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"Perhaps so, but it was I you spoke to that day" Without taking my eyes off his, I reached into olden rock It was the last gift iven me, inside the satchel at the church Since I stole it back from Conner, it had never been hidden especially well Anyone ished to venture high onto the ledges of Farthenould have found it Later, I moved the rock to the bank of the stream on the outskirts of Conner’s estate, where it hid in its careful place ast a thousand other ordinary rocks "This is for you" I pressed the stone into Kerwyn’s hand

Kerwyn turned it over in his hands, uniold? It’s worthless"

"No, it’s real gold I am real, Lord Kerwyn"

Tears filled Kerwyn’s eyes He pulled a creased and worn paper froly as he read it Then he turned to the audience and said, "This note was given toEckbert about a o I was instructed to keep it with me at all ti to be the prince This is what it says" He read aloud, "‘Many may one day claim to be the lost prince of Carthya They will be well rehearsed and some n alone He will give you the huold’" Kerwyn folded the paper again, and then said to the audience, "Lords and ladies of Carthya, I present to you the son of King Eckbert and Queen Erin He is the lost royal of Carthya, who lives and stands before you Hail, Prince Jaron"

Then he turned to me and fell to his knees He took my hand in his and pressed the note into my palm, then kissed the back of my hand

In turn, everyone in the room sank to their knees and said, "Hail, Prince Jaron"

Kerwyn looked up at le tear fell onto his cheek "Your pants are filthy, as if you rolled in the dirt before co less from the boy I remember"

I smiled "I’ve come home Do you knowto be the prince, there would be only one with the saet you again"

Suddenly, as well as I thought I had everything planned out, I was at a loss Should I tell thefor what I’d do next

There was only one person in the room who had failed to kneel Bevin Conner stood at the back of the rooically parted before me

Conner found his words and spoke them slowly "It cannot be You -- I suspected it once or twice, but … was I blind?"

"You saho you wanted to see, Conner, nothingbut a fraud, and so do I," Veldergrath said from behind me "This is clearly an impostor"

I turned and sent, Lord Veldergrath" Then to Conner I said, "See how I keep ent"

Conner didn’t return the smile He was still more frozen than not

"You cannot do this!" Veldergrath sneered "Who are you, really? I heard Conner coes of Carthya No doubt he found you there ast the other fleas and veres at various tie Trace my records back as far as you can You’ll find the first entry about four years ago, shortly after Jaron disappeared"

Veldergrath laughed at that "So you ad one of therinned "You’re right That is funny" Then I laughed with hihed so hard that I put a hand on his shoulder to better share the joke He didn’t appreciate that and slidoff his clothes