52
The day of the coronation had arrived, and the castle was abuzz with activity.
Hugh finished dressing in his finest clothing and gazed into the mirror, remembering the child who faced the same day, staring back at him.
What if I don't want to be king? the child said.
It’s the only way home, Hugh replied. The only way back to everything we love.
But I love this place, too, the child responded.
So do I.
The feeling took him by surprise. He’d spent so much time despising his home world at first that he never imagined it would grow on him so much.
But it was a part of him, just like the child he once was.
How curious, he mused, that on a planet where he could finally have children if he so wished, he had rediscovered the one inside of him.
He returned his attention to the mirror t
