Lost Ones - A False King

Chapter 4 - The Brymbach Brothers

Just before the explosions, a boy runs across a lawn towards a house.

He emerges from a nearby forest. In his hand, he carries an overflowing basket of hazelnuts and walnuts, some of which fall to the ground due to his speed.
He wears an olive-green T-shirt, dark pants, and a red-and-black patterned bandana on his head.
The house he's running toward is located on the outskirts of the Whitepool District, at the edge of Rilgohin.
It is dark red, with white windows and doors, and has a gabled roof covered with tiles, similar to the other houses in the neighborhood.
When the boy reaches the front, he quickly runs up the three narrow steps and opens the front door.
"Mother, I'm back!" he calls loudly.
He carelessly places the basket of nuts on a round table in the entryway and rushes back to the door.
"I'm off again," he shouts.
"Emmod, wait a moment," he hears a woman's voice from the kitchen.
Emmod Brymbach stops in the doorway.
He wipes the sweat from his bushy eyebrows with his arm, which rest above his brown eyes, broad nose, and full lips.
He then looks out onto the street, where two children are running towards the city center.

Impatiently, he glances back into the house, where a medium-height, slender woman with dark, sparkling eyes stands before him. Her hair is long and tied into a braid on the left side.
She wears a cream-colored short-sleeved blouse with ruffles and a high collar, a long skirt, and brown boots.
This is his mother—Emina Brymbach.
"Please bring back two watermelons from Mr. Hershay on your way home," she says, drying her hands on a kitchen towel.
"What about Novel?" Emmod asks, annoyed. "Where is he, anyway?"
"He snuck out before sunrise today," Emina replies.
"Typical."
"And be back on time for dinner tonight."
Emmod sighs.

"If I find him," he replies, and heads off towards the Royal District to see the royal family.

'I hope they don't get into trouble,' Emina worries to herself as she watches her son run off.
He still had tasks to finish for his mother, which is why he is late and in a hurry.
The two children Emmod had just seen are already overtaken by him a few moments later.

The farther he follows the street towards the city center, the more two-story brick buildings appear on either side, and the busier the street becomes. He constantly has to dodge people, only to immediately slow down for the next group.
So Emmod decides to take a shortcut through the Park of Rilgohin to reach the Royal District.
However, before the arched bridge leading into the park, a small crowd of citizens is gathered, loudly arguing.
Emmod is forced to stop.
He notices that the citizens are agitated, but their anger is not directed at each other. Instead, it is aimed at the soldiers, who are blocking their access to the park.

"We have the most beautiful day of the year," says a middle-aged woman to the soldiers.
"Exactly, how can you deny my pregnant wife and me a walk in the park on a day like this?!" her husband adds, his voice booming.
"We're sorry ourselves...," says one of the younger soldiers.
He is the only one trying to calm the agitated citizens, unlike his comrades, who are passing the time with a dice game and alcohol.
This makes the citizens' anger boil over.
"You can't be serious!" the man now shouts, puffing up, "I haven't seen anything like this in years!"
Many of them are frustrated and feel unfairly treated, especially since they are being denied access to the park on such a beautiful day.
"You will calm down now!" bellows one of the older soldiers after taking a few gulps from his bottle.
"Either you wait patiently or leave," he says. "Almost ruined my win with all your shouting," he mutters before crouching down and shaking the dice in his hand.
"What are we supposed to wait for, and how long? Until you finish your game??"
"We can't say, because we don't know ourselves," the young soldier replies on behalf of the older one. "But you'll surely be able to take your walk later in the day."
"Later in the day? As if we have nothing better to do... How dare you – what an outrage..."
But the soldiers remain unmoved.
"Perhaps today is my last day," a woman speaks up, stepping forward from the crowd.
Being the smallest of the group, she has to crane her neck to look her opponents in the eye.
"Can you really deny me this gift, to fully enjoy what could be my last day on this fine earth?" she says in a thin voice.
'She's just playing them,' the others think with raised eyebrows. 'Her voice is stronger than mine.'
Only Emmod has a slightly different thought.
'This is pointless. These guys are stubborn.'
"Now listen here...," the older soldier begins, unwilling to be fooled, as he's been unable to quietly play his dice due to the constant interruptions.
Even though some of them feel sympathy for the citizens and are uncomfortable turning them away, the soldiers still have their orders to follow.
Emmod sees no end to the situation and internally fumes about having to take the long way around.
"What about those cheeky brats over there?!" the man beside him suddenly yells.
Like everyone else, Emmod turns in the direction the man is pointing.
On a small patch of grass, four children are playing carefree with a ball.
And, unsurprisingly to Emmod, one of them is his younger brother—Novel Brymbach.
Novel is wearing a torn gray-brown T-shirt and dark pants, both of which have seen better days. He's a skinny boy with large brown eyes and slightly protruding ears. He's also half a head shorter than Emmod. But he makes up for the height difference with his long, curly hair.
Sweat begins to form on the soldiers' foreheads, and it's certainly not from the hot weather.
"Get those kids off the lawn before anyone sees them!" the old soldier commands.
Three soldiers quickly rush off.