"Now, as for the four of you, you are free to go on your quest. A traveler who may lead the quest. A young man full of desire for adventure. An old man with great skill and stinky feet (Liam wondered at that comment). And a chicken with great wisdom and insight to add great intelligence to this quest."

No one seemed surprised at anything the Regent said so Liam chalked the comment about Jep up to another one of Arestana's quirks. They each bowed one at a time to the Regent, starting with Jep and ending with Liam. With that, the Regent, along with the rest of the newly formed team, looked expectantly at Liam. Liam stared back for a moment, unsure what he was supposed to do. He then realized he was supposed to start the quest.

"Alright! Let's go, team." Liam felt awkward. He wasn't normally a leader. He looked down at the shackles he and the rest were still wearing. He wondered if he would end up being that one member of the team condemned to state the obvious when no one else could see it. "So, how do we get out of these chains? I assume we'll want to make this trip without them."

"Great idea, Quest Leader Liam!" Jrasta declared, his bare toes wiggling as he spoke. "You clearly have the leadership skills to identify the immediate objectives necessary to complete this quest!"

Ezra stepped up to explain. "It's easy. You see on the side of each of the shackles around the wrist there's a little knob. Just turn it, and the shackles will pop off."

Liam looked at his wrists. Sure enough, there was a little knob there. He grabbed hold of it and twisted it. He found the shackles did, in fact, pop off and they fell to the ground. "You mean we could have taken these off anytime? You don't need keys to open them?"

"Keys?" Jrasta asked, looking absolutely horrified. "If these needed keys, the guards would have to carry them which would be overly inconvenient for them! And think, what if they lost them! You'd be stuck in your shackles forever! It's the same for anything else: treasure chests, house locks, jails. If you needed a key for each thing that required a lock you'd have entire rings with keys on them! Best to make them so each person can unlock it without the need for a key. The only thing that needs a key is the magical box which holds the name of the next king."

Liam was about to tell them how dumb he thought that was and ask why they had not unlocked themselves earlier, but he noticed everyone had a look of shock on their faces. Even Jep was staring at him with a look that said, "You don't think these things through, do you?" He decided to move on. "Well, let's head out on our quest, I guess."

"That's the spirit!" Ezra cried! "Now, let's get some armor!"

I hope you are enjoying the first part of Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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