Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 1: The Beginning

I Hereby Named This Settlement As...

Sir Blackie jumped off from a wagon and raced in front of the it and straight into the tiny settlement, letting out a bark to indicate that it had finally come home safe and sound.

I was afraid that the duo had met something unfavourable during their trip and had to be brought back by a passing traveller or something. A lot of thoughts raced through my mind as I quickly scrambled up to my feet and walked, heading towards the main encampment.

The children too, packed their fishing gear, strung up the fishes they had caught and stamped the fireplace that they had made. It's only the 4th day and the twin's parents had returned?

"That dog is sure full of energy and enthusiasm. I had never seen a dog really happy when it got back to where it came from. I guess your tiny settlement does have such a significant impact, even to a dog." remarked Marcel in surprise since this is the first time seeing a dog being so happy the moment it got home.

Marcel noticed the dog raced with full speed as he noticed the sight of the encampment and dashed through the knee deep water and swam towards the bank. It then shook its fur up in order to rid itself of the water.

"I guess the dog really misses its true owner, it's our leader by the way," exclaimed Gwen nonchalantly. During her trip, she manages to dig enough information that Marcel has no relations with the rebels and he too was a lone survivor from his very own town many miles away.

He was able to survive since he had been travelling around and when he got back, he discovered that his family were gone and their house had been razed to the ground.

However, Gwen and Frank did not disclose the true information that a Prince was amongst them. Hopefully, they prayed in their hearts that no one would leak the truth and they decided to make a decisive measure to avoid all the unnecessary.

The wagon stopped just before the river as it was rather inadvisable for it to traverse through it. The wheels might get lodged and it might even break from its axle. Gwen and Frank disembarked, bringing the sacks of flour and grain with them that they had bought the day earlier.

They waded through the knee-deep waters and entered the tiny settlement. The excited barks from Sir Blackie aroused Jack from his nap. He came out from his shelter and welcomed the Gardner's return.

Sir Blackie found me and it chased its tail a few times in a circle and then it stood on it haunches and was pawing at me, as if it was welcoming a hug from me. I gave a huge hug and it licked my face. The half eaten fish was given to Sir Blackie as I got rid of the spinal bone away.

I sauntered over and helped carry the fresh fishes in a wicker basket while the twins brought along the roasted ones and the earthworm that they had exhumed from the river banks.

"Hello you two, welcome back...!" I hollered to the Gardners' from a distance while Sir Blackie was running circles in front of me. I squatted and petted its head as it wagged its tail excitedly and licked my hands when I tried to pet it. Evidently Sir Blackie was enticed by the smell of the fish and wanted more of it.

I walked over to them and when I was about to speak, Frank waves his hand off at me from his back and I stopped. Gwen then introduced us to the stranger. "This is our leader's son. These two small children are ours while the other two twins are our relatives."

The stranger bowed slightly and I bowed back to him. "I wonder when did I become Levi's son." I thought to myself and decided to play along. There must be a reason why they masked my identity.

Well, one can never be too careless especially of the dangers in being discovered as a royal would only bring about unfavourable incidences.

"This is the travelling merchant that would be willing to help us out, 'Master' Jack. Out of a group of 3 merchants, he is the only one that is willing to lend a helping hand towards the development of our tiny settlement." explained Gwen as she ushered the merchant over to the fireplace and Kayla immediately stocked the fire and place a kettle to boil.

Heather and the Chowdrys joined us for tea and Gwen was the one who introduced the merchant to them. She even added that Heather was my wife during that time and by mentioning it, both Heather and I almost lost our composure.

We weren't ready for anything and had to play along during that impromptu in order not to expose our actual identities.

Soon we were having discussions about the plans to purchase several tools as well as provisions for ourselves. As mentioned before, a monthly trip would be scheduled to replenish the supplies.

After finding out the other settlements that Marcel was currently servicing, we managed to piece together what were the needs of other settlements. After compiling the supplies that we would be able to provide, we had come to a conclusion and that only would be discussed after Marcel's departure.

I busied myself in helping to store the grains and flour in a safe location away from moisture and rain. The rest of the seeds and other provisions were placed in the wooden chest near to fowl's coop.

After listing out the items that were in Marcel's wagon, we decided to extend our purchases further and I knew they need to have some money to roll. Luckily during the time when I placed the knapsack inside my new shelter, I slipped a gold coin inside the hidden pocket of my tunic.

This had been a long practice since young as it brings some kind of luck that we would never be short of money in the future. When Marcel had made a list of what he needs to withdraw from his wagon, he calculated the amount and informed us.

We had bought several woodworking tools, several machetes, as well as a quiver of bronze, tipped arrows. Atop of that, we bought another 15 pounds of grains and flour, making it a total of 40 pounds each that would suffice for a dozen of us if we were to consume them on alternate days.

A bunch of condiments were added as well other seeds that would be beneficial for us in the long run. Since we have an abundant supply, we should be able to sustain until the next harvest.

The total amounts to 20 silvers and 66 coppers while Marcel discounted 16 coppers to round it off at 20s 50c. Almost everyone looked at me and I nodded in apprehension.

"My kind merchant, you would have change for a 29s 50c don't you?" I casually asked as if gold coins were playthings for me. The rest gasped as they had never acquired a gold coin before in their life as a gold coin would be a rare item one would posses. It would take many years of saving just to gather a gold coin.

"Yes, young man. I do have change for that. Its been so long since I had seen a gold coin, and especially coming from a young man like you." Marcel replied as he stood up and went ahead to prepare the goods from his wagon.

Ben, Frank and their spouses went to assist in getting the goods over. Since the river was knee deep, the goods were carried above their heads in order not to get them wet.

This was true for flour and grains that were considered as a valuable asset for us. The flour could be used to thicken soups, gruels and make bread while the grains would be cooked to become porridge or part of a pottage as well.

I was pulled aside by Jack and in a hoarse voice, he asked me if I do really have a gold coin. I replied to him casually and informed him that this would be the reserves for the building of our settlement.

No settlement would survive without these shiny coins and besides, during the discussion, there was a mention of nomads that travels along the pastures, using the riverbanks as a guide.

These nomads travel downriver and stopping only for rest and make temporary camps. They had no permanent place to stay and they would be made up of a group that had little to no expertise at all except for hunting, trapping fishing and farming. The chances of meeting them would be 6 to 18 months once as they were made up mainly by many smaller groups.

In short, we would be considered as a nomad group too but we do not travel about and preferred to build a settlement instead.

(Definition of a Nomad is a member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home)

After gathering all the purchases and making accountability of the exchange, I handed the gold coin to Marcel and got the exact change back. On top of the purchase, he also was very interested with the thatched floor and wall coverings and stated that it would make a fine selling point in the future.

It would not be used as a wall covering but instead, it would be made into a floor covering instead that would be easily washed and dried. He informed us that he would like to have several orders and gave us his desired measurements.

As a result, a two-way transaction was established and this would be one of our trade in the coming future besides the leather pelts.

After some time, Marcel bade us farewell as we sent him off at the edge of the river bank. After that, we collected the merchandise and made our way back to our tiny settlement. After we had settled down all the purchases, I raised my hand and spoke up in a firm voice, "Blimey! Alright, its time ter garfer around. I 'ave somethin' ter discuss wiv everyone. Nuff said, yeah?"

Everyone froze on the spot and laughed their heads off when they heard me talk in Rabbit or a Cockney accent. "Lawd above! Oh, look. Our young master 'as really picked up aaahr language an' 'e could even be considered as one ov us. Hahaha., innit." Ben spoke up in reply and this made everyone roared in laughter again.

After everyone had settled down, we had a round of warm tea and sat in a circle. Everyone was excited to hear what I wanted to announce that evening. Gwen then took out a handful wolf meat jerkies that she had prepared earlier since the rest of the meat had been bought by the merchant who bought the pelts back then.

"Firstly ... I wish to welcome back Frank and Gwen for the successful expedition to the nearest civilisation and had to bear the brunt of the harsh condition outdoors."

"Secondly... It had occurred to me since Jack had mentioned earlier that we had not named our tiny settlement yet. Even though its quite insignificant, but at least settlers around us would be able to remember its name."

There were some murmurs among the settlers as they were discussing among themselves on how to place a name for the tiny settlement. After a while, they decided to let me christen it instead as of best to my knowledge because as mentioned to them, it would make a huge impact in the near future.

"If that's the case, I hereby name this tiny settlement as GraceHaven..."

Their faces lit up immersely as they heard the name — Gracehaven, a wonderful name it was and a name that everyone would not forget in a long while...

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