The next several days went by without anything particularly noteworthy. Robert, Henry, Grace and John spent a lot of time getting adjusted to their new home.
Robert spent a lot of time with his mother Vivian, catching up on the lost time. They tried to get to know each other as much as possible. When they weren’t being interrupted by King Carlyle and Queen Benevois, who were also eager to spend time with their grandson.
Henry spent a lot of time with Alicia, Amanda, and Marcia. He was often seen walking up and down the castle halls talking to one of them, but it would usually be a different one each day. John found the whole thing amusing, but Grace was fuming.
“He’s got to be careful,” Grace said to John one afternoon. “This isn’t our castle. We’re guests here. He can’t behave like he did back home. If he creates a quarrel among those girls, we’re going to find ourselves unwelcome here. And I don’t know where else in this forest we can go.”
Grace, meanwhile, was getting daily visits from Thomas. Grace was polite to Thomas, but usually came up with some kind of a reason why she couldn’t go on a walk with him. Grace also seemed upset that Robert never came by to visit, but Robert was so overwhelmed with being reunited with his family that all of his time was spent becoming acquainted with them.
John got Thomas to show him the library, just as Thomas had promised he would. And then John spent all of his time immersed in the books, trying to learn all the history of the forest. He frequently came back to Grace wanting to talk about the ancient Goblin wars in the forest that he had learned about, or the Elf kings he had learned about. But Grace had only a limited patience to listen to John talk about his books. John tried to talk to Thomas, who had introduced him to the library. Thomas was very polite, and listened to everything John wanted to say, but he had very little to contribute when talking about the books himself. But John eventually did find a conversation partner in one of the adults. It turns out that Jason, Helen’s husband, was also a voracious reader of histories, and although he was about twice the age of John, they soon found that they enjoyed talking together and discussing the books in the library.
Then one night, they got the news that Robert, Henry, Grace and John had been expecting. An army was approaching.
The news was carried by the trees. They passed it down the tree network--one tree would report it to the next tree. The lookout trees reported it first. Talon was in close communication with the trees in the castle. (Because of the way the castle was built, several large trees were incorporated into parts of the wall.)
The army, they heard, was tired and worn. They were running short on supplies. And they had had to do some fighting to make it through the Elf territory. But they were still large.
As soon as Talon reported it to King Carlyle, King Carlyle called for his armor to be brought to him. The adult men of the royal family, Rufus, George, Jason and Charles, all prepared for battle.
Henry insisted on joining them, and King Carlyle accepted. Grace, when she realized that Henry was going, insisted that she join as well. King Carlyle was a bit hesitant about this, because Grace was a couple years younger. The normal rule at the castle was that you must wait until you were 18 to assume the responsibilities of battle. But since these were guests, and since King Carlyle had already made an exception for Henry, he accepted Grace as well.
Robert, when he heard that Grace was preparing for battle, asked to be able to go as well. His mother, Vivian, when she heard about this tried to forbid it. “I can’t let anything happen to you,” she said. “I only just found you again, I can’t let something take you away.”
King Carlyle said that he couldn’t allow it. As heir to the kingdom, it was important that nothing happen to Robert.
Robert replied that as heir to the kingdom he must begin to assume responsibilities, and could not let Henry and Grace ride out to battle while he stayed behind. King Carlyle accepted this, and reversed his decision.
John, who had neither the inclination nor the talent for battle, asked King Carlyle if there was anything he could do to support from back in the castle. King Carlyle told him to stay behind and be ready.
As the tired and weary army began to near the castle, King Carlyle stepped out to negotiate with them. Rufus, George, Jason, Charles, Henry, Grace and Robert all came with him, but stayed respectfully behind him as King Carlyle went forward.
The soldiers from General Graten’s army were obviously in shock at seeing a castle in the middle of the forest. “What is this place?” General Graten asked.
“Friends,” said King Carlyle, “Greetings. I did not think you would be able to make it this far into the forest. You must have overcome many hardships and dangers.”
“Indeed we have,” General Graten answered.
“Are you the leader?” King Carlyle asked General Graten.
General Graten bowed his head slightly.
“I invite you to come into my castle and talk,” said King Carlyle.
“We demand that you hand over the princes and princess of Mora.”
King Carlyle laughed. “Of course you do, of course you do. That’s why you’ve come all the way here, isn’t it? I expected nothing less. But we will not give them to you. They are under the protection of this castle.”
General Graten drew his sword. This was followed by the ringing sound of all the men of King Carlyle’s family drawing their swords. Which was followed by the sound of the whole army getting ready to draw their swords.
“Come, come,” said King Carlyle. “You know the rules. First we parley, then we can fight. This may be the forest, but we still follow etiquette here. Come inside to my castle. You can bring your captains with you. Hear my proposal. If you like what I have to say, we may come to terms without the need for fighting. If you don’t like what I have to say, I promise you we can always fight later.”
“You are only a few in number against a whole army,” said Genera Graten. “The only hope you have would be to separate me from my army and capture me. I would be a fool to leave this spot where I have a vast numerical advantage. If you want to parley, we can do it here in the middle of my army, on my terms.” The General uttered out the word par-ley with disgust as if it was a filthy word.
“I assure you I had no treachery on my mind,” said King Carlyle. “I only wanted to host you in my castle where it is cool and the seats are comfortable and there is plenty of food and wine. But I respect your sagacity nonetheless. You are quite right to always be suspicious of everything. Very well, we will talk on your terms. Will you permit me to have some chairs and some wine brought out so we can sit and talk like civilized men?”
“I’ll not drink your wine,” said General Graten.
“No, no of course you won’t,” said King Carlyle, muttering as if talking to himself. “That sagacity again General. I assure you I had no intention of poisoning you, but I admire your determination. A pity, it’s some of the best Elvish wine we keep at the castle. But another time. Permit me at least to have chairs brought out.”
General Graten nodded. King Carlyle sent his sons George and Rufus to run back into the castle, and pretty soon servants were running out with chairs.
Because they were in the middle of the forest, there was no need to provide shading. The trees provided ample shade. A small area between the trees was found where there was enough room to set up several chairs. King Carlyle sat down, and General Graten and several of his captains sat down. Henry, Grace, Robert, Rufus, George, Jason, and Charles all stood behind King Carlyle. The rest of the army crowded around them. They were effectively surrounded by the army.
General Graten smiled. “You see you are now surrounded by my soldiers,” he said, as he gestured to the men standing all around. “Now, what are your terms?” he asked sarcastically.
“In due time, General, in due time. I know you and your men have travelled very far to arrive here.”
“Very far indeed,” said General Graten.
“And I know you’ve had to fight many battles along the way.”
“We fought with the elves and with the fairies, yes.”
“And beat them?”
General Graten grimaced, but then admitted the truth. “The Elves would not let us pass, and we could not dislodge them, so we were forced to go around their kingdom after taking heavy losses. The fairies changed several of my men into mice and bunny rabbits, and then I had to take the rest around.”
“I see. And what happened to the mice and bunny rabbits?”
“We left them in the land of the fairies. The fairies said they would let them live there.”
“I’m sure they’ll be quite happy as mice and rabbits,” said King Carlyle. “I’ve been told it’s not so bad, once you get used to it. And the land of fairies is a very green and beautiful land. So you had to take your men on a long detour around the fair land. You must have lost a lot of time going on all these detours. And have you been able to find food in the forest? There are plenty of roots and berries in the forest, but I’m not sure it would be enough to feed a whole army.”
“We are hungry,” said General Graten.
“And in a forest like this, you have to be quite careful what you dig up for food,” said King Carlyle. “You don’t want to disturb a grove that is sacred to the forest nymphs.”
“We have already lost several men in this way,” said General Graten.
“I don’t imagine you’re looking forward to the return journey,” said King Carlyle. “Imagine having to do that walk all over again. And encounter the Elves and the fairies again. Now, let me offer you an alternative.” King Carlyle leaned forward in his seat, to indicate that this was the important part. General Graten and his captains also instinctively leaned forward as well. “If you don’t want to make the trip back, you can stay here and join our Kingdom. Life in the forest is different than life in the city, I’m sure, but we can find you homes in the forest, and help you with food. In return, you can serve in my army. For those of your men who wish to return home to Mora, I can give them letters of safe passage so that they can travel through land of the fairies and the kingdom of the elves unmolested.”
General Graten smiled, but it was not a very friendly smile. “I see. So that’s your offer, is it? Well, here is my counter-offer. Hand over the princes and princess of Mora to me, or prepare for battle.”
But no sooner had General Graten finished, than a huge outcry arose among the soldiers. “No, no!” they cried out. There were many voices shouting out. “We won’t fight!” “Do as he says General.” “We can’t fight our way back without his help.”
Even the captains of the army sided with the men. “I’m sorry General,” said one of them. “But the men are right. We barely survived the journey here. Many of us won’t survive the journey back. I think the King here is making a generous offer. You should take it.”
General Graten turned red with fury. He leapt to his feet “How... dare... you?” he said, pausing for emphasis before every word. “Who gives the orders here?”
“General, we no longer have confidence in your leadership abilities,” said another captain. “We are relieving you of your command.”
“But you have no authority,” sputtered the General.
The captains, all at once, drew their swords. And General Graten sank back down into his chair with a dejected look.
Now it was King Carlyle’s turn to smile. “Do me the courtesy, General,” he said, “To remember that I wanted to have this talk in private, and it was you who insisted that the talk be done in front of your army.” He then raised his voice to talk to the army. “You can make yourselves comfortable as best you can on the ground for now. I’m sorry we don’t have room for you all in the banqueting hall. But we’ll bring out enough food and drink for all of you. And then, we’ll make arrangements for finding you homes to sleep in.”
There was a huge cheer from the men. King Carlyle waved his hand in a friendly way, and then turned to head back to the castle. His family followed him.
“That was amazing,” said Robert.
“That?” said King Carlyle. “That was the easy part. The tricky part is what comes next.”
They arrived back in the castle. “Get me Talon!” King Carlyle shouted.
The old sorcerer was quickly brought before the king.
“We need to feed that army,” said King Carlyle.
“Sire, it will be very difficult. I’m not sure…”
“It’s too late,” said King Carlyle. “I already promised them.”
“I wish Sire would have consulted with me before making promises of that sort,” said Talon, almost sulkily.
“I didn’t have a choice,” said King Carlyle. “It was either feed them or fight them. What can you magic up?”
“Sire, you know I can’t create food out of the air,” said Talon.
“Yes, but you can speed up its preparation.”
“There are lots of fruits and vegetables in the royal garden. They aren’t ripe yet, but I will use my powers to encourage the plants to ripen faster.”
“Excellent,” said King Carlyle. “Now, where are the squirrels?”
A shout went out through the castle for the squirrels, and soon 5 squirrels came running down the staircase and sat on their haunches at King Carlyle’s feet.
“Take your baskets,” said King Carlyle. “Go through the forest and gather all the nuts and berries you can find.” The squirrels nodded and left.
“Bring me the wine steward,” King Carlyle called out next. A man was brought before him. “Take all the wine out of the cellars. All of it. Even that good Elvish wine we’ve been saving. Serve it to the men waiting outside.”
King Carlyle gave an apologetic look to his sons and son-in-laws. “I’m sorry my boys. We’ll re-stock as soon as we can from the Elvish traders. In the meantime, it may do us some good to stop drinking wine for a while. We’ve been having too many parties lately.”
“We barely touch the stuff,” Rufus protested. “It’s you who have been drinking the Elvish wine every night.”
King Carlyle stopped to think, and then smiled. “Perhaps it has. At any rate, no more wine for a while.”
Next, King Carlyle sent out messengers to all the people of the forest to bring what food they could, and soon a large feast was prepared for the soldiers.
The soldiers ate and drank heavily, and then fell asleep under the trees. General Graten, still furious at the turn of events, only grudgingly nibbled on some of the food. He then paced up and down angrily while his men slept.
From the castle windows, King Carlyle pointed at the angry General Graten. “See how he’s walking off all that angry energy? That’s the best thing for it. I’d be more worried if he was just sitting quietly and fuming. With any luck, he’ll walk off all of his anger, and then he’ll turn into a man we can deal with.”
Once the soldiers woke up, King Carlyle asked them to form two lines. Those who wanted to stay in the forest could line up on one side. Those who wanted safe passage home could line up on the other side. Most of the soldiers chose to leave, but there were still about 500 who chose to stay.
The ones who chose to leave were the easiest to deal with. King Carlyle had the castle secretaries write up an individual letter of safe passage for each one of them. He also sent messengers (in the form of sparrows) asking the elves and the fairies to give the soldiers safe passage back through the forest. “Tell the elves and the fairies that the soldiers are on their way out of the forest,” said King Carlyle. “And I doubt they will resist.”
General Graten chose to stay in the forest kingdom. He had no choice, he said. He couldn’t go back to the Kingdom of Mora and expect to live. King Richard would surely kill him for failing to capture the princes and princess.
King Carlyle did some calculations with Rufus and George, and he determined that he had enough houses in his kingdom for the 500 soldiers to temporarily stay with the families in his kingdom, although some of them would have to stay two in a house. “This won’t make my people happy,” King Carlyle remarked. “ But at least it’s a temporary situation until we can find them better houses.”
As for General Graten, King Carlyle went out to meet him personally, and insisted that King Carlyle take one of the rooms in the castle, and stay on as a guest of the king himself. “Of course we put the common soldiery in the common houses,” King Carlyle said. “But a general such as yourself? We can’t have you staying in some poor house. You stay in the castle as my guest.”
General Graten seemed slightly surprised, but only slightly. “My king, I had not expected such courtesy, but you are of course right. This is what is due my rank,” he said. He bowed slightly, and was shown up to his room.
“Why are you keeping that snake here in the castle?” asked Rufus. “You know he hates us.”
“That’s precisely the reason I’m keeping him in the castle,” said King Carlyle. “It would be inviting trouble to leave him unsupervised in the forest, free to plot against us.” King Carlyle tapped his head with his finger knowingly, as he winked at George and Rufus. “You must think about these things, you two. You’ll be ruling this kingdom someday after I’m gone. Remember to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
Rufus nodded his head. “Yes, you’re right again father. Still, I hate thinking about him skulking around in the castle halls, and scowling at the banquets. He’ll ruin the atmosphere.”
“We’ll see if we can’t turn him around,” King Carlyle laughed. “Who knows. We may find use for him yet.”
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