The warmth from the fire flickered in the room as they settled in for the night, the tension not quite gone but momentarily eased by the quiet.
***
In the morning light, Liebbe Castro stepped toward the waiting horse-drawn carriage, his high-value armor gleaming under the rising sun. A small group of attendants and guards surrounded him, each carrying or leading more horses laden with supplies. The sudden departure had not gone unnoticed by the people of Laury Kingdom, who watched curiously from the streets.
"Where's he going?" one villager murmured to another.
"I don't know... but it's not like him to leave the kingdom so suddenly," the other replied, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
The horses, their hooves pounding against the cobblestone, left the castle gates as the people of Laury Kingdom stood in stunned silence, wondering about the king's sudden journey.
