King Him, Not Me
Chapter 10

The sounds of trumpets fill the air as people fill the arena. Sitting in the middle, with the best view, is Petra and her children. They’re all grown up and all remember their younger brother Winston. They could never forget him, not after the way he was taken from them.

Jean is sitting with the Kings family near the Ernest-Free family. Also in the crowd are rulers from allied kingdoms, wanting to see who would become the new king or queen of Galedon.

The Royal Council motion to the center of the area as the trumpets hold out a note, the sound echoing away as the four stop moving.

“Everyone,” Morgan’s voice booms, “the fifteen people you’re about to see are going to compete in a battle royal for the title of king or queen of Galedon. They have shown traits of compassion, leadership, and a bit of strength. Today, they will show us all of their strength and, in the end, Galedon will have a new ruler.”

As the four council members continue forward and out of the area, the contestants walk in. People cheer when they see familiar faces, Winston the last to walk out. Cal jumps out his seat as his eyes see his younger brother, Petra’s welling with tears.

“He grew up nicely,” Mal softly comments with a smirk, not wanting anyone to hear him. No one knows Winston’s a royal Free, they recently discovered that Cornelius had one more child.

Winston slowly blinks as he looks around, Barin stopping him from walking forward.

“Relax,” the taller says soothingly, “everything’s going to be fine.”

The cheering stops and Cal takes his seat as his mother wipes her tears, Hesta and Douglas pushing their lips together as the grip on their skirts tighten.

The royal council is watching from the balcony Winston and Barin were standing on two days ago, Canvas lifting his bow with a fiery arrow. As he cocks it back, the contestants pull out their weapons, their eyes darting between one another. Winston pulled out a long-handled axe from the scroll, Barin with his sword. Ruith’s weapon is a spear his sister gifted him a few days before the competition.

Canvas aims his arrow then shoots it, a large torch lighting as the fight begins. The crowd cheers and boos as they watch the battle, the sounds mixing together.

Barin rolls out the way before a Centaur woman could pierce him with her lance, she quickly turning to try again. The Human rolls out the way, but turns too late to see the arrow from a Fairy’s bow. Just as he was about to accept his fate, his eyes widen when Winston deflects it.

“Don’t make me look good.” the shorter chimes before charging towards the Fairy. Barin’s eyebrow twitches as he smirks angrily, “Fucking Winnie,” he shouts before charging at the Centaur.

“What’s Winston doing?” Cal whispers to Douglas, “He just helped that guy.”

“Winston doesn’t want to be king,” Jean answers, “and I think he’s helping Barin win.”

“Who’s Barin au-. I mean ma’am.”

“Barin Kings,” she says as she points at the tall blonde human. He just got the centaur to admit defeat.

“I wonder how father would react to this,” Cal tells himself mentally as he smiles softly, “All this time, I’ve been worrying about my younger brother… and yet here he is standing strong. I remember when he used to trip on air and cry about it.”

The younger roars as he twirls his weapon then attacks, he fighting with another human with a hammer. She rolls out the way then tries to strike, Winston blocking her then going for an attack of his own. He squats down and sweeps his leg under her feet, tripping her up then pointing the blade of his axe at her throat.

“I… I give up,” she shouts angrily, Winston smiling happily as he allows her to get up. He then dodges another attack, moving towards the middle of the area. He and Barin are now standing back to back, a small gash on the shorter’s shoulder while the taller’s hair is a bit frizzy and his nose is bleeding. Someone bashed him in the face with the end of their weapon.

“Since when could you fight,” Barin asks rudely. Winston smirks, “I’m weak, but I’m not completely defenseless.”

Ruith joins them, “Do you two mind helping me out a bit? Including us, there are still ten more people.”

Barin spits out some blood while Winston grins slyly, the three charging forward. Weapons clash with weapons, clothes get ripped and ruined and small cuts are scattered along everyone’s body. One by one, the three made contestants admit defeat until it was only the three of them left.

Barin pants as he turns around, Ruith and Winston panting as well. The three looked tired and drained.

“Alright you pointy-eared fuck!” Barin spat as he grips the handle of his sword with both hands, “I’m going to take you down!”

“No!” Ruith spits back before smirking sinisterly, “I worked my ass off to get here! I’m not going to let some blonde-haired shithole take this chance away!”

“Then come at m-!” Barin notices Ruith’s spear is not in his hands, noticing how the fingers are bent. He sees string shining the sunlight, everything moving in slow motion.

The Elf pulls his hand back to direct his spear towards the human as he turns around, his eyes widening. This was it, he was going to die. Before the spear could pierce him, he grunts as he gets tackled out the way by Winston, the spear widening a gash on his hip. The motion goes back to normal as the Free family shouts in protest as Barin and Winston hit the ground, the shorter clenching his teeth as blood seeps through them and out his widen wound. He touches his wound as he rolls on his uninjured side, blood seeping through his fingers.

“I was going to go after him after you.” Ruith frowns, “He just messed up my order. Oh well, stand up and fight human!”

“No,” Barin says as he turns Winston over, “No!”

“I can… heal myself,” Winston says weakly. Barin, “You can barely talk! Why the fuck would you do this?!”

“You’re Barin Kings,” the shorter grins, “king is in your family’s name. I’ll be fine.”

“No,” Barin states as he shakes his head, “I’m not fighting while you’re like this! Not when I’ve failed you! I-!”

The fire of the torch goes out, marking the end of the fight as the flames slowly disappear. The arena’s silent.

“Well done,” Morgan says happily as he approaches the two, Madris walking towards her brother. His eyes widen, “Sister-!”

“Not a word,” she says as she holds her hand up, “the way you are now is my fault, I know this. I didn’t give you the attention a sister should her younger brother. All you wanted to do was impress me and I’ve done nothing, but ignore you.”

Ruith pushes his lips together then averts his eyes, clenching his fists.

“There.” Jeffery chimes as he moves his hands off of Winston’s hip, the wound healed. Barin sighs happily then blinks when Morgan helps him stand then walks him to the center of the arena.

“Everyone,” he booms before raising the younger’s hand, “the new king of Galedon, Barin Kings!”

Barin’s family yells out and cheer, Jean joining them. The Frees clap approvingly.

“Wait,” the shorter snatches his wrist away, “I couldn’t have won, I lost!”

“You’ve completed more trials than the others,” Canvas says with an approving smile, “You showed compassion to the boy who lost his dog, you showed your strength here, by fighting the mime, and by helping the old man. You showed your bravery by entering this contest. You showed your commitment by keeping your promise to Winston; you protected him until the very end. Even after you had a tedious argument with him, you still did what you said you would. Being the bigger man doesn’t really matter.”

“It does,” Jeffery huffs as he and Winston walk towards the three, “but you’ve shown us enough kingly qualities for us to give the okay.”

A wide smile slowly stretches across the blonde’s face, his eyes sparkling with excitement. The council, Winston, Jean, and the Kings are all staring in disbelief and shock. They’ve never seen Barin smile like this, he looks so handsome and happy. Even with the frizzy hair, bruises, and small injuries. They’re all blushing.

“Winston,” he turns to the shorter then grins his hands in his, “be my royal adviser!”

“What,” Winston question, blinking in confusion as his blush goes away.

“I can’t do this without you; I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Please. I don’t think I can be king without you by my side… I need you.”

The shorter smirks slyly, “You should say all of that to the woman you plan on marrying.”

Barin’s smile morphs to a smirk, “Shut up and say yes.”

“A royal adviser would be helpful,” Madris comments after clearing her throat, everyone’s blush now gone. Winston pushes his lips together then averts his eyes, “I don’t know. My plan was to make you king and go back to my aunt’s farm.”

Barin, “Please, Winnie. I’m begging you.”

The shorter rolls his eyes then huffs, “Alright. I suppose you’d be a bit lonely if I weren’t there to poke fun at you.”

“Thank you.” the taller sighs before the crowd begins to cheer again.

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