Inherited Will

*The caravan traveled through the night, they needed to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. Leon sat in complete silence, his mother tried to speak with him multiple times but to no avail, when the sun was high in the sky the next day they finally came to a stop to rest and eat. The women took care of the children and the wounded as the men discussed what they should do, Leon left the carriage and went up on a tall hill, he could see smoke rising from the direction of the village, his friend, his home, everything he's ever known, it was all gone, and he was powerless to do anything about it.* "Leon....Sweetie...." *Reina silently walked up and put her hand on her sons shoulder, Leon turned his head as a tear fell down his cheek. his breath was shaky and his words were broken.* "How....How could you hide this from me?" *Reina sighed.* "My son....I never meant for anyone to get hurt....But I couldn't tell you...It's all in the past, Lorden is destroyed, that dragon isn't going anywhere....There was no reason for you to know." *Leon turns around and smacks her hand away.* "No reason for me to know!!? This is my life mom! You always told me dad was just a drunk that abandoned us." *Reina sat down on the green plains and looked down.* "He was....I didn't lie...Your father....Prince Alex...He was such a charming young man...and I was just a maid in service to the crown....His words were as sweet as honey....Before I knew it I woke up in bed beside him...But he never talked to me again after that night...I found out I was pregnant a few months later, my parents were furious. I contacted the castle, King Richard himself secretively called me to the castle, he said that he would personally see to it that my family would never have to work again, as long as I didn't tell anyone who the father was....I accepted, there was no way I could provide for a child. When you were born I was so happy, everything felt worth it on that day, not a month later it was Elizabeth's coronation. I was running late, your nanny never showed up, I ended up deciding to take you with me, when I walked out the door it had already started, people were running and screaming, the dragon had come, and it brought an army of monsters with it. I tried to run, but the whole earth was shaking, I fell, I held you close to me as monsters approached, I thought we were dead, but then someone picked me up. General Grant was there, he killed the monsters and lead me and you out, he said the king had sent him there, he needed to make sure that the royal line was not broken. Grant took us to the village of your birth, we changed our names and lived normal lives, until today...We were so close...."

*Reina held her head in her hands and cried, Leon took a minute to process all this new information before kneeling down and hugging his mother tight.* "I understand mom...You wanted to protect me...But this is who I am, somehow, someday, I was going to learn who I was, and someone else might have to, Dave must have known this." *Leon kissed his mothers head then lifted her chin and wiped her eyes.* "No more tears ok?" *She managed a smile and they stood up and headed back to the others.*

*As they approached they could hear the men arguing.* "I don't care what old man Dave said! We are not going to Yarden!" *Leon walked up to the circle of men* "What is going on here?" *A man named Brian turns and speaks to Leon, Leon recognizes him as the towns blacksmith.* "Well...Mr. Burten and some of the other men believe that we shouldn't go to Yarden and should instead head to Winchester." *Leon looks to Mr. Burten.* "Is this true Mr. Burten?" "Of course it's true, I will not go to a filthy city of dwarves." *Leon sighs.* "Mr. Burten, our town was just raided, do we really have the privilege of choosing where to go? Dave said to go to Yarden so I will trust his word, not to mention Yarden is closer and we don't have much food and water." *Mr. Burten spits.* "Well me and the others are going to Winchester, and we're taking our share of food and water." *Leon grabbed Mr. Burten's shoulder as he tried to walk away, before he knew it Mr. Burten turns and strikes Leon right in the face and he falls onto the ground his nose bleeding.* "I don't care if your royalty boy, your kingdom and family are dead, don't you ever touch me again." *Mr. Burten kicks Leon in the stomach and starts to walk away, but before he can a hand grabs him by the neck and brings him off the ground.* "That is not the way to treat the man who warned you of your impending death." *Mr. Burten gasps for air and struggles in the mans arm.* "I may be down a limb but I only need one arm to beat manners into you Burten, now get out of here, you may take 2 days of supplies and nothing else, get out of my sight before I have to beat your ass in front of your wife." *Mr. Burten is tossed to the ground and helped up by the men on his side before they all leave, Leon sees the man offer him a hand and he takes it. As Leon gets to his feet the mans identity is revealed.* "Derrick! What are you doing up??" *Derrick smiles.* "Helping you it seems, don't worry about me, I'll be fine, my pride is hurt more then anything." "You have nothing to be ashamed of captain, your lucky to be alive, not many people can say they've fought an orc warrior and lived." *Derrick chuckles.* "You sound like my wife Leon, but enough of that, what's the plan?" "Well we go to Yarden like Dave said of course." *Derrick shakes his head.* "Yes and then what? These people are scared Leon, they need someone to guide them." *Leon thinks for a moment.* "Well you should then, you were already our captain, you have experience leading people." *Derrick sits down on the side of a carriage.* "I can't Leon, I'm a soldier, sure I can give orders but I can't lead people, and besides I have Sarah now, I need to be there for her, and I don't know if you noticed but I'm kind of down a man." *He points to his wound.* The people need you Leon, you need to lead them."

*Leon's eyes go wide* "Me??? Why me??? I don't know how to lead, I've never done anything like that in my life." "Leon, it's in your blood, besides you have royal lineage, if you claim these people as your followers it will make life easier for them going forward, they'll go from nameless refugees to the homeless followers of Leon White. You need to realize how much your name is worth, your words carry weight now, if you represent these people there future has hope." *Leon sighs.* "Fine, you win." *Derrick smiles and gets up.* "Good, now one more thing, Lana!" *Derricks wife comes running with Derricks greatsword dragging behind her, Derrick takes it and stabs it into the ground then kneels.* "Leon White, I Derrick Wolf swear my allegiance to you, I will protect you are yours to my last breath, my sword is yours and yours alone to command." *Leon was speechless as he looked down at Derrick.* "W-What are you doing?" *Derrick smiles and stands with his wife's help.* "Having a recognized military soldier under you adds to your legitimacy, and now that word is beginning to get out about who you are, you need to protected, there are some bad people in this world Leon, but I can protect you, I will protect you. General Grant promised his king and your mother that he would protect you, and he did until his final breath, now I will carry on his pledge." *Derrick and Lana bow along with the remainder of the townspeople. Leon can only look on and smile, he sees his mother in the back of the crowd holding back her tears, but these tears were not sad ones, but ones of joy.*