You can't have him

chapter 14

Dunston wanted to get there as fast as possible, so he pushed the horses as much as he could. For his plan to work, he needed to get to them before they decided to plan an actual assualt on the king. The cart they brought with them was loaded heavy, but it would be lighter afterwards. The barrels of explosives weren't cheap or easy to come by, but they were necessary.

Dunston stopped at yet another farm. He had been trading out the horses as much as he could, so he didn't wind up killing them by working them too hard, and he could continue to travel fast. Already he had gained several hours by doing so, but he hoped to shave off days before long. This time when he walked into the stables someone stopped him.

"Hey what are you doing in here?" The guy asked him.

"I'm taking your horses." He replied.

"You can't have my horses, so get moving mister." The guy replied.

Dunston reached behind him with both hands and pulled out two swords. "I don't believe I asked if I could have them or not. I told you I'm taking your horses. Your choices are to just stand there and let me take them, or I kill you and take them. What's it going to be?"

"Please don't hurt me mister. Just take the horses." He said.

"Good boy." Dunston replied. He walked up to the man and stabbed one of the swords deep into his stomach. The man looked shocked as he fell to the ground, coughing up blood. "I lied about letting you live." He said.

Dunston and the others switched out as many horses as they could as quickly as possible. He hoped to get at least another hundred miles before the sun set for the night.

.....

Geoff stood in front of the king with several armed guards around him. "My king as I told you before, Arjic was given to your son as a gift simply to facilitate my son in his quest for you. Unfortunately that's not what happened, and he has become corrupted by those fiends. Now I humbly offer to you my best fighters in order to help fortify your palace. You'll need fighters to protect in the unlikely event your son decides to wage war on you, and he actually finds some way to penetrate through your defenses."

The king glanced at the warriors then smiled. "I know I can always trust you Geoff. I can't believe I ever let doubt cloud my judgement of you. If only your son were as cunning as you, he would have never failed me. With your help we shall avenge your fallen son." He said.

"Yes my king. My son's death weighs heavy in my heart, and for that as well I will provide you with the men you need to accomplish your goal of ridding this world of prince Kapa."

The king hissed. "Do not call that treacherous bastard a prince in my company ever again. He is less than a worm, and should be treated as such."

"I'm sorry my king. It was just a slip of the tongue."

"See that it never slips like that again. You are dismissed. You can leave your guards at the guard tower to await further instructions." The king said.

Geoff bowed to the king and exited the room with his guards following. "I'm sure the king's going to try something against prince Kapa, and I still believe that the best way to help the prince is by having you all find out what you can here. Make sure your careful, but above all else remain loyal to prince Kapa and do anything to help him out. Prince Kapa is the rightful heir, and he would make a better king than his father. I fear that this argument will only end in bloodshed, so if prince Kapa does come with an army I need you to help out."

"Yes my lord. We've all been briefed on the mission beforehand, and we are all prepared to fight for the prince to our last dying breath." The guard replied.