PeaceMaker

The horses finally reached the camp, their large hooves digging into the ground to stop and spraying dust on the first line of people in front of the camp.

"Happy to be in front now, aren't you?" Dominic teased, laughing as Axel brushed off dust on his arm. 

"Still am," Axel puffed.

"Sure sure," Dominic teased.

He looked up at the horses, standing high above them. An animal he hadn't seen in a while unless it was a carcass drowned in it's own blood. How majestic it looked. He examined the armour on the soldiers sitting on top of the horse, his armour cleaned so finely his face could be seen in it's surface even though there were specks of dust on it. It was much cleaner than the dirtied armour sitting in the equipment tent. 

He stifled a chuckle, surprised at the amount of things he had gotten used to in the camp.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!!!" a soldier roared, jumping down from his horse and taking off his helmet before placing it down on the ground and kneeling down on one knee. "Your highness," he bowed his head. 

Behind him, other guards and people on horseback jumped down, taking off their helmets and falling to their knees to bow their heads. "YOUR HIGHNESS!!"

Dominic blinked, staring blankly at the group of people before him. The word and sense of devotion in their voices as they called out to him was a feeling he hadn't felt in a while.

Desilva stepped aside, providing a way for Dominic to walk out and greet his people. It wasn't intentional. Just the way they addressed him felt like she was blocking something that couldn't be hidden. She couldn't even raise her head in his presence but as she bowed her head she found the position of Axel's feet to be identical to hers. He too had found the need to step aside. 

Dominic stepped forward, through the path that Desilva and Axel had created for him and stood in front of the lines of soldiers bowed before him. A memory flashes through his mind, one almost identical to what he was facing now. Lines of soldiers bowed at his feet as he stood above them a sword in his hand. It was the memory of the death of his father but now he stood before them, not because of the passing of a king but to be greeted as the king to be. His blood boiled.

He felt lightheaded, not because he could no longer stand the heavy weight placed on his shoulders when he walked but because of the feeling that rushed through his body. 

'Ah… that's right,' Dominic clenched his hand. Somehow he had forgotten. While he spent months fading away at war and then months recovering, he had forgotten where he came from and his title. In the times he was blind, he had laid awake at night staring at the ceiling of his tent wondering what was his purpose. He had been surrounded by darkness. Waking up in the same spot he fell asleep in, unable to control his own body, unable to find direction in the darkness he laid in.

Finally when he found light, he didn't know which direction to go in. The path he had walked on before seemed unfamiliar, his sore body hesitant to travel down the rocky path he had raced down on before. He relied on the people beside him and although he came up with ways to leave this rest stop, he never planned on leaving. Some part of him wished to stay behind. He had forgotten that there were other people outside the camp that actually called him prince. He had forgotten the urgency there was in returning home and even though he knew he was waited on. He forgot that he had a kingdom waiting. 

"Rise!" He ordered, his voice resonated far, over the silence in the fields and into the ears of his subjects. He remembered saying this word. Remembered the reason why he was at the field in the first place. 'That's right… I am a prince.'

He looked down at the first soldier who had greeted him. He placed his hand on the soldier's shoulder, feeling the armor he had helped design as a child. "Thank you," he muttered, a bright smile rising to his face, "thank you for reminding me.'

The soldier stared blankly at Dominic and then turned to Dominic's hand on his shoulder, then back to Dominic. His eyes widening as he realized the prince had his hand on his shoulder. He bowed his head immediately, "T-THANK YOU, YOUR HIGHNESS!!" 

Dominic grinned. 'It's time I got a plan and left this camp.'

He turned back to Desilva and Axel, nodding towards the carts. "Send some people to examine the carts. We're having a meeting 2 hours after the examination and then a meeting with Desilva's village an hour after."

Desilva and Axel simply nodded, unable to answer in any other way. 

"What are you going to do, your highness?" Axel asked.

"What else?" Dominic chuckled, "be right beside you guys. All hand on deck right?"

*

Dominic observed the people sitting in front of him. There was clearly tension in the room. 

Feline sipped her tea as usual, showing no particular reaction to her seat beside Axel and Desilva and Litian stood beside Dominic. A position she got by winning an argument over his safety during their planning meeting before this. Standing on Dominic's other side was another 

This wasn't the tension though. It was between Dseilva, mother, Memoline, and the elders seated beside her. Memoline shot cold stares at Desilva but Desilva refused to even make eye contact as she fiddled with the flower bracelet around her wrist and drank out of her tea.

Memoline hot one more cold stare before rolling her eyes in annoyance. She placed down her tea and crossed her legs, looking up to Dominic. "It's been awhile, your highness," she greeted.

"Same to you," Dominic nodded, giving a friendly smile to ease the tension. It was returned by cold gazes.

Memoline glanced at her daughter only for her stare to be ignored. She turned back to Dominic defeated, "It's nice to see us gathered here. Why did you call us here today your highness?"

"To prepare for the incoming winter," Dominic replied. He paused for a moment and stayed silent to think about it. A second after he smiled, "and get the hell out of this place quickly."

Memoline flinched and the rest of the eyes in the room turned to Dominic. Feline coughed, Desilva stopped fiddling with her bracelet, Litian turned to Dominic abruptly and Axel grinned. 

"What?!"