How I Accidentally Built a Kingdom

Two days after Daniel had left me and Julia in bed to go and see Erick, we stood facing them in front of the village gate.

That day was the day he and Erick would go on their trip.

He had managed to convince Julia and I that we should stay behind and take care of the businesses, and the training of the guards while they went on their trip.

Of course Julia and I didn’t believe a word of the lies he told us.

Even though the reasons he gave were pretty good, and close enough to the truth, we also knew him well enough to know that none of them were actually the truth.

"Well," Daniel said as he pulled us into a hug. "I guess this is goodbye for now."

He had hugged us with so much force that it had been hard to breathe, he clearly didn’t want to leave us behind as much as he believed he needed to.

Neither of us made any move to escape from the almost suffocating hug, on the contrary we both pulled him in even harder, snuggling into his chest.

"You know we could still go with you," I said, my voice muffled by his clothes.

"Not this time," Daniel said, kissing the top of my head. "There’s too much that needs to be taken care of here."

I had to give it to him, he had stuck to his story through the entire two days we had been testing him to see if his lies would break down.

"I’m trusting you both to take care of the businesses while I’m gone." Daniel said, finally extricating himself from our embrace.

Julia and I stepped back, both of our eyes misty with tears, this would be the first time in months that we would be apart after all.

"We will," Julia said.

Off to the side Erick was saying goodbye to the elven lady he had been seeing for a while by then, but when he saw Daniel start to back away from us he also whispered a few more words to her, gave her a kiss, and walked over to Daniel.

"I love you," Daniel said to us for a last time before he turned and walked toward the forest side-by-side with Erick.

Julia, Beth, and I stood watching their backs until they disappeared into the forest.

Beth was the name of the woman Erick had said goodbye to.

"Will they be okay?" She asked me and Julia when the two men disappeared into the forest.

"They’ll be fine," Julia said, reaching out to take Beth’s hand.

"They’re two of the strongest fighters in any kingdom at this point," I added, reaching out to take Beth’s other hand.

"Erick said they’re only going to collect money in Stellor City," Beth said. "And that he wants to see the men he left behind there."

"That’s one of the purposes of their journey," Julia said.

"One of the purposes?" Beth asked.

"If that was all, Daniel could have just sent someone else," I said. "And he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to keep us from coming with him."

"So what’s the other reason?" Beth asked.

I looked over to Julia, who had a complicated expression on her face.

"If I had to guess," Julia said. "Daniel is going to go after Duke Charles."

"Duke Charles?" Beth and I asked together.

"He’s the one who sent the man Daniel killed after me." Julia answered.

I could feel my blood run cold at that moment.

A man had dared to send someone to kill my little sister?

She had told me how she and Daniel had met, how he had killed the knight who had tried to kill her, but she had never given me the name of the man who sent him. Saying that it was ’no big deal’ but apparently she had told Daniel who the man was.

"How do you know he’s going after him?" I asked.

"Because the day I told him about the orphanage, and about Duke Charles sending the man to kill me, I could see a rage in his eyes I had never before seen." Julia said.

"A rage so similar to yours that it almost scared me," she said, pointing at me.

"Will they be okay if they go after this man?" Beth asked again.

"Yes," Julia and I answered together.

"Daniel is one of the strongest fighters we have ever met," I said. "He can keep up with me and Julia, and that’s when he isn’t even taking the fight very seriously."

"An angry Daniel..." Julia started.

"That would be something to behold," I couldn’t help but smile.

"Instead of worrying about Daniel and Erick, you should dedicate your prayers to Duke Charles," Julia added, with a smile of her own.

I could see that our words had calmed Beth quite a bit.

"He’s really that strong?" Beth asked. "He always seems so... calm, and friendly."

"I can’t imagine him being violent and brutal."

Julia and I met gazes, before bursting out into fits of giggles.

"It’s usually men like him that should be feared," Julia said.

"Men like him aren’t easy to anger, but once they are angered, or you have made an enemy of them," I added.

"That’s when they become entirely different people." Julia finished.

Beth’s eyes had snapped between me and Julia as we talked, her face becoming paler and paler with each sentence.

"But they are also the types of men who have a code they live by, a... moral compass so to speak," I said. "And Daniel’s is that he would do anything to protect the weak, and those he deems his loved ones."

"Whether they need his protection or not," Julia said, finally turning away from the gate and making her way back to the inn.

I gave Beth’s hand a last squeeze, before I also turned away from the gate, but I went in the direction of the bathhouse.

A smile played on my lips the entire time, I couldn’t help but imagine what Daniel had in store for the man who had dared to threaten the life of one of his loved ones.