you here. We can tell them you two left and that they have no business in our Kingdom. We can ready our soldiers, but it won't be safe here. They don't know the path you two are going to go on, so if you leave soon enough, they won't be able to find you."