"Reunited..." - Chapter Forty-Four

Reunited...

Chapter Forty-Four

By Douglas E. Gogerty

"I told you that we would not be able to count on her," King Thorbjorn told Prince William.

"We do not really need to," replied the Prince. "We just need to follow her. That should provide enough security for our purposes."

"I suppose," grumbled the King.

"Now let us get the suncar and go," said the Prince as he ran to the waiting vehicle.

The King followed the Prince to the suncar. They had been conserving the suncar's power during the day for just such an occurrence. They had been saving power just in cast they needed to leave in the middle of the night. They were saving for an emergency, but it was not in this case. They just needed to get going.

Further, they would not have to hurry. This was because the Princess's caravan was moving very slowly. Thus, they could use minimal suncar power. Therefore, they did not have to press the batteries of the vehicle.

About an hour after dawn, the entire caravan came to a stop. They did this to switch from animal power to solar power. They would bed down the animals in the wagons and hook up their suncars. The process took a little while, so it was also time for the morning meal.

King Thorbjorn and Prince William took the time to eat as well. This also allowed the suncar's batteries to charge. They would soon reach the Princess's kingdom. After that, the King and his son would simply need to leave the caravan and head toward Lakeland. The pair continued following the caravan into the Princess's kingdom.

After a fair amount of travel, the King and the Prince would break off from the caravan. There was a fork in the road, and the Princess would likely head to her new castle complex. The two stragglers would split from the caravan at this time. Nonetheless, they would be well within the borders of the former treaty land. It would be in somewhat friendly territory.

As they were about to depart ways with the Princess they sought an audience with her. However, she did not allow it. Thus, they had to leave her without saying their good-byes. This was just as well for the King, but Prince William would have liked to say farewell. As always, he did not know when he would see her again.

Even without the audience, they continued to stay with the caravan. The sun was beginning to set before they reached the split towards Lakeland. They thought they may spend a little more time with the caravan. Fortunately, the slow pace allowed the royal suncar to once again save power. The King and the Prince would be able to travel for a while as it got dark. Further, if they ran into trouble during the night, they would be able to make a getaway.

Since it was getting dark, the caravan once again made its switch. A meal was eaten, and the animals were once again pulling the Princess's wagons. It was at this point that the King noticed the road heading towards the north. It was here that the King and his son would leave the relative safety of the caravan.

With darkness coming on, they would not be able to travel far. Hence, they simply looked for an out of the way place to camp in that area. With darkness falling, they did not want to waste power looking for a well protected camping area. Thus, they found a spot byt the crossroads and pulled off. While there was a multiple ways that trouble could come after them, they also had multiple options for escape.

Prince William took the first watch. It was dark. It was hard for him to believe that this was once a busy intersection. However, the nearby ruins indicated that this place was busy both day and night. The lights and buildings were long destroyed during the ancient conflict. Now, it was quite dark and very quiet. The Prince marveled at all of the stars.

Despite the conditions, Prince William remained awake during his watch. However, King Thorbjorn did not do so well. He awoke with a start as the sun struck his face. It was well past dawn. He looked around in panic, but there was no one around. The roads were deserted in every direction. He let out a sigh, and began preparing the morning meal.

It was later in the morning than they would have liked, but they were happy to be heading towards Lakeland. Even with the late start, they would be close to Lakeland at then end of the day's travel. In fact, the father and son should be able to make their home kingdom early on the next morning.

Furthermore, the roads were quiet. It did not appear that anyone was watching the road they were traveling. It was quiet and empty. This did not make the men anxious because this was fairly normal for this part of Morica. Hence, they pushed forward.

In fact, they went so fast that they did not save any batteries for reserve. As night fell and they neared Lakeland, the suncar stopped. They were simply excited to get home, and they were caught off guard by the stopping vehicle. They stopped completely unprepared for making camp.

Nonetheless, they did not panic. The two simply made camp next to the road where they stopped. They could almost feel how close to Lakeland they were. They both felt that they would make it home. It was the last leg of an arduous journey and they were almost there. All they had to do was make it through one more night.

This time, King Thorbjorn took the first watch. At this spot, it was also dark and quiet. However, the excitement of making it to Lakeland kept the King awake. He was vigilant and even paced for a while. He kept a good watch. As with all of the other nights, he did not see or hear anything other than the sleeping Prince.

When morning came, the King had not slept much during the Prince's watch. King Thorbjorn had a lot on his mind. The excitement of making it to Lakeland after all he had went through prevented any sleep. He could not believe he was so close. He simply tossed and turned during Prince William's watch. He was anxious to get home.

With the sun up and the morning meal taken, the suncar made its way towards Lakeland. They reached the boarder after a short drive. They had reached Lakeland without incident. After a brief cheer in the car, they spotted a small dust cloud heading their way. They thought it was the entourage sent to retrieve the King from the Pirate Peninsula.

Relief that they had finally reached their home kingdom became evident in the suncar. They both thought they were going to be safe. They were wrong. The road exploded in front of them and they crashed into the ditch.