Getting Allies
The funeral was over, and Kemi had followed her father into his room and had helped him to get back into his bed. He didn’t say much to her and hadn’t for a while. She understood he was angry with her but she somehow felt it was of less concern. She still spoke to him as everything was as usual and received short replies. Before she left, she told him she needed him to address the people and show a united front. She would need it so she could gather much needed soldiers to be ready for a fight. He turned away from her in his bed and asked only for one of his favourite servants. She walked out and asked to assemble the high officers and other security people and told them all to come the next day.
On the day Jay was called in, and Kemi wondered what happened with the cooperation with Queen Lisaro. Jay delivered the bad news and Kemi was very disappointed so she asked her officers what their options were. They all came up with suggestions but a lot of them had already been tried and they were running low on allies. Jay spoke about Nami, and how she said she was going to help convince the queen of Domoro. Kemi hoped she might be able to be successful in changing Lisaro’s mind but knew she was quite stubborn. One of the officers suggested that they should ask the forest people for help since they had knowledge about the earth stone. Kemi had already spoken with Hun, and he had previously been reluctant to share the information with her. She hoped that he would change his mind and reveal the earth stone’s secrets since they were saved by the kingdom. She didn’t want to push the forest people too much since they had been hiding away from the world for so long. Perhaps, they might offer help then when it had been some time and told the soldiers to call in their leader, Hun, to the war room.
Hun again made it clear to her that his people did not want to be part of any more fights that could endanger his people. He did say he knew he had little choice now that the Darcolian king knew about the earth stone being with them. Hun said the magic stone was once brought from the Redonian kingdom a long time ago but did not know more. Kemi ensured him that if the Darcolian king came in the land, the forest people would have their lives destroyed as well. He said he would help and would share the secrets with the kingdom about the weapons they were able to construct but his people would never reveal how to use the earth stone. Kemi accepted the offer and even if she would have loved to be able to use the magic stone in an attack, she felt Hun would rather die than share.
The time passed, and when it had been a week since the attack on Heiwan village, Kemi had sent a lot of letters out to the different kingdoms and private owned lands. She had with her the man who had been supporting her all this time and Jay thanked him and he hoped would become the husband to Kemi. It was Chalse and had once more come back to her from Ocenia. Kemi asked him if his family would support her, but Chalse’s family had always been working for peace and they would certainly not. Chalse was the oldest of two other sons and three daughters. His mother was older than King Tambo who was her brother. He would have been the prince, but his mother would not have anything to do with the throne and gave it to her younger brother as soon as she could. He told her he would offer some of his money but Kemi told him no thanks.
Jay could see Arobe had struck fear in everybody and many lands had no interest in fighting him as he might attack them. He knew Arobe was for the moment staying in Darcolia so he had not made any movement. Kemi said they were cowards and felt then like she was alone. She talked to the advisors about what to do but they all had the same answer to try getting the other kingdoms to understand the situation and join in. Chalse was staying at the castle in one of the guest rooms but had spent some nights with Kemi on occasion. He then wrote a letter to his uncle to see where he stood but had a feeling the answer would be the same.
Kemi was, meanwhile, leaving the castle with a couple of high commanders and 200 soldiers. They left for the towns and villages to recruit soldiers for the future battle, but Kemi herself would stay close to the castle in a fort that had been built inside the mountain. There was a man she was seeking advice from who was an old soldier that had retired from the castle and then lived in a fort together with some other older soldiers. They wished to continue their services to the kingdom by making some of the equipment for the soldiers.
The man she was after was called Breva and was a close high commander to the king before he left. The king always asked him rather than the advisors because he always gave better advice. He sat on a chair when Kemi entered with a couple of soldiers. She walked up to him and looked at the old man sitting on a half broken chair. He was 89 and sat silently looking at her while she asked him if he would aid her in some advice. He looked at her and the five other soldiers she had brought then spit on the ground next to him. One of the soldiers told him to stand and salute the ruler of the land but the man stayed quiet. Another soldier told Kemi the old man was not the one he used to be and was now a tired grumpy fool.
Kemi said again that she would really appreciate some cooperation from him in some trouble she had. Breva spoke and said he worked for the king who listened to him, but she had now removed him from the throne. She nodded and said her father could no longer rule and spent his time in the gardens being cared for by the servants. He spit again and said he didn’t work for young girls who were traitors to the crown. One of the soldiers drew his sword and told him he could die for telling such lies. Breva looked at the soldier who had drawn his sword and stood up. He was surprisingly well-built for his age and looked straight in the eyes of the soldier. He held a small wooden stick that he used to measure the distance between some holes that needed to be cut in leather. He said again that he had better things to do than playing with a second class rat and pointed to the soldier.
The soldier walked up and pointed the sword at him, but Breva struck it with the wooden stick before he could say anything. Kemi was watching on and wondering if the old man had any of his skills left from his glory days. She found out just how much he remembered when the soldier tried to strike him with the base of the sword and got the stick across the face. He screamed in pain and then struck with the sharp end towards him, but the old man avoided it and struck again with the stick but this time over the legs so the soldier fell down. He tried to stand up again, but Breva stepped on the sword then put his stick on the soldier’s throat and shook his head to not make a move.
Kemi gestured to have two more soldiers to test his skills. He turned towards them and told them to come at him if they dared. They spread to each side and attacked at once from the two sides. Breva moved fast for someone that old and struck one of the men over the mouth with his fist. The other soldier got an elbow in on the side, and Breva felt it but tripped the soldier with a quick move and then hit him over the face with the stick. Before he could strike the other one, he got more company. The last soldiers came up and tackled him down. He got out by manoeuvring himself in position and then gave a punch to one of the soldiers. He got up but was again attacked by getting a kick from another soldier and was then pinned down to the ground. He tried to get loose but three of the soldiers had him in tight lock.
Kemi came up and said he was moving fast for his age and must be still training. He started to laugh and told her in his days they were stronger than the soldiers of today and knew more tricks. One of the soldiers lost his grip when Breva removed part of his gear and got a hand free. He struck the other soldier and then the three soldiers trying to hold him struggled to keep him still. He pushed them off and was free for a brief moment but Kemi was tired of the fight and ordered the men to stand back. She walked up to him and told him regardless of what he thought of her, he still needed to perform his duty if he wished to stay in the fort with the other retired soldiers.
Breva looked at her and said he would comply then sat down on his chair. He asked what she wanted from him, and she told him she needed money to fund the war and no one was rushing to aid her amongst the different kingdoms. Breva asked her what allies she did have and what her plan was. They talked alone while
the soldiers were taking care of their bruises. From outside, they could not hear what was said but could see Kemi was first sitting still and listened to the man then shook her head towards him. She pointed to him and banged her fist on her chair as she must be upset. She listened again and then stood up and walked around the room. She looked out another window and soon lowered her head then turned around to walk back to the chair. She put her head into her hands for a minute and then nodded towards him.
Not knowing what had been said, the soldiers saw them stand up and shake hands. She left and told the soldiers who were with her to get the horses ready to ride back to the castle. One of the soldiers asked her what happened but Kemi said to her guards to assemble ten soldiers and get ready to ride out immediately. They reached the castle, and soon, the ten men stood ready for departure. She told them they were heading towards the land of Darcolia to create some chaos for some of the villages there. The advisors did not recommend her to do so, but she ordered the ten men onto the horses without listening to their advice. They would be headed towards a hidden village close to the border and would be dressed as bandits.
The village was one of several and wouldn’t have many guards since they didn’t want to create interest about it. The reason she said this was that the village was a front for a stash of gold that would aid the kingdom in the future war. She turned to Jay who had been brought to lead the operation and he didn’t like the clothes as it reminded him of the trouble he had with the bandits before but an order was an order, he thought. They left and headed towards Darcolia taking a path less used by traders. It would take days to reach the village by going this way, but it would help them to get there without raising questions. They must keep their appearance up to be bandits but did not attract attention to themselves so they took more isolated roads to avoid the soldiers in the Grasoll land. Bandits were not as many as before but they were still around so when they came across a couple of wagons headed to a town in the Grasoll land, they could be seen picking up speed and taking a route more inland to avoid confrontation.
Chalse had spent much of the time in the garden of the castle since he loved the flowers and knew every flower in the kingdom by heart. He had also, at times, been with the king to try and ease some of the tension between him and his daughter. Kemi then summoned him to attend a meeting that he gladly joined in. It was between a couple of large land owners that had their own smaller castles, and they all talked about supplying products for the possible war. There were some strong opinions in the room against going to war and Kemi felt there was little loyalty for her amongst the people in the land. Some of them wondered why the king had not been allowed to join in, and Kemi felt the frustration growing.
The meeting was postponed for two days to let the last people arrive but already there was a negative feeling coming from the meeting. She and Chalse walked together and she told him how frustrated she was with them. He comforted her and when they walked in the night, they came to the garden. He gave her a flower and told her how she was similar to it with it being alone but strong and grew over the other flowers to spread its message that it was the best flower. She smiled and told him he would be her comfort in the struggle ahead and together, they would find a solution. They spent another night together, and Kemi could see the sun rise in the distance. She wondered if the attack on the village would succeed.
Further away from the kingdom were the men she sent on their mission. Jay and the others were still riding, and they only stopped for a couple of hours to rest and had the morning sun coming over them. They rode until midday when they finally had to rest the horses again and some of the soldiers took a nap next to the river they had stopped at. Three hours passed and when food had been eaten and they were about to leave, something in the distance appeared and they could see another ten men on horses were watching them. Jay told the men to be ready to leave fast but the other men rode off. Jay could not see who they were but decided they should leave right away.
They rode in the direction of the other men since the village was in that direction but Jay looked at the map and moved the men off towards a road leading them a couple of hours off course but away from the other men. It would take them another day of riding to reach the village so they made haste.
Back at the castle, Kemi spent the day with Chalse, and they both took in the sunny day by walking around the city that surrounded the castle and had several guards with them. Everywhere they went, the people seemed happy to see the beautiful couple and saluted them. They entered Gon’s old restaurant that had had another floor added to it to accommodate for the numbers wanting to eat the nice food. It looked very different from before but some of the people that were working under Gon were still there. The owner who had brought the restaurant to its current state greeted them and offered the best table for them.
Even if Kemi didn’t feel she had anything to worry about, she would never be unprotected. Soldiers constantly kept a close eye on her and were never far away. The couple sat for a while talking, and later in the evening headed towards a small festival in the city. In the festival, they ate more and danced to the people’s joy. The happy couple returned to the castle where Kemi had to depart to the war room, and Chalse headed to his room, but they agreed to meet in the garden later that night to watch the moon since it would become full that night.
A few hours later and Kane had been given the night watch to walk around on the wall. He looked over the city that was as alive as during the day in some places. He wondered what would happen in the land but knew he had to make sure he was joining in on the action. Ever since he joined, he had not had much fighting and mostly guarded the castle. He wished he could have been put on more exciting missions but was also happy to walk the wall around the castle. The moon was high on the sky and it looked incredible as it lights up the land below.
The peaceful night suddenly got broken when a scream was heard in the night. Kane ran towards the scream and it was coming from the garden. He ran downstairs and entered the garden together with some other people who had heard the screams. There was a gruesome scene in front of them with Kemi screaming and crying over a body lying on the ground. The body belonged to Chalse and he had a knife in his chest. Kemi was asking him to please wake up and grabbed his shirt and kissed his forehead. The kingdom suddenly got awoken by the loud horns that were sounded from the castle and soldiers were ordered to arrest anyone looking suspicious. They searched around the castle while Kemi was brought back to her chamber. She was inconsolable and called Chalse’s name. She was guarded by the strongest soldiers and many maids tended to her needs and tried to calm her down.
The soldiers searched through the garden for clues but none was found. Chalse was brought down to the basement where the knife was removed and examined. The man conducting the examination spotted a sign on the knife that was known to him and he turned to one of the soldiers and told him to bring down a high officer from upstairs. The officer was given the information and the knife to bring up to the war room. A meeting between the highest commanders and advisors was quickly formed, and the officer was revealing the information. He held up the knife and showed everyone the sign on the knife handle. It was the sign of Arobe’s kingdom and everyone then knew who the culprit was.
An advisor was brought up to the room where Kemi then had found comfort in her father’s arms. The king liked Chalse and was very angry someone was able to sneak into his castle to kill him. He coughed deeply but held his daughter who was crying. The advisor told Kemi who became furious and said they must find the one that did this to Chalse and bring them to justice.
Jay was, in the meantime, reaching the outskirts of the land and he could see the marks of Darcolia become visible in the distance. They must be careful since Arobe also tended to make anyone looking like a bandit regret coming into his land. They rode for six hours straight until a sign that told them they were then inside Darcolia and stopped for a moment to yet again rest the horses and themselves. There was
small patch of forest, so they entered it to await the sun to be high in the sky, and then found the village by leaving two by two to search it out. The village was not marked properly and they could not see it anywhere. They would meet back before dawn and regroup for the village. Jay and another soldier took off towards a direction that lead to a stony part and they found only an old ruin and had to search further. They had no luck and had to make sure they stay away from anyone that might spot them.
The search was fruitless, and they returned back towards the others and hope that others might had gained the village position. The evening was near when they returned. Others had already returned and there was good news for the village had been found. Then only two soldiers were remaining and they waited for the two for two more hours until they were sighted but there was also something coming behind them and the others drew their swords when they saw the two men were followed by four Darcolia soldiers.
The soldiers stopped when they saw the eight others waiting and were not foolish to take on as many by themselves. They retreated before a single strike had been blown and Jay asked the men what happened. They said they came across them as they were heading back and feared they might jeopardise the mission if captured. Jay told them that the time was short, and they must leave immediately towards the village. When the darkness was all around them, they came to the village. It was full of lights, and they had to be cautious as they got closer. The horses were left behind some rocks and tied to them. The men sneaked closer and soon stood at the edge of the village. They looked around but no one was showing their faces. They spread out and searched the village from the shadows. There were some guards walking around, but almost all the houses were empty except for a few that had some people sleeping in them.
World of Taroo Page 30