Dark Dynasty

Quest

Word count: 1584

° George's POV °

The morning dawns upon me. Bright rays of sun hitting my face as I turn and twist in my velvet blankets. A grunt escapes my lips as I open my eyes to slits. The bright light hurts my eyes even when they're small like this. It takes a while until my pupils adjust to all the brightness around me. A knock on my door is heard.

"Your highness?" I hear a familiar voice call out from the other side of my giant hardwood doors. "Yes?" I call out with a hoarse voice. "Am I allowed to enter?" the same voice speaks out. "Yes." The doorknob turns and the big door opens. In comes an average height male with short brown hair and a stubble.

"Is there a problem Sapnap?" I ask whilst rubbing my eyes, sitting up in my queen-sized bed. "There's an urgent meeting, Sire." He says with a worried look on his eyes. He walks to a door on the left side of my room, opening it. He walks inside the big walk-in wardrobe and comes out a few minutes after with a blue robe, white dress shirt and dark grey dress pants. He walks over to me and hands me the pile of clothes.

He gives me a nod and heads out the room, hearing his footsteps fade. I get up out of my bed and head to my bathroom, the door on the right of my room. Sapnap is my right-hand man, my most trusted person in the entire kingdom. I became prince about 2 years ago now. My mother was assassinated as I told you before. My father passed away when I was younger to an awful illness nobody knew about yet.

Our finest Doctors and Healers were on the task of finding out this mysterious illness, whom many lost their closest ones to. The death of my father was hard on my mother, though she never showed it to me. She always tried to keep her strongest around me, so I wouldn't be affected. I never really knew my father well, nor had a good bond with him either.

My mother and I shared an amazing bond, however. When she passed, it was hard for me to move on. Here I am still trying to avenge her death.

I make my way down the tower's steps and walk through the long corridor, entering the large hard wooden doors at the right, near the middle of the corridor. I open the doors to see Sapnap sitting at the large table with Ranboo and Skeppy. I take my seat and look at the three men with a raised eyebrow.

"Your highness" Skeppy begins to speak. "There's been news about the.." he pauses for a little. "The assassin, Sire." He continues with caution. I furrow my eyebrows and gesture for him to continue speaking. "He's believed to live in the nearby kingdom of Simodin. Rumoured to be called 'Dream', your highness." He finishes and looks at me.

"'Dream' huh?" I scoff. "Who calls their selves 'Dream' when you're an assassin.". I remember the day of her assassination like it was yesterday. A tall masked dirty-blonde. I remember his features vividly. "Is there photo evidence of this 'Dream'?" I question Skeppy. He pulls out a paper with a black and white photograph on it. My eyes widen as I scan the photo in front of me. It's him.

"By your reaction, it's him. Isn't it Sire?" Ranboo joins in. I look up at him and nod. "I suggest we find our finest guards around the palace and bring them with us. We'll go on a quest to avenge your mother." He adds on.

I get up abruptly and walk to the door shouting "Get my steed ready.". Leaving the room in a fast pace and heading back to my room. I grab a leather satchel, filling it with gold pieces. Then I grab a bigger bag and immediately start putting important stuff in it. Waterskin, gloves, clothing and other things. I head into my walk-in wardrobe and grab my armor from it's stand. I click the chestplate and leggings on, sliding the arms over me and attaching them to the shoulder plates. I slip on the cold metal boots.

My sword in its sheet is attached to my waist quickly. Heading out of my wardrobe, I grab the bag putting the satchel with gold inside it. My blue robe laying on my bed is put over my head and draping over my shoulders. I head down the 6 flights of stairs as quickly as I could.

My walk to the stables is short as I'm walking in a high pace. There I see Ranboo, Sapnap and Skeppy awaiting me. Ranboo is holding my horse as Sapnap and Skeppy are on their own. "Sire, please be carefull. This quest is way more dangerous than you could imagine. If this really is him, you're up against a professional assassin." Ranboo says with worry lacing his tone.

"I'll be carefull, I promise. God knows if I'll even find him. The photograph looked old. He probably looks like a total different man by now." I take the reins from his hands, positioning myself on the horses left side. I place my foot in the stirrup and swing my other leg over him, gently sitting down into the leathern saddle putting my other foot into the free stirrup on the right side.

I click my tongue and transition from a walk to a trot. Sapnap and Skeppy trailing behind my horse. The beautiful dapple grey with pitch black fading to white manes, comes to a halt when we arrive at the kingdom's gates. The guards posted at the gates notice our presence and recognize the crown on my head immediately. They bow and greet me formally.

"The castle shall be run by Ranboo for an unknown time. We're going on a very important quest. Do NOT let anyone in these gates without his permission!" I command them. "Yes Sire!" they shout in unison. I click my tongue again, trotting forward. Sapnap and Skeppy trail behind me once again.

"Let's move till sundown and stop at the village of Seryu. It's about a 3-hour ride from here, so we have plenty of time." I shout lightly at the two knights behind me, making sure it's loud enough to be heard. They give a loud "Okay." back as we transition to a canter. We gallop through the woods, jumping very few fallen logs that are blocking the path.

After an hour's ride we come up to a river. We halt our horses and dismount them. Holding our reins, we bring them to the river and let them drink and rest for a good half hour. Once they've rested for a while, we mount them again and cross the bridge.

° Time skip °

The sun is setting as we finally see the villager of Seryu come into sight. It takes us about 20 more minutes to arrive at their walls. Once inside, we stall our horses in the public stables. I feel eyes on me as I untack my stallion. I totally forgot about my gold crown on my head, making people aware of me being royalty. I shyly smile at them, walking with Skeppy and Sapnap to a nearby hostel. I greet the older lady introducing myself.

"Good evening, I'm King George from Ethilon. These are my guards Sapnap and Skeppy. We're looking to spend the night in this lovely village." I say with a warm smile. "Oh dear! The king of Ethilon! Welcome your highness! Please follow me to your rooms." She says giving me a smile back. We follow her as she show me to a room and give Sapnap and Skeppy a room together.

Before she leaves I call her back and hand her a few gold pieces. "Please take our payment." I say. "Oh dear, you don't have to pay your highness." She says with a gasp. "I insist, we're just like any other customer." I say and give her a warm smile again. She bows and thanks me, closing the door behind her. I take in the room scanning everything carefully. There's a big bed with white linen, two nightstand and an armchair. There's a big window leading to a small balcony that looks over the small towns square.

I let out a deep sigh as I take the crown from my head and put it on the nightstand on the left side of the bed. I undo my robe and drape it over the armchair. Clicking open my armor and taking all the pieces of, placing them on a stand in the corner. Luckily I only sleep in my undergarments so I didn't need to bring nightclothes with. I shiver a bit as my body slides into the cold bed.

Thoughts creep up me as I think about this 'Dream' person. Thousands of questions start to swarm around my head. For example:

Was he hired? And if he wasn't, why did he do it?

Is this his "job"? Does he make a living out of this?

What do I do once I find him? Will he kill me too? Do I execute him?

I shake my head as I try to clear my mind. Eyes growing heavy once the thoughts fled from my brain. Soon falling into a pit of darkness, wondering what awaits me the next day.