«King's Successor» by Wayne Mansfield

Two decades after first being brought to the royal court, Pan's romance with King Seronisis has not cooled. Pan, approaching his fortieth year, casts his mind back to his childhood spent on the family farm, working in the fields all day, and to the few hours a week he had to himself whereby he would disappear into the Great Forest to wander and daydream.The king has been doing some reflecting, too. He has become increasingly aware that, with the passage of time, he is one day soon going to be too old to manage the affairs of the kingdom and all the associated pressure and stresses. More importantly, he has realized he would like to spend more time with Pan. To that end, he plans an extravagant holiday for them, but before they can depart, he needs to find a successor.Since the king has no children of his own, there are only two other candidates — Athor and Nenim, the king's cousins from across the sea. Both brothers are handsome and physically fit. Athor is outgoing and obviously keen to obtain the post of monarch. Nenim is more reserved, hard to read, and seemingly not quite as enthusiastic as his brother.King Seronisis devises a series of tasks he asks the brothers to complete so he can assess their ability to take the throne. He watches each carefully to see how well they perform the tasks. He listens to what they have to say, examining their words carefully. Every minute the brothers are at the royal palace, they are being assessed.But when one brother oversteps the mark, it is the king himself who is tested. One foolish act has the power to destroy all that Pan and King Seronisis have built over the years. With this final tale, anything could happen.