Josh Strenman's Story

Josh had finally made it to the legendary floating Islands. He had been searching for his adopted brother for three years now, but his father hadn't been any help in finding Erorn and the royal army didn't divulge any information to him as he didn't have the same last name and he couldn't prove that he was Erorn's brother. After a few years of searching, his travels lead him to a small tavern on a lake. He walked to the door and saw that they had just opened for the night. He walked in and saw a couple of young guys running the place. He sat at the bar and the bartender came up to him.
"What can I get for ya?" Kel asked with a smile.

"Information if either of you gentlemen have it. I'm looking for my brother, he doesn't look like me at all, he actually adopted. He's an elf, with fiery red hair, really short, he gets angry a lot. He might have started a bar fight if he was here."

"Well, aside from the temper, that sounds like one of my neighbors over at the Keavaris Villiage. But he's a member of that family, and not very angry."

"Thanks, that's a start at least. I really appreciate it."He said as he left the Tavern.


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That morning Kel remembered the date with Abascus and how great it went. He woke up with a knot in his neck from sleeping on the couch, but when he woke up to see him in his arms along with the little Tempest, he wouldn't have traded it for anything.
He eventually woke the two of them up and they opened the tavern for business when the cute guy came in looking for his brother. After he left he turned to Abascus. "Do you think the Elf kid neighbor is really his adopted brother? I mean he doesn't even look like the rest of them with that red hair and pale skin."

Josh's search for his brother had brought him to Prericia. His last tip was a dead end and just some other elf. He seemed to know who Erorn was, though so that was a start. He went to the nearest hotel because it was so late. He felt nervous about going to the castle tomorrow, but he didn't know any other way to get in touch with him. He would just have to go knock on the front door and ask for him. He went into his room and plopped down on the bed, exhausted from the long trip.

Erorn looked at the man. "JOSH! Is that you?" Erorn squealed. "What are you doing here?"
"Erorn, you have no idea how hard it was to find you. Oh my gosh, is that the Prince?! I'm sorry your highness." He said as he bowed to Marcus.

"Relax, Josh, I'm his body guard. Josh this is Prince Marcus. Marcus this is my brother Josh." He introduced the two of them. "So what's going on, why'd you come looking for me?"

"It's about Mom, she ...she's died. I just found out about it a few years ago, I've been trying to find you since then, but it was about a year after you left to join the army. I thought you needed to know, but I didn't know where to find you. Dad didn't even tell me until I came home a few years ago. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you." He explained before hugging Erorn. As he did he couldn't help but notice Marcus giving him a bit of a glare, like he was doing something wrong. That's when he put it together, that was the glare of a jealous man. Erorn was with the Prince. He didn't say a word though.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" Erorn offered.

Josh saw that Marcus didn't seem to like the idea. "I'll be okay, really. I gotta get going early tomorrow. Back to the adventuring and all that. You should stop back by the house some time, I come back home for all the holidays."


"Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll come visit when I can." He wasn't as torn up as one would have expected, she wasn't his birth mom and he hadn't seen her in about ten years anyway. But was still a little sad.

Marcus thought up something, "Josh, I think you should stay tonight. It is the least I can do. You came all this way to see your brother and that is what you will do. You an spend the night in his room since our guest rooms are booked up. I have to get some work done, but I will see you too later? Yes? Good." He smiled and walked off.

Erorn smiled at Marcus as he left. He turned to Josh and gave a mean look. "Your timing still sucks like always." He joked with him.

"What?" He asked with an innocent look on his face.

"Never mind." Erorn sighed. "Let's go out to town. Where do you wanna go?"

"Well, I haven't been to the water front in a long time."

"Sounds good. Let's go before the Prince decides to be more generous."

The two of them went and spent most of the day down at the piers of the kingdom. Josh told Erorn about the adventures he'd been on, while Erorn told Josh about the battles he was in while in the army and how he got promoted to the royal guard.
They went down to the beach. "So, what's the deal with you and the prince?" Josh asked.

"What are you talking about?" Erorn asked nervously. He could always see right through his lies.

"The way he looked like he wanted to rip my head off when I hugged you, or the way he glared at me when you offered to let me stay the night. That was the look of a possessive boyfriend."

"Okay, fine you got me. I'm his boyfriend, but you can't say anything to anyone."

"Please, who would believe me if I did? But have to admit, I'm a little jealous. My little bro landed himself a prince." He laughed as he put Erorn in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

Erorn broke free and pushed him. "Why would you be jealous? Aren't you into ladies? Wait are you saying...?"

"Yeah, I like both. I never said anything, you know how dad would react to that. And you're a fine one to talk. You never said anything either."

"Yeah I guess I didn't, but I'm strictly into men. Anyway, we should probably get back to the castle it's getting late and I'm sure they'll be serving dinner soon."

By the time they arrived back at the castle the sun was already beginning to set. They came into the castle to and they smelled the food being cooked. "Ooo, smells good in here!" Josh commented as they walked to the kitchen.

Josh made his way to the castle. He talked to one of the servants who went and got Marcus. When he showed up at the door he saw a look of confusion on his face. "Hello Marcus, I see you weren't expecting me. You see, you have a choice to make and my boss will be rather upset if you don't show up on time. Here's your first clue, it should lead you to the others." He gave a devious smirk as he handed Marcus the envelope. "Oh one more thing it might be a good idea to consider what and who you value in your life. And time is of the essence, so probably best not to waste it following or trying to capture me. See you soon." He chuckled as he walked away.

It had been days since Erorn left. Harper was sad, but he could see the relief underlining her sadness. Marcus checked every night to see if he got his stuff or asked the guards if he had seen Erorn around, but no one had saw him since he left. He went by his old home, but no one was there. And then it dawned on Marcus, that either he left for good or he was missing. If he was missing, Marcus wouldn’t even know where to begin, then a few days later he got a hint, literally.

Josh, the guy he knew didn't feel right about, came to him with a hint. Marcus waited till he left to read the note and growled. He told Romilly that he was going to be gone for a bit. He kissed her forehead and left her standing there in confusion. He already knew who the note was from by the hint. Marcus went to the first spot, where the two stars kissed. Hopefully this fucking Josh was there with hint number two.