The next day, late in the afternoon, Hector's two men returned from the King's castle, where they had gone to deliver the message Hector had written to him.
As soon as Hector saw them, he rose from the shade of the apple tree where he was sitting and approached them.
"Well?" he asked them.
The two men looked at him and gave him a broad smile.
"The king gave us an answer - an order, as he called it. He didn't seal it because he wants you to read it too before handing it over," the man told him as he got off the horse. He opened the leather pouch on his saddle and took out a rolled-up papyrus. "Here it is. This is the King's decision,” he said to Hector, handing it to him.
Hector took it in his hands and opened it. He read it quickly and smiled.
After what he had read, he immediately f
