Kingdom Come

Chapter 12

Kelivar was busier than Mairo. There were people everywhere, in buildings or outside of them. Considering this was supposedly an active warzone, Simon was surprised, though it would make sense that Mairo's people would have fled to Kelivar since it was the wealthier and therefore possibly safer option between Kelivar and Perivat.

            Simon couldn't help but think of the deal that he'd made with Colonel Kestra. It wasn't much in the long run. Take over the throne, fix relations with other countries, end the war... it was already all on his agenda anyway, so he might as well make the deal and get himself and Kerri an escort to Kelivar while he was at it.

            "Simon?" Kerri's voice brought Simon back to the present. "I think we're being followed."

            Simon didn't look around, but he did grab Kerri's wrist. "Don't look around. It'll just draw attention to you. If we are being followed, they'll probably act sooner if they know we're onto them."

            "Is it more bounty hunters? I'd really like to not deal with them."

            "It probably is. There's going to be more of them the closer we get to Jolier. Mathiew really didn't want me to be the new king."

            "How long do we have until they crown Chiram?"

            Simon spotted a discarded newspaper and ran up to it, letting go of Kerri for only a moment. He skimmed it quickly, looking for anything about the royal situation. It wasn't hard since it was front-page news. He suspected it would be all week.

            "Looks like Chiram's in charge at the moment, though he's still not the crowned king yet. Usually that takes a couple of months, but he would want to move it up, of course, so... maybe a week at most?"

            "Too bad you won't be there."

            Simon whirled around. A man was holding on tightly to Kerri, whose cane should have clattered to the ground, except another scrawny man had grabbed it before it could hit the ground. Kerri looked like he was struggling to breathe, which wasn't surprising since he was raised off the ground by several inches.

            "Listen, this guy isn't the prince, I am. You don't have to suffocate him."

            "Leverage," the big man holding Kerri grunted. Simon sighed.

            "Of course," Simon muttered. "What will it take for you to let him-?"

            An arrow whizzed out of nowhere, whistling by Simon's left ear. His eyes went wide. Oh, come on.

            The arrow at least had the decency to hit the bigger man, which forced him to let Kerri go. Kerri collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Simon rushed forward towards him, but the remaining bounty hunter whacked him in the stomach with Kerri's cane. It hurt, of course, but Simon and Kerri had designed it that way. It was thick enough to hurt but small enough to be portable and accessible for Kerri.

            Another arrow flew by, shooting down the scrawny man and allowing Simon time to grab the stick and throw himself over Kerri. More arrows began raining down, and Simon cursed himself. It didn't matter if he was alive or not. The bounty was just on him being taken to the palace to not be king.

            "WE GOTTA GO!"

            Kerri pushed Simon off him and started to get up, his step faltering and almost making him collapse again. Simon stretched out and grabbed Kerri's cane, shoving it at the blond, and then dragging him up. The two ran down the street, passing people who yelled and screamed as arrows still tried to hit Simon and Kerri.