As I drew closer to Erythros, a familiar sense of inevitability washed over me. I had anticipated the lackluster surroundings; yet it was still disheartening to see the vast and yet lifeless nature that surrounded us and to feel the pervasive air of neglect. The reality felt like a stark reminder of unfulfilled promise, leaving me to confront the weight of my expectations against the harshness of truth. I can't fail. The weight of those expectations, which I knew I needed to surpass, made me even more nervous.
"Lius?" asked Bennu.
"For the last time, I don't know how long until we get there, man!" I answered.
"First, calm down. I know you're nervous about being here after so long. Second, I think we're already here, kinda."
And he was right—we had reached the outskirts at last, just beyond the borderlands would lay what remained of the city, though calling it a city felt generous, there was nothing memorable to look at here, my expectations for what else we would see further in to the kingdom were low. I paused, letting the full weight of the landscape settle over me. This wasn't just emptiness; it was a wasteland, stripped of life and dignity. Even during my father's reign, the kingdom had been sparsely populated, but now the state of the outskirts told me everything: things had gone from bad to worse.

My thoughts started racing all of the sudden. I wondered if someone had already seized the throne. I wondered what I would say to everyone once I arrived. Would they even accept me? Even When they obviously had no reason to.
"Thinking of what to say?"
I turned to face Bennu. He always somehow knew exactly what I was thinking. It made me think he was a mind reader, but then I remembered that I'm not the best at hiding my thoughts with my facial expressions.

"Yeah. It's not every day a lost prince comes back to his kingdom, especially one as hurt and betrayed as Erythros," I said, frowning even more.
"Well, I think they need you, Lius," said Bennu.
"What makes you think that? Wouldn't they hate me Benn? I mean, my dad was the worst of the worst, and I was a weak little kid they'd only seen once or twice, if anything they would banish or stone me for his sins."
Bennu looked at me with a serious and yet comforting stare.
"You are not your father's shadow. His flaws don't define you, and his mistakes are not your destiny. You are not weak anymore. You, Laelius Forte Makris, are the prince and soon-to-be king of Erythros. And I, your best friend, will support you—even if they stone us to death, I will stand by your side, no matter what."
I turned to my best friend. Goofy and perpetually hungry as ever, he was the embodiment of loyalty and true friendship. In his unwavering support, I found the strength to face this challenge head-on, knowing I wasn't alone in the struggle. I gave him a weak smile and we continued our journey, until I noticed a building in the distance. It was strange to see any standing buildings on the outskirts, and even stranger was the warm lure of light shining through the gaps between wooden planks, it had no windows just some slight openings on the sides.

"What is that? A house?" I asked Bennu.
"Looks like a tavern," he responded.
"How can you even tell? We're at least a mile from it and it's strange for taverns to be this far out don't you think?"
"Carrots, my friend—they're the secret to my splendid vision. And some universal laws seem to dictate the shape of a tavern."
He paused for a moment.
"Talking about carrots, I am starving. Let's make a stop and see if they have anything to fill the void that is my stomach."
"You're right. It would also help to gather some intel before we enter the city."
"Yes, yes, food first, intel later."
I rolled my eyes and proceeded to follow him as he gained speed. The building began to look clearer, and it became obvious that it was indeed a tavern—but not a good-looking one. All the planks used for its construction seemed to have been picked randomly and assigned a hole to cover. The closer we got, the more shameful it seemed to call it a building. Did it even classify as one?

We got off our horses, tied them to a wooden pole near the entrance, and went into the... establishment.
"I am surprised ," I said to Bennu. "That it can manage to look even more abandoned inside,if it wasn't for the light, I would have thought this was deserted."
"I take that as a good thing," he said.
"Really? How so?,"
"The more stuff you fix around here, the more you earn the people's trust, no?"
"If only it were that easy. It'll take a lot more than carpentry skills to fix this place up."
We noticed a girl behind the bar. She looked at us coldly and menacingly. Her face was and (although rugged) held a sense of youth. Somehow, she felt familiar, but I couldn't place her.
"Travelers, Dominioe is to the west. You're lost," she said curtly.
"Oh no, we are not lost. Trust me, we are right where we are meant to be," exclaimed Bennu.
At that moment, she let out a disheartening laugh. Wiping tears from her face, she said, "No one voluntarily wants to be here. So tell me, what is it that you're truly after? If it's money, I assure you, you'll have better luck digging for it on the shores than here."
"We do not want money. For now, we'd just like something to drink and possibly some food," I assured her.
She suddenly grew serious, looking us up and down as if we were the biggest idiots on the planet.
"No food I'm afraid, you would have noticed in your way here there are no crops growing anywhere, and the little we have, we cannot give to travelers. Water, however, I can give—for a price, of course."
Even though I wasn't facing him, I could tell Bennu's face fell into a turmoil of despair at the sound of "no food".
"Can we get two waters then?" I asked her, starting to take a seat on one of the very lightly supported stools and ushering the sulking Bennu to do the same.
"That will be 30 Sylphs."
"Thirty Sylphs for two waters!!?" I stopped midway to sitting down, hovering over the stool.
"Of course not!"
I let out a sigh of relief and proceeded to sit down on the stool, shaking my head.
"It's 30 each."

At that moment, and with incredible timing, the stool broke, and I fell flat onto the floor. I didn't know what shocked me more—the price of water here, or the fact that my  garments were caught on one of the very poorly placed nails in the stool.
At this point, the tavern owner burst out laughing, slapping the counter with a hearty thud, while my so-called best friend tried—and failed miserably—to hide his own laughter. "You sure know how to make an entrance," he said, wheezing between chuckles.The girl shook her head, wiping tears from his eyes. I groaned, still tangled in the wreckage, while  tattered piece of my cloak hung awkwardly from the nail.
Bennu extended a hand to help me up, still grinning. "Don't worry," he said. "Your dignity's only slightly bruised. Mostly your backside, though." And he burst out laughing again.
As I picked myself up from the floor, removing the piece of cloak from the nail, Bennu couldn't help but laugh loudly. "Well, that was a graceful entrance, Lius. Can't say I've ever seen a prince fall like that, way to go!"
I froze, the words hanging in the air far too long for my liking. The girl's gaze snapped toward us. Bennu, still chuckling, leaned back and slapped me on the shoulder. "Guess you don't always look the part, huh? But hey, we're here now, and it's time for the 'lost prince' to come back and take charge, right?"
Her eyes went wide."Wait... did you just say 'Lost prince'?"
Bennu's laughter faltered as he realized his slip-up.