Enemy of the King

The Knights

The knight's camp looked cozy enough, Henry reflected. They had five tents, one for each of them. Only two horses remained of the five, but the three that had been killed and half-eaten would serve as food for the knights. But for now, the knights ate from their provisions, which consisted mainly of bread, cheese, and dried meat. Calano accepted his portion silently, not even conveying with his eyes that he preferred a vegetarian meal. Henry was silently proud of him as one of the knights handed him his own food.

"Here you go," the knight said, sounding slightly younger than the others. He tilted his head, almost like Calano. "Do you see Wolfkin often?"

"No. I try to avoid them," Henry replied, picking up his bread and cheese. "They're nasty to deal with, especially if you're alone."

"Are you usually alone?"

"I've only recently gotten my apprentice," Henry said. "Calano's been a great help to me so far. I'm hoping that he'll become a master adventurer someday."

"I'm sure he could become a fine adventurer," the lead knight said, his tone faintly ironic. "Provided he doesn't get killed or something."

The 'or something' made a chill go down Henry's back. "Yes," he echoed, slightly disturbed.

He wasn't the only one. Calano looked up sharply from his food. "Are you foreseeing that I will meet some nasty fate in the near future?" he inquired.

"You hardly seem the adventuring type," the lead knight replied, eyeing Calano. "You look too soft and delicate for the life. It requires lots of hard work and practice. You would not be the first person I'd choose for the job."

Calano bristled. "Appearances can be deceiving," he said flatly. "I am a survivor if nothing else. And I'm a good shot. I've killed a mountain ogre recently and I have some hairs to prove it." The hairs being a trophy from the head he had brought back with him.

One of the knights got up and went around to go rummage in one of the tents. The lead knight leaned forward to look Calano in the eye. "A mountain ogre? Grown men can't even take down one of those and you of all people succeed? I suppose next you're going to tell me you've defeated the demon in the isolated valley."

"There would be no point in boasting about things I haven't achieved," Calano replied, scratching his head. "And I don't see how you can justify berating me for being a good adventurer when before you were saying that I didn't look good enough. It seems to me that I can't win this argument. I either admit that I'm weak or I say that I'm strong and have you call me a liar."

The lead knight shifted position on his log. He then turned to Henry. "Talkative, isn't he?"

Henry was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. "I don't understand why we have to be talking about this," he protested. "Calano is a fine adventurer's apprentice, so let's just leave it at that and discuss something else."

"Like how your 'apprentice' is an elf?" the lead knight suggested as the knight who had gotten up wrapped a leather cord around Calano's neck and pulled tight.

Henry immediately came to his feet and found three swords pointed at his chest. Calano, gasping for breath, tried to rise but the knight choking him forced him to stay seated on the log. The lead knight marched over to Calano, who was steadily turning darker green as he ran out of air, and tore his hat off his head, spilling pale brown hair everywhere. The lead knight grabbed a handful of Calano's hair and forced Calano's head down so Calano was bent double. Then, the lead knight exposed one of Calano's pointed ears with a flick of his wrist and abruptly let go of Calano. Calano was close to passing out, but the knight choking him loosened the cord slightly so Calano could breathe.

"What do you have to say about that, adventurer?" the lead knight sneered. "Elves are not allowed to become adventurers."

Henry just stared at him with wide eyes. "What's going to happen?" he whispered, not really wanting to know the answer.

The lead knight jabbed his thumb at Calano. "He'll be taken to the king. And you will too, come to think of it. I don't know what your role was in all this." He then clapped his hands and the knights scrambled to tie up Calano. Once Calano was tied, he was thrown over Storm's back and one of the knights led Storm. Two knights got onto horses and a third knight appropriated Henry's horse. Henry and the lead knight along with the knight guiding Storm walked.

"Don't even think about making a break for it," the lead knight warned.

"I won't," Henry muttered through gritted teeth. "Where would I run to?" He knew what would happen to him if he crossed the knights. And it wouldn't be pretty.