The Kingdom of Liticea: The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Nighttime Exploits

"Soon we go west, Helg. Soon we go into the heart of the Westland. Do you think we will make it out?"

"Oh, of course we will! We're knights! The Sword of Rathas! The Champions of Rannos!" he shouted. Julius turned and tried to shush him.

"Keep it down, will you? You want to be discovered?"

"Oh, what are they going to do? Execute us?" Helg laughed, "I'm the future Duke of the Royal Lands! You're fucking Julius the Black! The pride of Liticea. I doubt they'll execute us just for bumming."

"Our fathers might."

"Oh, my father took it well."

"He sent you away to Blackfield."

"I could've been sent to Toad Keep. I could've been sent to a lot of places, but I got sent to Blackfield. And there I met you. So how bad could my father hate me?"

"That's nothing compared to what my father will do. He'll disown me, and if it becomes public your father will send you away."

"To where?"

"To the streets! Out of the Royals Lands. He might even chase you out of Liticea!"

"Hmm, maybe we can go south and join a mercenary company. You said Nazeen offered you a job," many exiled knights made a living in Useria by becoming sellswords. This trend, however, has been declining in recent years due to Duke Markus Elenor's policy of putting bounties on their heads. The number of criminals fleeing south has declined sharply and those that do usually have to leave their names behind as well. But it might be better for Helg and Julius since they would just be exiles, but for those seeking fortune are not known for their reasoning skills.

"We'd never last," Julius declined, "Either we'll boil in our armor or some mob will take our heads off and give them to Markus Eleanor."

"There is quite a demand for Litici heads down south. And they say the Westland is a lawless hell hole. At least Horith Ryden doesn't give out prizes for beheadings."

"No," Julius agreed, "He does it for free."

"Well, shit," Helg chuckled, " I guess the whole country has gone to hell."

"With the Morcars it's only going to get worse," Julius lamented. Helg laughed himself off the bed and plummeted to the floor. The sheets were in tangles around his limbs and body.

"There you go worrying again!" Helg shouted, "If I were a lady, I'd be as wet as a morning dew!"

The heir of Tanner Hall slowly laughed himself to sleep. Not really sleep, Julius observed. More likely unconscious. Julius took a pillow off the bed and nestled it under his partner's head. Untangling some of the sheets so Helg did not strangle himself proved to be quite difficult. When he was sure his lover was safe a abound in whatever worlds his dreams lent him to, he kissed his forehead. These last few days at Anton will likely be their last days together. The thought of it made julius want to take the snoozing knight's head in his arms and hold it close.

He did not. He returned to the window, and continued to stare towards the mountains to the west. It would be the first time Julius Cassius went far into the West. The great forest did not have trees from where he could see. There were only long, clawed hands waiting to grab him and tear him to pieces. To tear Helg, his father, and everyone he cared about away from him. That forest was getting closer. It was busy tearing the Westland apart, but soon it's claws will reach Anton, Blackfield, Toad Keep, South Keep, Brother's Crossing and finally Raenna. If men like Julius were unwilling to stand in the way and fight through the army of thorns. Maybe on the other side, there would be a patch of soft grass, where he and Helg could go. For but a little while in paradise.

Julius liked the idea of paradise, but it was not a place for a man. Paradise is what boys and girls dream of, whether young or old. Paradise is a place, where one does not have to make something out of himself. Where there is no trial and no pain and no responsibility. Paradise is for fools. One could not complete without the trials of life. Whether a man in battle or a woman in a bed, enduring and conquering will lead to happiness for a victory that brought an end to a slaughter and a miracle of a new life. The trials of life are not to be run from. They are to be embraced as an opportunity, to make a name and a legacy. To leave something behind other than a corpse.

Julius knew this was his time. In this battle he would make a name; the great Julius the Black who died in battle, or Julius the Black who bloody sword and bent armor stopped annihilation in its path. If this was to be my last charge into battle, he prayed to Rannos, let it be great and glorious. Let it be a charge that men will sing of for eons to come. Let my name be sung with the heroes of history. And let all others know that Julius Cassius died for his family, his country, and his King.