Son of the Hero by Rick Shelley Page B

waste finding people, the longer it will take. I appreciate the concern, but I’m worried about my folks. Lesh, Uncle Parthet, and the page. That’s entourage enough for now. Truly.” Kardeen looked relieved. He dismissed the guard commander with instructions to get Lesh and four horses ready to go, fully equipped for a week in the field. Then it was the armorer’s turn.
    “We need equipment for His Highness,” Kardeen told him, “Mail shirt, buckler, helmet.”
    “I have my own weapons,” I said. Everything but the pistol was in plain sight. I didn’t bring the gun out.
    “If I might examine them, Highness?” The armorer studied my bow, sword, and knife critically. The compound bow didn’t throw him for an instant. “Excellent weapons, lord.” I though so. Dad always insisted on the best.
    “I think it’s time for us to see His Majesty,” I said, checking my watch.
    “We still have a few minutes to spare,” Kardeen said without looking at a timepiece. “Batheus, we’ll need the shield and other items quickly.” As the armorer left, Kardeen’s clerk came in and whispered to the chamberlain.
    “And now it’s time for us to attend His Majesty,” Kardeen said with a soft smile in my direction.
    “One more thing before I forget,” I said. “Do you have a map of the area between here and Castle Thyme?”
    “We have maps of the seven kingdoms around somewhere,” Kardeen said. “My clerk will sketch you a copy of the appropriate portion if he can find them in time.”
    The clerk nodded quickly. “Immediately, Your Highness.”
    The throne room was an office scarcely larger than the chamberlain’s. The throne was set on a dais two feet above the floor, but it sat behind a desk as cluttered as Kardeen’s. Pregel was apparently a working monarch when the mood struck him. When Kardeen, Parthet, and I entered, there were already a couple of dozen people in the room. But the king hadn’t arrived yet. He came in just a minute after we did. Everyone bowed—not too deeply—from the time the herald announced Pregel until the king climbed on his throne and told us to rise.
    “Come here, Gil,” Pregel said. “Stand on my right.”
    I climbed up on the dais and stood next to the throne, feeling nervous as everyone in the room stared at me.
    “My loyal subjects.” The king’s voice carried well in the small room. “This young man is Gil Tyner, son of my granddaughter Avedell and her husband, Carl, King’s Champion, Hero of Varay. Gil departs today on a mission as fraught with peril as any ever attempted by a Hero. We name him our heir for all to hear, King of Varay when I am no more. Our prayers and magics go with him today and always.”
    I had a fleeting moment to wish that someone had taught me the proper etiquette for occasions of that sort. I would have settled for a simple warning of what was going to happen. I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was supposed to do. All of the people down in front of the dais bowed deeply and held it.
    “What do I do now?” I whispered to the king when I had figured out that the people were going to hold the position.
    He grinned, then whispered back, “A simple ‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ loud enough for everyone to hear, should do it.”
    I bowed and said exactly what he’d told me to say and everyone straightened up and started staring at me again.
    “You have everything you need?” the king asked me, softly, but not in a whisper.
    “It’s all been arranged, I think,” I said.
    “Our prayers and magics do go with you, Gil,” he said. He gripped my arm—very tightly. “That’s not completely an empty formula here. And if you can keep Parthet from losing his spectacles, he can actually help.” Pregel smiled. “Go now, and I wish you luck.”
    I bowed again and climbed down from the dais, wishing I hadn’t lost all those years with Pregel. I had only the faintest memories of him from when I was little, and I had found myself liking him