Bart Belly's Arc

Chapter 11 of 21

Bart limped from the throne room with the golden Speedo still on his hips. King Stormy had let him keep it, but the king's eyes never left the gold. Guards trailed Bart to the frosted gates of Glacier Keep. Two more waited at the doors, spears crossed. Every step Bart took, they watched. The king wanted the Speedo, and he was waiting for Bart to slip. Bart needed to leave. Princess Glacier had told him of a bear beyond the wilderness who could teach him to master the fading power. But he could not reach the ice while the guards boxed him in. If he ran, they would call it theft and drag him down. King Stormy came out to the gate himself, scepter in paw. "Going somewhere, ally?" He said the word like a joke. His guards tightened around Bart. "Leave the gold with me. Then walk free." Bart's heart slammed. He could not fight them all. The Speedo's strength was gone; his arms still shook from the throne room. He looked at the king's greedy stare and understood the truth. Stormy would never trust a bear who carried the thing he wanted most. As long as Bart stood inside these walls, the gold made him a target. So Bart chose. He would not give up the Speedo. He would take away the king's excuse to keep him. "You want it watched?" Bart said. He peeled off the golden briefs and held them high. Cold bit his bare hips. His round belly and bellybutton hung out for all to see. The guards stared. "Then watch it leave." He tossed the Speedo not to the king, but rolled it tight and shoved it deep in his own bag, in plain view. "I carry it past your gates now, King. Send your guards into the wilderness if you dare. None of them come back from that ice. But I will." Stormy's paw hovered over the gold. His guards did not move. They knew the wilderness. They had seen bears leave and never return. The king's greed twisted into calculation. He could not take the Speedo without sending men to their deaths, and he could not hold Bart without a reason. "Go, then," Stormy growled. He waved the spears down. "But that gold is still mine. When you come crawling back from the ice, I will be at this gate." The guards parted. Bart walked between them, half-naked and shivering, the Speedo tucked safe against his side. No paw stopped him. He passed under the frosted arch and out onto the open snow. Behind him, the gates of Glacier Keep groaned shut. Bart stood free at last, cold wind in his fur. But the king's words rang in his ears. Stormy would wait. And ahead lay the deadly wilderness Bart had to cross alone to find the bear who could tame the failing gold before it died at the wrong moment.