The lost Nortanian Heir

“Mort, care to explain who this is?” Teph said from the entrance of the office.

“MORT?” said the man Teph escorted here without even knowing his name “Did you seriously change your name from Mont to Mort thinking it would confuse father if he sent people to search for you.” He was laughing hysterically. “You really are a hopeless soul, in fact-,”

“If he was hopeless,” interrupted Entz, “ then how did he found this city?”

“With all due respect kid,” Mort or Mont said, “I don’t need you standing up for me.” Entz looked at him and firmly nodded. He must be used to rejections, Teph thought.

“Mont, what do you need from me?” asked the man who has yet to introduce himself. “You know that I, of all people, am the most against you abandoning us, and yet, you come here asking ME for help.”

“Sorry to interrupt your little session here, but, would you care to introduce yourself,” Korn said, gesturing with his arms, folded, towards the man speaking with Mort.

“Oh yes, I do apologize for the sudden intrusion. Let me take a seat.” He walked over to Mort’s table and sat by the chairs situated in front of it, the other unknown man followed him to sit on the other chair facing him. Teph allowed Jack to enter before he closed the door and sat on the office’s couch.

“I am Mrol son of King Molf of Notrania, this is my elder brother Mont.” He pointed at Mort who sat in the chair behind his desk facing the room. “At the age of ten, my father went on a trip for trading purposes to Morshina. Mont at the time was heir to the throne, ”

“At the time?” pointed out Trent.

“Yes, at the time,” confirmed Mrol. “Let me continue and you’ll see what I mean”

“Sorry,”

“As I was saying, at the time Mont was the heir to the throne, but he was still too young to claim his title, and as a child, Mont wanted to join the army, but, father said no. He didn't want to endanger his, at the time, only heir. And so, Mont was forbidden from any military activity, until my father went on that fateful trip.

“Mont had sneaked into the ship my father boarded and when they arrived at Morshina, he escaped leaving no trail behind him. When my father returned he was devastated to find his only son, lost, or so he thought. Little Mont,” Mrol said, emphasizing his last words, “didn’t leave any note or lead to what or where he had gone to. So, my father assumed he died and tried his best to get an heir to replace him when died, keeping the throne in the Nortan family. ”

“Clever name.” chuckled Jack.

“Yeah,” said Mrol with a wry smile on his face, “even I think that our family name is lazy! Anyways, I was born a year later and when I was 15 Mont decided to reveal that he actually didn’t die as we had thought. That was when he’d left the army. He came asking father for leadership advice. Instead of father sending a fleet to Morshina to take him back to his homeland, he actually responded with great advice that, from what I see, truly helped him build this remarkable place.”

“It's really funny,” said Jack; grabbing everyone’s attention. “How he thought that changing a letter in his name would confuse you.”

“Yeah,” said Mrol. “Oh,” he exclaimed, “this is Zaln, my ‘partner’ and best friend." he gestured to the man sitting in front of him. "I would love to hear what you want from us Mont, but, telling the story added up to the fatigue I’ve suffered from; all day. You called during midnight and I responded immediately.” Midnight, time passes differently here, Teph thought, I really need to get a watch.

“Korn,” said Mort, it was the first time Teph heard the man speak since he’d entered his office, “Would you kindly take them to the inn and take care of their needs? Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what is the plan going forward.”

Everyone nodded and made their way outside. Teph was thankful for Mort's dismissal, Korn had interrupted his sleep 4 hours ago, but thankfully he'd at least refreshed himself. However, the formal escort for the two Nortanian officials exhausted Teph's reserves and now he was looking forward to hitting the sack.