From above, the wicked shall receive their just reward
Kronk’s nemesis, the fly, had flown away, off to bite someone else. He was able to attend the conversation before him with a serious expression and a heart un weighted by annoyance. It was a good thing and only right, they both had come a long way, and he was quite interested in what they had to say. But first, he smiled again, this time it tipped up into a grin.
“While I’d never presume to speak for her, I think I can say with confidence that my mother was rather put upon. She soldiered on though.” Yes, she had raised three foals to adulthood and none of them (save for her of course) were any worse for wear. An admirable accomplishment.
Wichita introduced Romilly and Guthrie, though both seemed very distracted with laughing at something. He couldn’t say what, but he remembered that kids loved to laugh. He still did, if truth be told, when he was off duty of course. He smiled at the kids but didn’t press them into conversation. He remembered being very uninterested in the affairs of adults at their age.
Besides, he was very interested in what Wichita and Shahrizai had to say. He appreciated their frank way of speaking and their directness. It appealed to the simplicity in him. He wanted job, if he came to feel at home in the kingdom he served, all the better. It wasn’t strictly necessary, but a man could dream.
His decision in the end was rather arbitrary. He liked the both of them, Wichita and Shahrizai. He didn’t know much of either of their kingdoms, and while he could spend all day grilling them he was eager to set off. He usually went with his gut.
“While I do enjoy sand, and hard work…” The sad thing was he wasn’t kidding. He did enjoy both those things.
“I think I’ll take Wichita up on her invitation, and not just for the clover.” He smiled a little, and that time it was a joke. She had approached him so readily, and he liked a person who spoke their mind plainly.
To the Gates it was.
Photograph by Vivacqua