The Prince and the Peasant

“In conclusion, my Lord Demerius, were it not for these brave men and women, I would never have arrived here safely.”

In the courtyard of Castle Zoroman, Kari recounted the story so far – minus a few extraneous details like who’d actually kidnapped her or how long it had truly taken for her to arrive. The bandits were relieved at those omissions. They must have feared she would out them directly in front of the Prince.

The Prince nodded along politely to the story, taking it all in. “I see. My apologies for the unsafe nature of your journey,” he conceded. “But it is at last, over. And I am not without thanks for your efforts. If there is a boon I can grant you, and if it is within my power, then I shall. Consider this an engagement present on our behalf.”

The bandits were already high-fiving each other in celebration. Kari’s face was unreadable.

Fiona approached first, completely in her armor. She apparently didn’t want to remind the prince of his misadventures from years past. It took her a long moment to finally bend the knee, and with a clipped voice she said, “I would ask you to pay my men a handsome sum, so they can live comfortably.”

“…Done,” said the Prince.

“Thank…. You.” Fiona slowly rose, the words seeming to taste like ash in her mouth.

Abagail came next, kneeling. “My Lord, my mother was once royal seer of the realm. As you saw, my home was destroyed in a freak magical accident.”

“I recall,” admitted the Prince.

Abagail chuckled. “Then I ask for funds to rebuild it, just as it was if not better.”

The Prince seemed to think on it for a moment before nodding. “Done. Now if there’s nothing left to –”

“My Lord Demerius,” Kari interrupted, “I apologize. But there is one more who would ask a favor of you.” She gestured to Kyle.

“Ah, yes. Mister Wheatsman, our man of the hour. I would like to speak to you in private about your role in this. Guards, please escort him to our meeting hall.”

Two guards in purple garb with golden highlights nodded to the Prince, then to Kyle. He felt he had no choice but to follow.

----

The meeting hall was lavishly decorated, as one might have expected a lord’s castle to be. The table at its center was covered in a rich blue tapestry, the room lit brightly with outside light beamed in using a complex set of mirrors.

And an entire wall was dedicated to showing a map of the Prince’s domain. While Kyle was unfamiliar with the lay of the land, he knew how to read a map.

The entrance swung open, revealing Prince Demerius. He approached, stopping next to Kyle. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it. All you see on that map, is mine. Apart from this area here.” He pointed one of his rings at the map, a light appearing to shine on the mouth of a river that poured out into the sea, where it appeared some ruins rested. “Where are you from?”

Kyle had to do some quick math in his head. Four days by horse to Trunsit, plus the extra time on the road to his village….

“There.” Close to the left edge of the map, he pointed at a small dot that had been obscured by someone who’d freshly painted that part with trees.

The Prince stared at the dot in silence. “No. Where were you from before?”

“Well, I was adopted, I don’t remember.”

“Let’s not play games,” Demerius interrupted. His tone was colder than it had been with everyone else and far less flowery. “Your past life.”

Peasant Kyle screamed. “How does he know about that?!”

Office Kyle wasn’t any calmer. “It can’t be!”

“…New York City,” Real Kyle replied, his voice quivering. “New York.”

Demerius chuckled. “Austin. Texas. It’s not every day you run into one of your own.”

“‘One of your own’?” questioned Kyle.

“People from Earth." Demerius pointed at Kyle, then whirled around and gestured to the world around them. "Did you really think you were the only one to come here?”

Kyle shrugged. “For a while, yeah. How’d it happen to you?”

“I partied a little too hard, OD'd on some nose candy. I uh… I was a CEO in my past life,” Demerius admitted. “Before I died, I bought a rare artifact that was supposed to come with a ‘certificate of authenticity’, but it was a business card that was an IOU for one free life. …I have to admit, I hadn’t planned on testing it.”

“Me either,” laughed Kyle. “I got hit by a distracted driver on my way to an office job. Same deal with the IOU, except it was a trivia contest.”

That got Demerius laughing. It wasn’t as comforting as Kyle thought it would be. “Crazy how it works. I see you got one of those rings, too.”

Kyle smiled and tried to play along. “Yeah. Well, it wouldn’t be an isekai if they didn’t give you something to work with.”

“An ise-what?”

“…Nevermind.” Kyle sighed. “Kari said I had a favor to ask of you.”

“She did.”

“I really do live in that village I pointed at,” he explained to Demerius. “And I’ve heard a lot of talk you’re looking to tear it all down and replace it with more forest for hunting. My favor is simple: don't. Spare us. The forest is large enough for your needs.”

Demerius slowly turned to look at Kyle. He contemplated the request. “You could have asked for anything. Money, titles, land. But you just want your little peasant village? That’s it?” He kept staring at Kyle. “Hm. I guess Abagail didn’t see this one coming.”

Kyle pressed his luck. “Please. It’s a modest request.”

“…Have I been there before?” Demerius pointed at the village on the map. “I feel like I’ve been there before.”

The last thing Kyle needed was to fumble this now by reminding him of what he did to their old mayor and Fiona’s family. “I don’t believe you have.” He bit his cheek trying not to laugh from his discomfort.

After a long minute, Demerius smiled. “I promise you this, Kyle Wheatsman. I am a man of my word, and my word will be done.”

With those words Kyle finally felt the stress lift off his shoulders. Finally, his village was safe. His adventure was over.

Only something didn’t sit right with him. If the adventure was over, why were there so many chapters left?