Tina crept further in the doorway and blinked, rapidly as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of what looked like a hallway. She inched forward until she was able to peer past another door to see people running back and forth in a large kitchen. A tall man with blond hair stood in front of an old fashion wood burning stove. His back faced her.

  Her attention was held more on the old fashion wood burning stove then the blond cook. It looked like a modern invention then something that should belong in the middle ages. It was shaped, just like the stoves at the local hardware store with - when she was able to spot them when the blond cook moved - four opened burners, but she didn’t spot an oven. The blond cook moved away from the stove like contraption. Her lips parted as she spotted where the oven usually went, there was a door that swung out wards. She narrowed her eyes and saw flames roaring in the oven space, behind a pane of glass. She frowned, impressed.

  “Alright, everyone!” Tina turned her attention to the blond cook standing in the middle of the kitchen. He spoke, addressing the kitchen staff, “We still have a couple days left before the Funeral Ceremony. If you remember correctly, folks, the ceremony has been pushed back by the news of the Pope coming to oversee the Ceremony, personally, who is due to arrive either later today or tomorrow sometime.” The mummers rose from the kitchen staff.

  Tina blinked in surprise. The Pope was going to be attending this Funeral Ceremony and he was going to oversee it? She had thought the local priest representing the Church would do the honors. Apparently not. She thought the Pope lived in Rome, a sub-country in Italy. That meant he would had to leave shortly after the King’s death and was traveling by sea. She frowned. That didn’t make sense. If she remembered correctly, the king had died a couple days ago. She thought it would take longer for anyone to travel by sea to get this place…assuming she was in England, not Alavon or something other far off place. It would make it a lot harder to get home if she was in Alavon or another far off place. She could get back to Vermont easy if she was in England. She remembered one of her opponents from the Black Moon Tournament that she left alive was an Englishmen. She would just have to roam over to London and track him down. It won’t be long afterwards that she would be on her way home.

  “As of right now,” the head cook went on, knocking Tina from her thoughts, “I don’t know if there will be any dietary needs for the Pope and his detachment. Once I find out, you will find out. We will change to meet their needs.”

  Tina glanced around and saw the majority of the people in the room were cooks and supportive kitchen staff. Their eyes were glued to the head cook. Tina lend back, out of the kitchen and put her hiking bag against the wall. She glanced down the hallway, seeing the doorway lit, leading back to the court yard and debated on what she was going to do. She had found the kitchen. There should be another way around the kitchen and go deeper into the castle. Maybe she could do some exploring. She glanced at the kitchen staff outfits. She frowned. She needed to store her bag somewhere and wear a disguise before she would have free rain of the castle. The question was where and how? Her eyes drifted over the wall before they landed on a door way. She smiled. She casted her gaze toward the kitchen where the head cook was discussing what was going to happen with the Funeral Meal, post the burial ceremony. She crept toward the door way, disappearing down the new hallway.

  Arthur sighed as he tried to forget the threat from Lord Salazar. He couldn’t believe the Lord of the Crescent Island would do that in the castle, while he was at Court and surrounded by some of the most skilled warriors Camelot had seen in a long time. Arthur walked through the halls, trying to get rid of the pent up energy. He glanced down at his hands. They shook. He took a deep breath and clutched his hands into fists. He needed to calm down before he lost control of his temper. Perhaps he should go to the training yard. He paused, thinking. That would be best, he thought. He nodded to himself before he headed to the training yard. He glanced toward the sky.

  The sun was in the process of setting. Its rays casted the sky in shades of pink, yellows, orange, and reds. It felt like a chapter closing in a book. The Former Prince didn’t want to think about it and what it possible could mean for himself and the Kingdom.

  He didn’t have much time left to train for the evening. According to the men at the port, the ship carrying the Pope and his party hadn’t been spotted and they predicated it will be sometime tomorrow that they will arrive. His mind drifted to what it meant. The day after tomorrow, they would bury his father. He shook his head, trying to clear his head as he approached the training grounds and slipped through the close door.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Arthur ran his gaze around the empty training grounds. He knew most of the knights would be at dinner or heading there. Tonight, there was a border line feast in the Great Hall where majority of the Court would attend as well as many of the knights. A lot of the noblemen would try to find a fitting match for their daughters among the single knights who had become well known in the last year or so. Some of the younger Knights would try to find a few quests on the behalf of a Lord or Lady of the Court, aiming to become well known and receive rewards, spreading his name across the Kingdom. A couple of the newer Knights may become lucky enough to get the attention of a Lady of the Court and go questing in her name as well as the Kingdom’s. He should probably go to it. He probably will need allies in the court for whoever became King so he could get his family out of Camelot if the need arises.

  He sighed. He just didn’t want to deal with the everyday runnings of the Court. It was always the same, no matter what was going on. The Ruling Family would host a feast or a party, the Court and the Knights would attend, the Court Lords would try to find a match for their daughters while the Knights try to find quests and a lady to quest for, and soon after wards the Knights would disappear from Camelot for a long while, going out to quest. It would be a while before the Court would hear anything about the questing Knight and the Knight’s name would spread across the land. Majority of time, the knight’s lady’s name would be spread as well, but there were plenty of knights who would go questing in honor of the High Queen Kalliope. It was so tedious as a prince. He couldn’t image how it would be if he had became the Chosen King.

  Arthur approached a rack of training swords and chose one at random before he turned and faced the row of straw dummies. He went over to them. He took a deep breath. He rose the sword up in a defensive stance. He launched himself forward, attacking the straw dummy with all of his might.

  When he finally stopped, the sun was peeking over the horizon in the western sky. His arms burnt and his sword tip touched the ground. He would have got his ass chewed for that by his teachers. A chuckled slipped past his lips.

  “Are you alright,” Lancelot’s voice rang out causing him to jump and twisted around in surprise. Lancelot stood on the edge of the training field with a raised eyebrow.

  “I think so,” Arthur admitted. He let out a sharp breath and shook his head, “I really don’t know any more.” He slowly walked over to the training rack and placed the training sword back on it. He turned to Lancelot and continued to vent, “I mean, I was raised to be King. My life has been planned out for me. I know my family had been in negotiations with several families who has daughters and get the best deal for a marriage agreement.” He turned on his heel and stormed several feet then he twisted around and walked the same path before he did it again. “Now, everything is thrown up in the air. I should go to that feast and hope to gain allies in case the New Chosen King decided to kill my family to make sure one of us doesn’t stab him in the back or plot against him.”

  Lancelot didn’t say anything as Arthur made another lap.

  “At the same time, I don’t want to face any of them. Some of the daughters were aware of the negotiations and had started to form their own groups of support. There were some who are unaware of the negotiations. I guess that is a blessing since I don’t have to deal with them.” He took a breath. “I don’t know if I can even face any of them since I made the announcement of not taking the throne. I’m sure some of them will want to know the reason why I chose to gave it up.”

  Lancelot’s eyes followed Arthur back and forth before he spoke up, “You won’t know until you try, my prince. Attend the feast for a bit and see how it goes before you make your decision.” Arthur stopped and raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I do agree you will allies in the near future,” the Knight started, “The only way to find them is attend the feast and upcoming social events. Take advantage of them. We know how the court works. Use it.”

  Arthur pressed his lips together and thought about the suggestion. It had merit. He did know how the court worked. He grew up within it. He nodded. He responded to Lancelot as he started to walk toward him, “You are right.” He walked passed him, “I’m going to the feast.” He sensed Lancelot fell into step beside him. “Are you planning to attend as well?”

  “Unfortunately,” the Knight sighed. “Most of the questing age Knights are, too. Majority of them are looking for a lady to woo and give them quests for the summer months and return in the Fall to possible wed them.”

  Arthur let out a low chuckle, “They will be sorely disappointed when I show up then.”

  “Yes, they will be,” Lancelot chuckled, “But I think they will be too busy in wooing the ladies of the court to notice you or what you are trying to do.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Arthur commented.

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