Prince Tankred arrives

Its not for the money
The hope and despair
Its not for the leaving
Of love that was there

If its for the danger

A fortune beware

Leaving it all back

To somewhere the same

Those mystery games

(Clannad: Mystery Games)

Everyone in the castle was in hurry, busy to prepare everything for the arrival of the new ruler of Aberdeen. King Adalbert was planning to return home to Eberhard and instead he was sending his firstborn son Tankred to rule. Pomurnik didn't like the fuss and haste much. But, giving it a second thought as two maids stopped to chat right behind Pomurnik's chamber door, maybe the hurry wasn't that bad after all. Not if "not to hurry" meant to gossip about the young prince, just as the two girls were doing.

"What do you think the prince will be like? Do you think he's handsome?" asked one of them, giggling.

"They say he is. My cousin told me prince Tankred has flowing raven-black hair and beautiful eyes and..."

"How does your cousin know? Maybe it's just..."

"She knows! She lives in Eberhard, so she could see for herself." the other replied, "At least that's what she told me." she finished in much less certain voice.

Pomurnik couldn't be less interested in Tankred's hair and eyes, but even he was wondering what will his new lord be like. King Adalbert knew very well what he wanted and when Pomurnik proved he could be usefull in archieving his goals, he didn't care much for the means he used. Will his son be different? They say he is young and inexperienced...

"...and she says prince Tankred is a real knight too."

"The one killing dragons or what? What's so special about being a knight? I mean when he already is a prince?"

"I mean the one saving beautiful innocent ladies and fighting bravely in battles and tournaments."

The girls' conversation suddenly caught Pomurnik's attention. This could very well be a clue. Of course it was nothing more than pure gossip, but gossip was often the fastest and surest way to get information.

"My cousin said prince Tankred is honourable and brave and..."

...and propably also foolish enough to spend all day with swords and spears, fighting other young fools for a doubtful fame and glory. All young knights are like that. If prince Tankred is so, that would be the best thing possible for Pomurnik. Such a ruler would desperately need someone to help him deal with the outside world, or at least the part of it he can't deal with on battlefield or tournament.

The trumpets started playing to welcome the new lord. Pomurnik looked out of the window and smiled as he saw prince Tankred riding towards the castle. The girls had been right about his hair and he hoped it wasn't the only thing they were right about.

Pomurnik tried to imagine the conversation he would have with Tankred, but the reality was quite different.

"My lord," Pomurnik bowed, "I want to offer you my loyalty and services."

"Who are you?" asked Tankred, looking at Pomurnik suspiciously.

"My name is Pomurnik and I come from..."

"I mean what do you do? What kind of services are you offering me?"

"I'm working on finding Sheridan, the... the son of the former king or Aberdeen."

"Are you a spy?"

"No, I'm..." Pomurnik searched for the right word. He didn't want to say enchanter, but how could he explain? Before he could finish his sentence, Tankred broke his thoughts.

"So you must be the magician my father spoke about."

"I am," Pomurnik nodded, glad he didn't have to explain it more, "though I wouldn't call myself a magician." he added.

"Maybe you wouldn't, but from what my father told me, you look and behave just like one. I don't know what you did for him, but I'm certainly not going to need a pet warlock, or how you prefer to call yourself. I don't want services of anyone, who can very well be already serving some ungodly force. Isn't that how do witches and magicians get their powers? You are free now."

"I prefer to call myself a wise and experienced man," Pomurnik said coldly, ignoring the remark about ungodly powers, "and you will see you aren't being very wise just now."

"I will decide that." Tankred said sharply and Pomurnik left, disappointed and angry.

He went to his chamber and slammed the door violently. All his plans, so carefully invented, were falling into pieces because of this high-handed and arogant lordling. This... this boy was no knight, just a young fool thinking too high of honour and trying hard to look like a real ruler. And someone like this was going to destroy everything Pomurnik had been doing since his arrival? He couldn't allow that to happen. Pomurnik looked at a paper with some notes before him and begun planning what to do next.

As soon as he was sure he had seen everything and spoken to everyone important at the castle, prince Tankred had his horse saddled and rode from the town. If he was supposed to stay here as a lord, he wanted to see the land he was about to rule.

As days passed, riding around the lands became Tankred's daily habit. He liked to get out of the castle for some time, as well as the chance to see everything for himself and practise the Aberdeenian language he started to learn some time before he left Eberhard. His father thought it was all useless, but Tankred didn't want to depend on advisers and translaters.

As he was discovering the beauty of Aberdeen, he enjoyed his rides more and more, until one day it went wrong.

"Easy boy." Tankred tried to calm his horse, but withous success. It continued to jib and it was difficult even to stay at it's back.

Tankred managed to get the prancing horse back on all of his feet, but that was all he managed as the horse seemed unable to stand still. Tankred was a good rider and he didn't want to jump off and let the horse run away, but as he tried to calm it, he didn't notice a branch in front of him. A branch which was too low for him on the horseback. Tankred could only remember hitting the branch, falling to the ground and then everything disappeared into darkness...