The morning dawned, bright and fresh, and Garinor stared into the sunny day with a blazing headache. He had had too much wine the night before and, unaccustomed to its effects, the morning was quite a shock to him. He took some water and his pains subsided not much later.
The prince had acknowledged him as the heir to the kingdom and he was filled with a sudden sense of empowerment. He was the ruler. He would lead the country to prosperity and into a magical era where all revered him.
It felt like a great plan.
So it was that then the prince met with him over breakfast, Garinor shed his news. “I am afraid I have to turn down your offer. I will keep hold of my heritage. But I will offer you the same that you offered me. You’ll never go wanting for anything.”
The prince’s face was unreadable. He seemed as though he had expected such an answer but was hoping against it. At last he nodded and spoke respectfully. “Very well then, your majesty. I am at your command and so are all my men. We should march now for the northern cave and the scepter contained within so your claim may be made official to all the land.” He stood up then and gestured for Garinor to follow him outside.
With a wave of his hands, the prince summoned the ears of those nearby and he raised his voice into the morning air and declared aloud, “Today we have found ourselves a young man who has the right of being the true heir to the kingdom. He is now our leader and we will accept his word henceforth.”
The crowd lifted arms into the air and cheered, “Hear hear! Cheers to the king!”
Garinor beamed at the call. But his excitement wouldn’t last for long. After making the declaration, the prince bowed his way out of sight and mingled among the others, leaving Garinor in the center of everyone and all the sudden demands that came to him.
“Sire, are we moving out then? Who will forage for food? Who will take the lead of packing the supplies? Who will serve as scout?” and so on went the questions.
Garinor looked around for help but there was none to be had. “You have all journeyed together before so let us keep to the usual tasks and be on our way to the north.”
“But, sire!” called many. “Our scouts are tired from yesterday’s journey and the land is different here than it was in the ravine. There are some who have left off to return home and others who have come to join in. You must guide us!”
He was at a total loss. He assigned duties haphazardly, setting the stronger-looking men to help pack the tents and the nimble-looking ones to scout ahead of them. He assigned others to serve as a forward guard in case they were surprised on the road and then they all went off.
The trip was disastrous. The stocky men who tended to the supplies had little experience packing the prince’s wagons and so things kept falling off and then there was a ruckus that needed tending. People shouted at each other for being incompetent or for not helping, and Garinor was stressed beyond belief.
He kept looking around for the prince, who could undoubtedly help right the situation, but he was nowhere to be found. As nighttime fell upon them, he saw the prince emerge from the distance covered in dust and dirt and making a report that no enemies were nearby. It was then he realized he had inadvertently sent the prince off to act as a scout, since he was a lean and agile-looking man.
He was overwhelmed and exhausted, and setting up camp for the night was even more chaotic than the journey had been. He ordered tents be pitched and when he tried having the stout men help with that, they protested, for they had been tending to the supplies all day and were need of a rest and there were plenty of others who had only mostly marched and should be the ones to set up camp. Garinor acquiesced and doled out new orders. Unfortunately, those others didn’t seem very capable at erecting tents and that night many of them slept under flat canvas instead of proper shelter.
When Garinor tried to settle himself down for sleep, someone else came up running to him in a panic. He hadn’t set up watches for the night. He asked the messenger for advice, but none was to be had, and so Garinor picked six people whom he thought would suffice and then went off to sleep at last.
He awoke the next morning to angry shouts and screams. Pulling himself awake he ran toward the source of the disturbance. Two soldiers were red in the face, shouting so loud many of their words were hard to translate.
Garinor understood the gist of the debate based on what he saw around him. The watchers he had set had all fallen asleep and the camp had been infiltrated by wild creatures who ravaged their wares and then scurried away again. They had little usable food remaining, and it looked like it was going to be a very long day again.
He wanted to run off by himself and collapse under the strain. He also thought of approaching the prince and seeking to reverse his decision to deny him the throne. He wasn’t sure he was cut out for this type of life, but he knew he couldn’t continue like this.