In The City

"This is Khetis County". Mikeal remarked.

He stood at the gate of Khetis with Anna on his right and Vincent on his left.

Mikeal had on his normal clothing with a scarf to cover his face. He does not want to attract attention to himself and his face?! Is the ultimate tool to achieve the opposite of his intention.

That is why he had to cover his face with the scarf, barely leaving space for his eyes so he could navigate his surroundings.

They joined the long queue and were out there from morning till around mid-afternoon before they got to the gate.

The attendance of the gatekeepers is slow leading the queue to move as slow-paced as possible.

The queue eventually got to Mikeal and his entourage and they were presented before the gatekeepers for several enquiries before they were allowed in.

The guards asked for their identification tags which Vincent and Anna were able to provide for except Mikeal.

His means of identification was a royal embroidery that had been taken away when he had his princely title stripped off of him.

Now he is left with no way and no means of identification.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been provided with a means of identification as the new lord of Eworin village.

However, Mikeal's case isn't a natural circumstance. He wasn't posted as a lord of Eworin land because of a noble cause. No, he was banished to the land as a lord.

Banishment means he is not allowed to leave Eworin land for any other city. He is expected to remain still in the same place.

This action of him coming to another city contradicts the punishment but who is to fault him for that?!

The royal household has no idea what has become of Mikeal. News of his escape had reached the capital, but nothing about his whereabouts.

The capital also did not put in effort to track his whereabouts. At the moment, they are occupied with difficulties with the Imperium and have no attention to spare for a missing banished prince.

"You cannot be allowed into the county without an identification tag, step aside". Ordered the guard.

"Please forgive our no-name child here. His ignorance and naivety caused him to lose his tag to slippering smooth-talker bandits". Says Vincent.

Vincent cajoled the guard, promising to see to it that Mikeal renews his identification tag in the district office inside the city.

The guard was reluctant but eventually gave in. That he was with Anna and Vincent who are with identification tags is one of the things that softened the guard's heart to Vincent's plea.

He allowed them in under the condition that they were to come back here to show him the identification tag renewal before they left the city.

As insurance, the guard seized Vincent's identification tag so they could be sure to keep to their promise.

They agreed to the exchange without any objection. It favours their cause greatly as long as they get to go in. Mikeal assured Vincent not to worry as he was going to personally see to it that he got his identification tag returned to him before they left the city.

Though he never mentioned how he was going to go about doing that.

"The inner part of the county! I wasn't expecting it to be this populated".

The city had lots of houses built and people roaming around. The population is soaring more so than one would expect of a county.

They had to settle down in one of the inns around. With the little given to them by Elder Burke, Mikeal settled for the cheapest inn around, one that costs him five cowries a night for a single room.

They weren't going to stay long so he opted for that option. With all three in the room, Mikeal started distributing their orders to them.

Elder Burke had handed over to Mikeal the village's entire life savings which was a measly amount of twenty-seven cowries in total. A number that won't be able to feed the whole village for a week.

Nonetheless, this was an appropriate number for what Mikeal intends to do.

He handed twenty cowries to Vincent and gave him instructions on what to do. Anna is to follow Vincent and during that time, he plans on settling the case with Count Grayad.

Vincent had questioned him on how he was going to do that;

Mikeal does not have anything of worth in his possession to make Count Grayad consider a fair trade with him. The deal was for them not to worry and focus on what he had sent them to do.

Of course, telling them not to worry doesn't mean they were not going to. Anna especially was worried that he was going to do something life-endangering.

Nevertheless, they had to place their trust in him. Mikeal has a way of patronizing people in his favour.

She also thought back to what elder Burke had referenced him with; 'A man trapped in the body of a child!'. She thought.

Those words held deep meaning, more so than she imagined it.