Princey's Unexpected Journey

CHAPTER VIII

We seemed to be in that bar for mere moments, but night had already passed by, and the sun was rising over the East horizon. I was astonished by how long I could stay awake. Sebastian didn't make it as long as I did, though, finding sleep in the night. I wondered how the horse could even sleep with all of the racket that went on inside of the pub.

As day broke, I got on my trusty steed and headed for the Groffton Kingdom, after I greeted the men with a bittersweet goodbye.

"I hope to see you again, Manuel," Christopher said, "maybe you can stop on your way back!"

"Maybe we can have a rapping battle," Thomas yelled, smiling as I waved back at the men.

"Maybe we can discuss how bad the King is again," George said, showing a small grin.

"I might just do that," I replied, trotting away on my horse. Soon, I commanded Sebastian to gallop, speeding away down the path to the Groffton Kingdom.

By noon, I had passed over the border between our kingdoms and I had entered uncharted territory. The Groffton Kingdom was much like my kingdom, but it had more people, less laws, and a better environment. The forest around their castle seemed to have a different feel as well. I became increasingly nervous as I approached the grand palace.

The Groffton family was unique, to say the least. The family consisted of the king, King Frederick, and Prince Jonathan, Frederick's brother. Their parents died suddenly a while back, so Frederick, being the oldest, was made king. They had no other siblings, and both of the men had no spouse. None of the men were even interested in looking for a spouse. Or so that is what the public was told. But, none of that is important at this point in the story. What is important is how they ruled the kingdom.

Since King Frederick was so young when he took rule, he had to be advised by the council that had been appointed after the death of his parents. Until King Frederick was eighteen, the council made all of the laws and regulations, while teaching the king how to effectively rule. Once King Frederick took the throne, they were very pleased with themselves, admiring the man that had come out of the tragic life that he had.

King Frederick was well liked by the people in the Lin Kingdom. He was actually liked in all of the nearby kingdoms. He was the king for the people, and the king of the people. He listened to the needs of his lower classes and he did his best to accommodate them. Once, he ordered everyone in the kingdom to eat like the lower class did, including the people living in the castle. He ate the food along with the rest of them. Once he fully understood how bad their situation was, he started the construction of farms, hiring his lower class to work directly for him. They were paid highly and were treated like the upper class.

King Frederick also opened his borders to many immigrants and passerby's. He constructed these new houses. Well, he did not call them houses. They were called "hotels." I thought that it was a strange word, but I didn't make the buildings. Anyways, these hotels were basically places for a passerby to sleep for a night or two, instead of having his lower classes open their doors for them. Most were free, but some of the more finer hotels did cost money. This created a lot of jobs, which created profit for the kingdom, allowing for many people to visit the Groffton Kingdom.

As I approached the innermost part of the kingdom, I saw an abundance of people walking through the streets. I got off of Sebastian and walked through the crowd of people, holding his reins. Everyone greeted me with smiles and warm welcomes. I smiled back at the people, not mentioning where I was from or who I was. When one asked for my name, I resorted back to the alias that I had used in the pub. Alexander.

Soon, news about my arrival started to spread through the kingdom like wildfire. Many people were calling me Alexander, even though I had never met these people before. I deduced that news must travel fast in this kingdom.