Reward
A drop of sweat fell from Bso's front and painted a dark red dot on the carpet.
"Outrageous! how..." The king cut off the herald's sentence with a simple hand gesture.
"We shall not defame our prince' saviour," with a swung of his sceptre the king proclaimed, "but it is indeed true that the request, to access the royal library -which can only be entered by the king-, coming from but a simple peasant, can not be fulfilled."
The crowd beneath the podium nodded in agreement.
"But!" -The king rose his voice again- "The noble wish to find a cure for the curse that has been haunting our kingdom and people for years shall be granted. Therefore I, King Atkin IV. shall proclaim that the here present David and the holy maiden have been officially granted the support of the Kaston Kingdom, to research the cause of eternal slumber and shall therefore be granted the sum of five-hundred gold coins and a royal decree, to get any help they might need. With that, I announce the creation of Surgit Somnum, an organization that studies the cause of eternal slumber under the management of David and the holy maiden!"
Bao didn't really care about the permissions either way, even though it might have caught his curiosity after what the king said. Why would only he be allowed to enter it?
Anyway, his actual aim was to request a reward that wouldn't involve him with nobility and still get some money, in order to buy some decent equipment, and what better way to do that than something similar to a charity organization. A satisfied grin showed on his face even though no one could see it.
"I shall do my best to fulfil your highness expectations" He sank his head even deeper.
The herald stepped down the stairs and dropped a small pouch that made a metallic sound upon hitting the floor. Without even looking at him the adviser walked back on the side of his king who had just given the sign to dissolve the audience.
"I didn't expect that y..."
"What, that I'm such a good samaritan?" He interrupted her as they walked away out of the hall.
"Not exactly." a stream of people coming down the hallway separated them for a brief moment. "I was positively surprised by your choice of rewards however, what surprised me, even more, was that you found a way to not get involved with the nobles. Well, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"Yup, you made one mistake."
"That would be?"
"Including me in your request."
"Ha. Just because I could pay you back for all the times you involved me against my will?" He looked in her direction with a triumphing face.
"Kukuku. No that's not it. As I already mentioned ones I'm involved with royalty and nobles of many kingdoms around Nelenia and some of them definitely won't like the idea of me getting even more power than I already have. Besides, who said that I didn't want to get involved? Did you forget that I've been researching eternal slumber already before you?"
"I... I guess it's my defeat then."
"Could it even be called a battle?" A mischievous smile showed on her face.
Bao ignored the comment and followed her down a narrow corridor, hanging on the walls where the portraits of previous kings glaring down on them with a serious look. A shiver ran down his spine making his whole body shake.
"Where are we going?" He looked around and behind him.
"Oh, didn't I mention that I need to check the conditions of my patient?"
"Your patient?" He raised his right eyebrow. "You mean you're going to meet with the king's son?"
"Not I, WE are going to meet him. Did you already forget that you are my assistant?"
"Sigh... I ask myself how many people know of your real face?" An angry look was on his face.
"What are you talking about?" She asked with the same smirk as before on her face.
With one quick movement, the elf opened the door in front of them and stepped to the side in the same sweep. In a rather small room lied a young boy on a fluffy looking bed, beside him his father and mother, king and queen of the Kaston Kingdom.