Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When the ship hit the docks I peered below to the gathering crowd which was there to welcome us back, cheering for the return of their Kings. Our steeds were awaiting below with the guards, but I definitely did not feel like riding.
I looked around and spotted some familiar faces. Lord Henry Stryder and Lord Roy Clairmant. I waved at them and they waved back. I most certainly needed to speak to Henry. I looked to the left and spotted the knights: Sir Destrian, Sir Threston, Sir Bratham and the others. Now that I think about it, nearly all the knights were here.
Lord Peridan too was looking at the crowd, as if searching for someone ever so discretely.
"Looking for someone?" I asked, wondering just who the man beside me hoped to spot down below.
"Why, are you?" he replied defensively, probably without even thinking it.
"I've already found someone, remember?" I said, looking at Peter and then back at him. "What about you? Have you... found someone? I asked, meddling in his life.
"I have found many someones. There's Lord Henry, my squire, oh the cook from that tavern we frequent, there's Phillip, your friend Sir Threston, there's-"
"That's not what I meant," I complained, but I realized he wouldn't be sharing anything today.
"Oh, I know," he replied with a sly smile. "Fancy going down?" he asked, changing the subject and offering me his hand in aid. "Or shall we stay here and talk?"
I answered by taking his hand and stepped on to the platform. As soon as I did so, I felt as if I was going to fall. The weather hadn't been the best on our way back so getting back on a steady surface felt odd. To my brain's understanding, the ground beneath my feet was still moving. "Is it just me or..."
"No, I'm feeling it too," Lord Peridan said, understanding immediately what I was talking about. So it wasn't just my mind was playing tricks on me. I felt like sitting down, or perhaps laying down on the grass might help, but I couldn't do just that. It would look strange and mostly inappropriate. So instead I held on to Lord Peridan's arm.
"Lost your balance, eh?" Peridan teased.
"Just help me down and smile," I said, giving him a look.
"I thought you didn't need any help," he said, stopping.
"I don't," I replied, letting go of him to prove my point. Still, he offered his hand before I reached the ground, well, the dock. I was feeling less dizzy by the second, and by the time I reached the welcoming party I was beginning to feel confident in my ability to ride my horse.
"Your highness," Lord Stryder bowed before me. Lord Clairmont was talking with King Edmund.
"M'Lord, how fare you?" I asked.
"Relieved now that you're here," he replied.
"It's not as easy a job as it seems, is it?" I asked as I walked towards my horse.
