(Adventure Adrian and the Kings) The Herald Quest

Chapter Thirteen

THIRTEEN

A crowd of at least a hundred people had gathered at the gates of the College to see if the rumour of a Noble visit was true. From the far reaches of the kingdom the peasants, travellers and townspeople lined both sides of the main pathway up to campus. They were all waiting in anticipation at the arrival of the latest hopeful. It was like a celebrity was making an appearance and these crazy fans couldn’t get enough!

Grace and I were the odd ones out because we were the only people moving away from the gathering and further away from the College too. Our very first Herald quest was underway and the frantic excitement of this welcome party meant that we passed through the gates of the campus without anyone really noticing. Not that Grace and I were worth noticing in any case. We weren’t exactly royalty.

We carried on down the path, weaving through the waves of people as they cheered and clapped whilst eagerly waiting for the Duke to arrive. The Nobleman’s carriage suddenly rolled past us and up the hill towards the College entrance.

Both of us turned back briefly to see the coach enter through the College gates and stop at the campus’ front door. I only caught a glimpse of the teenage royal as he stepped out but he looked important enough from his clothes and manner. Fingers crossed that the Duke would be the one that the Knights were all looking for.

Immediately four of the College’s finest Squires surrounded their visitor and then quickly escorted the Duke towards the main archway. The Professor was there to greet him and shook hands before leading his guest inside.

The Duke would stay at the College for a few days and in that time would be treated to the finest food and drink until the Priest arrived to meet him. That all depended on the success of our trip of course. The journey to the church would take a couple of days and was pretty straightforward. When we returned with Father Valliant then hopefully the new King would be crowned.

 “Our first quest,” I yelped before excitedly, holding an envelope in my hands that contained a very important message. We slowly moved away from the crowds and across the open fields towards the crossroads. “So let me get this right…all we have to do is take this message to Father Valliant in Quilchester and then return home?”

“For the last time…yes!” Grace snapped and she was almost shouting at me. “It’s going to be easy so stop worrying will you!”

Grace was clearly unhappy about this trek. She was also grumpy because I was constantly trying to remind myself of the simple mission ahead that she found rather boring. But I wanted to stay focused and not let the Professor or the College down.

“We can’t fail then,” I said and shoved the envelope into my jeans pocket. If we could please Izanbar with this job then we might have a chance at some really exciting quests in the future. “But one question…why do we have to walk all the way to Quilchester. Why not fly on the Griffins or use the horses instead?”

“The horses are way to expensive for a Herald to ride,” Grace sniggered at the thought. “They’re reserved for squires or nobles only. Did you suddenly forget how unimportant you are in the big picture?”

“Ok…the griffins then.”

“The skies must always be avoided stupid!” Grace barked impatiently as she marched at pace across the grass and then almost started to leave me trailing behind her. “The sky becomes more dangerous the further north you go.”

“You mean because we’re heading further north towards the Shadow?” I assumed. “Into that blazing storm?”

“Stop worrying about the frickin’ Shadow,” Grace snapped at me again and then started to stride even faster still. “Quilchester is still way too far south for Moargart’s army to touch and as long we stick to the main pathways, everything will be fine.”