Seventeen Years Later
In the outskirts of the kingdom of Eldrador, there was a gathering, and the screams of people could be heard, as they cheered.
As the years passed, peace finally returned to the kingdom. All the plagues and calamities that had befallen the kingdom were all gone, and forgotten.
The reason for the cheers of the people that had gathered, was a horse racing competition between two individuals. The competition had taken place on the vast landscape of the kingdom, where there were neither houses nor tress. It was similar to a deserted land.
The people were standing close to the finish line, patiently waiting for the riders who were still far away, and out of sight.
"Who are you betting on?" One of the onlookers who was carrying two baskets asked the man standing beside him.
The man smiled and said, "Of course I'm betting on Alexander, who in their right mind would bet on Edward?" He then dropped a small bag of coins into the basket that had the name Alexander written on it.
A few other people also rushed forward, and equally dropped their coins into the basket, while the basket which had the name Edward written on it was empty.
A man who had a straw hat on his head then walked towards the man holding the baskets, and said in a loud voice, "I'm going to bet on Edward!"
Everyone turned to him in surprise, looking at him as if checking if he was alright in the head.
He then chuckled and said, "Who knows? The underdog might actually have a shot." And he put his own bag of coins into the empty basket.
"There they are!" Someone exclaimed as they pointed to the riders who were still very far away, and the cheers became louder.
There was a huge gap between the two riders, and it was clear who was going to win, but unknown to the people that were watching, a few men were hiding on the sides, patiently waiting for the riders to get close.
Once the one at the front got close, they quickly came out, and threw a bucket of sand from both sides towards the man on the horse, causing the man to lose his grip on the reigns of the horse, and fall to the ground.
The people didn't get to see what had happened, as the riders were still far from them, all they could see was that one of them had fallen off from his horse.
The man that was behind was then leading the race, and when he got close enough to the people, and sucessfully crossed the finish line, the cheers of the people became non-existent.
Only the man that had placed a bet on Edward was cheering in joy. "Yes!" He exclaimed as he collected all the bags of coins from the man holding the baskets, while the others just looked at him with envy.
After getting to the finish line, the man raced back to his competitor that had fallen. "Aw, are you okay, Alexander?" He asked, the mockery in his voice was very obvious.
Alexander stood up from the ground and wiped his clothes before looking up at the other, as he smiled and said, "Yes, I'm fine, Edward."
"What a shame, really. You could have won if you hadn't fallen down." Edward continued to taunt him.
Alexander just waved his hand, while still smiling. "No, that's not true. You won because you are a more skilled rider than I am. I can't measure up to your level of skills."
Edward smiled proudly and said, "Yeah, that's right. So don't be too upset. It's just a silly competition after all."
"Of course! It's not even like my victory was guaranteed, anyway." Alexander responded.
"Alex, why don't we go to the Dragon's Den tarven to have a few drinks? I'm feeling good today. It will be my treat." Edward suggested, but Alexander shook his head, as he said, "I have something I must do, so go on ahead."
"Alright then." Edward said, as he turned his horse around and left.
….
"Wow look at all these money! That idiot really made it easy for us by cheating." The man who had won the bet from earlier said, as he eyed the bags of coins with fascination. The person he was taking to was… Alexander.
Alexander who was sitting beside the man, didn't respond and was just massaging his right ankle.
The man noticed this and immediately stopped ogling at the money. He then went over to Alexander's front as he looked at him in worry. "Hey, is your leg hurt?" He asked.
Alexander looked up at the man, and shook his head as he stopped massaging his right ankle. "No." He replied, "Since you are done counting, how much is it?"
The man gave him a big bag where he had gathered all the coins. "Fifty gold coins." The man said as he stood up. "How are you going to get your hands on five-hundred gold coins at this rate?"
Alexander stayed quiet, and the man bent down to whisper into his ear. "Why don't we use this money to get some…"
The man didn't get to finish his suggestion as Alexander had gently pushed him away. "Are you out of your mind? I'm never doing that again."
"But then, how would you get to raise more money. Except you are planning to rob a tarven or something?"
"Of course not!… But still, I will get that money, no matter what." Alexander spoke with determination.
"I'm sure you will." The man said with an encouraging smile. "Well, I've worked hard, and I'm going to rest now, bye!" The man then proceeded to leave in a hurry.
"Wait!" Alexander said, causing the man to pause in his tracks. Alexander then stood up and walked over to the man, while eying him suspiciously.
"Undo your buttons." Alexander said, pointing to the jacket the man was wearing over a shirt.
The man feigned confusion, as he pointed to himself. "You want me to do that here?"
"Yeah. There's no one around." Alexander answered.
The man bit his lips, and the expression on his face seemed like that of someone who had been caught committing a crime.
He slowly undid the buttons of his jacket, and when he parted it, a few gold coins that had been tied to his shirt was revealed, causing him and Alexander to burst into laughter.
Alexander shook his head, and untied the gold coins, retrieving it from the man.
Alexander then counted it, and looked at the man in disbelief. "Ten gold coins?"
"Can I get at least two gold coins?" The man begged with pleading eyes.
Alexander who had a smile on his face all this while suddenly turned serious. "Griswold!" He said the man's name in a voice filled with playful warning.
….
Dragon's Den Tarven
"Enjoy!" Edward exclaimed and all the people sitting at the same table as him, raised their glasses of bear up to a toast.
Just by the way the people seated at the table were dressed, everyone would be able to tell that they were people of high class in the kingdom. They were even being attended to by courtesans.
"So… did you all earn a ton of money, thanks to me?" Edward asked.
All of them turned silent when they heard Edward's question. Edward noticed this and frowned. "What's with your reactions? Hey, you all didn't bet on me?" He questioned them.
"Um, well, the thing is…" Edward's right hand man who was seated closest to him, tried to come up with an excuse, but failed, so he just laughed to relieve the tension in the air.
The others also joined him in the awkward laughter, and then when the laughter died down, the man continued, "I actually wanted to bet on you, but these guys kept telling me that Alexander was a better rider." He shifted the blame to the others, when in fact, he had actually been the first person to place a bet on Alexander.
"Hey, you idiots! I told you I was going to win the race, no matter what, didn't I? I had set up a great opportunity for you all, but you all still went ahead and lost it." Edward scolded them.
In frustration, he picked up his glass of bear, and downed it in one go. "You know what? Forget it! Who were those who placed a bet on me?"
"It was just one man. I think his name was… Griswold." Edward's right hand man answered.
Edward who had filled up his glass again, and was about to gulp it down, suddenly paused when he heard that name. "Did you just say Griswold?" His mind then strolled back to his small talk with Alexander after the race, and one suspicious statement made by Alexander rang in his head.
"Of course! It's not even like my victory was guaranteed, anyway."
"Ah! That bastard!" Edward yelled, throwing his glass of bear in anger.