Kingdom Come

Chapter 6

Simon knew the second that Kerri had fallen asleep. He'd tied his own coat around Kerri to make sure that he didn't fall. He thought about what Kerri had said. He could have just kept going to Jolier. He had been planning on leaving Kerri then, right? What were a few extra days? Simon thought of Kerri, tired and sore, sleeping on his back as they rode towards Perivat. What had happened to him in the hours they'd been separated? Should he even continue to bring Kerri with him?

            Kerri could have died. He was about to die.

            The realization knocked what little breath Simon had from his lungs. What hurt more was that Kerri knew. He had to have known, and he was just going to let it happen. Simon clenched his teeth angrily and held tighter to the horse's mane. They rode for a while, but time meant nothing to him. He didn't realize how many farms they'd passed until they arrived at Perivat's border. He slowed the horse until it stopped, and he looked around him.

            They were on top of a hill, overlooking Eklat, with a wall separating them from crossing into Perivat. A couple of houses with lights on shone beneath them, and the sky was so dark, it was almost black instead of blue. There were hardly any stars, and the moon was covered by clouds. What time was it anyway? Simon's limbs felt like lead.

            Simon untied his coat from himself while keeping Kerri from falling off of the horse. He shifted and opened his eyes a little.

            "We there yet?"

            "Go back to sleep, Ker," Simon said, carefully sliding down the horse. He caught Kerri and watched as the horse began to graze for a moment. He laid Kerri, once again passed out, on the ground and covered Kerri with his coat and sprawled out next to him. The ground uneven against his back.

            Kerri's snores were soft, but it threw Simon off hearing them. It had been so long since he'd slept anywhere near Kerri that he'd almost forgotten that Kerri snored. On the train, it had been hard to hear it over the people and rumbling of the train's movements, and it had been impossible to hear over the wind in his ears on their way to Perivat's border.

            The borders.

            Simon hadn't thought about how to cross them. On the train, it would have been nothing. But now, without tickets or the train, it would be nearly impossible to do. Getting into Perivat would be fairly simple. Nobody was really searching for them yet.

            Except the bounty hunters.

            Simon turned onto his side, facing Kerri. He looked so tired, even though he'd been asleep for hours already. Even in the weeks following his accident, Kerri hadn't looked this tired. Simon could remember the accident vividly. It still surprised him that Kerri didn't blame him at all for what happened. They'd been at the market, about to buy fresh fruit for the first time in months. Kerri had been excited for the strawberries, but Simon was looking forward to the apples the most. He couldn't wait for the corn to be harvested in the fall.

            "Sims move!"

            "Kerri?"

            Simon threw himself onto his other side, trying to shake the feeling of Kerri's hand pushing the small of his back. It was almost like Kerri had thrown him out of the way of the rampaging horse again, and hurt his ribs a little bit. He grunted. Kerri was already hurt. He didn't need to get hurt too. He tried to think of something else.

Tennika hadn't known that they were leaving Pelma. Or that Simon was leaving and not coming back. Not until her Inn was under attack from a bunch of thugs. What did she think now? What had happened after Simon had taken Kerri and run away?

            Simon hated running away. He knew that sometimes it was the right choice. The safest choice, the right choice, the best choice... a lot of people said that these were all the same. Simon disagreed. Safe could still be wrong. Best could still be wrong. Best could also be dangerous. Right could still be dangerous and the worst possible choice that someone could have. But if he hadn't run away, would Kerri have even made it this far?

            Simon buried his face in his arms and laid on his stomach. He needed to focus on what was in front of him. What was important. If he wasn't going to sleep, he needed to figure out a plan for how to get Kerri to a healing pod inside of Perivat all without getting caught. He needed to figure out food and money situations. He needed to figure out transportation because how would they be able to get the horse over the wall too? He clenched his jaw and threw himself on his back again. Why couldn't he just get comfortable?

            The stars were bright that night. Simon thought about how free they were, not bound by laws or walls. They didn't have lives to live, and honestly most stars had already burned out millions of years ago. A sinking feeling covered Simon when he thought about a future where he wouldn't be able to see the stars at night. His nanny had sung him a song about stars. The king had been too busy "running the kingdom" to care for a baby.

            "Where'd you learn that song, Nanna?" Simon asked.

            "Your mother would sing it to you before you were born," Nanna told him.

            "Before I was born?"

            "Yes, Young Sir."

            "Can you teach it to me? So I can sing it too?"

            "Oh, Sir, you are a silly one, aren't you?"

            "What do you mean?"

            "Your father would have my head if he ever caught me teaching you to sing."

            Simon shook his head and rolled to his side, facing Kerri. Nanna had died years ago, and the song was lost with her. Simon could only ever remember the first line. Maybe a book in the castle's library would have it, but that would be a stretch. Kerri looked especially pale in the moonlight, not that he wasn't pale to start with. He had a better tan than Simon did, though, which made Kerri laugh sometimes. Kerri looked so tired. He almost looked dead in this lighting. Simon checked his pulse to reassure himself that Kerri was still alive. He pushed a loose strand of Kerri's hair out of his face and then curled up into a ball.

            "Twinkle, twinkle little star...." Simon began to hum the rest. Simon felt his own eyes drooping, focused on the shallow breathing coming from Kerri just beside him. He needed a doctor, but it wasn't safe to travel any further that night. Simon knew that Perivat had decent doctors, but he knew that an Actedo would be the best for Kerri. A few hours in the pod (Kelivar's design for a healing pod), and Kerri would be as good as new. The hardest part would be finding somewhere that would take them with no questions asked. And also finding an Actedo in Perivat... it wasn't unheard of but it was still going to be a challenge.

            Simon sighed to clear his mind. Tomorrow they would be in Perivat. They would be in Jolier in about a week.

            He would take the throne and never see Kerri again.