Caught in Time

Chapter IV: The Reunion

Late at night, at the heart of the capital city of Asharevskaya, a wagon that came all the way from Suovi finally arrived. The families of the people arriving from Suovi was rushing to greet their loved ones. Kyleas and Adran were the last to disembark from the wagon. The bright lights of the Erasthian Royal Palace that sits on top of a hill was visible even from far away. Compared to Suovi, the night skyline in the capital was much brighter. Kyleas takes a long look around the city and see how much things have changed since the last time he was here. Just as they were leaving the wagon hub, the wagon driver called them back.

"Excuse me mister, can you come here for a second?", said the driver.

The two walked towards him.

"Mr. Adran and Mr. Kyleas is it? I personally really wanted to thank you for saving us from those highwaymen from earlier", he said.

"No problem, as it turns out I really hate bandits", replied Adran.

"Aren't we all *laugh*. Anyway, this is all I had to pay you for-", said the driver while reaching to his pockets.

"Please, keep it. You need it more than we do, trust me", said Adran.

"But- Alright how about this then. The next time you need to go anywhere out of the city, just go find me here. I can get you there for free!"

"You seemed really adamant about it, but we will pay the normal cost the next time we need a ride. If that's all, we must get going now", responded Adran.

The two of them started walking away from the wagon hub and just continued walking north for a while.

"We spent a lot of time on the road, why don't we stop by a tavern to get something to drink or eat?", suggested Kyleas.

"No need, this 'old friend' of mine can provide us both with the food and shelter", Adran replied somewhat coldly.

"Whoa okay, I'm sorry. You've been very quiet on the way here, I thought we've resolved our little problem?", asked Kyleas.

"We do, it's just that I felt ashamed for losing to you, even though you're not using your full power", answered Adran.

"Actually, not really. I was slowing you down with my time spell that whole time *laughs*. I'm sure you must be thinking why your body felt so heavy during our fight", explained Kyleas.

"I knew it! I was wondering what happened to me the whole time!", said Adran while punching at Kyleas' shoulder.

"By the way, is this old friend of yours also a wealthy person? Because I just realized that we've been walking towards the neighborhood around the Victory Square", asked Kyleas.

"I guess he can be considered as one, but his place was not around the Victory Square. That's his place", said Adran while pointing at the place.

"The Royal Palace!? Who was this friend of yours? The King himself!?", said the surprised Kyleas.

"Yes, I am indeed go to the capital to see King Alexander Tuganov II himself", replied Adran.

"I was just joking, by the way. Are you sure about this? You might know him personally, but what about me? Do you really think that the guards are going to let me inside the Palace just like that!?", asked Kyleas.

"Don't worry about it, I will explain to the guards. I know them, they know me", said Adran.

"Alright then, but I'm not too excited to go there", Kyleas reluctantly accepts the fact that they had to go there.

They continued walking towards the Erasthian Royal Palace. Surely enough, when they finally arrived at the gates of the palace, they were stopped by the guards. The guards immediately looked up and down at both Kyleas and Adran.