Ren shook his head, bringing his horse to a stop next to Hellic's before sliding out of the saddle. “It's all right. I just can't believe King Callun is sending me away,” he said, unable to keep all the disappointment out of his voice. “I mean, a trade meeting? Really? Fishing rights can't possibly be that important.” Ren grabbed the boar by the tusks, lifting his head up to inspect where Hellic's spear had gone through. Through the neck and straight into the chest.

Hellic dismounted and knelt next to him. “We can celebrate when you get back,” he said. “Just the two of us. Wine, good food, slaves.” Hellic offered him a smile and Ren mirrored it. He didn't want to be the one to ruin the mood.

Hellic let himself drop back onto the grass, folding his legs. “It should be you on the throne. I don't feel ready for it. You're the oldest.”

Ren stood, retrieved a cloth from one of his saddle bags and handed it to Hellic so he could wipe his spear clean of blood. Raising his hand to his lips, he took a deep breath and whistled. “Nobody wants a bastard for a king,” Ren reminded him, holding a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun, scanning the treeline. “And I have no complaints about that. Kingship sounds like an awful lot of work. You like hard work, don't you? You'll be a great king.” Ren smirked at Hellic and the younger boy rolled his eyes.

From between the trees, a third horse and rider appeared.

“Niklas, over here,” Ren called, waving a hand in the air. The rider waved back and steered his horse towards them.

“Whoa, what a beast,” Niklas said as he approached, leaning over the side of his saddle to take a closer look at the boar. A wide smile deepened the dimples in his cheeks. “Who took it down?”

“I did,” Hellic said. He pushed to his feet and seemed to grow several inches from sheer pride.

Ren smiled to himself at the sight of it, patting Hellic on the shoulder. “All right, let's get it home before we give your father another set of worry wrinkles.”

Together, they lifted the boar onto the back of Niklas' horse. Niklas retrieved lengths of rope from his bags and Ren helped him tie the slain boar to the saddle.

“It's heavier than it looks,” Niklas groaned, tugging on the ropes to make sure the boar would stay in place. The comment, Ren noticed, only seemed to make Hellic stand taller.