The prince’s steed whinnied in frustration as he cautiously felt the rocky ground beneath his hooves. He hailed from a hardy lineage, bred to withstand the bitter northern temperatures and hard, frozen ground. The pebbles and rocks he now picked through were really not much different than the packed snow and black ice patches he would be forced to maneuver around in midwinter, so it was more than obvious that he was just being mulish.

Of course, the prince couldn’t blame him. In fact, he and the powerful beast had a silent comradery in their identical positions. Neither of them chose this journey south, and if either had been given the opportunity to do so, both would have willfully refused. But they didn’t, so both resorted to petty actions that amounted to very little, besides offering a miniscule taste of respite from their infelicitous circumstances.

That wasn’t to say that there were no moments of fortuity to be found. Even at that very moment, with the rays of the southern sun assaulting them so relentlessly it buzzed with its own power, the trail they followed was narrow, forcing the procession up the cliffside into a single file line. Surrounding them on either side were thick clusters of rock bramble that the horses innately avoided. They grew no taller than a yard, but covered the cliffside so thoroughly that it acted as a natural defense against nearly all would-be enemies. Such a fool would be so torn up by the unassuming shrub that they would bleed out far before reaching the peak.

It also acted as a natural defense against the prince’s retinue bothering him - at least for the length of their climb.

Heiko raised his gaze - albeit, through absurdly squinted eyes - to appraise the two Ilysian men leading the pack. That officer, Dado his name was, and the Iron Lion, himself. From even the two horse-lengths of space between him and the commander, Heiko could apprehend far more attributes of the soldier than he could when they first became acquainted with one another on the battlefield Ruezen, three years prior. 

Well, Heiko mused to himself, when he first became acquainted with the commander, as it was made clear by his moon-eyed reaction earlier, that the clod of a man hadn’t the foggiest idea that such an event had ever taken place. Perhaps the prince might’ve been offended by that, had it not been such a providential advantage. In fact, the entire morning had been speckled by the dust of luck, even though their reception on Ilyos’ Battered Field was… not exactly as planned. His eldest brother had planted in his mind the notion that he would be welcomed by the Horned King, himself. But things not going as planned and being blindsided by those unplanned things were two separate matters entirely.

Heiko was not an Achterecht if he did not have a secondary plan for his secondary plan. The king would’ve been fine enough, but it had been in the back of his mind that he might’ve been greeted by one of the other legates from their pompous Horned Forum. In that vein, he was quite prepared to weather the slew of underhanded insults they might have found suitable to hurl at him, be they in regard to his age, or his position, or, more likely, his infamously wretched reputation.

He was not at all surprised that Commander Adesso addressed none of those things, because, contrary to the prince’s own notoriety, his esteem was founded in merits that could only be garnered by a man who was not blighted by a noble upbringing. He was celebrated for his scrupulous sense of probity – one that could not be bribed or bartered. It was very likely that, while the commander was aware of the rumors that preceded Heiko, he did not so soon buy into them.

It was a repugnant joke of the gods, that the only man who could see through the veil was the very one who forced its creation.  

⚔

AN:

Hi friends! So it has come to my attention that many readers enjoy some images to go along with their episodes.... and that images can be inserted at all....

So rest assured, I will be working very hard to try to incorporate at least one image into each episode - even if it is already published. I'll go back and add them, and then let you guys know when they're posted!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode! Let me know what you think, drop some comments and likes, and please remember to subscribe! It helps me immensely!

Until next time!

~ Higgins