Henry felt heavy from the moment he received the news.
By the time they would reach the outskirts of the commander's fief, they would have two days to prepare before going to the palace.
Fighting a beast didn't terrify him as much as telling his mother what he had been keeping to himself for so long. It wasn't fair that he had kept it from her but he was scared of what she would say. He wanted her to go with him to Chemois but he knew she wouldn't like the cold.
There also came the realistic aspect that he would likely have people standing against his appointment and he didn't want his mother to go through the prejudice that he faced on a daily basis. She wasn't blind to it but he wanted to pretend the world had changed for peasants and that's why he was able to obtain such a position.
