The Runaway King

Jaron and Nila are greeted warmly by Harlowe, who offers food and shelter to the young man. Jaron reluctantly accepts, although he is thrown off by Harlowe’s generosity and keen to get back on the road as soon as possible. Harlowe tells Jaron about his late son, Nila’s father, who had wanted to settle with his family outside of Libeth but was killed during an attack. The only thing Harlowe has left of his son is his gold pocket watch. He reiterates that pirates have been raiding the border towns for years, but that the king and his regents have never done anything. Jaron regrets not knowing about that situation and is bitter about his father’s inaction. Later, he interrogates a servant sent to help him with his wounds, who tells him about Harlowe’s kindness and generosity.

Over dinner, Jaron refuses to tell Harlowe who he is. The old man replies that, although he himself is a noble, titles have little importance outside of Drylliad: “And what is that but a parade of egos? [...] I keep myself as far from the king’s politics as possible” (90). Jaron, who feels a strong connection with Harlowe, eventually says goodbye to him and Nila. Before he leaves, he asks the old man to keep his presence a secret should anyone come looking for him, adding: “If they come, you’ll know they’re speaking about me, whatever they say” (93).

As Harlowe has given Jaron expensive new clothes, the young man switches them with a boy’s used ones to be more inconspicuous on the road. He then rides to Dichell, an Avenian town just past the Carthyan border known to be quite rough. There, he goes to the church he remembers from four years ago. After he escaped the pirate ship, Jaron was taken in by a kind priest who suspected who he was. It was there that his father, the king, came to verify the priest’s claim that he had found the lost prince. They then decided to keep the fact that Jaron was alive a secret and gave him the identity of Sage in order to protect him. However, when Jaron finds the church, it is abandoned. Jaron meets a young boy named Fink at the church and learns from him that the priest was killed a few years earlier by a pirate named Devlin, who is now the pirate king. Jaron guesses that the pirates must have heard that the priest was sheltering the prince and punished him for it.

Fink convinces Jaron that he can help him navigate the dangers of Dichell for the right price. Jaron asks him how to find the pirates, so Fink suggests that he go to a tavern on the edge of the town and ask for room number eleven. Jaron narrowly escapes an ambush led by Fink and goes to the tavern, suspecting a trap but guessing that it should eventually lead him to the pirates. Once Jaron is in the room, he pretends to be asleep until a group of attackers comes to bind and gag him.

Jaron is taken to a thieves’ camp and meets their leader, a man named Erick, to whom Fink reports. Jaron introduces himself as Sage and tries to convince Erick that he has a job for the pirates. Erick threatens Jaron to learn where he got his gold, so the young man tells the thief that he knows the location of a secret cave in which the Carthyan royals store some of their fortune in case the castle is taken by enemies. Erick decides that he wants in as a partner when they offer the job to the pirates, but he wants Jaron to prove himself first. He wants Jaron to go on a raid with him, but the young king wants to avoid bloodshed. Instead, he reluctantly suggests that they sneak into Harlowe’s estate in Libeth under the cover of night, under the pretense of being able to get more valuables that way.

Jaron and Erick sneak into Harlowe’s home that night, with Erick following Jaron closely. They get into Harlowe’s office, but soon hear voices approaching. Before they have time to hide, Jaron and Erick are caught by Harlowe and Mott; Mott arrived in Libeth earlier looking after the “king” (Tobias).

Mott immediately goes along with Jaron’s pretense that he is a thief to avoid ruining his cover. He tells Harlowe: “This boy is one of the finest thieves of Avenia. I’ve seen him before and I know he’s capable of everything he says he is. You should give him whatever he wants” (127). Harlowe complies and hands over some of his valuables to Erick and Jaron, including his son’s pocket watch. Mott runs away, giving Jaron an opportunity to chase him so they can speak in private. Mott unsuccessfully tries to convince his king to abandon his plan to go to the pirates, but Jaron refuses. To keep up Jaron’s cover, Mott slices his arm with Jaron’s blade. When Jaron returns to Harlowe’s office, Erick sees the bloody knife and assumes that Jaron killed Mott. They leave Harlowe unharmed and escape, with Jaron silently pleading for the old man’s forgiveness.

Erick notices that Jaron is upset by their encounter; Jaron pretends that he did not want them to see his face as he is a renowned thief in Carthya. As they ride back to camp, the group of thieves is met by some of King Vargan’s men of Avenia, who want to collect taxes. The thieves hide some of their gold before they are lined up by the soldiers, and Jaron wraps bandages around his face to disguise his identity. They soon realize that King Vargan himself is there as well and using the opportunity to forcefully recruit men into his army. Some of the thieves are dragged into a wagon before Vargan notices the seemingly injured Jaron. He does not recognize him, and Jaron convinces the Avenian soldiers that he is wearing bandages because he has the plague. As a result, King Vargan orders the thieves to be released immediately and the soldiers leave quickly. Erick is impressed by Jaron’s quick thinking, but he is still suspicious of his true intentions.

The next morning, Jaron and Fink join one of the teams in a sports game the thieves are playing called Queen’s Cross. Jaron comes up with a strategy that leads to their team winning the game. Fink, who had initially been tasked with watching over Jaron, is delighted and the two of them become closer. Jaron likes the younger boy, and he feels sorry that Fink most likely can only grow up to become a thief.

Erick, although still suspicious of Jaron, offers him a place amongst the thieves. Jaron is tempted by the idea, but he makes a point to refuse before he acts too impulsively and follows his heart. He believes his duty and responsibility as a king is to keep to his original plan. Erick tells him that that was a test, and that Jaron passed. However, the young man starts having doubts about his ability to carry it out. Later, when the thieves are asleep, Jaron tries to leave the camp to meet Mott in Dichell and ask for his help. However, he is caught by one of the sentinels and brought back to his tent, meaning he will need to face the pirates on his own.

Erick introduces one of his men, Fendon, to Jaron. Fendon is one of the thieves Jaron fought off to protect Nila. At first, Erick confronts Jaron, unhappy that he injured one of his men. However, Jaron, rather than denying it, defends his actions and tells Erick what his men were really doing. Erick gets angry at Fendon, claiming that they are not murderers and should not attack innocent women and children. Later, Erick, Jaron, and Fink prepare to leave for Tarblade Bay, the pirates’ camp. When Jaron mentions that he knew the priest who was killed by Devlin, Erick worries that it may become an issue between him and the pirate king. Jaron assures him that he will be able to control himself. As they ride to Tarblade, Erick explains the ins and outs of the camp to Jaron.