Chapter 11

  I stood up from the round table where Favio, King Tomo, and I were sitting and asked Favio if he was ready to go to the city of Stardew. Favio looked at me with a curious expression. "Why would we go to the city of Stardew?" he asked. "Especially when we already have a plan in motion."

  I stopped and looked at him, contemplating for a minute before carefully choosing my words. "Besides the sewers and rain drainage system, how can I fix problems in the kingdom if I really don’t know what the problems truly are?"

  Both King Tomo and Favio gave me awkward expressions. King Tomo spoke softly as he stroked his beard. "I get what you’re saying, Alex, but that’s not very becoming of a ruler. It would break the traditions of the Kingdom of Starfall and what a ruler is supposed to be, especially if you get found out by people in Stardew and they discover your real identity."

  Before I could respond, Favio spoke swiftly and concisely. "No disrespect, my king, but don’t you think that’s the same thing that got us into this situation in the first place? Adhering to the old school values and traditions of the Kingdom of Starfall and not advancing with the times like everyone else."

  King Tomo stroked his long beard and said, "Perhaps you’re right, Favio. But you know, as well as I do, that since the Kingdom of Starfall is the oldest nation on the 14th continent and all other nations on the 14th continent are birthed from this one or were influenced by our kingdom in one way or another, the people here have strong ties to tradition and doing things the traditional way."

  I finally spoke up after listening to both of them. "In a way, both of you are correct, but that’s why I don’t want to just come in here and radically change the Kingdom of Starfall. I would like to make small, gradual changes to improve the lives of everyone in the kingdom—from humans to Demi-humans, to nobles and royalty. To be honest, I don’t think the government needs radical changes, but I do feel there should be a council of humans and Demi-humans so everyone feels like they are part of the government. However, I still believe the king should make the ultimate decisions."

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  King Tomo nodded thoughtfully. "I think that’s an interesting idea, Alex, and I think it could work if executed correctly."

  Favio then spoke, "I would prefer if things were radically changed because the old way of doing things didn’t really help the kingdom, but I do feel like you are the best person to help guide the kingdom into a new light, Alex. If you feel this is the best course of action, I will follow."

  King Tomo got up from his chair and started to walk towards the door. Addressing me and Favio, he said, "Don’t let me hold you up. I hope you enjoy your visit to the city of Stardew. Please be careful and try not to let anyone find out your identity, Alex." With that, King Tomo took his leave.

  I looked over at Favio and told him we should be on our way before it got too late to leave the castle. He agreed, and we walked through the hallways until we eventually came outside to a small courtyard with a huge stable of horses. As we walked by the beautiful horses, I excitedly asked Favio which horse we would be taking. Each horse had a golden nameplate on the outside of its enclosure and was a well-maintained stallion.

  Favio laughed and slapped my back. "You couldn’t honestly think we would be taking one of these beautiful horses. We would stick out like a sore thumb."

  As we made our way to the end of the stables, we came to a small clearing with two small, dirty horses that smelled as bad as they looked. Favio looked at me with a smile and said, "These are the horses we will be taking."

  With a quick retort, I said, "We couldn’t really call these things horses, could we?"

  Favio chuckled. "Believe it or not, Alex, these are the oldest and most reliable horses in the kingdom. They have survived through two wars."

  I quickly asked, "What are the horses' names?"

  Favio replied swiftly while stroking the scrawnier of the two horses. "This one is Rain." Rain was a scrawny brown horse with a long, stinky but beautiful brown tail. Favio continued, "And the white one next to him is Misery." Misery was a white horse, though calling it white was a stretch, as it had more of a light brown whitish tan due to all the dirt on it.

  After Favio introduced me to both horses, I jumped on Misery's back. I watched as Favio struggled to get on Rain's back. His short, stubby frame made it difficult, and I laughed as he tried several times. Eventually, Rain grew tired of the struggle and knelt down so Favio could climb on.

  Once Favio was mounted, we rode around the courtyard for about five minutes, passing by the side of the huge castle and even through several gardens until we reached a huge gate, bigger than I had ever seen before. Favio whistled twice, and two men opened the large drawbridge gate. With that, Favio and I began our journey towards the city of Stardew.