Kings in Hiding

Chapter 4

"Guys, wake up! We're here!" Greg shouts excitedly, staring out at the beautiful scene. Kyle quickly rose from his spot on the wagon's flooring and yawned; Kirk sat up, rubbing his eyes and stretching his stiff and weary limbs. Both of their faces were beaming with joy.
"We are..?" Kyle asks, tired.
"Looks like it," Kirk says happily.

Leo hops down from the front of the wagon and continued to lead it towards the gates of the city. The stiff, silver coated guards gave him a slight nod as he and his crew passed through. He then hands the reigns to a stable master, who then parks his wagon and the horses for the time being. Kirk, Greg, and Kyle all join Leo on solid ground, kicking up the soft snow with each step. The boys huddle together for warmth as they head towards the inner city.
"Papa..?" Kyle asks, trotting to his father. "Don't you think Mama is worried? We've been gone for a long time, and-"
Leo messes with Kyle's dark mop of slick hair. "She's fine, don't worry about it." Kyle nods and continues walking alongside his cousin.
Greg, now curious, asks his uncle, "what's my mom like? I really want to know before I meet her, ya know, to get a good first impression!"
Leo evades Greg's eye contact and retaliates hesitantly, "I-I'm not sure. It's been a while since I've seen your mother, Greg.."
"Really? But, she's doing good, right? Is she nice? Is she pretty?" Greg goes on, excitedly. Kirk laughs a bit, and decides to respond for Leo.
"Ah, my boy... your mother was the most fair maiden I'd ever lay my eyes on. She had a real knack for cooking, too. I hope she'll still recognize me, beard and all."
Leo stammers over his words. "Y-yeah... last I saw her, I heard she was d-doing just fine.."
The crew quiets down for a few minutes; both Greg and Kirk are taking it all in. Many memories flood through Kirk's mind, some good, some bad. But, his overwhelming optimism filled his body with exhilaration beyond words. He'd never imagined he'd be this excited to head home to see someone. Kirk's lips widened into a smile as he waltzed through the kingdom's core.
"God, it'll finally be over..." Leo whispers.
Kyle turns to Greg and asks him, "have you ever met Grandpa? Or any of your other family?"
"I don't think I have," Greg states. "I guess my dad never got around to visiting other family. And, Dad never liked talking about his dad..."
"Oh, man... that's gotta be pretty lonely. Why would he not like grandpa?" Kyle quickly gets distracted with the sight of the towering castle in the distance. "You see that castle? I live there with Papa."
"Well, I'm sure he isn't all that bad, I've never heard anything serious about him! But, why do you live in the kingdom? Dad, told me that the people there weren't too good..."
"Papa works for the king! He's a head guard, so we get free living space for protecting the old guy. It's really cool, since we get free food and can hang out with the nice maids too!"
"Nice! I wish I lived in a place as nice as that..."
"Well, hopefully you'll get to see it! It's really pretty too."
A few feet away, a little girl is struggling to get away from an older man, one who appears to be somewhat homeless.
"Woah, dude..." Kyle's eyes widen and runs towards her to help her out; Greg glances at his distracted father and worrisome uncle and back at Kyle and the girl. He runs after his little cousin to see what's going on.
"Kyle, wait up!" He shouts, running through the thick, cold powder.
The older man harshly tugs on the little girl's cloak. "Oi, c'mon, I'm not gonna hurt'cha... just come with me!"
"No! Get your hands off of me, you mutt!" She screams. Kyle comes up to her, recognizing her face, and starts pulling her away from the man.
"Hey, kid, get ya grubby hands offa 'er! She ain't yours!" The man exclaims, turning more and more violent.
"That's my step sister! I'm not letting you take her!" Kyle whines; Greg comes up, catching his breath, and scowls at the man. He approaches him and prepares himself to kick the old hag in the crotch.
"Ah, great, it's a whole party huh, ain't it? Y'all scram befo' I get a guard!"
Coincidentally, a guard happened to be standing nearby. He approached the man and cleared his throat, and almost immediately, the man backed away and let go of the poor girl.
"Ah, Sir Micah! Thank you so much, I thought I was done for," the little girl says dramatically.
"Now now, Maria. What did your mother tell you about leaving the castle?" Micah, a rather dashing young man, says sternly, getting down on one knee.
Maria sighs, her cute little head droops. "I shouldn't leave the courtyard without an adult with me..."
"That's right- oh, thank you Kyle for holding him off." He stands up straight once again and looks at Greg, asking, "and, who might you be?"
"My name's Greg, sir! I'm Kyle's cousin," he says with a smile.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Greg."
Kyle pushes Maria towards Greg and introduces her to him. "Greg, this is my step sister, Maria. Maria, this is Greg."
"Nice to meet you, Greg!" Maria curtsies, lifting her cloak with her tiny hands.
"You too! You live in the palace?" He asks, piecing together her currently expensive state of clothing and her previous statement of leaving the castle.
"Mhmm! It's really fun. Knowing Kyle, he might have told you already?"