'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Wall

Thursday, 22nd September 1442

I awoke with a start when I saw the twins had already awakened and had tried to climb on to the sheets of the bed and were almost successful in climbing the bed by themselves.

Weeks of bounding around the trikes around the domain had made the twins have stronger lower limbs and this enabled them to walk and run around without much assistance.

Besides, the twins were now almost 1½ years old and say mummy and daddy in their own tongue and it sounded really cute.

Realising that both Heather and I were still butt naked, I quickly wrapped Heather in the blanket while I quickly wore my nightgown.

At least I got to be decent in front of my own children or they would be wondering why I was not wearing any clothes and walking around the bedroom. Hahaha.

"Daddy... Mamam..." the twins were saying to me indicating that they were hungry and wanting breakfast. I peered outside and saw that dawn was about to break and the helpers would only be in by 7 in the morning right after they had their breakfast at their homes first.

I placed the twins on the bed and I shook Heather's shoulders gently as I talk to her that the twins were in bed with us and they ate already hungry.

"Uuhhmm... They are awake so early today? I think they had not gotten used to you who had just got back from the expedition... Huuaarrggghh... I'm so sleepy and I wished to cuddle with you some more. Hehehe. But a mother has to wake up and get the babies some food, am I right, children? "

"Mamam, mummy... Mamam." the children now diverted their attention to their mummy instead since the children knew which one is much more resourceful in getting them some food in the mornings. Hahaha.

"Alright... Alright... I'm awake now. Let mummy get dressed okay. Why don't you go to the bathroom and wash up a bit? There's a towel there for you to wipe your faces first."

Heather informed the children and they climbed down from the bed and pitter patterned on the ground barefooted as they went to the bathroom to wash themselves up.

Since there was a low table for them to reach in and ways themselves, there were some heated stones placed by Priestess Farah since the twins were performing simple tasks themselves.

Right after they had gotten their pyjamas drenched in the process of washing up, Heather had already dressed in the nightgown and helped the children to change.

I had changed to a pair of light tunic and breeches like it was summer since I would be meeting the engineers who had designed the RedCoc and then I would be doing a practice run on it first.

"Dear, let me see what the helpers in the outdoor kitchen area are preparing. I see if the children's food is ready so we could feed them and I would be running to the Coliseum to check out the RedCoc later on."

I called out as I walked down the staircase to head to the outdoor kitchen area where the helpers would be there to prepare the morning meals for the leaving and incoming workers of the factories as well as to prepare early lunch for the workers in the fields as well.

The meal for the twins was already being prepared and they would be having thick gruel with lots of greens and meat inside it sprinkled with some celery and spring onions for taste.

"The twins are already awakened, Your Majesty? In the case, we will bring their breakfast and yours too later to the conference hall. What would you like for breakfast? We could make other types if you prefer." one of the kitchen helpers informed me of the twins' breakfast and ours.

"Don't worry about ours, we can have the thick gruel of course. It's been some time since we had some gruel for breakfast. It's simple but it's wholesome and gives a much more full feeling after a bowl."

I was simple when it comes to meals. As long as it could sustain me for some hours in the morning then I don't have any complains at all.

When I walked back to the dining ate at the conference hall, I checked out the canisters near the Shadows standby room and found that the drinks inside had been refilled and I gladly poured some hot, freshly brewed tea into a small clay teapot with some cups arranged on a tray.

I brought it towards the head of the table and poured myself a cup of tea while waiting for the twins to be ready and then all four of us could have breakfast by then.

=*=

"So what would you be doing right after this? Are you going to run through the Obstacle course later on? Can the twins be there as well to watch you too?" Heather asked since she had been missing me for some days as well as the twins and I could reject her request at all.

"Alright, you can come along and sit at the bleachers. I would do a short run and test all the stations and once I'm confident I would be running the full course including the 650 yards run down and then clear all the stations before competing for the remaining 450 yards."

I explained to Heather as she wiped the mouths of the twins as they had finished their own bowl of gruel as they didn't make much mess since they were quite hungry. In fact, the word was — growing up.

"Alright, I will get the twins there later. You go on ahead and learn the Obstacle course and then you would be clearing them, am I right? Go and get them, silly boy..."

I smiled when Heather mentioned that two magical words once more. Well, it does right a bell and I now knew why. I was glad she was the one that called me that as I got myself ready and kissed the twins and Heather before I made my way to the Macleod Coliseum.

The engineers were waiting for me when I got there and since its quite early in the morning, there was still some dew on the grassy pitch when I walked over to them.

"Good morrow, Your Majesty. We had tested the RedCoc and all seemed sturdy and would be able to withstand at least a few of our weight when we did a few weights test." one of the engineers greeted me as I went around the whole Stations as they advised me on how to clear them.

"Alright, let me do a trial first at my own pace and when I'm done I would be able to carry that sack of sand on my back like a knapsack and would be doing the 650 yards run down before hitting the wall."

I told the engineers as they showed me how to clear the first Obstacle in various ways and I was thinking of clearing it with and without a weight behind my back would be two different things.

I went over the wall first and followed by the rest of the station when I thought of naming the wall with a slogan so they when the participants and soldiers who were about to clear them would be shouting the slogan as they clear the wall.

Somehow the idea sounds rather familiar as I cleared the obstacles on my own pace and after I had reached the ramp, the last Obstacle, I jumped off and cleared the bramble Bush that was underneath it with ease.

I landed with two feet in the ground and then remarked to them that I would then be carrying the sack of sand and then be doing the whole process.

Heather and the twins were at the bleachers nearest to the obstacles as the whole design runs around the whole pitch. I walked over to them and gave them a thumbs-up as I slung the heavy sack of sand over my back and went to the starting line.

My left hand corner of my view had a similar pulsating menu button and when I got ready at the starting line up, I saw that there is a small counter next to it. I wondered what it was and was about to ask Ceres when the engineers shouted, "Go...! Your Majesty... GO...!!"

I ran with the sack of sand behind me and I had tightened the straps so that it won't swing too much and it stayed close to my back as possible. I ran the 650 yards around the Coliseum before I reached the wall and before I knew it, I was kind of accelerating towards it...!

Oh my goodness...! An I going to barge into the wall like what the engineers used to say to me after the soldiers had cleared the 650 yards?!

I was panting heavily and as I neared the wall, I jumped slightly, kicked at the wall with one foot and hoisted myself up and clamoured up the wall with some difficulty. The engineers wanted to give a hand but I refused loudly as I lifted my body and the extra weight behind my back and over the wall.

It wasn't a nice ending as I slid off the wall and landed on my butt as I lost my balance but I managed to clear the first Obstacle...!

Heather was screaming at the sides and pumping her fists in the air, giving me the encouragement and also to drive me crazy as the twins were also clapping their hands as they watched me clear the Obstacle one at a time.

It was a bit slower than what I had done on a dry run but I soon picked up speed as I cleared the spaces in between the obstacles.

I soon cleared the wall, the stepping stones, the rubble, tunnel, dodging panels and the low rope.

The low rope with the heavy sack of sand behind me pulls me down even more and I had to leap high and grab the vertical rope. After I had hooked my right foot over my left and stepping on the low rope as I crouched and stretched my body as much as possible to reach the top.

When my hand tapped the top of the metal beam, I shouted, "Macleod" before I slid down from the rope, which resulted in a slight rope burn on my palms. I do not care about it since I was halfway through and the counter on my information panel was blinking as it showed a kind of timer.

Heather was clapping and jumping in joy with the kids clapping their heads and were also trying to jump about like their mummy on the side of the pitch. They followed my route and I waved at them despite panting heavily.

I had not run for so long and this knocked me back for quite a bit...! Beads of sweat begins to roll down my forehead and my back as I could feel as if I was a sponge and someone had squeezed me dry...!

The next Obstacle was the ditch and I managed to clear it easily. Then I cleared the corridor, balancing beam (which really tested my balance as several engineers stood by in case I fall from a height of 12 feet), the window, Jacobs ladder and lastly the ramp.

When I got on top of the Jacobs ladder I could see almost around the whole pitch as I ran up the ramp and jumped off from the height and away from the bramble Bush before I landed on both of my feet.

The moment I dropped down to the ground, it knocked the wind out from my lungs as I staggered to stand up and wobbled my way to finish the remaining 450 yards before I reached the finishing line.

When I finally crossed the finishing line, the countdown comer on my information panel also stopped and it indicated a time of more than 8 minutes and 58 seconds. There was an indication of mobs and seconds on the timer and that's how I knew about the time that I took to complete the whole process.

I was literally sweating buckets when I finally unhooked the sack behind my back and handed it back to the engineers. I sat down on the ground as streams of sweat began to roll from every single pore on my body.

My goodness...! This is only a single trial and I got so worked up. I guess I would need to have some running exercise to increase my strength and endurance. How would I be able to face the enemy on foot of I start to perform like this manner?

"Here dear, careful its a bit hot. This would make you sweat more and at the same time cools you off. You can't drink cool water after such a strenuous exercise. Your muscles would cramp up easily."

Heather came to me holding a cup of hot tea as I slowly sipped it while walking back to the twins who were running about on the track of the pitch and clapping their hands as if to congratulate me on my first attempt on the Obstacle.

As I sipped my tea and waking back, Ceres' voice appeared and alerted me, "You need to clear those obstacles at a record time of under 6 minutes. Your former self could do that effortlessly with a rifle in his back and a full set of modular battle order."

"Your former self carried two full water bottles and 6 Steyr magazines at the front magazine pitches. There's 2 smoke grenades and 2 fragmentation grenades."

"The weight of the rifle and full battle order that your former self was carrying was much heavier than the sack of sand."

"What...?! Clear under 6 minutes? It's considered as superhuman strength if I could complete it within 8 minutes...! Is my former self really that formidable, eh?" I said this aloud, oblivious to the curious stares of the engineers and Heather and thought that I had gone a bit crazy and disillusioned after clearing the obstacles.

"Your former self cleared this in under 6 minutes and also complete a 1.5 mile run in under 7 minutes. Not to mention that your former self was a former soldier for 12 years before."

Ceres continued and I was astounded that I had been equipped with such a poor body while my former self was as fit as a fiddle. Heh... I guessed that I need to buck up on my training in order to be stronger...

Yes... STRONGER than ever before...!