“No one is going into my house” Allen replied.
“We are already inside fool” Major Welch replied. “I don’t make bargains with…”
“We will not go into your home” Governor Willoughsby replied. “We will make due with having a place we can at least sleep in peace without fear of dying at any second.”
“How long have they been hunting you?” Allen asked. “You couldn’t have left town much later than I did, did the army even slow them down?”
“They had help” Governor Willoughsby replied. “Someone let their assassins inside, before we knew it our leaders were being killed off and the enemies were inside.”
“And you decided to come here?” Allen asked.
“My confidant told me all about you” Governor Willoughsby replied. “He made it clear he thought you were the least likeliest person to be in cahoots with the Gorgans”.
“As long as you stay out of my house then we might not have a problem” Allen replied. “I am going to see about my animals, make sure your men are not stupid enough to kill them, I would not take it lightly”.
Allen walked around towards the side of his home and saw his animals were still okay, a bunch of chickens, some hogs and three cows. The animals started coming towards him, they probably thought he had some feed. Allen wondered again if he did the right thing, Mary wouldn’t have liked it if he would have left the soldiers outside to get slaughtered. Allen turned to walk away and felt a little chill, the soldiers if they were smart would start putting up their tents especially since Allen was certain it would start snowing soon. As soon as Allen started walking back towards his house he felt the first drop, it was frozen rain. This stuff stuck to your clothes and chilled your whole body, Allen picked up the pace to get out of the rain when he noticed some of the soldiers started streaming into his home. Allen was enraged at this, his first thought was to hide Mary and the Rolls’ and just let the enemy inside. This would show the traitors taking his kindness for weakness was foolish. Then Allen remembered Mary, Allen stormed into his front door and saw Mary there as if she was waiting for him.
“Why are all of these people inside of our home” Allen said angrily.
“Because it is cold and freezing outside and we have more than enough room” Mary replied.
“They are the enemy!” Allen screamed.
“If they are the enemy then why are they inside of our walls?” Mary asked. “If I were really the queen, could I leave men outside to certain death?”
“They are eating our food!” Allen screamed.
“We have more than enough” Mary replied. “I have already talked to Governor Willoughsby and he promised between him and Major Welch that they would police their men.”
“We will police ourselves and I appreciate your hospitality” Governor Willoughsby said walking up from behind Allen. “This is a nice place you have here, I only wish I could have visited under different circumstances.”
Allen tensed up, something about the governor was off. Whenever Allen was around Mary it was like he could sense her a little, Allen thought it was because she had the blood of House Godfrey running through her veins. He could feel the same thing from the governor, it was very weak but it was there. Allen wondered why he never felt it when he talked to the governor outside. It could have been because he was a lot angrier but he was sure he felt it now.
“You are from House Godfrey” Allen said as he stared at the older man.
“Guilty” Governor Willoughsby replied. “I am the bastard child from a long dead prince. Which one I am not sure since my mother was a laundress in the palace.”
“How did you survive the purge?” Allen asked.
“Because I was a commoner” Willoughsby replied. “A bastard garners no attention, especially one born from a laundress. It was an open secret and my mother was fired from the job, the man she eventually married was a soldier who saved enough so I could pay for a commission. My hair is gray now but during my youth it was as light as Mary’s. I know enough about the royal family though to know you are no mere royal guard.”
“How do you know?” Allen asked.
“All royal guardsmen have to be of a certain height and weight” Governor Willoughsby replied. “You have the body of a man that knows how to fight but not even you can teach size. I think you are one of the Elementals, if you were a mere mage you would have probably walked around in those silly robes to show your station off. I do not see any reason why a man such as yourself would stay with a dying monarchy, unless you were unable to part from her.”
“Then you know that I am serious about my threats” Allen replied.
“I know you have given me a bit of hope when dealing with the Gorgans” Governor Willoughsby replied. “You technically do not have what mages use for magical energy, Elementals do not create the elements out of magic, they manipulate what is already there.”
“You know a lot more than you should” Allen replied as he narrowed his eyes.
“I should” Governor Willoughsby replied. “I was one of the people plotting for the downfall of the king. My son was a mage, he had the rare circumstance of being both a mage and having the blood of House Godfrey. It took me sometime but I figured out he was sacrificed to make one of your kind stronger.”
“You openly admit to plotting to kill the king?” Allen asked.
“My father was a monster Allen” Mary replied. “And at every instance I find out if things never happened the way they did then I would be a monster as well.”
“The royal family prevented war” Allen retorted. “Monsters or not, they never would have allowed for enemy troops to be on our soil waging war. There was no famine under the king and disease was taken care of.”
“Mr. Smith is telling the truth Mary” Governor Willoughsby replied. “He destroyed a few to help the whole. Mages were paid well but they were put to work like animals to help fix and maintain the kingdom. Merchants had to give over half of their food stocks to feed the hungry and healers had to ply their trade for free. When people started refusing to become healers or planters he started forcing people to take up those jobs and they were not paid well for them at all. The only people who were enjoying life were the nobles, their lives were carefree. I admit blind rage was probably behind undoing most of the status quo, in hindsight though I am not sure what could have been done differently. People rallied behind us because we promised them freedom, now though it is coming to bite us.”
“Because the army is weak” Allen replied. “Mages still help with the army but only during a time of war. Your volunteer army doesn’t have many soldiers, sure many are flocking to protect the kingdom now but they are untrained. What is even worse is that you are running scared from an army led by a king. Your people were safer under the old ways.”
“Any man not willing to give his life for freedom deserves neither” Governor Willoughsby replied. “While the Gorgans may be chasing me, their reason for doing so is not because I am the Governor, that is part of it but not the entire truth. They were eventually on their way here anyway, Mary and I share a trait that may be extinct in other parts of the kingdom.”
“They want to restore the monarchy” Allen replied.
“I think they do” Governor Willoughsby replied. “The great traitor they have in their midst is a man named Dalray Bingley, I am sure you are acquainted with him.”
“The sword master?” Allen replied. “He is nothing but a drunk.”
“He is a spy who has spent his time gathering information” Governor Willoughsby replied. “His true colors were found out by one of my men, I am just happy that you are too paranoid to have trusted the man or we might be overrun already.”
“His style was a little different from the others” Mary replied. “Allen I think I like Governor Willoughsby, I think he is the honorable type and if he had something nasty planned for us he would have just done it when he came into the walls.”
“He could have tried” Allen replied as he eyed t
he Governor. “But I still do not trust the men he came with him, or the mages.”
“I think the mages would find you fascinating” Governor Willoughsby replied. “They would probably see you as a lesser magic user at first, after all they could wield all of the elements and they do not have to rely on that element to be physically present. But I am sure you could do things they could only dream about, like your thorns out there. Given enough time a normal mage, especially one with a high affinity for earth magic could create something like it, even then it would not bend to their will the way the thorns do to yours. Then of course there is this place, if it had existed prior then it would be well known and all manner of vagrants might be living here. I think you created it out of the mountain and tried your best to make it as grand as any palace. Regardless what you think of each other, the time will come when you and the mages have to work together. The Gorgans are not going to be content waiting us out for longer than a month, their attacking your thorny vines will increase and we will have to defend ourselves.”
“He is right Allen” Mary replied. “We may need to get a war council together and go over the plans me and you had to defend this place when it was only two of us.”
“A war council?” Governor Willoughsby asked. “I am not trying to be rude but what would a girl know of such things?”
“Allen has kept me either training or studying ever since I can remember” Mary replied.
“I do not know the things a queen should know so I tried to cover everything” Allen said defensively.
“Well then we need a war council” Governor Willoughsby said. “If anything, we can reassign tasks according to strengths and come up with strategies to fight off the mage killers. I do not think we could win a force on force fight even if our numbers were even, a lot of weapons and armor had to be shed for us to have the speed we needed to stay ahead of the enemy.”
“We have our own armory” Mary replied. “I made almost every weapon inside of it myself in my off time.”
“My man Wilson told me you have an armory of some sort but there are two hundred of us” Governor Willoughsby replied. “Whatever you have I can make use of but I think we will still fall far short. You said you made some of these weapons?”
“She did” Allen said pulling out his sword. “And she made this one”.
“This is fine work” Governor Willoughsby replied taking the sword and looking it over. “I know I sound like a complete fool but I have never heard of a woman smith before.”
“Neither did my teacher” Mary replied. “Allen said I needed to know what it was like to get my hands dirty and if anything ever happened to him I would need to learn how to take care of myself.”
“Well this is fine work” Governor Willoughsby replied. “If you have a forge around here somewhere maybe I can find some scrap metal to melt down to make a few more weapons.”
“I have over two hundred swords in the armory” Mary replied. “I made some pikes and spears as well. I am still learning how to make a decent bow though, and my arrows are not the best either.”
“Two hundred swords?” Governor Willoughsby said surprised. “These skills you have, can you teach them? You say your bows are not up to standard but at least you can make one, maybe even teach what you know to make arrows. All of our people should be doing something to prepare for the eventual attack.”
“I can do that which is the reason we need the War Council” Mary replied.
“You would have made a fine queen judging on what I am seeing” Governor Willoughsby said. “Maybe things would have been different.”
“Only Allen is living in the past” Mary replied. “I would probably be a horrible person instead of the foolish girl Allen thinks I am.”
Allen said nothing as Willoughsby began calling out names and getting some of his people together, Allen assumed these were his most knowledgeable since he did not see any young men in the group. Mary only retrieved Phillip and motioned Allen to join her in what was supposed to be a dining room. A small while later Willoughsby came in along with Major Welch, all of the five mages, Wilson and two people Allen had never paid attention to.
“Why is the girl at the head of the table?” Major Welch replied.
“Because it is her home, you don’t like it then leave” Allen replied.
“I am quite comfortable in the seat I am in” Governor Willoughsby replied. “Now sit down, we have much to discuss. The first order of business should be introductions; I will save time by introducing all of you. Mary is our host, some of you may have heard her go by the name of Mary Smith. In reality, she is our former princess of House Godfrey and is the reason we are all inside of her home instead of out on the street.”
“We would have found our way inside of here eventually, even if force had to be used” Major Welch said grumpily.
“Well the gentlemen with the scowling face is her protector” Governor Willoughsby replied. “Mr. Smith is skilled at magic and had you pressed the issue Major Welch you might have found yourself killed. The other gentleman is Mr. Phillip Rolls, many of you may recognize him as being one of the bakers in the poorer part of town. He is here as a guest of Mary and will be treated with respect. Major Welch to my left is the highest ranking officer in the Republic’s troops we have with us. He bravely volunteered to accompany me in a virtual suicide mission knowing there was a good chance the enemy would follow. Will Wilson who you have met is the second in command of my personal guard, he is often called to speak on my behalf when I am otherwise employed. The other two gentlemen are Leftenants Warrior and Blaine, I am not sure of their background but they agreed to accompany Major Welch. The senior mage in the blue robes is Mage Tritus, he used to help with the crops and fishing for the kingdom, after we became a republic he taught at the tower for a few years before joining the war effort and coming to my aid. The three male mages with him are his students, they were caught up in my leaving and agreed to bolster the force. They are here because Mage Tritus believes every mage, student or not needs experience with tactics and how they could provide service. The young lady is Mage Davina Booker, she has been a battlemage for five years now and came highly recommended by Major Welch."
"It is nice to meet you all" Mary replied. "I think the first thing we should set are ground rules for this council. We need a scribe to write everything down, that way we will all remember what needs to be done in the order of importance and everyone will know our capabilities."
"This is right out of any leadership training" Leftenant Blaine replied.
"I have a few skills" Mary replied. "And you just volunteered to be our scribe. You can find paper and a quill inside that desk near the wall."
"You do not order my men around" Major Welch replied.
"Then you and your men can get out of her home" Allen replied.
"It is no problem" Leftenant Blaine replied as he gathered the materials.
"Well the first thing I think we should all know is that Mary has over two hundred swords and other weapons" Governor Willoughsby said. "She also has at least rudimentary knowledge of bow and arrow making."
"That solves one problem" Major Welch replied. "We still need to worry about food and cleanliness."
"Our stores have enough to feed a hundred people comfortably and the Rolls' can handle preparation" Mary began. "Meat may not last long but there will be plenty of vegetables afterwards, I think Allen should be able to keep up with demand but the food may get a little bland."
"Meat will last long because it will only be for officers, mages and the Governor" Major Welch replied.
"Meat is for Mary, the Governor and the Rolls, no one else" Allen said looking over at Welch. "Her life will not change because you are here, be happy you have food."
"Will you two stop going at each other" Mary said looking at Allen. "Major Welch is our guest and we will distribute the food equally to everyone regardless of station until it is gone. Governor Willoughsby, have we worked out an actual guard rotation instead
of just playing it by ear and do you have any suggestions on where the guard should be posted?"
"I think we should play to our strengths Mary" Governor Willoughsby replied. "When I was in the army I was more of a quartermaster, I dealt with logistics. Supplies is where I am most dangerous at, Major Welch is a cavalry officer but every cavalryman has a base in infantry tactics."
"I already have the guard posted and me and my men will work out a schedule" Major Welch replied. "I am not going to trust my safety to some silly girl and a coward."
"Major Welch what is your problem with me?" Mary asked. "I think I have been more than accommodating."
"You are a woman pretending to be more than what she is" Major Welch replied.
"Mage Davina is also a woman" Mary retorted.
"Mage Davina has some use" Major Welch replied. "You are the result of lazy people preying on the weak. The age of nobles is over, you don’t get to have a say about what happens during war. My men have been fighting this enemy for months while you sit here in safety. They have fought the fight, now they have to sit here and make nice with you because the Governor said so. These men could die tomorrow, they shouldn’t spend their last days not enjoying themselves because of a woman's feelings."
"Major Welch you will leave this room" Governor Willoughsby said as he stood up.
"This is pointless anyway" Major Welch replied. "I am the only one with any real experience and I have five mages at my disposal. Whatever little magic this silly girl's protector has at his disposal wont even be missed."
Allen watched Major Welch stand up and leave and wasn't surprised the Leftenants followed him. Major Welch would be a problem, maybe he wouldn't be today but he soon would be a problem that couldn't be ignored. Allen watched the Governor sit down then shot a glance at Mary, she returned the glance as Allen began to speak.
"He will eventually have to be dealt with" Allen replied. "The second I think he is a danger or poses a threat, your words will not be enough to save him."
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