In Another Era

Chapter 19: Frederic

Chapter 19: Frederic

Kenric watched as his younger brother climbed off his horse. Frederic's wife, Lady Mary, also got out of her carriage with their two-year-old son, William.

Kenric smiled as he saw the little boy for the first time. He was a spitting image of Frederic with his sandy brown hair and dark eyes, just like the rest of the men in their family. All apart from Kenric, who was the only one that had light greyish-blue eyes and dark brown, almost black hair, just like their mother did.

Luckily, it seemed like William did not, in fact, inherit his father's ears. Kenric tried not to laugh as he recalled his conversation with Archie in this regard.

Godric was the first one to greet their brother and his small family. Once the King and Queen were done welcoming them, Frederic's eyes finally fell on the Warrior Prince. Kenric was standing there with his straight posture and his hands behind his back, just like a soldier.

"Brother," Frederic grinned as he rushed over to wrap his arms around his older sibling. "I have missed you, Ken. So much."

"I missed you too, Freddy," Kenric smiled as he hugged him back just as tight. "You need to visit more often. The castle is not the same without you, brother."

"I shall try," Frederic said, but both of them knew that he was lying. "You should visit the eastern estate, it's beautiful. Lush green lands as far as you can look. Great wine, too."

"I will."

Kenric really wanted to, and he hoped that once the peace treaty was signed that he would actually be able to leave the castle and travel without any worry. Maybe he could once again take Archie with him. There were a lot of things that he wanted to do, but could not because of his duties.

"May I take the horses to the stable, Your Highnesses?" asked a servant.

"You may take the others, but I will take my own horse," Frederic told the servant who nodded before walking away. Frederic turned back to his brother as he spoke, "does Archie still work at the stables?"

"He does," Kenric answered with a straight face.

As kids, Kenric and Archie were the closest, but Kenric knew that Archie and Frederic had a soft spot for each other. Frederic had a terrible childhood, and Archie was more often than not the only one that could comfort the youngest prince. This led to him growing quite protective over Fred too.

Kenric remembered all the times when Archie would scold him for being mean to Fred. Kenric would try to explain that that was just how siblings behaved, but Archie would always take Fred's side, and Kenric would be forced to apologize to his younger brother in the end. Archie was just like his mother when he was angry, he had the same soft yet fiery look in his eyes where you could not help but listen to whatever they were saying.

As much as it annoyed Kenric back when they were kids, it was now that he realized how grateful he should have been to Archie for being the supportive shoulder that his younger brother needed in order to cope with their father's treatment of him. He was glad that Fred had Archie by his side at the very least.

Kenric's biggest regret in his entire life had always been not protecting Fred enough from their father. If only he was stronger and more courageous back then...

"I shall go and see him then," Frederic said. He kissed his wife and his son on their foreheads, whispering in her ear that he will see them later, before grabbing his horse's lead. "It has been a while since I last spoke to him."

"I will come with you," Kenric replied. Frederic raised an eyebrow but did not say anything as the two of them started walking. There was silence for a few minutes, but then Kenric broke it. "You do know that Archie is not the same as he was when we were children."