Honor of Euroka

Chapter 2 - Wrong Kind of Attention

Honor had been running for hours, and yet, despite this, he still hadn't caught up with the mass of villagers.

He could see the tracks more clearly, but he suspected that was because more villagers had joined the procession, not that he had caught up with them.

The way the procession worked, the villagers from the far corners of the kingdom had to walk toward the middle area, then villagers from closer to the kingdom had to join them as they reached them; if the villagers already in the procession were tired or hungry, the villagers that would join then were expected to feed and house them, if only for a little while.

That actually suited Honor's purpose. He might be able to catch up with the villagers while they were stopped at a village. Fortunately, his village lay close to the kingdom; if it had not been so, he would've been too tired to try catching up.

So, while he had those advantages, he didn't actually believe that he had come much closer to them. But he needed to take a break.

He had been running for the better part of the day, and it was beginning to show. He was parched, and his muscles were sore, which he was bitter about since he had always been a good runner.

He sat down, exhausted. He knew he couldn't stay too long, but the mere thought of continuing his run was tiring him.
He slumped in the shade and didn't even notice he was drifting off.

***

Honor yawned. He felt there was something wrong with that, but with his sleep-filled brain, he couldn't be sure what. He rolled around on the floor, trying to find a comfortable position. When he failed to find one, he sat up and drank some water. The water missed, however, and he ended up with a soaked shirt.

He stood up, quickly flapping his shirt to try to dry it. When this failed to work, he started trying everything he could think of to dry it. Again, he was met with disappointment. He finally gave up. He hadn't brought any spare clothes, since it usually only took a day or two to finish the ceremony, do he'd just have to deal with it...

Wait a minute. A day or two to finish the ceremony. What time was it? He looked up at the starry sky. Wait, starry? Honor yelled at the world for letting him sleep.

He yelled at himself for letting him sleep. But most of all, he yelled at sleep itself for kidnapping him.

Honor wanted to find a convenient living thing to yell at. Unfortunately, the only living being around was him and the plant life. He couldn't even hear so much as a bird.

Frustrated, Honor packed up his small amount of belongings, which literally only consisted of some stale bread and a canteen, and set to stretching. He doubted the villagers would still be continuing on this leg of their journey, but it was completely likely they had already reached the castle.

"I have to... hurry..." he said groggily. In truth, he probably wouldn't get very far with his grogginess. He looked at the tree he had been lying against and traced the swirls of the bark.

The bark was dry and cracking, which was uncommon in this kingdom, seeing as it got plenty of rain. He wished it luck and plenty of water and sunshine until it would tower over the other trees, which had left it behind.

After this little personal ritual, he stood and started trekking northeast toward the castle.

***

The castle was looming now, shrouded in the mist that was accompanying the rain. Honor really had gone far, but he had done it slowly. He had seen no further sign of the villagers after their tracks had been washed away.

Honor wasn't sure if his ritual had caused this heavy downpour, but he hoped the rain had reached the sad and dry tree.

After about five more steps, Honor entered the kingdom. Suddenly, the heavy downpour turned into a light drizzle. But no, that wasn't quite accurate. Because just outside the border, he could see the heavy rainfall.

But on the inside, it was light. Witches.
Honor shuddered. Just the mere thought of witches caused him to gaze downward, trying to keep out of trouble.

Even if these witches were part of the protectors of the kingdom, along with knights and herbalists, Honor didn't trust them.

Honor didn't look up, not once. He continued to stare at the paving stones, which steadily turned from tan to gray.

He stared still when he reached the castle courtyard, across the drawbridge, and in the hall that led into the main hall, separated by large double doors, made of soldiers.

He didn't want to open the door. He didn't want to go through. And he didn't want to face the depreciating grimaces of the rest of the villagers. Because, of course, they would be in here.

He couldn't stop them when the guards opened the doors. He couldn't stop them when he heard the villagers snicker. His father was right. He had attracted attention. And yet, Honor was also right.

He had attracted the wrong kind of attention.

The seats were ordered in the most noble, to least. Honor was ashamed to sit in the next to last. Seeing as his family was a complete failure, the person to his right must have either been in a similar situation or had done something to offend the king. Either option was less than ideal.

Honor finally peeked up and was embarrassed to find that everybody in the room was still staring at him openly. He grimaced and looked back down.

"Thank you all for coming here, despite the leg of the journey you must have been faced with," rang a deep voice. The room was so silent, his-the king's-voice echoed around the room, ricocheting across the opposite wall, and back again, like a manic child running around.

"We will now begin the ceremony," he said. Honor was filled with dread when the first person got up. Soon, he would be in their shoes. And he would fail, just like all the rest of his family.