“Y-you don’t expect me to ride a horse in my condition, do you?” Simon asked his brothers. “Don’t you think it’s too much since I still have a broken leg?”

Simon took a deep breath.

“I-I just s-stopped the behemoth from destroying a town, and possibly, our own Twin Kingdoms, yet you plan to treat me this way?”

His two brothers looked at him uncertainly.

“Well, if you insist... but like I said, we did not bring a carriage with us this time...” said Juno.

“T-then, perhaps the Stone Temple Priests can lend us a wagon, at least?”

Simon looked at the hall’s gray wall, where a line of acolytes stood silently.

One of them stepped forward and gave a curt bow.

“By the way, brothers,” Simon suddenly remembered, “this is Nell, a priest in training who is gifted with healing magic. His Reverence, the High Priest Roshan, told him to accompany me so that he could continue healing me along the way,” he continued. “He shall be staying with me for a year, as a kind of passage towards priesthood.”

The two elder princes looked at each other, then at Nell who stood with his veiled face bowed low.

“Suit yourself,” Prince Juno muttered before exiting the hall.

It didn’t take too long for the three princes to leave.

Most of the congregation were busy in their chores and morning meditation, that only the old head priest was available to see them off.

He instructed some of the priests in training to prepare a carriage and line it with some linen so that Simon would have a comfortable ride at the back. The retinue left as soon as it was ready. His two elder brothers lead the way with the wagon behind them and Nell trailing behind in his pack horse.

They arrived in town about an hour later, and went straight to the only hotel in the area. Simon went straight to his room to get some rest while they prepared for their much longer journey home.

“It seems like something has changed in our younger brother Simon,” said Juno as soon as he entered his room with his brother Largos.

“That’s right... it seems we have underestimated him,” replied Largos. “Perhaps he did acquire some kind of power from his battle from the behemoth.”

“True... he wouldn’t have the gall to speak up to us, if that wasn’t the case,” Juno said thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, all five assassins we’ve sent to finish him off, have failed to report back, and yet that worm looks healthier than the day we sent him to the Dark Woods!”

“What do you think we should do?” Largos asked.

“The best action we can take is to accompany him home,” Juno frowned. “Let’s weigh our options while observing him along the way. If he still seems weak and stupid, then I myself will make sure that he does not set foot on our kingdom alive.”

“Thank you for assisting me,” Simon told Nell as the novice priest pulled a chair out for him, “but there’s no need for you to fuss over me too much, the wagon ride down the monastery to this inn was quite comfortable.”

Nell gave him a curt bow.

“But tell me, Nell, is Master Will really gone? Didn’t he leave a message for me at least?”

Nell shook his head slightly.

“He is my savior, if he didn’t take me to town, and later, to your monastery, I would have long died together with by brothers at arms... and yet, I couldn’t even thank him properly in the end...”

His words were interrupted by a knock on the door. Nell opened it to find a group of people headed by a middle aged man with balding brown hair.

“Beg your pardon, your Majesty, Prince Simon,” said the man, “I am the mayor of this humble town, and on behalf of our people, we would like to thank you for saving us from the evil behemoth...”

The mayor bowed low before Simon, so did the townsfolk behind him.

Simon slowly stood with Nell’s help.

“Please, raise yourselves up!” he told the townsfolk, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I only did what any noble would do for the people!”

“You saved our town and our lives!” the townsfolk exclaimed.

“We owe our lives to you, and will forever pledge to you our loyalty!”

“If only all royals were as noble as you.”

“It was the proper thing to do,” Simon insisted.

“Then please, take these small gifts we have prepared for you!” a gruff looking man said, handing him a golden brown pelt. “This is the pelt of a Weezer Sun Bear, caught in winter when its fur is the most luscious!”

“This is a 500 year old mandrake root that was found in the deepest parts of Eleanor Forest,” said an elderly woman who held out a foot long root crop shaped like a hairy man with two (and a half) legs.

“This is the specialty from my bakery!” said a woman in an apron.

Simon thanked them all for their generous gifts. They ended up filling one of the royal carriages with the products they deemed worthy to give their savior. The Sun Bear pelt helped a lot to cushion the carriage seat. Simon found himself looking forward to the bumpy journey back to the Twin Kingdoms.

‘I guess it isn’t so bad to be called a hero after all,’ he found himself thinking as he made himself comfortable inside the carriage, ‘even my brothers don’t seem as scary as they were before, after all I’ve been through. Besides, now that they think that I killed the behemoth myself, they would think twice before treating me the way they used to.’

“Prince Simon, we are ready to embark on our journey home,” one of his brother’s knights informed him.

“I would like to have my healer accompany me in the carriage,” he told the knight. “That way, he can heal me and make me feel more comfortable during the journey.”

The knight eagerly complied and brought the novice priest to the carriage.

The company made the trip even more bearable, even though the novice priest didn’t have much to say, or rather, didn’t say anything at all.

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Go to Part 14

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