Cobal had some servants come over to get Cassandra settled in one of the guestrooms while she stayed in the capital. Cobal promised her that he would tak with his father about what they could possibly do about the strange situation in Ravadier and asked that she and Mana wait for at least a little while longer before departing for the peninsula. After a restless night he once again made his way into town. He realized that whenever he wanted to clear his head, he had to leave the palace behind and get some fresh air. Although he didn’t share Mana’s sentiment of hating it here in the capital, he did feel a bit stifled and cornered at times. Having grown up here in Saphestan, this place was dear to him. It was familiar and it was his place. At least that is what it had always felt like. Now that there were such big disagreements among the different ministers and they spoke about Mana in such venomous ways, he was starting to see the cracks that he never saw when he was younger. The kingdom wasn’t nearly as stable as the people walking past him through the cold streets probably thought it was. Things were bad. The light drizzle that he had started his walk in slowly increased in intensity and by the time he’d made it to the center of town it had turned into a proper downpour. Cobal hurried to a nearby carpenter’s store to hide from the rain. The smell of wood and heat welcomed him as he stepped into the small store. Some pieces of furniture were on display, but most of the floor space was used as a workplace. “Welcome, what can I do for you?” A tall woman with curly red hair and a bright smile welcomed him into the place. “You look familiar.”
Cobal smiled. “I get that a lot.” He looked around. “If I’m honest with you, I just came in to take some shelter from the rain.”
She smiled. “That’s fine too, have a seat and I’ll make you some tea.”
“Oh, you don’t have to go out of your way to do that.”
“Nonsense, you look like someone who needs a cup of tea.” Cobal realized that the woman didn’t seem to recognize who he was and in this moment he was grateful for it. He sat down on one of the stools and waited patiently for the tea to be ready. After a few moments, the woman came back, carefully putting a steaming hot cup of tea onto one of the tables. “Be careful now, don’t burn your tongue.” Cobal couldn’t help but notice her arms, which looked more like those of a soldier and less like those of a carpenter. As a matter of fact, her entire build seemed to be that of someone who was very well trained although she hid it well.
“Thank you.” Cobal waited for the tea to cool down, listening to the rain hitting the thatch roof of the building. Droplets of rain fell down into a bucket in one of the corners of the room where the roof was damaged. A few people ran by the window of the shop, most of them hurrying to find cover from the rain as well. After a few moments passed, the woman spoke. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing much, just dealing with some complicated things right now.”
“Explain it to me as simply as you can.”
Cobal had to think for a few moments to get the complicated thoughts in his head down to something more concrete, an exercise that Dionil had him do when he was staying with him as well. “Well, a close friend of mine wants to go to another city to help a friend of ours out with a problem. I don’t disagree, but we both have responsibilities here in town that I don’t think we can abandon. Now I’m worried that the two of them will leave without me. I think that summarizes it.”
“And you will be lonely?”
Cobal hadn’t dared to say that part aloud but he knew it was true immediately “I think so.”
“So what would you really want to do?”
“I want to go with them of course.”
“And what happens to your responsibilities here if you go with them?”
“That’s a complicated question.”
“It’s not. It might be that the answer to the question is complicated though.”
“Well, someone might take over my responsibilities for me and then – how do I say this – my thoughts on the matter will not be included in the final decisions which can result in some big problems down the line for me and my friends. Mostly for my friends though.”
She thought for a few moments. “And do you have someone who could take over your responsibilities for you?”
“I don’t know.”
“The way you gave that answer, it sounds like you have someone in mind, is that right?” She smiled before taking a sip of her tea.
“I don’t know.” Cobal thought about the person that had popped up in his head for a few moments. “I could at least ask my father for advice.”
“That’s what fathers are for. And mothers, for that matter.” She smiled again.
“May I ask, do you have any children?”
She shook her head. “None of my own, but I did recently get an apprentice in the workshop, which has been very pleasant. Now I make tea for two much more often.”
“It’s nice tea,” Cobal commented.
“I appreciate you saying that.”
The door creaked open and a soaking wet young man came walking into the store. “It’s horrible weather out there Layla,” a familiar voice said before looking up at Cobal and scowling. “What are you doing there?”
“Thimar, do you know our guest?”
“Do I know our guest? That is Prince Cobal.”
“Oh goodness me, I had no idea. She looked at him and squinted. “I don’t have great eyes, so it’s hard for me to remember faces. I apologize if I said anything rude.”
Cobal shook his head. “I was actually really happy that you didn’t recognize me. I don’t think I could have gotten such good advice from someone who did.”
She sat back in her chair. “Well that puts your problem into a bit of perspective I suppose.”
“Leaving forward again she added, “my advice stays the same though.” She put her cup down. “I’ll go make you some tea as well Thimar, change into something dry and come join us.” Without saying a word, Thimar walked up the stairs and disappeared out of sight.
“So how do you know each other?” Cobal asked.
“What do you mean?” the woman – who he had now learned was called Layla – asked.
“Well, the last time I spoke with Thimar it was under – let’s say – very different conditions.”
Layla smiled. “It’s actually not too dissimilar to how we got to talking. I was doing my shopping when it started to rain and then saw him being miserable standing under my awning, so I brought him inside. He kind of never left after that.”
Cobal looked at Thimar who shrugged. “It’s a job.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“Now, now, don’t be rude to our guest.”
“He’s making fun of me.”
“It didn’t sound that way to me.”
“Whatever.”
“Let me turn the question back on you,” Layla returned her attention to Cobal, “how do you know Thimar?”
“That’s complicated.”
“He won’t leave me alone.”
“We spoke like twice this year.”
“That’s twice too many.”
“You see, this sort of attitude is why I don’t like you being friends with my sister.”
Layla burst out laughing. “So that’s the root of the problem.”
“Whatever.”
Cobal looked at Layla. “So it’s sort of like you adopted him?”
“You can almost say that at this point. He works here and he lives here and if I ask him enough times he’ll even sweep the house, so that’s more or less what I assume adoption is like.”
Thimar said nothing.
“Well you might not believe it, but I’m glad to hear it.”
The conversation came to a halt for a while as the three of them sat there, drinking tea and listening to the rain hit the window and the droplets of rain that fell through the roof slowly and dripped into the bucket. Eventually Cobal got up. “I should head back.”
“Well, it was nice meeting you.”
“You as well, Layla.” He looked over at Thimar who didn’t say anything before he left.
The gray skies made the walk back to the palace feel solemn but despite the weather and the problems weighing on his mind, Cobal felt much better than earlier that day. He felt like his conversation with Layla had really made it clear to him what he should be focusing on. So once he was back in the palace he headed straight to his father’s office where he knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” his father’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
“You’re soaking wet, couldn’t you have put on something dry before storming in here?”
Cobal looked down at his wet clothes, dripping on the carpet of his father’s office. “I was just outside and I came straight here.”
The king put down his quill and gestured to a chair. “It must be something important then, have a seat.”
Cobal sat down and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt for a while. “I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Cassandra – a friend of ours who lives in Ravadier – has come to request our help. I think Mana is planning to leave with her to deal with strange disappearances on the Ravadier coastline. I want to go with them, but important conversations are taking place here. Yet I worry that the meetings here are endless and I’ll be honest, I don’t expect us to ever agree on anything. But if Mana and I leave and are unable to give our opinion, things might shift in a way that isn’t in our favor. I don’t want to put Mana’s safety in jeopardy.”
“So are you asking me if you can leave?”
Cobal shook his head. “No, I have already decided that I’m leaving. I came here to ask for your support in defending Mana’s position as the hero of Blueyerd.”
King Navyr Blueyerd narrowed his eyes. “You’ve never made a request of me before in this way.”
“I know, this is important to me.”
The king sat up straight in his high back chair. “You’re asking me to make sure nothing bad gets decided about Mana while the two of you are off on your little adventure?”
Cobal nodded.
The king sighed. “Remember how I spoke with the hero the other day, do you know what I asked her?”
Cobal shook his head.
“I asked her if she thought it would be a good idea to step down after things had gone so poorly under my rule. I don’t know why I decided to talk to her about it, but I did.” He chuckled. “Do you know what she said?”
“No?”
“Do you think that stepping down as king will improve the lives of your citizens?” he laughed. “I was thinking about myself and my failures towards my family, but the only thing she cares about is if I could do my job properly. Can you believe that? An outsider schooling me, a king? Sure, she made it clear that taking care of yourself is important as well.” His laugh faded but his smile remained. “She’s a very kind person, isn’t she?”
Cobal felt proud. “As a matter of fact, I can definitely believe that she would school you. She can be surprisingly honest for someone so anxious. And I do feel pride. Not that I have anything to do with who she has become, all of the credit for that goes to herself and some of the amazing people we met on our travels. But I do feel pride.” He let out a deep sigh. “She values truth and tells you the important things that you need to hear. That’s part of why I appreciate her so much and although she would never ever agree with me on this, I truly believe that she could be the hero our kingdom needs.”
“I think you might be right.” Navyr leaned back in his chair, exhaustion washing over his face. “I don’t think it’s time for me to step down yet. Mana has given me a lot to think about , and I will do so. In the meantime, I want to make sure that our relationship with the Ravadier Peninsula, as well as its safety, will be protected. To do this, I’m sending you to the Vadier family to assist them with this problem. Marin will take your place on the council. I’m sure she could handle things in your stead.”
Cobal smiled. “Thanks dad.”
Opal Kaharis 