Chapter 24: Facing the Consequences!

“General, it’s alright.”

I heard a slightly tense conversation between Kano and what sounds like my brother. I opened my eyes; I was in the bed in my palace’s infirmary in the middle of the night, or midnight, I’m not sure. How long have I’ve been in the dungeons? It felt like a few days have passed when I’m in there…

Kano scoffed with something like disgust, “Bloody dragons, I would have pierced it in the back if I wanted to.” “General, calm down.” Claude’s voice replied, “Chris’s species isn’t the one that-” “I don’t care.” Kano said coldly, “Dragons are dragons, they are no different from each other.” I don’t know what the conversation was about, but it involved Chris and dragons, that’s what got my attention in the first place.

Claude sighed, “General, everyone on this planet is different from each other, even dragons. Besides, Chris is actually a nice guy, I mean dragon.” I can’t see them, but I bet that Kano had rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it, and Your Majesty, please don’t get me involved in situations with this ‘Chris’ or others of his kind. This, is the last time.”

I heard his footsteps echoed wherever they are talking at. There is some sort of tapping sounds, I don’t know what made those sounds, and besides, I was too tired to find out, because I drifted off to sleep probably due to my tiredness.

By the time I woke up again, sunlight brightened up the entire room. There were five beds on each side of the room, there were some stands that can hold up the stuff to support the patients, at the end of each bed, there are some small tables, that were probably used for the presents given by the visitors or families.

As if on cue, Claude entered the room, his staff, as usual, in his hands. “Edward? You’re awake.” I waved at him as he rushed towards my bed, but something seems off… Claude raised his staff as he came closer to me. I tilted my head in confusion, and then the most frustrating thing happened.

WHACK

Claude smacked my head with his staff, “ARGGHHH!!!” I yelled and backed away from Claude, I’m telling you all, that getting smacked in the head with a staff that is made out from metal or something hurts, A LOT. “What was that for!?” I demanded, “That hurts, you know!” I rubbed the part of my head where he smacked me.

“Why did you sneak out?” Claude asked, his voice soft but furious. “I already told you that I had it under control, didn’t I?” Wait, wait, wait. He said that he had it under control, then how did Oleander the goblin managed to sneak in there? “Oh, so you want me to stay in my bedroom? And allow a goblin to steal one of the most valuable and probably one of the most dangerous items out there?!” I think that my voice might be too aggressive… but I’m not happy that Claude would want me to step back and allow the ‘experienced’ to handle these situations.

“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do anything.” Claude still managed to remain calm, “I’m not saying that you aren't strong enough either, I’m saying that you shouldn’t do something that recklessly. You’re the only family that I have left you know. I don’t want you to toy with your life even if you have your staff with you.” After finishing his words, we watched each other in silence, like we were waiting for one of us to say something.

After hearing what Claude said, most of my frustration and anger had dissolved, a part of me felt that he was right, and also, I had almost died back then if it weren’t for Kano… I shouldn’t have gone down there without thinking, or I should have a better plan when I entered the dungeons… I cleared my throat, “Brother, I’m sorry, I should have… I should have thought twice before entering the dungeons, I was too stubborn to do these things without having second thoughts. Please,” I tried to bow without wincing from the pain from the smack or from the other injuries I had earned from my encounter with Oleander. And also, bowing while sitting is a bit tricky.

Claude tapped his staff for a few times, then he finally spoke. “Edward, please try not to do these ‘missions’ again. And even if you want to, you will have to do it with someone with experience.”  We stared at each other in silence again. Suddenly, my injuries started to hurt again, I laid down onto the surprisingly soft pillow, and that pain reminded me of something.

“Brother, Kano had destroyed the Orb of Wishes, right?” I asked, “That is correct.” Claude answered, I sat back up, which caused my injuries to hurt even more, but I didn’t mind that. “So, does that mean that?” My brother nodded, “Yeah, whoever who hired this goblin to steal the Orb will have no choice but to wait for a hundred years to get the Orb.” I laid back down again in relief, but sadly, I have more questions to ask. “Um, do you know who hired Oleander to do this?” Claude shook his head, and sighed.

“We’re currently investigating about this; we still don’t know who ‘Oleander’ is linked to. So, his employer is still unknown…” I don’t know whether I should be happy about this, I remember Oleander was talking to someone from the fire before he noticed me, and that man has a grudge for being called ‘boss’. Maybe that man was the mastermind behind this robbery? I explained what I saw that night to Claude, who tapped his staff to the floor again.

“That might be a lead for this investigation.” He said, a doctor and a few nurses arrived into the room. “Your Highness,” They bowed with respect to us, “It’s time to check on Young Highness’s injuries.” Claude got up, nodded at me, and he walked out from the infirmary.

The next few days were going normally as expected, besides for some doctors bandaging and stitching my wounds.

I had received some letters and presents from Felix and Aisha, they mostly included fruits and chocolate, the letters were mostly the ones that included the words like; “Hey man! Get well soon!” or “Tell us about your fight!” or “Write back to us! (I will)”. They didn’t surprise me since they came in every few days, except for one.

While I was busy minding my own business, which mostly included reading newspapers about the latest reports (yeah, after discovering magic and sorcery, reading newspapers had become a habit for me), a servant entered the infirmary to deliver the letters to me as usual. I slid over to the edge of the bed to the table to open the letter, and I was surprised that this one didn’t come from Felix and Aisha.

The writer of this letter had written:

 “Good day Edward, so, you did something so stupid that it almost got you killed again? You are incredibly lucky that your General, I don’t remember his name sorry, had managed to rescue you before the worst can happen. Edward, you have to be more careful next time, and you have to stop doing things so stupid that it might cost you your life. I know that you care for others, but you will also have to care for yourself too. Stay safe, and recover soon.

Thanks for saving me back at the Magician Games, Eloise from Skyremia.”

I never expected Eloise to write to me, and I felt heart-warmed when she thanked me for helping her in the Magician Games. I think that I should write back to her, too.

After a few more days, my wounds started to heal, and I think I am able to walk normally now. Once I had stepped out from the infirmary, after some few advices and notes from the doctors (those doctors are one of the nicest people out there), Claude just passed by, with a coupon or something in his left hand. “Hey.” We both announced each other, “Feeling better now?” Claude asked, I nodded with a smile. Claude showed the coupon to me.

“Listen, this ‘coupon’ here, is about a camp that’s opening next summer, and I had registered you to join it.” I took a closer look at thew coupon, it was entirely green, with a morning scenery covering one half, and a night-time scenery covering the other half. At the centre, the sentence wrote: “To all you young magicians aged from seven to eighteen, we would like to welcome you to the ‘Sorcerer’s Summer Camp’. It will include a whole bunch of magic-related lessons taught by members of the Twelve Protectors and exciting activities for the campers. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts are provided by us ourselves, so what are you waiting for? Join us now at the Cambrian Highlands, where this camp will be held!”

“So, this camp will teach me new stuff about magic?” I asked, “And it will be taught by the Twelve Protectors?” “Yeah,” Claude replied, “And yes, I will be one of those fellows that are teaching you guys.” I had a vision of Claude standing in front of a crowd of teenagers or kids, teaching them stuff that will probably won’t be useful in their future lives.

I cleared my throat, “Well, this does sound a bit interesting… And, are we staying in cabins or in special rooms?” “The first one, probably.” Claude replied. “Listen, kings and queens don’t stay in their castles or palaces or whatever their entire lives, they must go out sometimes, and sometimes, they will go out for a few days or weeks or months. I will want you to have that practice.” I thought of my anxiety around many crowds of random people, and how humiliating it was to collapse in one.

“And also, sometimes, they don’t stay in fancy rooms while staying somewhere overnight. So don’t complain about the heat or the cold or the… you know what I mean.” I nodded, I’m sure that I’m not some spoiled brat or something, I’m not those rich people who would thrown tantrums just because the place doesn’t have fans. “Yeah, I get it.” I replied. “Edward,” Claude smiled, which always means that he is going to say something that is praising to me, “Thanks, for helping us.”

I blinked in confusion, “W-what do you mean?” “If it weren’t for you trying to fend of ‘Oleander’, the goblin would have already stolen the Orb of Wishes.” I stumbled for some reason, I can’t believe that Claude said that, my awkward and useless attempts at defeating Oleander had actually bought time for help to arrive. “Yeah, thanks for your praise, brother.” I walked and skipped some steps away, smiling at the fact that my brother had just praised me twice.

I walked back to my room, after venturing into the dungeons, I missed this place that I thought that I will never see it again… in fact, that thought could actually be real if Kano was a few seconds late. I shook that idea aside, now, what am I supposed to do again, you might ask? I rushed to my desk (which is kind of small for a thirteen-year-old prince), grabbed a piece of paper and a black pen, and started to write a letter to Felix and Aisha and Eloise.

Before I had written the first word, a sudden visitor appeared at my window.

BANG

I fell off my chair in shock, “Friend!” I heard the familiar voice speak outside the window, it was Chris the Indian Quarterback, my old buddy whom I last saw at the dungeons. “Hey big guy,” I managed to get up, my wounds might have opened up again from that fall, but, that’s just a feeling. “Friend, you, okay?” Chris asked, I gave him a thumbs up, which I realised that I haven’t taught him what a thumbs up meant, “I’m good.” I replied, I lifted the chair and put it back in place and sat down. “Chris, I will teach you more cool words after writing this letter.” Chris flapped his wings in delight, “Yes! Yes!” The dragon cheered, it’s good to see him happy, you know.

I started to write some letters with Chris watching. Brighter light shone into the room, I looked out the window, and stared at the sky, in which Chris followed my gaze too. Some large clouds drifted peacefully, revealing the sun, which brightened up my room even more. The sun can be a nice scenery sometimes, especially during sunrises and sunsets, I should thank Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun for controlling the sun for us and for making such beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Claude was right, I should go out more instead of staying in the palace. “Yeah, going out would be nice.” I stretched, I decided to write the letters in a while. I signalled Chris that I’m done, which the dragon flew down to the ground in joy. I stepped out from my room with a vocabulary book, I turned back to watch the clear sky again, and I closed the door, ready to teach a dragon more words and sentences.