A Kingdom's Secrecy

Chapter Two

Eldon watched the sun rise over the trees.

He'd barely slept last night, which Davidson had told him to expect.

"The night before yer first hunt's always too excitin' for sleep."

Finally, the time he'd been waiting for.

Eldon stood and stepped off the small bridge over the river. The rest of the villagers would soon wake up. They'd get themselves dressed in their "work clothes" and head their separate ways until night claimed the light.

With halcyon winding down, much still needed to be done. Harvest never lasted long enough. Here, in the southern region of Penuriam, it sometimes felt like harvest was skipped. It went from unbearably hot to unbearably cold. It didn't always snow, but frost covered their lands and killed whatever crops couldn't make it through gelid. They couldn't waste a moment before that happened.

So, life revolved around work no matter the weather. That included hunting.

Eldon would be hunting alone today. Groups usually went out to hunt together. Eldon had asked to do the task alone, though. Just one time. Just to feel how Bobo had apparently felt when he used to hunt on his own.

"It's harder," the older man had admitted once. "Scary, too. Dependin' what ya run into. But makes you feel real proud that ya did by yerself!"

Eldon couldn't wait for that kind of thrill. He'd hoped to feel that kind of thrill by going to the capital to sell their crops. Except Davidson had refused to pass that task onto him.

They had countless arguments about it, too. During many, Eldon had almost blurted, "Why do ya care what happens to me? I'm not yer son!"

He felt damn relieved those words hadn't come out, though. He would've regretted them, and he would've hated himself for hurting the only father he'd ever known. But ever since Davidson sat him down five years ago and admitted the truth about what'd happened to his real parents, Eldon couldn't ignore the slight anger he held inside. The betrayal he felt from Davidson and Mary, who'd told him they'd never known who his parents were, that they'd just found him in the woods and brought him home. His history turned out to be more complicated than that.

A fire had taken his parents and his first home. He'd left his mark in a village that no longer existed. And it took until he was thirteen to know the truth. Sometimes, he wondered if they were hiding more from him. He felt bad for even considering that possibility. They made a mistake and confessed, and life eventually returned to normal after a while. He had no point in still thinking about it.

Eldon just couldn't help it sometimes.

Eldon reached the entrance to the woods and groaned when he noticed Davidson hovering near it. Before he could say anything, Davidson looked up from the parchment he held, and he smiled.

"Yesterday marked ten years since Queen Tatianna passed," he said, waving the note. "Princess Elouise will be nineteen on the twenty-third of Diannbrus, and they're gonna hold a grand ball for her." He chuckled and shook his head. "Sure gets me how they don't give a damn what happens to us, but they sure wanna make us give a damn 'bout them. Ain't gonna work, though."

Eldon glanced at the scribbled ink on the letter. He couldn't read it even if he wanted to.

Davidson sighed. "Royal messenger stopped by moments ago. Just missed 'im." He rolled up the letter and held it beneath his armpit.

Eldon eyed the spear, bow, and quiver of arrows resting against a moss-covered boulder. He clutched his gladius sword's hilt to make sure—for the tenth time since he'd left his bed—that he'd sheathed at his side. Davidson had made the sword for him right after the confession. He'd never said it, but Eldon knew it'd been meant as an apology.