The King with Six Friends

"King" Zar

Zar shot up out of the covers, cold sweat pouring off his face. His hand instinctively went to his sword hilt, but he only found bed sheets. The first thing he noticed was how stiff he felt. He touched at the white bandages wrapped around his stomach. He was so thirsty his tongue felt like sandpaper.

The bedroom glowed bright with sunlight peeking through the curtains. The bed was massive- meant for someone of great power.

The last thing he noticed was that instead of his dirty mountain clothes he wore a clean, white nightshirt.

He swung his stringent legs off the bed, shaking for a moment under his own weight. When he had steadied himself, he made his way to the large door. He had to hold himself up with the wall to stand.

Peering out the door, he found the corridor empty. Only the immense paintings and relief carvings silently watched him from the walls. Everything in the palace made him feel like an insect. Zar followed the sound of people talking down the hall.

He had only just started walking when a small door in the wall opened. Kiera gasped when she saw him, dropping her load of books noisily.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," chuckled Zar.

"You're awake!" Kiera hastily gathered up the texts. "You've been asleep for two days. The assassin, he got away. We didn't know if you would survive." She placed the stack on a decorative chair. "But here you are, standing in your nightgown. In the hallway."

Zar picked at the garment. "It is the most expensive thing I've worn for some time." Kiera laughed behind her hand. "Out of curiosity, why are you always sneaking around with a stack of books?" Zar asked her, picking up one of the books and placing it on the others.

Kiera's face fell. She glanced down at her feet, embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to offend," Zar said, recompensing what he might have said, "You don't have to answer that."

"No, no, it's fine," she replied, "My brother, Levis, died not too long ago. He read me stories and taught me how to read and write because the tutors would never teach a girl. Even a princess-" She exhaled sharply- "I reckon stealing old books from the library's rubbish is my way of coping." They stood in silence for a moment.

"I didn't mean to pry, I'm so sorry," Zar apologized.

"Don't be. It feels better to talk about it, though most ladies of the court are supposed to keep their mind to themselves." She scoffed, crossing her arms, "As if any woman is supposed to sit in their cage and sing, dance, and look pretty for everyone else. Like a dumb songbird."

"I don't think women are dumb songbirds," Zar said.

Kiera cocked an eyebrow and scowled. "Right. That's what they all say, but none of them ever mean it."

Zar was quiet for a moment. "Well, to hell what they think. You're a princess. You should be able to do whatever you want."

Kiera's hard expression softened and a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "Then princes should be able to do the same, right?"

"If only it were that simple," Zar sighed, chuckling sarcastically.

At that last word, the large doors swung open. "ZAR!" His friends shouted, running to greet him. Kiera jumped back while the six friends crowded Zar and began talking at once. Agus pulled him into a spine-popping hug.

Zar managed to wheeze out, "Ag-gus!"

"Sorry, sorry. You're awake! That's good," Agus said, apologetically releasing him.

"We thought you were dead," said Kindle, "You really need to stop doing that."

"How do you feel? Before Agus squashed the guts out of you, I mean," asked Edge.

"I feel fine, really, a tad stiff-" Zar started.

"The assassin was a Morph!" cried Eryx. "A bird- a falcon." This was news to Zar. "Some sore loser royal from another kingdom sent him to kill you."

"I wanted to tell him that!" Kindle grumbled.

"Your reflexes were incredible," said Dumble, handing him his sword. "Your skill with the blade is something to be proud of."

Furze pushed the group out from Zar to give him room. "For goodness sake, don't suffocate him."

Finally, they ushered Zar back into the large bedchambers.

"I really am fine, I feel well enough to get up," he protested. But if he was being honest, he was aching from the top of his scarred head to the bottom of his calloused feet. He just wanted to know what was going on.

"Mmm, no." Kindle raised his brows indignantly. "You quite literally took a knife to the stomach, became heir to a ridiculously wealthy kingdom, aaaand won one of the prettiest beauties in the land. All in one day, no less."

"Became heir?" Zar asked, "What happened to King Invictus?"

"Nothing, but he has sent threat letters to the lands around to find out who sent the assassin," said Edge.

"On a different note," said Agus. "Did we interrupt something between. . ." He was suggesting between him and Kiera. Kiera had mysteriously vanished from the room, possibly through another secret door.

"NO! No no no, we weren't- I wasn't-" Zar stammered. The group exchanged smug glances. "We were just talking," Zar tried reasoning with them.

Right then, Edge leaned close to Zar, looking him directly in the eye. "If the princess makes you happy, you should go for her. Don't be a bachelor king."

"It's not like-"

"You were smiling when we walked in," Edge stopped him.

"What?"

"Smiling," Edge slowly enunciated, "While you were with the princess."

Had he been smiling? He couldn't remember. His head was still foggy from his blank out. He hated having a slow brain, it made him feel like he was missing something that everyone else was getting.

His friends began filing quietly out of the room.

"We'll leave you to rest," said Eryx, "You look like a ghost."

"Rest well, King Zar," Dumble said, bowing as he left.

When they were gone, Zar rolled the name around his mouth.

King. . . Zar.

The title was always familiar, but now it had a new meaning to him. He didn't want to be the person who was inexperienced and brought ruin to his kingdom. He wanted to be the person who was able to learn and lead wisely. Maybe, because of this second chance, he could finally become that person.