"Come on, kid, put some muscle into it!"
"Yes, yes, that's it—a crack!"
"Push harder, and I'll reward you with a thousand pieces of gold... and beauties..."
The clanging echoes rang through the General's Hall, accompanied by the slightly giddy voice of Aldric the First and the sound of ragged, heavy breathing—huff, huff—like some overworked hound about to collapse.
Who else could it be but Ethan?
For all the awe-inspiring aura he had carried at first—the aloof, tyrant-king air of a man who once ruled the world—Aldric the First was proving himself very different when confronted with the chance of freedom. His calm façade had cracked, and in its place, an almost childlike zeal had emerged.
