A Princess's Sword

Chapter 17

The circlet Arilina wears daily instead of a crown 

It was worse than Ithagar had expected. The kingdom was in an uproar! Everyone was in total confusion. The king's adviser, Miryant, was the next in line. But the people were divided. Some wanted Miryant. Others said they were going to choose a king themselves. Miryant was telling the people that they should avenge their dead king and he was the person who could do it. Most of the people did not trust him, though. Ithagar's return confused everyone even more. Miryant had told them that Ithagar had been disowned, so some of the people did not want Ithagar to be king simply because they did not know why he had been disinherited in the first place. Ithagar tried to stop the rumors, but there were too many of them.

As the days dragged on, it became clear that there were two candidates for the throne, Ithagar and a man called Kasik. Kasik was a nobleman who treated his servants with respect. He was somehow related to the king but it was a distant relation. The way it looked now, because Ithagar promised peace to the chaos, he would be king.

At last, the day arrived when the decision would be made. Crowds of people, from all over the kingdom, had gathered at the castle to hear the outcome. Finally, the decision was reached in the early evening. Everybody seemed to hold their breath as the spokesman appeared. He cleared his throat and then droned on about Brinderia, Kasik, and Ithagar.

Finally, he said in a loud voice, "The next distinguished ruler of our fair and beautiful kingdom will be Kasik! Most of the people believe that he is the best suited to be our king." The people cheered when they heard the decision.

Afterward, Kasik approached Ithagar. The soon-to-be king kindly offered Ithagar the chance to continue to live at the castle. Having no other place to go, Ithagar gratefully accepted. But he really was in a state of shock. He had felt that there was no chance that he could lose, and yet he had lost. His plan had been that after he had been crowned king, he would return for Arilina. Now he could not go back, his pride would not let him. He was the same as a beggar, other than the few coins he had and his horse, but he did not have a trade to gain more money. As long as he lived in the castle he would not be homeless, but without money or any way to get money he would soon run out of the things he needed.

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I managed to walk out without help, but the instant I was out of sight of the people the knight helped me again. The pain in my leg subsided when I was at last settled in my bed. Father entered my room ten minutes later.

Before he could speak, I began, "Father, where is Prince Ithagar? I did not see him at the coronation."

Father answered quietly, "He left last night, most likely headed back to Brinderia. There must be a lot of confusion there without a king. You know that Ithagar was disowned, do you not?"

"I had heard something about it. What happened?" I asked with curiosity.

"Well, I do not know all the details, but from what I heard, I assume Ithagar was disinherited because he disagreed with his father about the surprise attack on us."

"Oh. Then he was disowned because of me."

"I think that I will leave you alone for a while Arilina. Make sure that you get lots of rest." Father carefully closed the door behind him.

After several hours of hard thinking, I knew what had to be done. My long rest had done wonders for my leg but it still ached. I was about to get out of bed when I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," I called, hoping it was Father. To my disappointment, it was a maid that entered.

She curtsied and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you, your royal highness?"