Rise of the Darekian's, The (23 page)

Caldar looked back at them, "What?" he asked, "I think we should thank your father for having sense to bring something that makes our stew better. Beef stew certainly beats just plain vegetable stew any day, in my opinion. Arthur laughed, "See, his highness does not mind." Turning back to his backpack once more, the elderly man pulled out a bottle, "sure he won't mind a drop of this brandy I borrowed either." Caldar and the others all started laughing, especially at Vanessa's face. It was the picture of utter disbelief, though in the end she gave up and joined in the mirth.

As the hot stew was spooned out into bowls, Arthur grouped together everyone's cups and put a drop of brandy in each. Well everyone's except the one owned by Mitch, who appeared crest fallen when he noticed he was not getting any. The youngster turned to his pack, and pulled out his own parcel, "fine dad, you'll not be wanting any of these biscuits for afters then will you." Vanessa turned on his father, "see what a bad influence you are, the boy is only fourteen and you've made him into a criminal." Mitch grimaced, "I didn't steal them," he pleaded. "Oh really, you made them I suppose?" his big sister asked, standing over him with her hands on her hips. "Well, not exactly, I sort of found them, cooling on a window sill." The laughter broke out once more, and Arthur leaned over and poured just a small drop of brandy for his youngest son.

As they ate, Caldar looked up, at the faces of the people he had associated himself with since leaving behind his life in Hamalin. They were not perfection by any means, but he had grown fond of them all, especially the young woman who sat beside him. He even liked her father, as old and crotchety as he was, with his bad habits, you could not but have fondness for him. He looked
around, as her brothers, Eric, Davis and Carlton spoke quietly amongst themselves. Mitch and Arthur were talking to one of the new members of the group, Reece, and Edward was in conversation with the other, Hunter.

The beef stew was quite delightful, and his mouth was salivating as the odours reached him before the meal did. There was a loaf of bread, which was broken up, to allow each to soak up all the gravy from their bowls. Then they shared the biscuits, acquired by Mitch, and washed down with the brandy, admittedly stolen by Arthur.
Once they had finished their meal, Vanessa, stood and collected the pots, "come on, me and you can wash up" she said, holding her hand out to Caldar. Looking up in shock, he would be the first to admit, he had never washed a pot in his life. "Of course" he found himself saying, and he stood to help. If nothing else, he thought at least if others witnessed him cleaning pots, they would think their prince a down to earth person, one not afraid to do the trivial tasks in life.

With darkness now fal
ling over the camp, Caldar and Vanessa decided to go for a walk. The two wandered, arm in arm, out into the black of night, away from the flickering light of the fires. Caldar stopped, "it is quite beautiful, do you not think?" he asked, referring to the silhouetted mountain range, off far in the distance. Vanessa did not answer, instead preferring to wrap her arms around his neck and plant her lips firmly on his. After the initial shock, he savoured the moment, and let himself be pulled to the ground as she sat straddled across him. This really was becoming the most perfect of nights, and he did not resist her hands as they moved slowly down his body.

Chapter 20.

The night at Easton went without
incident; the only sign of there being any intruders present was the flickering light from their campfires. General Skalton had taken the advice from earlier, of taking precautions against a night attack. Earlier the previous evening, just as it was getting dark he had briefly opened the gates a little to let out two men. Under the cover of near darkness, and with enemy eyes not looking upon them, they had placed out what the General hoped would give some warning, should anyone try to encroach upon the bridge under cover of night. A number of lines of string had been tied across the width; each line had hung from it, a number of chimes. As it happened, this night they had not been required.

After a fitful night's sleep, Levin sat on his blanket roll
, wondering whether the Lady Sarena had had chance to make the required alterations to his tabard and trousers. Deciding it was probably too early to go knocking on her door to find out; he thought instead to start tidying up his belongings. The entire camp was today being moved into the city walls. Yesterday had seen areas within, marked out for camp to be set up. This area needed to be away from the building work being undertaken, to allow the workers to continue unhindered. The prefabricated timber buildings, which housed the prince, had already been dismantled and rebuilt in the keep yard. As they were home to the most senior and important members of society, it was thought better to keep them further back. The camp would also be set back away from the entrance, which would be barricaded if needed.

Jak awoke to find Levin busying himself, rolling his blanket and tying it to his pack. The two had stayed close ever since being reunited at Forwich, and despite their great difference in years, had become close friends. "All ready for your big day?" he asked, Levin turned with a nervous smile, "I think so. Do you think the Lady Sarena will be up yet? I would like to see if she had chance to alter my things for me." With a yawn, then a shrug of the shoulders, "Only one way to find out, I would imagine she'll be awake by now. That baby of hers will see to that. Go on, you go run to the yard, and I'll start us a bit of breakfast." Levin did not need asking twice, and quickly darted off, making his way through the camp.
Running and trying his best to dodge other people, some of whom were still sleeping, and making his way out, and up the road to the city gates. Typical, he thought, the one-day I have to see the Lady Sarena and they move her into the city.

He had to stop briefly at the gates, as they were now guarded, fortunately for him; they appeared to recognise his face and waved him through. Slowing a little, feeling slightly out of breath, he was quite impressed by the work that had taken place. The road, on which he ran, was now clean and level. The small cobbled stones had all been neatly repaired or replaced, and he thought it a fine road, one fit for their new capital. As he approached the gates of the keep however, he was stalled once more. Two guards, both of them Elite Guards, or Royal Guards as some seem to call them now, barred him access. "Please, I need to see the Lady Sarena. She will be expecting me," he added, hoping in some small way that made his request more valid. "Sorry, only persons of rank are permitted entry," the larger of the two men said, "and I don't think that applies to you," the other said chuckling as he did so.

Levin was about to give up, perhaps he could return later with Jak. If he were here they would have let them in, of that he was certain. He thought it worth giving one last try, and remembering he was now technically one of them, he asked again. "You know I am a member of the Elite Guard, like you two," he added, trying to stand upright, and have a serious look to his face. The guards did not buy it; they laughed some more, "go on son, may be one day..." the smaller was saying, before a shout from behind stopped him.

The biggest smug grin appeared on Levin's face, as
General Skalton walked up behind the two guards. "Levin, why are you standing out there?" he called. Levin, now thinking it was time to drop the guards in it, "they will not let me in sir, I told them I was an Elite Guard like them, but they still refused." There, he thought, giving both men a look of 'told you so'. General Skalton turned to the larger of the two, "Is this true Corporal?" he asked firmly. "Yes sir. He is just a boy, and well, how could he possibly be," replied the guard, with more than a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Well, for future reference, make sure all the others are aware also. This is Levin, my Personal Assistant, now shift your ass out of the way and let him in."

The guards quickly parted, and although Levin knew he should remain grown up about the matter, he could not resist poking his tongue out at them as he walked past.
General Skalton greeted him, "did you not manage to find any uniform?" he enquired. "Just a pair of trousers and a tabard sir, Lady Sarena is kindly altering them for me. That is just where I was going, before that pair" he gestured over his shoulder, "stopped me."Well, I best not delay you any further then had I. Go see if they are ready, and then let us say you meet me back here in about an hour or so." Levin nodded, saluted, and went to run, before realising he did not know, in which building Sarena was. Since being moved yesterday, they were now laid out differently. Originally, they were one long line, now they were grouped up in pairs. He turned back to the General, who chuckled, "that one over there" he said pointing to the building on the end.

Taking a deep breath, he then gently tapped on the door to her room. He did not want to knock to loudly, just in case the baby was sleeping. "Come in," came the shout, and he quickly obliged, closing the door behind him. "Good morning Levin" she greeted him, with the baby cradled in her arms, feeding it with a strange looking cup. "Morning my Lady, umm...sorry for bothering you, but did you by chance have time to...umm" he was making a right meal of this he thought. Glancing up from feeding the baby, with a warm, kind looking smiling face, "your trousers and tabard I assume you mean? They are just on the table
there," she said nodding across the room. Levin smiled, "Yes." He said, punching the air, "thank you so much."

He would have been happier just taking them, unfortunately the Lady Sarena, wished to see if the size was correct, and asked him to try them on. After
another embarrassing moment of having to remove his trousers in front of a Lady, he pulled on the clean black ones of the guard. Buttoning up the fly, he was happy when he realised they would not be falling down. In fact, he doubted the fit could be any better; he stood straight, and spun round slowly at the request of the Lady. He put his boots back on, before pulling the tabard over his head, and letting it drape over his body. That was a good fit as well, "there is a mirror, by my wash stand there, if you wish to have a look yourself."

Levin gazed at the reflection of himself, admiring the smart black trousers, with a single red line running down the outside of each leg. The Tabard had on its front and back, the crest of the royal family and on the
left breast area, was the insignia of the Elite Guard. Thanking the Lady Sarena once more, he thought he would keep his new clothes on, and with his old trousers in hand, quickly made his way out. Back across the yard, and slowed, walking, almost marching his steps past the two guards at the keep gate, ensuring they both got an eyeful of his new garments. He picked up the pace again, running down the main street, back out of the city gates, through the camp and back to Jak, who was just in the process of serving up breakfast for the pair of them.

It was still a couple of hours before noon, and the sun was shining brightly on the camp. Lord Galliss had been charged with overseeing the thankless task of moving everybody and everything of need inside the city walls. If that was not difficult enough, he then had to squeeze it all into a space half the size the one it was vacating. The main building works were continuing through the central parts of the city, up to the keep and beyond to the northern part of the wall
overlooking the river. Subsequently, he was left with the areas left and right of the building works to place people, stores and even some animals. The larger livestock, it had been agreed, would have to be moved a little further south, away from any potential fighting, but near enough to be catered for.

Galliss, aided by his eldest son
Aric, worked through the camp, giving people instructions on where to go to once inside the walls. Rather than try moving everything and everybody in one go, common sense had ruled. Hence, groups of no more than fifty were bundled together with their belongings and escorted to their new allotted place. Once in the city, small square plots had been cleared of debris, and marked out into squares. Although, hopefully only a temporary arrangement, it was one the people would have to put up with, for now at least.

General
Skalton, with his new assistant at his side, walked slowly along the battlements of the cities outer wall. Levin was amazed at the view he got, from being some fifty of more feet off ground level. He could feel a slight breeze blowing gently on to his face, as he looked out over the river. Clearly visible was the rather shambolic looking camp of Darekians.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, taking in the surroundings, and he realised, apart from the fact
there was a band of marauding murderers camped several hundred paces over the river, the place was actually quite pleasant. If he could figure a way of getting rid of them, he thought he could be happy here. He had already made himself new friends, had learnt, or was in the process of learning, how to fight with sword and shield. Moreover, he had found himself a member of the Elite Guard, albeit an honorary member, and personal assistant to the man commanding it.

Luken, Sarena and their children
, stood at the base of the wide steps leading into the central keep. Lord Galliss had wanted to show them the latest progress inside the building; however, he was pre-occupied with the move, and hence asked Darak to give the tour. The young lord, walked slowly across the yard towards them, his arm still in a sling. The injury to his shoulder had healed well, but despite Lukens help, it had still needed some stitching to close the wound properly. The more serious injury he had suffered to his chest, the one that would have killed him, was now little more than a faint scar. This one being completely healed; how it had been done, not even Luken was entirely sure.

Waving his good arm, Darak greeted the young royal and his companions, bowing when he reached them, "Sorry I am a few minutes late, my father needed to see me be
fore we started. He had the key to the door leading down to the old dungeon area," he added, tapping his pocket. "Shall we start," gesturing for them to make their way up the stone steps and in through the main doorway, which evidently still had no doors. "Father says the majority of the progress has been on the upper floor. Apparently the lower levels are safe as long as we stick to the roped off areas. The staircases are nothing ornate, just plain, and I guess they do the job."

He enquired whether they wished to see the lower levels of the keep; the
old dungeons or area set aside for the treasury and safe rooms. He did warn them however, that going downwards could only at the moment, be reached with great care, and hence would be better if the children did not go.

Luken decided
, that the below ground area could wait for now, and agreed to them all venturing upwards. The window frames had now mostly been replaced, some of them even had small panes of glass in them. These did let in a small amount of light, giving the entrance hallway a dull gloomy appearance. Once his eyes had adjusted to the dimness, he could see they were standing on freshly laid floor boarding. As they approached the first staircase, he understood what Darak had meant. The stairs upwards were like something you would find in a simple family home, though just on a larger scale, and far from the ornate steps, he had been used to in the palace. Sarena cautiously held Hope in her arms, looking down as she made certain each step she took was a safe one.

At the first landing, Darak picked up and lit two oil lamps, informing them the internal walling blocked any natural light from the windows on the outer walls. He held one and Luken the other as they bypassed the first two floors. As they walked, t
he noise of timber being sawn and the banging of hammers, told them work was still being carried out. After another ignoring the other landings, they eventually reached the top floor. The noise they had heard further down, was now more obvious, and Luken could see people moving around ahead of him.

Darak informed them they would not require the lamps, as there were plenty in place to allow the
workers to carry out their jobs.  Luken was genuinely amazed at how much work had been, and still was being done. From the landing was a well-lit corridor, "the rooms to the left," Darak started, showing the way, "are being set up as your personal offices and studies. Sarena enquired to the purpose of needing more than one, before Darak rather tentatively replied, "Well, we worked on the hope that Lukens brother may one day return. Looking towards the young prince, and checking for any sign he had not caused him unease at the mention of Caldar, before continuing."Opposite are the royal meeting rooms, it is probably best if we just peered in, rather than get under the workers feet."

Although by no means finished, looking through the doorway into what could potentially be
a royal study, he could see a man fixing sconces onto the far wall. There was a stone fireplace on the external wall, as well as two large windows, currently being glazed. Over to the one side he could see another two men working on a large oaken table, busy sanding it smooth.