Free Terrible Beast of Zor by Gilbert L. Morris

fault,” she said gently. “It must be hard for anyone who has everything to learn how to live with others. But, Alex, you know that most of the subjects in your country are poor people. How can you govern them if you don’t know anything about them? You’ve got to learn to understand them and what they need, and I think this is a good opportunity. Don’t you?”
    The prince said quietly, “I don’t know if I can learn, Sarah.”
    Impulsively she put her hand on his arm. “Yes, you can, and we’ll help you.”
    “You will?”
    “Yes. That’s what we came for.” She smiled and said, “Now, let’s all go to sleep, and tomorrow will be a new day.”
    Rondel was in a rage. He looked as if he wanted to put his hands around Count Ferrod’s throat and choke him. “You let the prince
escape?”
    “It’s not our fault!” the countess cried. “I tried to do away with him as you said, but somehow he avoided the trap.”
    “And I know how. The Seven Sleepers,” Rondel said.
    The count tried to calm him down. “We’ll find him,” he said quietly. “I have men out searching.”
    “Well, you’ve been fools, but all is not lost.”
    “What are you thinking, Rondel?” the countess asked.
    “The prince may have escaped our trap, but he will never be king of Madria.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because the weapon that the Zorians have been waiting for is almost ready.”
    “What is this weapon?” Ferrod asked. “Is it a new kind of bow?”
    “Something much better than that. You will find out when it comes—which will not be long.”
    “So our country will be taken over by the Zorians?”
    “The king will have to abdicate—he’s too ill to serve, anyway. With some … guidance … the Council will choose a new ruler. And we know who that ruler will be, don’t we?”
    Count Ferrod understood, but rather than feeling happy, he felt he had been drawn into a trap and therewas no way out. He did not like what was happening. He said hopefully, “The prince is gone. There will be no need to hunt him down and kill him.”
    “A prince is always a danger to a man like yourself. He must die, and the Sleepers and Dethenor must die with him.”



9
The Training of a Soldier
    J osh and his friends were so well hidden from the busy, inhabited parts of the kingdom that they had ceased to be fearful of discovery. They were aware of patrols that came out from time to time, but the Sleepers had their own guard system. When an alert was sounded, they quickly retreated to a deeper part of the woods. They spent most of their time getting ready for the battle to come. Josh, especially, wanted to see the prince develop into a first-class soldier.
    “We’ll have to be like top sergeants back in the old days,” he told Reb. “You don’t make good soldiers by sitting down and eating ice cream sundaes.”
    “You mean,” Reb said, “you want me to pour it on him.”
    “That’s right. He’s got to learn to fight, he’s got to learn to endure hardships, and I’m putting you in charge of seeing that it gets done.”
    Reb went at the business of training the prince with a vengeance. He rousted him out before daylight every morning and took him on hard treks through the deep woods and up and down the mountainside. He completely ignored Alexander’s protests.
    One Thursday morning, Sarah was up early enough to talk with Reb about the prince’s progress. “How is he doing, Reb?”
    “He’s not doing bad at all,” Reb admitted. “He’s strong and quick, and when he gets in shape, he’ll be afirst-rate soldier. All that easy living has made him soft, but I’ll take care of that.”
    “Don’t be too hard on him, Reb,” she warned. “You don’t want to get him out of the notion of serving.”
    “Don’t worry. He’ll be as good as one of Stonewall Jackson’s boys.” It was the highest praise he could give.
    He roughly roused the prince by shaking his shoulder. “Get up, Prince. Time to go to