Chapter 4 - A return to Tarwood

For days, William used his Sense as he cautiously navigated his way out of the swamp. He ensures that he leaves no tracks so those assassins will not follow him. William created a makeshift bow during his travels and dedicated his time to training his hunting skills. He made sure he used his time honing his abilities while making his way back to Tarwood.

He made it out of the swamp and found himself on the road. William can rest easy, but his Sense tells him otherwise. He hides inside some nearby bushes. William detects three adult figures hiding behind the trees facing the road. William hears the faint iron chiming on their waist as the wind blows past them. 

They are armed. William wants to take them head-on are bandits, but he knows he might not win against them due to his weak state.

"Not without bait!" William says as he patiently waits for a moment to strike.

An opportunity arrived when a carriage was passing by. The bandits leaped out of their hiding spot and threw in smoke bombs to frighten the horse. As the horse comes to a halt, one of the bandits holds the coachman hostage, and the other two start to force their way into the carriage.

Thou the human eye cannot see through the pitch-black smoke, his Sense guides him as he can detect the faintest movement of the bandits, allowing him to hone in their position and make the smoke his cover. As he got closer, William shot the bandit near the coachman on his leg amidst the smoke.

"Crap!" William whispers to himself as he moves within the smoke. He is disappointed that he lacked the proper skills to shoot a bow and almost gave away his position. He might be an expert on shooting rabbits, but clearly, he needs to learn more hunting skills.

The two bandits heard the thud of their fallen comrade and responded by threatening the lives of the carriage. They demand their mysterious attacker to back off, but William's arrogance to save the innocent wins him over. William stealthy made his way to the horse, smacked its behind, and this spooked the poor creature and began to run on the road.

The two bandits lost their grip on the carriage and fell to the ground. There William knocked the three bandits cold and left them to their dream for their following nasty plot.

The coachman stops the horse, and the door opens the carriage. There, a woman in cloak exits and calls to William. A woman's strong voice emanates as if she commands a powerful army before her and asks William to name his price after saving them from their bandits.

William approaches the woman and says that he needs passage to Tarwood.

"What a coincidence!" The woman replied. She invites William to travel with them as they are too traveling to Tarwood. William felt that fate smiles upon him; he happily entered the carriage with her.

William's eyes ran franticly on all corners and inspected any nook and cranny as they began traveling. He was so used to living in the swamp that he must be careful of any attacks. The woman silently observes William with his mannerism, not knowing that she slowly deduces his actions and what and who he is.

"So boy, tell me why a kid with a makeshift bow, ragged clothes, and soiled pants is traveling to Tarwood? Are you perhaps a page of Sir Eldric?" The woman suddenly asked.

Weary of who to trust, William made a lie told that he is a fan of Eldric and hopefully can be taken in as a page. The woman didn't budge and inspected him from head toe, further antagonizing William's fortitude. William started to spout more lies to support the one he made, and the woman silently took it in.

"My lad, you need to construct better lies else the Royal Court with making a mockery of you. Your lies and your awful state tell me you haven't been in the road for more than a week." The woman raised a brow as she unveiled herself as Princess Chatelaine.

"I am traveling to Tarwood to give respects to Sir Eldric. Unfortunately, a fisherman by the capital's river found his bloody armor." The Princess took notice of William's lack of reaction regarding Eldric's death and assumed this must be the Eldric's squire that she saw standing beside him during the opening ceremony.

William asks her what she is doing without any guards, and she reasons that she travels in secrecy as the King won't allow her to travel alone and is sure to be accompanied by at least a dozen men to guard her. So this is the life of the only offspring of the King.

William remembered his manners and bowed before her, then he presented himself with the handkerchief that Eldric gave him. The Princess was about to ask William not to show any pleasantries, but upon seeing the cloth, a tear began to fall, and immediately streams of it followed.

She always believed the death of Eldric was a sham since his body was never found, but seeing the handkerchief changes everything.

William can feel her pain when she tries to hold her tears. Her eyes lit up, and she began to speak of the origin of this handkerchief: when Eldric was a young man, he was brash, arrogant, and handsome. The girls wanted him, and the men wanted to be him. The Princess despised men like him, and yet Eldric managed to win her over. He wanted to prove himself and began his arduous training to be a knight. Once he was knighted, Eldric participated in the Grand Tourney 20 years ago and won. He asked the King to marry the Princess but was denied because Eldric was a commoner. Despite this, they secretly eloped and found their happiness. The Princess birthed their son at dusk but never lived to see the dawn. They took this as a sign that God was punishing them, and with a heavy heart, they went on their separate lives like nothing had happened. Since then, Eldric mends his immature ways, becomes the respectable knight he is while the Princess becomes a politician. But before they part their ways, she gave him this handkerchief, a symbol of their love and secrecy of their union.

William believes that Eldric entrusted his secret to him, and in a way, Eldric wanted William to trust her. William introduced himself and told the Princess what happened on that dreadful day. He made sure to leave no details out, gave the note he got from the assassin and mentioned his suspicion about the Frosthold poisoning their ale and Duke Lenato's action.

The Princess took note of this but could not accept it without more substantial proof. So, first, she argues that Duke Lenato's rivalry with Eldric is not enough to cause murder. Then points out that William and Eldric drank on the same ale that the Frosthold gave them, so it can't be it. Then she noticed the paper where the assassin's note is written had a smooth texture.

"This Pentalium doesn't ring any bell, but this paper can be our lead. It is expensive, and only the richest politicians can afford such paper. I, too, use it if I am to write letters with great importance. So that's our clue. Someone from the highest place put a hit on Eldric." So the Princess says as she expresses the same fiery passion that William represents: vengeance.

After a long day of talking and getting to know each other in the carriage, The Princess was felt that she had to help William with his quest. They both wanted justice for Eldric, so she promised William to train him to help him grow and secure more power. William, happy hearing this, gave his allegiance to her but also forwarded a request. He wanted John to be part of this, too, as John is his only friend, and he deserves to let him know about the truth.

As the skies got dark, they finally arrived at Tarwood and just in time for an Eldric's wake. Rows of knights, politicians, and friends pay their respect for him. William and the Princess meld with the crowd as they wear robes to hide their faces. The Tarwood's local priest led the wake and gave a long and solemn prayer for Eldric's soul. Then one by one, familiar faces that William saw on the Tourney, and new ones come and go after saying their piece, but two stand out, Duke Lenato and his son, Rolfe. The Duke expresses his sadness and says that he will never forget Eldric as his rivalry and closest friend, while Rolfe says he looks up to the man and wishes that other knights model themselves to be like Eldric.

William's blood began to boil. He wants to lash out, and his gut feeling tells him that these two know something about Eldric's death, but he needs to bid his time and learn from The Princess. He must be better and stronger than before to take down his enemies.

After the wake, the Princess can see that Tarwood is in a sorry state. The death of Eldric weighs heavy on their hearts, and people need a leader. In Eldric's absence, she decided to step up. She will do her best to keep Tarwood safe while finding the mysterious Pentalium. She excuses herself from William and promises to return to Tarwood.

William returned to the barracks and found the other kids crying and the tallest among them, John, reassuring the other kids that everything would be better.

"Hey, guys. I am home." William said. The kids and John rushed over to him, crying as they thought he died just like Eldric, and were glad that their older brother was able to come home safe. 

The following days were hard for them, but it is a new beginning for William and let John in about what he discussed with Princess Chatelaine. John admires William for his bravery, and just like him, he is too determined to help.

Days later, a royal envoy arrived with donations from the Princess. Seeds and fertilizers are given to the farmers. She employed some guardsmen to patrol Tarwood and train their men for combat. And the pages' training is resumed when a knight is hired to help them. Tarwood is slowly getting its bearing back as their crops yielded better prices and helped establish more merchants to trade with them.

When the Princess is away working at Royal Court, William and John train with the knight practicing their sword skill in the morning. At night, the Princess secretly arrives at Tarwood and teaches the two boys leadership skills, etiquette, and how to socialize and treat information as resources. They are trained how to lead, learn to make friends and create connections and use it as a powerful tool to spread misinformation or sway the public's opinion. The boys began to eat up the knowledge they were given as their passion for growing fueled them. And once their session is over, the Princess will leave them with more lessons and homework. Flexing their mind and pushing their mental capability to think on their feet and make the best out of them. 

Days turned to months, and the boys learned more than any kids can at their age. The Princess was happy seeing the two boys becoming the spymasters as mold them to be. William becomes more attentive and learns how to hide his expression from others, a far cry from what he was when she met him. But what surprised Princess Chatelaine was John. He acts subtler than William when being trained to blend in with the crowd, he can decipher hidden messages within letters faster than her, and the way John interacts with the kids shows he decern facts from gossip; this indicates that John has what it takes to be a spy. Princess Chatelaine always reminded them that finding their enemy won't easy as killing random bandits. To find Pentalium, one must act like them. They must meet them in their territory, into the world of politics, where the light and the shadow dance and one small slip will cause them their downfall. 

On some nights, William was having nightmares as he saw Eldric dying in his arms. He tried to make a bow and shot the assassins, but none were hitting them. He would wake up in a cold sweat and his Senses acting up. William is getting upset as the days go by. There isn't one day he blames himself for failing Eldric.

Finally, William lost his enthusiasm. Seeing that this isn't helping to find Pentalium, and with the guilt hanging heavily on his head, William secretly leave Tarwood in the middle of the afternoon.

As their next class was about to begin, John noticed his missing friend and looked all over for him. He asked everyone, and none of the kids or the guard saw him leave. John feared that the Pentalium might get the best of them and kidnapped William.

John hurried to the Princess to inform him about William's disappearance. But as he reached her, she stood silent in their classroom and looked as if she knew where William might have gone.

"That boy is impatient and predictable, just like Eldric." the Princess says as she points at an open book on William's table about the mighty hunters living in the mountains. Seeing this, John understood that William was on his way to these mountains to find these hunters and train in their way.

The Princess massaged her temples and continued with a restrained voice. "He wanted to avenge Eldric, and he believes developing his physical traits will reach our goals faster." 

The Princess handed John a bag full of food and survival equipment and instructed John to follow William and train with him too. She might be a princess, but she cannot stop angry teenagers. She understood their pain well and wanted the best for them. 

 "I taught you two to be better, and if being a hunter is the way to combat Pentalium, then go. You have my blessing. I will let Tarwood know that I sent you to the capital for my personal errand. I hope you will be back soon." she calmly says as she leaves the room. 

Over the months they have been together, John can understand her cold demeanor. She might not say it, but they can feel a familiar bond between them. The following day, John left Tarwood to search for his friend. 

The new day dawns and the Princess leaves Tarwood to return to her task. As she sits alone in her carriage, she holds the handkerchief near to her heart and prays for the boys' safety. Hoping that her teachings guide them well.