"Reunited..." - Chapter Fifty-Four

Reunited...

Chapter Fifty-Four

By Douglas E. Gogerty

With the cancellation of the Princess's coronation, Prince William did not know what he was going to do. He thought about sticking around the castle and waiting for the conflict to be resolved. However, he did not care for that option. After all, people would not look kindly upon him if the Princess were to lose. He also did not wish to be thought of as a hanger-on.

Further, he considered joining the fight. Showing his worth to the Princess he thought would be a noble pursuit. On the other hand, he was the only known heir to the Lakeland throne. No one would trust his motives. He would find it difficult to get anyone to follow his orders. He felt that he would hinder the war effort rather than help it. Thus, he believed that his presence would not be helpful to Lakeland let alone the Princess.

Therefore, he decided to leave the realm quietly. He had not spoken to the Princess for weeks. While he would have liked to have said goodbye, he thought it best to just depart. She made it clear that she would never marry the Prince, so he had no reason to stay or even say goodbye.

Despite the death of his entire family, his father still had assets in Lakeland. The Princess would not begrudge him a few things. One of the items at his disposal was a suncar. Therefore, he packed his things in the suncar and headed out. He did not know where he was going to go, but he knew he had to get away. Perhaps he would return for the coronation, but perhaps not.

To the west was Calmondak. It was the kingdom Princess Angelina's father ruled. The Prince found it to be his home away from home. He had spent many years there. However, he had gone into the Forbidden Zone. For this action, on a few occasions, someone had attempted to kill him. He was not willing to give anyone another attempt. Thus, it was probably not a place he could ask for asylum.

The kingdoms to the east of Lakeland had declared war. He could not claim loyalty to Lakeland and live in one of these kingdoms. Further, the Princess would think that he was still angling for her throne by declaring allegiance to one of these kingdoms. After all, if this alliance won the war, they may install the sole heir as king of a less powerful and smaller Lakeland. This simply would not do.

Therefore, his only choice was to return to the Pirate Penninsula. He was a man without a kingdom, and he was a man without a home. Perhaps he would be welcomed there. He had done them no harm -- well -- except help his father escape. Nonetheless, no one there knew he did that. Since it was really his only choice, he pointed his suncar in that direction.

After a few minutes driving away from the castle at Lakeland, he stopped. He got out of the car and looked back. He believed he would never see it, or Princess Angelina, again. He stood there a while and pondered things. He mouthed the word farewell and got back into his vehicle. He began traveling down the main road south.

With war, there are always refugees -- civilians attempting to get away from the fighting. However, in this case, most of the citizenry had nowhere to go. Calmondak had declared itself neutral in all things involving Lakeland. Hence, the refugees could not go there. The remaining kingdoms of Morica were at war with Lakeland. Hence, the only place to go was the Pirate Peninsula.

While the peninsula would mostly accept anyone, they would provide no resources for survival. Hence, if you went there, you would have to pay for your own food, water, shelter, etc. Thus, in reality, there was no place for the civilians to go. Fortunately, the Prince had resources.

As he drove along, he marveled at the empty roads. He expected to run into a few carts or people walking. He thought that he might run into vehicles taking the war to the invaders. However, the main road was empty. He was beginning to think he was in the eye of the storm. After a few miles, he would run into a great conflict, and his journey would be cut short. As he continued to travel, he continue to have his doubts about making it.

He kept travelling and as the sun was setting, and his suncar began losing power. The Prince needed a place to spend the night. He was in a war zone, but he had seen no evidence of combat. He thought that perhaps the nearby kingdom simply entered Lakeland and occupied some territory. After all, most of the citizens had gathered at the castle for a coronation. Nonetheless, he could run into trouble at any point.

He stopped his car but stayed near the main road. He found a nice spot to set up camp. He erected his small tent in a nearby ravine. He camouflaged it with some sticks and leaves. It was practically invisible from the road. He parked the suncar a little distance away. He did not bother hiding it because he felt that would draw more attention to it.

He was extremely cautious, so he did not start a fire. He ate his little meal cold, and stayed close to his car for a while. He kept a watchful eye out for any movement. After a few hours, he was still struggling to stay awake. Eventually, he could no longer stay awake, so he got into his tent. For a while, every sound and rustle would arouse him. Eventually he drifted off.

He was aroused by the sound of thunder. At first, he thought it was an explosion or gunfire. However, another clap of thunder confirmed that it was a storm. He pulled up his camp, and put everything in the suncar. He was surprised that he had slept pretty well as it was after dawn.

He got into the car and thought about leaving; however, it was quite dark. The clouds were thick and blocked out the sun. His suncar would only have minimal power on a day like this. It began raining in earnest. The rain came down quite hard. It was a hearty thunderstorm.

Hence, he was going to have to stay there until the storm passed. The way it looked, it could be several hours before the rain let up. That is not what he wanted to do. He wanted to get on the road. He could make it to the peninsula before dark if he could get going. The rain was keeping him from leaving. He sat in his car and fretted.