It took me a while to process that that was Aaron’s father, your father. He must have owned the shop. I then realized that there were pictures hanging on all the walls of Aaron when he was younger and of Sir Delgado as a young soldier.
“Um… sir. These are the princesses. They are the four daughters of King Darius. I am taking them on a mission.” Aaron seemed uncomfortable talking to his father.
Suddenly, Sir Delgado’s face turned furious. “You took them? They were missing from the palace days ago. Why on earth would you kidnap the princesses?”
“No, I found them and was going to return them home,” Aaron lied. “We are all starving. May we have some food?”
Sir Delgado relaxed. “Yes, of course.” Then he turned to my sisters and I, acting like we were mere children. “Do not worry, sweethearts. We will get you home safely.”
I exchanged glances with Aqua. What was with this guy?
But soon, we were all seated at the cleanest table in the pub. Food was being served in the boatloads. Goblets of wine, plates filled with bread and meat, bowls topped with fruits and vegetables.
“Aaron, are we still in Funnel Village?” Safire asked, nibbling on a piece of bread.
Aaron shook his head, eating a turkey leg. “We are actually in a small town miles away from Funnel Village called Rose Way. I think we got all the clues we need from Funnel Village.”
Galena pushed the goblet of wine further towards the center of the table. She always thought we were too young to drink it. “Is this your father, Aaron?”
He nodded, avoiding our eyes. “We never had the best relationship. I ran away to scribe school when I was eight.”
Aqua, who was sitting right next to him, patted his shoulder. “That’s alright, Aaron. Nobody has a perfect life. I admire you more now that you’ve had pain and suffering.” You can always count on Aqua for some wise saying.
When we had all eaten a lot, we turned to leave. Aaron was carrying a large brown sack filled with all the leftovers. I didn’t know if this was considered stealing but I decided not to get involved.
We waved goodbye and climbed back onto our horses. I gave Clouds some water and corn, and we were off.
“Aaron, where are we going now?” I asked, steadily. I hadn’t talked to Aaron for a while now and didn’t want to sound any—different.
He didn’t even turn back to look up at me. “I think Raven Town. It’s where King Ward was born. Why don’t you read the part about his childhood in your book, Ericka?”
I pulled The History of Magic out of my knapsack and flipped to a chapter called King Ward. I read aloud:
Helena, daughter of Ericka, gave birth to two sons named Enoch and Seth. On Seth’s family line, thousands of generations later, was a man named Hash. Hash married a women named Nina who was a very powerful magician and she gave birth to a son named Erid. Erid had evil ideas of bringing the kingdom to darkness. He lived in Raven Town and married the princess of Donstania, Lady Reyna. She bore him a son named Ward, to be the heir.
Ward grew up as a young prince. He, however, took ideas from his father. When Ward turned eighteen, he struck down his mother and father, so that he would receive the throne. He then almost brought Donstania to destruction. Some say that he channeled the spirit within, a legendary magical ability that was the most powerful magical ability ever. Soon the whole day became dark. People were driven crazy and some were of rumored to have turned into demons. Finally one soldier named Joshua brought an army of magicians, wizards, scribes, giants, people, and other magical creatures and defeated Ward and his followers. People rejoiced. Joshua became the next king and ruled with justice and peace. The kingdom flourished with Joshua as the leader.
