Simon hoped reading would help Mama and Papa feel better soon.

Simon had always loved it when Mama or Papa told him stories. And he knew how much Mama loved books. So that's why he was hoping that reading to them would help them feel better and maybe then they'd wake up sooner.

And Grandpa had a big library so there was lots of books to choose from.

Simon stopped his reading. He didn't recognize this word.

Mama had always loved reading, but Simon didn't always like sitting still. That was one of the reasons why he didn't recognize some of the bigger words…

He wished he'd been better at that.

Now Mama was lying in bed, pale and cold. Not waking up.

Papa was the same way.

Simon reached out and squeezed first Mama's hand and then Papa's.

If Simon had paid more attention, then he'd be better with all the words and then he could do a better job reading for them...

Grandpa would know. Grandpa was smart.

Simon was convinced that Grandpa- who was Papa's papa- was great.

After Papa had left and the town had burned, Simon and Mama had run together.

But the monsters had kept chasing them and Mama had fallen. She'd told Simon to keep running.

It was while Simon had been running through the woods that Grandpa found him and then brought him to his castle. He'd told him that he was his Papa's papa, that he and Papa hadn't known about each other because they'd both been lied to, but once Grandpa had known about him, he'd loved him and his family. He hadn't been able to save them from getting hurt, but he had tended to them after they had been hurt.

Grandpa had given Simon Papa's battle cross and shown him Papa and Mama. They were hurt and they didn't wake up but they were bandaged up, like warriors sometimes did when they came back from missions.

They didn't wake up but Grandpa promised him they would wake up one day.

Grandpa had come for Simon when he was scared and alone in the woods. Of course Simon believed him.

Grandpa had lots of servants. Some of them looked funny but they all listened to Grandpa and because Grandpa told them to listen to Simon, they did. And there were some like Rosa who were always helping out with Papa and Mama.

Right now, she had paused in wiping off Mama's face and was looking at Simon in concern.

"Do you need help, little prince?" she asked gently.

"No," Simon said quickly. He liked Rosa a lot, she was very nice but he wanted to do this for his parents. "Do you think they'll wake up soon?"

Before Rosa could respond, the door swung open and Grandpa came in.

"Grandpa!" Simon jumped down and ran to hug Grandpa. Grandpa hadn't been very good at hugs at first, but he was getting better all the time.

Grandpa hugged Simon gently and then looked up at Rosa. "Rosa, wait outside."

"Yes, my prince."

"Simon-"

Simon looked up at his grandpa. He was smiling, but there was an odd edge to it.

"Simon, do you remember what I told you before? About what the Brotherhood did to our family?"

Simon nodded, scowling.

Simon loved his grandpa and knew he wouldn't lie to him. He didn't believe that all the Brotherhood warriors were bad, but he did believe that that they all believed lies and so they couldn't be trusted.

"I remember, Grandpa. If I see any Brotherhood warriors, I'll be careful."

"That's good, but there's some Brotherhood warriors who have broken in. My servants have captured them and are bringing them to my throne room and I'm about to go deal with them. Do you want to come with me? If you want to stay here, with Rosa, you can. But I wanted to ask you if you have anything to say to them."

"Wait, Grandpa, the Brotherhood doesn't like you, right? Are they going to try to attack you?" Simon scowled. "I'll attack them!"

"Simon, don't worry about me," Grandpa reassured him. "I'm both God's chosen one and the prince of darkness. No ordinary warrior can stand a chance against me."

"But what if there's an unordinary warrior?" Simon pressed.

"Well, in that case, I'll rely on you to save me," Grandpa said, looking as if he was trying not to laugh for some reason. "But unless something like that happens, let me handle them. You just stay back and watch my back, you promise?"

Simon considered that, then nodded.

"Then, shall we go?"

"Yeah!" Simon reached up and took his grandpa's hand trustingly.