Melinda’s crew begun to tether her quickly to the dock and were helped by the locals who had rushed out with eagerness hoping this White Flag ship held as much free coin as the last ones that had docked. It was the first time William had seen Neeskmouth in many years and it still looked a beautiful sight to him even with damage from the riots. The narrow roads at the docks had started to be cleaned up under the White Flags leadership and William could tell by the singing coming from the local taverns that his gold was rapidly falling into the gutter. He walked down past the damaged dockyard. Listening to the gentle rattle of ship masts, it was oddly peaceful the calm after a storm. Within a few minutes of brisk walking the docks gave way to the lower town and the white and black taller town houses that people called home. As William crossed one of the many little bridges he spared time to toss a small stick over the edge and watch as it sailed under. It never did come out the other side getting caught on debris from the night’s storm but it was a game William had always enjoyed so he had been reluctant to leave the trapped stick but other than climb under the bridge to free it he had little choice. William continued on taking his time and surveying the temperament of the city. That was until he was met at celebration square by two guards from the castle who actually seemed like they might be loyal to Harvey. The rest of the town had been cursing Harvey’s name very loudly and openly. William could tell that it would not have taken much to set off the powder keg that his gold had cooled for now.
“ You the White Flag leader we’ve been expecting?” The one William presumed to be in charge asked. He had the taller and pointier hat that had less rust on than his counterpart and his beard was bushier.
“ I am Captain Boatswain if that is who you mean.” William said purposefully antagonizing the soldiers. After the short and awkward exchange of pleasantries that followed William was escorted into the castle. They passed by the crowd which even at this early hour was still outside the worn walls, muttering and complaining about the lack of guards. William hadn’t really noticed it until he passed through the crowds. The streets were empty of support for the king apart from the two guards. Not just early morning empty but you could tell people didn’t want to be outside. It was like the White Isle when an unregistered ship came close and people knew there was going to be a fight. Williams’ thoughts of awe at Neeskmouth faded quickly as he entered the castle and could see the extent of the damage that had been carried out on the inside since the fall of the Dragons. William had never been allowed into the castle in his few visits to Neeskmouth - for obvious reasons - but he had seen paintings done from when the Dragons owned the country. The castle would have once been full of jewels and statues. Now it looked bare and empty. It looked like a massive wine cellar without any shelves or bottles. At least that is how William would have described it if anyone had asked his opinion on it. William was even less impressed by Harvey. His unkempt beard looked like a badger had run at him too hard and stuck. The king was a glutton in Williams’ eyes and his fat stomach was a sign of the self indulgence that he planned to change. It is true that William indulged himself, but he offered his people no less. If the coffers were bare William would have been the first to break bread with beggars’. Unlike it seemed King Harvey who had sold the kingdom from under himself to feed his belly. His people lay starving in the streets only supported by Williams’ ill gotten gold while Harvey still refused to leave his castle.
“ Thank you for coming Sire Boatswain.” King Harvey said as he stepped away from the sheet he had laid over the map of Neeska. The little blanket poked up in places that hid the wooden and stone figures beneath it. Harvey was aware that all the while this war was happening and he had his unwelcome but necessary guest, William would be making moves on his throne and Harvey had planned to keep as many cards close to his chest as he could. King Harvey wanted to shackle the pirate standing in front of him and throw him into the castle dungeon but that would not save the kingdom. He would have to plan a way to do that the moment the last Pole ran for the hills.
“ I am no royal, so no sire is necessary, Captain if you want to use any title, or William if you don’t. Besides I could not turn down a chance to meet the king of this lovely city now could I, so there is no need for flatteries?” William said in his playful tones that had often gotten him in trouble. William was a suave man and knew it and his voice echoed with young confidence. It was the confidence of a man who had slept with the wives of some of the most dangerous men in the North of Neeska and shook the husbands by the hand with a smile the very next day.
“ I do not try to flatter you William, I would not have asked you here if it was not important. So please if you will, less of the tiresome games we have much to discuss.” King Harvey said trying to keep things as civil as he could but already feeling the air growing thick with tension. He did not want the pirate ‘king’ here at all.
“ Most of the best things in life are tiring your majesty, at least the ones that put a swagger in your step eh.” William said strutting towards the table with his wet clothes dripping onto the floor. He could have changed on the ship after the storm but where would the fun have been in that. It was more enjoyable to see Harvey’s face when he saw him.
“I have little idea of what you mean ” Harvey said feeling a little flustered. This was not how people normally spoke to him. He knew exactly what William had meant and he would not stand for such depravity inside his keep. Harvey had not met William in person before but he could already tell that the pirate would say anything just to get a rise out of him. “Now, please we do not have time to waste with getting petty one up on the other.” Harvey said letting William know he was aware what he was playing at and that he was above such childish games. “You’re soaked from the storm last night. Can I get one of the servants’ to get you a change of clothes?” Harvey asked just wanting to bring some sense of normality to an otherwise rather strange meeting. Harvey was used to meeting nobles who were either scared of him or those that were not scared, which were rare, could barely breathe as they wheezed their way in and collapsed on a chair almost shattering it with the weight they carried from their wealthy manor lifestyles. Harvey always had the upper hand. The nobles of the city were all in his pocket in one way or another but William was not like that. He did not stutter with nerves and showed little regard for King Harvey or his proper place in the social standing.
“I am quite happy with my finery thank you. Your servants can keep their clothes. I very much doubt you have anything in your wardrobe that would be of the same standard.” William said trying to find another button to press but it had not got the rise he had hoped. It seemed Harvey was not quite as easily rattled as he had heard but William would not be so easily defeated. “Why are you so keen to get me out of my robe anyway your majesty are your tastes so outlandish? I’d heard that about you, but you’re not quite my type. Not ‘bosomy’ enough I’m afraid.” William said making hand gestures that were not describing the coconuts they might have been. The noise that escaped from King Harvey could not really be described as words. It was a kind of puff, puff, followed by a squeak. “Relax yourself, I jest. I am quite fine thank you. I’m quite enjoying the feel of sand in my under regions. It lets you know you’re alive when you very well might have a crab or two up your sleeve.” William said as he playfully rung out his jade colored top and the water oozed out dripping to the floor in a flurry. Harvey did not bother commenting. He could feel he had lost track of the conversation. He had been prepared for William to come in blazing threats and demanding this and that. The joker of a man prancing about was not what Harvey had prepared for. If he had wanted a jester he would have asked for one. He had wanted a man who could save the city. It was a mystery to Harvey how this man who seemed intent of buffoonery could command such a formidable pirate force. “What’s under the sheet?” William said trying to lift the corner and half expecting the king to slap his hand away but it never came, William was kind of disappointed. He’d lied about the sand. Wel
l that he was enjoying it. It did feel like he had half the White Shore in between his cheeks but he could see just how uncomfortable it was making Harvey. William smiled to himself. He was actually enjoying toying with the stuffy and prudish Harvey all he had to do was find a way to make it worse. With that William whipped the sheet back knocking over a few stone and wood figures and let it drop to the floor in a tangled mess. That seemed to work.
“Be careful with that it’s a relic of the days of the blight. I use it to plan the cities defenses.” Harvey said automatically rushing to the table to pick up the pieces and putting them back in their correct location. His red cheeks seemed to almost shine as his blood pressure sky rocketed.
“ What defenses?” William said with a smirk. He had seen how empty the streets were. The city could not have defended itself from an incursion of rats let alone anything bigger.
“ Indeed, such as they are at the moment.” Harvey said the words like poison to him. Harvey had started to wonder if this was the right thing to do. Could this cocky man actually save Neeskmouth or was he just wasting valuable time. “ That is why I had to ask you to come. You understand the importance of Briers Hill falling?” Harvey said giving William one more chance to actually lead somewhere of use before he called for the guards to have him tossed in the stockades.
“That is some relic that table. I could do with one of them myself.” William said ignoring Harvey’s final question for the moment. “It would need to be better painted of course and maybe with some little wooden trees and animals. Oh the fun I could have in the wee hours. ” William joked trying to find even more buttons to push but gave up when no response came from Harvey. With a sigh of boredom he continued. “I understand that it means the Poles will be joining our little get together soon.” Harvey nodded unable to actually say the words aloud. It had taken a lot for him to admit he needed the help of anyone and it had hurt him to realize that he had no ally to call on. The only person he could rely on was the leader of the White Flags, a man that had made Harvey’s life more than difficult for years. “Not much time now then. Say, my scouts reported all your ships heading west of my island a few days back.” William said as he pushed his thumb down on the miniature White Isle. “That, I’m guessing means you have enough knights to maybe stop me killing you right here.” William said shooting Harvey a stare. It was met with the desired reaction of Harvey abruptly stepping back and scrabbling around the table for something to defend himself with. William had to stifle a laugh at the sight of the fat ginger man holding what looked like a little quill. “Calm yourself your majesty. It’s a shame I left my sword on the ship or we could have tested how good that would be. Just encase you understand.” William laughed alone again. “Oh come on Harvey, relax a little will you. You could hold the city from the farmers and fishwives but something tells me when the Poles get here you’ll be hanging from your sack by lunch time so you may as well have a little fun.” William said picking up the figure over Neeskmouth of the board and turning it upside down with a smile.
“Unlike you I do not have time for fun and games. I have to do what is best for my people and as much as I do not approve of the way you said it. That is about it. I do not know for how long we can hold out.” Harvey said putting down the little feather and realizing his foolishness but it was not a shock that William was bold enough to threaten Harvey in his own throne room. He’d almost expected it but it still took him a back a little. William looked toned and he was probably a dab hand with a sword whereas Harvey couldn’t remember the last time he even had to hold one himself. Other people had always done the killing for him. He had picked up a quill and signed a sheet of paper and within days someone was removed from his way. Harvey suddenly felt very alone and unsafe to break the silence that had become deafening Harvey continued to explain his plans. He told William everything, about Darcy, the Dragon heart, and the reason he had sent his fleet to the west. He’d wanted to keep as many secrets as he could but time was growing shorter and he had the overwhelming urge he was going to end up dead no matter how things played out. After a little thought and some more awkward silence that William could see was driving Harvey insane, William reluctantly broke the hush, mainly out of necessity.
“ Well, you seem to be in a right pickle then and not the nice crunchy kind. I’ll help your little problem.” William said placing his hand back on the miniature map and pulling across a tiny boat from the White Isle. “I can have the rest of my fleet here by nightfall and let’s be honest my men are better trained than yours anyway otherwise you’d have killed me years ago but we need to make it worthwhile for the men or they wouldn’t come.” William said and he was being honest for once. He might have been the so called pirate king but they were still pirates. They did not follow his orders blindly. In fact they rarely followed William’s orders at all unless he could back them up with gold or title.
“ What is it you, I mean they, want?” Harvey asked expecting William to come back with ‘the crown’ as his answer or a ludicrous amount of gold that he knew the city did not have.
“ I grow tired of the rivalry between the city and my people. Open trade between us freely and stop all this treason business for the shipping taxes and maybe some of the gold might even start flowing back into the coffers. I do a service for the city and we get the rights for that. Only fair don’t you agree. Of course you do. So do I have your word then or shall I set sail before this city is razed to the ground, I did leave three very voluptuous and very loose women in my bed back at home.” William said well aware that the king could not really say no and that would make things far more attractive for his men. It would basically mean that there was no need for the act of piracy at sea, aside for the fun of it, and they would be able to get far fresher food from the farmlands around Neeska to flood the taverns with. Things were at a stage that no matter what William had asked Harvey would have probably had to say yes. William had thought about demanding the crown but there would be no fun in just being given it. So for now making Harvey ease up pressure on the people and his crew would be enough.
“I have no choice .” Harvey gave in. It had become demanding following up on the ships that had been paying the tax anyway and the nobles were almost ready to turn against him and join the rebellion so it maybe his saving grace to easing up on this one law, for now anyway.
William wasted no time in starting to prepare a defense, time was of the essence and it was a majority he didn’t have much of. He rigged the city into a weapon in itself, using the structures of the city to make the most of his fleet that had set sail already. The small stone arched alleyways in the noble district were blocked off with upturned carts and barrels of gun powder. Fruit crates, wagon wheels and even furniture from the nobles’ homes added to the blockage. It bottle necked the city making it all but impossible to enter straight into the southern parts of the city. The castle walls and steep hills made it an unattractive route for the enemy. Even for the strongest of men it would take minutes to clear the clogged alleys giving the militia time to ignite the gunpowder. If the Poles tried pressing in from the south they would be filtered down into a single line of smoldering corpses so it left them one option, circling the city and coming in from the coast or the mid rift of the city. They wouldn’t come in from the middle for fear of being flanked at both sides so it was a fair guess they would come in from the open but maze like dockyards and port. That was where stage two of Williams plan came into place. With the noble district blocked all the way from the castle to celebration square, only the ever shifting maze of the wooden homes of the dockyard streets remained. The dockyard was filled with archers by nightfall and the maze of roads blocked at strategic points made navigating them a nightmare. The alleyways pointed people in circles and through trap rigged houses and hovels. Roofs were rigged to fall, archers aim trained at gunpowder barrels. As the Poles pressed through the alleyways’ they would be being picked off by the White Flag archers. Those that made it through the circled alleyway
s and into the houses should set the traps off and thin their numbers even more. Many people might lose their houses but the explosions would block the cluttered roads even further so the only option became clearing the path of debris. That with the smoke and collapsed buildings would just add to the confusion and hopefully some of the Poles might even pick their own men off in the panic. This would give the White Flag archers even more time to snipe them one by one. The plan was to weaken the Pole’s numbers enough that by time they retreated or made a move at the castle and where the main bulk of the citizen army was hiding they had a less than fair chance. That plan relied heavily on the fact the Poles wouldn’t want to risk a direct assault on the keep and William hoped they didn’t know just how weak the walls were or his men would be stationed at the wrong part of the city. Williams’ most heavily armed ships had arrived in the early evening just as the sun was setting and they now waited just off the coast ready to bombard the shoreline. The cannon fire would pick off a few more Poles as they circled the city before they even entered the deathly maze. The effect was a rather lethal bottleneck with the prize clearly visible but all but impossible to reach even with a thousand men. All William and Harvey could do was hope that the blatant blockades and stone walled buildings and cleverly placed guards made the southern road look too fortified so the Poles actually took the bait of pressing through the city first. As night drew later on the eleventh William wondered if all the preparations’ would be ready before the Poles arrived. Even marching slowly and camping often as Harvey said they would not be more than a day or so away.
Dragons Blight (Valadfar Book 1) Page 13