Rosewood Kingdom

Reunited

Subtitle: Can't Catch Up
Spring 1329

York pulled up on his black horse and sword right on time. The open but secluded area for training impressed him as he looked at the sophisticated buildings. Mountains kept them locked in. Mock forts were made by the large river that flowed from the mouth. Off in the distance he could see where horses and other cattle were kept.

"Attention maggots!" men of all varying sizes scurried to come to attention quickly. Some York felt were far too small for real field battle, and some far too large.

This looks like war. "Name maggot!" the drill sergeant yelled to get his attention. The recruiter didn't say anything about a war...

"Zeus of Rosewood." He answered on command. Then he makes eye contact. His eyes went up in surprise. The drill sergeant almost dropped the act when he recognized the new recruit. I know you fuckin lyin, he thought.

"York?" the man whispered, "the fuck you doin here?"

"Charlie..." York begins.

"Meet me at my cabin tonight when the moon is high. Over the hill to the west and through a quick thicket. You can't miss it." Charlie told him before moving on to the next line behind York.

Over the course of the, from sunup to sundown, the almost one thousand recruits competed in different tasks, such as throwing axes, running up and down hills, horse riding, boulder rolling and hand to hand fighting.

Later that night York laid on the lazily put together cot and waited. His mind wandered and anxiety shot up. When the moon was high, he left his bunk and followed Charlie's directions to the T.

Though sweaty and desperate for a bath, York burst through his friend's cabin door with wild eyes. Charlie and two other men, from York's childhood, stopped talking to give his friend their undivided attention. "King York of Shadowcourt." Charlie gave him a reassuring smile.

York quickly closed the door. "Not anymore." The four friends embrace each other in a hug. It had been far too long. Since the Great War, if we're being honest.

"Word around the west and parts of the east is you dead." Morrow smirked. His dark face was always full of mischief. He and York always got in trouble together, from pranking his father's nobles to stealing berries from the berry patch before dinner.

"Shadowcourt got my dawg fucked up." Pierre laughed a little. His butterscotch face held an all-knowing wisdom. "What happened?" York and Pierre studied at the academy together. They battled for top grades at the end of every quarter, eventually learning that they had the same goals in mind. Even then, Pierre knew his schoolmate would make a great king.

Charlie Samson watched his friend carefully before giving him a pint of ale to calm him. "You've been hell brother."

"I have." York nodded. "After Milly died after childbirth..."

"We read your letter." Charlie interrupted him. York's confidant. He knew how nervous York was to have a betrothed, and then how nervous to ask Milly to marry him. He knew how nervous he was to take the throne, although Charlie was called to the military in Winter Springs. They traded letters all the way up to York's disappearance from Shadowcourt.

Each of his friends had a role in his life. Maybe they should've been his council...

"I escaped from the prison tower on a horse and a small bag of food. I ended up in Eastmont and met a woman, Helia." Charlie doesn't miss the small, barely there smile on his friend's face at the mentioning of the woman. "She opened her home to me, fed me, allowed me to bathe, didn't ask questions..."

"But why are you here, under a new name?" Charlie interrupts him.

"Knights from all sides are searching for him, Charlie. You know that! But we have bigger fish to fry..." Morrow jumps in the conversation. Pierre stays quiet, waiting to add his two cents.

"And that is?"

"Niggas is planning to overthrow the Winter Springs monarchy and put their own king up on the throne."

Charlie bucks his eyes. "Niggas is doing what?!"

Pierre sighs. "That's exactly what happened to you in Shadowcourt, York. This man..."

"Damien of Washington...yeah. It'd been rumored for years that he was coming for my throne, but he never really posed as a threat."

"Don't ever make that mistake again, York."

"I got word from a mole in his army that he's actively hunting you now. But that's a good thing..." Charlie insists.

"Why is that?" York lifted an eyebrow.

"You'll see. Tonight, and tomorrow, you rest. Leave the rest to us." Pierre gave a smirk and blew the candle on the table out.

Meanwhile, Helia sat in the cave alone. The fire was dwindling, and the cave was colder than she thought it would. York would stoke the fire for me, she thought wrapping the thick blanket around her shoulders. Sleep won't come easy tonight, she was sure.

She tried not to think about the dream. Transcending centuries... always?

Rustling from outside caught her attention immediately. Helia had the grand idea of leaving the door cracked. Suddenly two small rabbits hopped in. "What y'all doing out this time of night?" she scooped the animal up, rubbing its fur. The other leaned its body close to her ankle and rubbed itself against her.

An hour later, Helia was sound asleep. Brie and Mikaela left her, locking the door behind them.

Damien and his army stopped in town that same night, causing ruckus. "Has anybody seen this man and this woman?"

"Who wants to know son? And why are you yelling?" the hotel owner pushed his glasses up in concern.

"Have you seen this man and woman!" Damien yelled again. Olga comes out of the back in urgency.

"Is there a problem father?"

"This...man," the owner looked him up and down, "wants to know if I'd ever seen these people before."

A loud crash stopped the conversation before anything else could be said. "FIRE! FIRE!" a little boy comes in screaming. The stable was on fire. But when the crowd made it to the stable, it was in mint condition.

Damien's anger continued to rise. "Has anybody seen this man and woman?" he holds the picture up in the crowd anyway.

Loads of people shook their heads, including Harold. "Who are they?" several people began to ask. "Have I seen them before?"

Brie and Mikaela disappeared in thin air once again.

Thoughts? What are 2 things you've noticed so far?-Patrice 💜