Against the autumn wind, Augustus was riding his horse through the valleys aiming back to his home. As he moved down the main arch, he saw the horses were loaded and all were preparing for a trip.
Augustus asked his father's sergeant "does the father have a heading?"
Sergeant: "Yes, we all have a long heading…"
Augustus: "we!"
Bernard: "yes we"
Augustus: "Dad, where are we going."
Bernard: "To the Bled Castle, near the Karawanks mountain range."
Augustus: "Oh that's too long for me to come, anyways happy journey."
Bernard: "The Archduke of House Habsburg himself has appointed me as the new Governor of the Bled Castle and I hope we will be there for quite some years…"
Augustus: "Wait, what for some years. What will I do there? I have so many unfinished businesses..."
Bernard: "Of course you have many businesses of simply wandering through the woods. Stop telling excuses and prepare for the journey, we are leaving today."
In front of the servants it was an egg on his face. He paused for a while and asked, "But why in the blink of an eye?"
Bernard: "It's an order from the Archduke and there are a lot of tasks to be completed before winter, so I must accomplish that as soon as possible. So we don't have time to waste, make up your mind, and help your sister with the luggage."
Augustus was not at all convinced with this hurry burry journey and he went on "Dad I have a lot of packing to do and after all I have to complete my fencing lessons, so I can't come now. I will come by next week"
Bernard: "No, winter hits the Bled before here and if we lag our journey for a week it will be very difficult to travel and I am not letting you travel alone. Go and get ready."
Augustus: "But dad.."
Bernard: "Enough with the discussion. I was not asking for your permission, it was just my order."
Augustus went silently to his room. All of a sudden his mood changed and was feeling so low. His sister Lily came running towards him and was excited about the trip. For Augustus, Lily was his only happiness after the demise of their mother. For his little sister he behaved like normal and started to pack his beloved things.
Augustus's father was an honorable man of the valley, he was one of the chief council member to the Archduke of House Habsburg. Augustus and Lily lost their mother a decade ago, she was caught with an incurable malady. Being born to a noble family Augustus never behaved like a high born. He made friends with every class of clan. He was an expert in swordsmanship and horse riding. He was filled with humaneness. Every year at the time of reaping the valley changes to a festival mood and Augustus joins the team without any hang back. He never misses that and for this year it comes in the next week. He doesn't want to slip that. But alas, he cannot flout his father.
All the council members and officers came to give farewell to the new Governor of the Bled Castle. Bernard was so honored by the gratitude of his colleagues. All had given their toast to the new Governor and had a grand lunch. Everyone was having a good time except for Augustus. He didn't wish to go and all the above he don't even had a choice. All the decision of his life was taken by his father and he never went to broke that. For Augustus his father's words were his life path.
Richardson who was the advisor of the council came to see Augustus and said, "Your father is a great person and you should try to keep up his name. He doesn't know, how to show love but knowing him for the past 40 years I know that his only weakness is you. He wants you to be a better person and I know you can."
Augustus: "I will not spoil my father's name."
Richardson: "Look after your sister and be happy."
He gave a tight hug to Augustus and left.
Augustus started to feel the pain in the neck. He was so attached to the place where he was born. He couldn't digest the idea of moving away, he started thinking "how can anyone leave their motherland? We have everything here and we don't need anything else. Who else can look after our home than us? Why is this Archduke always putting pressure on my father? He doesn't even have time to talk with us, always giving a hot potato."
Lily started to look for his brother, she couldn't find her old toys and was looking for help. Lily found his brother who was lost in his memories.
Lily: "Brother, what are you doing here?"
Augustus: "Nothing dear, what happened?"
Lily: "I couldn't find my old doll, which was made by our mother. Did you saw that?"
Augustus: "yes, it's in my cupboard."
Lily: "Why did you take my doll, it's mine."
Augustus: "I just took it because I could give it to you whenever you needed that."
Lily: "Liar!"
Both of them went to recheck their items and everything was perfectly packed. By the time everyone was ready for the journey and the horses started to run.
Augustus was looking back at their castle, he couldn't take back his eyes. The place where he was born, the place where he rooted him up, the place where his mother rest, the place where he was nurtured, and the place where he slept every night. As the horses took the deviation the sight of the castle was gone.
Augustus had never gone out of the countryside and he always wished to explore those scenic paths but his father was so strict that he had to be at home before dawn. This was a different experience for both Augustus and Lily. She was more excited than anyone else because she was not at all allowed to move out of the house except to the church. This was completely a refreshing journey for both.
At night they reached a countryside dukes castle, where they warmed them up and reposed. An old woman in the castle came to Augustus and said: "You are very lucky to live in Bled, it's not less than a heaven."
Augustus was curious about that, he never heard anything about Bled before. His anxiety level increased and asked back "What is so special about Bled?"
Old woman with a little smile answered "You will let it know by tomorrow."