The Tail of the Sword and Shield #Wattys2020

Chapter 7: What Happened to Alkanos Anyway?

Alkanos slowly opened his eyes. After doing a damage assessment, he slowly sat up. He could remember getting separated from Cordelia. He also remembered the rapids and seeing Cordelia with a fishtail plunging after him.

A fishtail? he thought, gingerly touching his head. He had a good-sized lump on the back of his head. I  must have hit my head. I really hope Cordelia made it out of the rapids alright. 

Alkanos got to his feet. He had lost his cloak and wallet in the rapids, but, he still had the knife Cordelia had given him.

"I am Alkanos, and I've been separated from my friend Cordelia." Alkanos said to the air. Yeah, that's right. I'm also the heir to the throne of Eldoria. Cordelia is my bodyguard. He thought, glad to know he still remembered. I'm going to the ice cave that's sacred to the Dragons. To try to pull the sword.

"Then I had better get going." Alkanos said, walking up the smooth rocked embankment up to the thin tree line, and to the forest road.

Alkanos looked up and down the road, scratching his head. "I wonder how far I came from the ford?" he said, remembering the pain from being bounced around and crashing into rocks like seeds in a rattle. Luckily the pain had eased off since leaving the river.

Licking his dry chapped lips, he gauged the location of the sun. By his calculations, it was early to mid-morning. He chose to go to the left, heading west.

***

It didn't take him long to reach a small village, that comprised of about two dozen buildings. The buildings were made of wood and straw.  There were a few stores, that Alkanos guessed, carried the essentials to sustain a town of this size. The village was set up in a tight circle with the village square in the center of the village. In the village square was a well for drawing water. The roads throughout the village were , regularly used  dirt roads. Villagers were out and about.

Missing the familiar weight of his coin purse, Alkanos decided to check the town notice board, looking for a quick job, and hopefully, quick money. On the notice board were notices of a lost item, a sell happening at the local bakery, and three new edicts issued from King Martin. Even though he was looking for help wanted notices, Alkanos read the three edicts.

The first edict was raising taxes through the proverbial roof. That didn't surprise Alkanos, taxes are how governments get money to keep the country running, but still, the general populace did have a threshold for how many taxes they could endure.

The second edict was all men and women of fighting age, were to register by Samhain, so a count of the kingdom's fighting force could be taken. There was nothing odd about that edict. All Eldorian Kings or Queens have had at least one in the past.

The third edict was a wanted poster of him and Cordelia. Both of them were wanted dead or alive. Alkanos ripped the wanted posters off the notice board.

Alkanos's mouth gaped open. "No way." he breathed. The charges listed for both of them were: Horse thieving, failure to answer a royal summons, aiding and abetting a fugitive, and charges of sedition and treason. The sketches for the posters were decent. The gold price for him was significantly higher than Cordelia's. That as to be expected since Cordelia had just gotten involved, he was the heir, and a threat to the Crown.

Alkanos tore the wanted posters into shreds, then slid them into his belt pouch. Seeing nothing else on the notice board, he turned around, only to see a girl in a red cloak go by with a basket of food. He couldn't help but see her, since the basket hit him.

"OW!" he exclaimed, "Watch where you're -"

"I'm sorry mister. I didn't see you there." the girl cut him off, she had green eyes.