The Systems Challenge

The next morning saw Kim getting up earlier than usual. There wasn't really a reason Kim could think of other than some of what Samantha telling them that kept her from getting back to sleep once she opened her eyes at false dawn.

It wasn't that the light was disturbing her sleep, but rather the thoughts that were going through her head that kept making her more and more alert. Not only was there the issue of trying to get to the dungeon before Stanley and his group, since she knew it was only a matter of time before they chose to camp out at the dungeon they all started in, but then there was the fact that the king was supposed to be coming out this morning with the food supplies that Samantha had promised.

Although, Kim had a feeling that they'd have to meet them at the gate as well, since that's where Samantha had known to meet them. Unless the guards who had been on duty at that time had already reported to someone who then reported it to another person and so on until it reached the king's ears of where Kim and Samantha had gone to after they'd left the gate.

Though, as she thought about that, her gaze unconsciously shifted towards the gate. Where she saw a wagon heading towards her. Which was surprising since the gate didn't open normally until the sun was starting to rise. Which was clearly a little bit off still.

Kim stood up, wondering what possibilities the wagon presented. Either it was someone who just couldn't wait to head away from the city or it was the food supplies that Samantha had promised.

While it wasn't likely that someone would wait all night to just give up waiting just before the gate would be opening, Kim couldn't say that the possibility was non-existent. Just incredibly unlikely.

Which left the other possibility that it was the food supplies Samantha had said would be arriving in the morning. Only she also had said that they king would be coming with them. Which made sense that the wagon would be able to leave before the usual time for the gate to open. As the king certainly could just order the gate open with the guards not being able to do anything about it, since the king really was the ultimate authority in this land. Especially when it came to them keeping their jobs.

Since there wasn't anything she could do to prevent this encounter, Kim figured she should at least wake Jonas and Owen. As they would likely prefer being up to see what was going to happen. Elwin and Patricia might have been options she would have considered if they hadn't proven themselves too hotheaded in Kim's opinion.

While she wasn't surprised to see a group of horsemen with the wagon, it was still too dark, and too far away, to make out how many there were. With Samantha, Kim had made sure the guards spaced themselves out so the others would be able to see how many there were, even though there had been more light at that time than there was right now.