Heron listened in growing horror as the young knight relayed the news that assassins had gotten his father who was badly wounded.
He ran inside, forgetting about the issue of the two knights who had seen him casting magic. Elswyth followed close on his heels, and Heron was thankful for her presence. He walked fast until he reached the room in which his father lay.
For a moment he hesitated steeling himself for what he might see and then went in, creeping up to the bed over which a priest was straightening up.
"Is… is he going to be okay?" Heron managed. He felt a sinking feeling looking down at the figure of his father, unmoving and with bandages.
"He's very lucky to be alive. They didn't hit any vital points, though they did bash open his head." The priest said. "It's beyond my power to completely heal him. Perhaps a priest from Lumna would be able to, but…" He sighed, "I got him comfortable at least. It may be a while before he wakes up though."
"But he will?" Heron latched onto that.
"Yes. I believe so. I don't know if there will be any lasting damage though. And he may have a limp in his leg as well when he does. Also, due to the head wound…" Here the priest hesitated.
"Yes?"
"He might not be able to resume much of his duties as king. There is a chance that he may be more apt to make poor decisions. And so… you might want to prepare yourself in case you have to take the leadership role of guiding the kingdom."
"What?" Heron was not ready for that. He knew someday he would be in that position, but not today.
"In any case, even if that isn't going to be a problem, you will need to act as Regent until your father recovers I'm afraid."
"I see…" Heron nodded. He was a bit overwhelmed by this sudden thrusting of duty upon his shoulders. "How long till he wakes up do you think?"
"Could be days. Could be weeks. Probably not more than a month. He's lucky I could keep him from becoming braindead though."
Heron shuddered at the thought and thanked the priest quietly.
He stayed at his father's bedside for a while, unsure what to do. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.
Elswyth looked down at him with an expression of concern, and empathic sorrow. And having her at his side gave him a certain level of strength. It would be okay. His father wasn't on death's door. He would recover, at least enough to live a good healthy life. Even if he might have to step down from the throne.
And, though Heron did not wish for it to come like this, he was aware that there was an opportunity here. He could use this period to test the waters and see how he could change what was wrong with his nation.
And there were several things wrong, even beyond the hatred of magic. Things that wouldn't be quite as dangerous to try to fix. Even if he failed, people wouldn't be put out that he had tried with these things. These were the things to start with.
There were projects that could be done to better take care of the population of commoners, systems to make work go easier.
Heron decided to slowly start fixing what was fixable, before starting on what he really wanted to do.
And perhaps by doing so, he would be able to soften what might otherwise be seen as utterly radical. Changes to laws on magic might be more easily carried out if slipped in with a bunch of other reforms, that most would agree to be long needed.
He did not expect it to be easy. His father had worked on reforms a bit as well. But his father was more a traditionalist so he had only touched the surface, balking at going deep.
And that was what was really needed. A deep work that might shake the kingdom for a bit but eventually would settle into a better system.