Emilia looked around at the incoming ships. Only a small fraction of the hundreds of boats that had left Histoman Bay floated into the Elkridge Harbor. The harbormaster permitted all the boats to dock in exchange for an exorbitant portage and cranage fee. Most of the passengers leaped from the vessels to kiss the dry earth and thank their respective God or Gods. The ships carrying gold and precious metals arrived along with a few other stragglers. The Wamhoff men found a watchman who agreed to talk to them for two pieces of silver.
The watchman, who was a thin man with scraggly black hair and a triangular, bristly patch under his lip, stuffed the coins into his belt pouch. He said, “From what I knows, The Man with the Golden Sword left ‘bout yesterday or two days ago now. They says he’s headed for either hell or the King’s Castle. He got everyone callin’ him King a Donegal, but The Man wears no crown. Far is I know, the only gold is on his sword. He left a few men to protect Elkridge, but not many. Sorry, but that’s ‘bout all I know ‘bout it.” The man slunk off with his hand covering the leather pouch of silver.
A few hours passed and the leaders decided that they needed to formulate a quick plan. The Histoman consoled each other over losing several thousand brethren to the seemingly starving Sea of Green. Emilia felt empathy but didn’t believe she was in any way responsible for their tragic losses.
They apotheosize Ali-Steven and do anything he says. He told them to get on the ships, not me.
“Alright, let’s take stock of the losses,” Ali-Steven hollered at the men.
Most of the men hustled off to count the inventory as the Wamhoffs and their top advisors huddled up to devise a strategy.
They had lost all the siege weapons and horses. Several thousand Histoman now permanently rested at the bottom of the briny deep along with two ships carrying combat weapons and armor. After the ships were almost completely unloaded, Ali-Steven yelled for everyone to hurry up.
“What’s the plan?” Emilia asked Ali-Samuel.
“We need to get completely unloaded and up that hill to Elkridge posthaste. If we should beat The Man with the Golden Sword to that stronghold, we could have them trapped between the Blue Caps and Elkridge. We know he will get word of our landing so we must act quickly. Gather your things.”
He rushed off and Emilia went to collect her meager belongings. She only had a few dresses and her castle cards. She thought about the extravagant gowns she had worn in the King’s Castle. Comparing them to these poorly made coverings again made her question her decision of going with Ali-Samuel as she plodded through the sand with only an armful of belongings and a fading memory of the life of luxury.
Her distant lover specialized in this type of warfare and his concentration would now be totally devoted to taking the crown. She assumed Pariah and Princess would be her closest companions until the fighting was over. After everyone collected their possessions, Ali-Samuel instructed the men to go down shore to the south. Two of the smaller boats were beached and the Histoman dragged them onto land and moved them up the hill. Some of the men shoved the massive structures up the steep hill while others pulled the ropes from above. Most of the Histoman carried heavy loads as well. The only men not to carry anything of substance were Ali-Samuel and his western cronies. They mostly lugged maps and documents even though they contained information about Lightview, not Waters Edge. They had to totally revise their strategy to get to the Capitol from here. Ali-Steven pushed everyone until evening, Emilia’s first sundown back in Donegal. She felt good to be back home, so to speak, but she would now be viewed as a usurper with a pack of uncivilized barbarians. Ali-Samuel’s poetic words that had made so much sense back in Histomanji now seemed so illogical. They weren’t going to be looked at as saviors like Ali-Samuel had described. She was now an enemy of the kingdom; a traitor with treasonous intentions. Emilia also realized Elkridge was many miles and an uncountable number of deaths away from their ultimate destination. They began to set up camp and her paramour disappeared again. Emilia went and sat at a fire with Princess and Pariah.
ELISA
A sharp knock on the thick wooden door surprised the queen in her chambers. She quickly straightened her dress and hair before looking through the spy slot on the brass fortified cedar door. She opened the heavy lock on the door and Sir Anderley Ellsworth greeted her, holding something behind his back. This piqued Elisa’s curiosity.
“I know you’ve told me several times about your missing sword from Burkeville so I came up with a gift for you,” Anderley told her. The knight produced a petite-looking sword and said, “My first gift to you.”
The queen asked, “First gift?”
“My second gift will be to provide you with an accomplished swordsman to practice with,” he said with a smile.
Elisa stared at the stunning object. Anderley had the sword exquisitely crafted down to every last detail, just as she had explained to him. Her father had forced her to leave the original sword in Burkeville when she moved to the Capitol. Aston Burke hadn’t even wanted her to have a sword in the first place; he said it wasn’t ladylike.
Brehan had gifted the original to her and the sword had become one of her most treasured items. After her family evacuated Castle Burke, she had given up hope of ever seeing the sword again. Here it is somehow, just the way I remember it.
The silver blade gleamed as the sun’s rays peeked through the window but the jewels encrusted on the hilt and pommel were what caught her eye. Crushed clusters of beryl, jasper, ruby and obsidian jostled with each other for supreme brilliance and gave the destructive killing device a softer, feminine touch. The black leather grip felt soft and molded to her fingers as Elisa took the sword from Anderley. She stared at the nearly perfect replica. “It’s light,” she remarked.
“Yes, indeed. So you can keep your stamina in extended battle,” he winked and continued, “I had the seamstresses work with the tailors to make you these ladylike breeches and soft leather overshirts that are much more suitable for fighting. I shall return shortly to take you to the practice yard.”
The queen got dressed and Anderley returned as promised to lead her to the yard. Despite some strange looks and noble gasps, everyone bowed, curtsied or took a knee as the queen passed.
They faced off with several people gathering to watch. The taller Elisa impressed the crowd as she went on the offensive and showed solid technique. Anderley easily blocked her attempts and she would never win against a trained swordsman, but the queen did flash a few skillful maneuvers. Sir Anderley let her keep swinging away but her skinny arms quickly became tired. She thought about practicing with Brehan and took a wild overhand strike. Her blade collided with her practice partner’s and she lost control of the sword. Anderley nearly suffered a heart attack as he watched his foolhardy queen try to catch the fluttering sword.
“NO,” he screamed. The blade stuck in the ground and tragedy was averted.
“Perhaps we should call it a day,” suggested Anderley.
“No. I promise I will hold onto my sword this time,” she pleaded.
Never one to turn down a queen’s request, the knight agreed. After a few minutes, more people had gathered and the queen’s entire body felt worn out from the unaccustomed physical activity. She took a few more lazy swings, and with feeling running out in her arms, the sword slipped from her hands again. She didn’t try to catch it this time but the rotating blade almost clipped the unprotected queen. She saw the look of fear on the knight’s face and realized the practice session was over. Elisa knew if Anderley put her in a situation where she could get injured, his father would probably disown him. Her muscles were already exhausted from the brief bout because she mostly sat around in meetings. Sir Anderley took her back to her tower apartments and the sweaty queen rested for a bit before calling for her hand maids to bathe the stink away.
A few hours later, the queen heard a heavy knock and checked the slot in the door to find the Grizzly Bear waiting outside. She opened the heavy steel barrier and her guard sai
d, “The Lady Victoriah would like your audience.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be right there,” she responded and went back inside for a moment. She put on a gold bracelet studded with pearls and a beautiful choker of square onyx beads, each one decorated with silver leafing of a bear’s face with tiny diamond eyes. It tied perfectly into the dark yet elegant look Queen Elisa and Lady Victoriah sported. She put three silver rings on each hand, slid on her thin black gloves and attached her matching veil. She grabbed her cape and had the Grizzly Bear secure it when she got back outside.
He followed the queen as usual and said, “So have you been over to see your little lover before I kill him?”
Elisa wanted to smack the smirk off the big man’s face but answered calmly, “He’s not my lover anymore, now that I am queen. I have a certain duty expected of me, unlike you who can do whatever you wish.”
“Yeah, this is a great time for me. I get to follow around a girl who busts my stones all the while, I love it. Look, if you are worried about me saying anything, I won’t, but you better go see him while you can. The only way you can save his life now is if you call off the fight,” he said as they walked down the wide stone hallway.
“You seem pretty confident for someone who was scared originally. Or do you want the fight to be called off to save your own hide?” she posed.
They walked outside to get to the citadel and the sun’s lustrous rays shone through her veil and blurred her vision. An early fall breeze caused her cape to stand at attention as they moved across the inner-bailey.
“I like to kill but this will be like fighting a half-man, hells, you’re taller than the kid,” the Grizzly Bear chuckled.
“Well, I’ve seen Brehan best men more than twice his height on many occasions so I am sure he isn’t worried about your size,” Elisa retorted.
“Here’s one thing I do know, one of us will be dead in less than a week and sure as shit comes out of men after you kill them, it won’t be me,” the hirsute guard said and then quickly turned around. The queen stopped, looked back and heard the Grizzly Bear say, “Why you following us closer than our fucking shadows?”
A wiry man with a thin mustache, who looked like a knight said, “I’m not following you. Don’t flatter yourself.”
“I don’t think you are following me. You’re trying to get a sniff of the queen’s arse. Well, it’s not going to happen so make yourself scarce before I get angry,” the Grizzly Bear said.
“Come now, Sir Bardo, I just want a few words with our queen. Do me a small courtesy today,” the knight pleaded.
“Don’t ever call me Sir Bardo again. You don’t even see that I am doing you a giant courtesy by not bashing in your fucking skull until your eyes pop out in front of all these lovely ladies. Now go piss up a river,” the Grizzly Bear said with spit flying out of his mouth.
“My queen,” the man said and bowed before cursing under his breath at the Grizzly Bear as he left.
Elisa realized that even though she had put his life in danger, the Grizzly Bear still protected her from everyone. The skinny knight may not have been a major threat to Elisa but her protector had made certain nothing came of the suspicious behavior.
“I’m sorry I put your life at risk with the duel. I’ve tried to talk to Lady Victoriah about changing the decision, but she said Lord Ichibod would never do something that comes across as weak. It’s not your fight,” Elisa said.
“I get paid to protect you. Pretty damn well, too, so you won’t find me bellyaching about a little fight. As your guard, I know your little lover would never hurt you but the way it stands, I have to kill him anyway. Only question is, will he even put a scratch on me?” the big man bragged, making Elisa angry.
“You may have been able to hector other men but as I’ve told you, Brehan will have none of that,” she answered.
Elisa and the Grizzly Bear argued most of the time but she preferred that to the assiduous pandering of her followers. She couldn’t wait to leave Lightview and the favor seekers behind. Lady Victoriah had been correct in her warnings. Elisa came to notice that whenever she was nice to someone, within a week’s time, they would ask her for help. In the process of trying to distance herself from the people she now considered leeches, Elisa Wamhoff was unknowingly becoming a colder woman. She had become extremely direct, seeming to absorb some of Victoriah’s personality and completely shed the shyness of her younger days.
Later that day, Elisa rode a black-spotted palfrey as she followed Lord Ichibod. She now understood why Lady Victoriah had brought her riding pants to wear today. The queen was extremely unnerved wondering about the surprise Lord Ellsworth had promised back at the castle. She knew he would be upset that she had promised the Prograggers freedom without consulting him. Elisa only hoped he wasn’t luring her to her death. The pair arrived at the mews. A large wooden structure housed the birds of prey owned by the lord. The long, rectangular building with a high slanted roof was painted black with golden apples in various places on the outside.
Elisa swung her leg over the saddle and jumped down from the stirrup before Ichibod could help her. She didn’t want to look vulnerable and had a sinking feeling he was going to feed her to the raptors. She nervously followed him through the main opening. The words ‘Ellsworth’s Nest’ were painted in white over the entrance. She walked into a vast open room with large perches on both sides of the interior. Ichibod signaled for the queen to follow as he walked around and pointed out the birds as he spoke, “Here we have our falcons. We have peregrine, black, rock and blue-eyed falcons. Over here are the hawks. Red-tailed, prince and silver-tipped hawks are the fastest and most easily trained. Then we have our eagles. The sea, black- and brown-beaked eagles. And last but certainly not to be forgotten, are the osprey. We train the osprey and the sea eagle to hunt for fish.”
They walked around the entire room and Elisa was impressed and more at ease now as she noticed a look on Ichibod’s face she had never seen before. The affectionate gaze he had for all his feathered friends as he described them told Elisa he loved the birds deeply. Elisa also noted the immaculate condition of the mews. She remembered sneaking into the mews in Burkeville with Brehan during the throes of passion and they were disgustingly dirty.
Her father had kept a few falcons and hawks only because it was expected of a duke. In reality, Aston Burke hated falconry and only maintained the charade to satisfy his false reputation as a sportsman.
She had counted nearly fifty birds when a soft voice carried through the open room, “My lord, my queen, this is quite unexpected. It’s my pleasure.” The older man gave each of his superiors a respectful bow.
Ichibod spoke, “This is our Master of the Mews, Ollie Rolbacher.”
“It’s great to meet you, master,” Elisa responded.
“Oh no, the honor is only mine, I must say. A queen doesn’t visit us every day,” he smiled.
It made her nervous again that the master hadn’t known they were coming. Ollie Rolbacher walked with a distinct limp and hunched over slightly, looking at the birds with narrowed eyes. He had wild hair that looked like curled silver strings hanging down to his shoulders and the coarse black whiskers speckled on his chubby, wrinkled cheeks were a few days removed from a clean shave. The Master of the Mews was a highly coveted position. The head of all the falconers was entitled to lands and prestige equal to a court member because falconry was considered a regal sport. The Master had seven Lord Falconers who worked under him to train the birds and ready them for the hunts. He also supervised thirty apprentices and five cadgers. Ollie was responsible for finding new birds to add to the nest.
Elisa was excited because her father would never have let her go hawking. “We would like to take a few birds out, down to Red Stag Pond. I want to introduce our queen to the sport,” Ichibod said.
“Of course, my lord. Are there any specific birds you would like?” Ollie asked.
“How about Spearhead and Goldeneye?” Ichibod asked. He named the birds. H
e really does love these animals.
“As you wish, my lord. I will cap them now and send them down to the pond. My queen. My lord,” Ollie bowed and went to get the birds ready.
They waited outside until a skinny teenaged boy known as the cadger emerged from the mews carrying a mobile perch. A leather harness hung over his shoulders, supporting a square wooden perch around his midsection. The cadger waddled down the hill and Ollie pulled a handcart full of falconry supplies. She met two other Lord Falconers who joined them, their names already forgotten by Elisa. The sharp sunlight coming from behind the stringy clouds caused Elisa to squint to see the quarry at the bottom of the hill. Her veil had always blocked the harsh sun but she hadn’t worn it today. She looked around while Ichibod pointed out some prospective prey for his pets.
Elisa innocuously asked, “So is it officially called falconing or hawking?”
“Now you’ve done it. We’ve had debates that raged for years over the proper name of the sport. To me it’s falconing because the sport is falconry,” Ichibod opined.
“Now, now, my lord. I must respectfully disagree. Those who created the sport called it hawking. The Wamhoffs only changed that name to falconry to feed their pomposity. They tried to ruin the sport because they had misnamed the Capitol Falconhurst,” claimed the Master of the Mews.
A spirited logomachy raged on with even the young cadger getting involved until Ichibod ended the matter and forbade the conversation to continue. The High Lord reached into the cart of supplies and pulled out a black gauntlet. He handed the leather glove to Elisa and she slid it up to her right shoulder. He tied a cord around her upper arm to secure the gauntlet.
The Master put on the other protective glove and Ichibod went up to the cadger. He untied a falcon from a swivel and brought her over to Elisa. She immediately felt the weight and power of the bird on her forearm and Ichibod helped support her for a moment before letting go.
Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3) Page 3