We made sure that everyone in the free folk village stayed away from the town for the whole royal visit. We did not want them or their families to be in danger. It was only fair when they were the ones that helped when we first arrived. Because it was a royal hunt, it was on the nobles to make sure that they received him well. As knights, we were all there to attend to our lords. The king had his own retinue of knights to accompany him. I was pleasantly surprised when Sir Killroy was among them. He smiled at me when he recognized me. We were both working, so there was no time to catch up at that moment. Lord Swiftheart and his wife were at the front and he welcomed our king to the town. The sickly king was not feeling well, but it was his duty to be received publicly. Out of concern, the Swifthearts made their introductions short and led them to the lodgings that had been prepared. The resort itself had some rooms for hunters not native to the region. Those would be taken up by the royal retinue and the kings acclaimed hunters. The king would rest his weary head in the Swiftheart manor.
The king had an heir, a 13 year old son. He had only been 7 years old when I saw him at the feast. He also had a 4 year old son. That was the spare. He had been born after we left to do this venture for the crown. The king had his line secured. For someone so ill, it was good on him to have been able to do this. Both princes and the queen were present for the hunt. Obviously, they would not be participating. It would be on Anthony and I to ensure that they were safe. Anthony was the youngest son of the Swiftheart Family. He was very miffed that he the appointed babysitter. We got to "participate" in the sense that we were there when they were setting up and we fed and moved the hunting dogs and falcons to where they needed to be. We would not share in the glory of actually running down game. The king was in no condition to do that either. He was a king though. It was expected that he do something here. Luckily for him, falconry was an acceptable hunting pursuit. Training a raptor to hunt small game on command for you was pretty cool. The king had a hawk that caught a rabbit.
After holding up his trophy for all to see, he was done. Everyone understood that he was not athletic due to illness. From that point, the meat was prepared and the hawk could eat some of it. The rest would be made into a stew for him and his sons. It was a great prize. He caught a bit of a coughing fit. I signaled to Anthony. He knew what to do. "Your majesty, would you like to retire for now. We have a marvelous facility for you to use that might help with your constitution." he offered politely. The king just raised an eyebrow. "I believe that I've been here for long enough to prove that I am a hunter. Where would you propose we go now, Sir Swiftheart?" he asked. We led him and his family to the sauna. Using the noble wing that was built for this very purpose, we let them wash up a bit first. I was the one to explain what we would be doing and the benefits before we got in. I started it off light. At the time went on, we got it pretty steamy. I brought a chamber pot in with me. When the king began to cough, I placed it in front of him. "Use this to expel that loosened phlegm. Spit it all out." I said.
