When Samuel and his soldiers visited Lord Gaston, he was treated with a pocketful of knowledge of the kingdom's surroundings. For Samuel, who has been living inside the Kingdom for most of his life, this was an eye-opening experience that he could not wait to bring back to the palace.
Kingdom of Largo
Chapter 10
Lord Gaston
Upon hearing King Aylard's name, the warrior immediately loosened his grip. Samuel turned around to find he and his three followers were surrounded by several of Gaston's tribe members.
“My apology, Sir Edward. Please allow me to show you the way,” said the man who stood behind him. He also signalled the other tribe members to loosen their grip and allow the other three followers through, along with the cattle and the offering.
Samuel and his soldiers began to walk amongst rows of tents. Some tribe members were out and about while others stayed inside, peeking out, curiously eyeing the group of strange soldiers. Samuel and the group walked until they reached a large tent. Samuel assumed that was where Gaston housed himself and his family, or perhaps... could this be the place where the group of important members work during the day? Samuel's heart was racing.
What if... what if... they are being captured? After all, Lord Gaston's tribe belongs to the wild and free. They formed their own government outside of the Largo's Kingdom. Samuel looked far and beyond and all he could see were rows and rows of tents almost to the horizon. This tribal government has been formed without any boundaries. There were no castle walls to bind them inside.
They stood in front of the large tent, waited to be invited inside. The warrior went into the tent to announce Samuel's arrival. A man came out of his tent to welcome Samuel and the soldiers. He was Lord Gaston.
The differences between the warrior and Lord Gaston were stark: Gaston was exceedingly tall - Samuel only stood up to his shoulders in height. His muscular frame appeared even more chiselled thanks to his dark complexion and even darker eyes and hair, which the Lord wore down to his broad shoulders. He seemed to be a young person, yet the skin on his face seemed weathered, showing ages in wisdom and strength.
“Good day, Lord Gaston.” Samuel greeted the leader, bowing as a gesture of respect.
“Good day, Sir Edward!” responded Lord Gaston with a broad smile, “What has brought you to our land?”
“Dear Lord Gaston! I'm here on behalf of King Aylard to visit you, and to discuss some important matters with you. The king has also sent along with some gifts to your land. We've brought along 5 cows. They are healthy, young and productive cows. We also wish to bestow your lordship with 5 sheep which can provide wool to keep your men warm. Also in this chest, I present 50 bars of gold for you and your men, courtesy of King Aylard.”
“Oh, please tell King Aylard I extend my thanks and appreciation for all the gifts he has been showering upon my land. But how can my small community be of service to His Royal Highness? Please allow me to invite you inside my humble dwelling so we can all speak in comfort,” said Lord Gaston, lifting the front of his tent's entrance to invite Samuel and his followers inside.
Once inside the tent, Samuel noticed that it was a lot larger than what it seemed to be on the outside – there was more than enough room for fixtures such as tables and chairs made of wood. There were hides made from hunted wild animals hung on racks, and some had been strewn on the ground for warmth and comfort. Several edible items had been placed on the table, which led Samuel to believe they must have been intruding upon the group while they were enjoying a meal. Lord Gaston poured out some wine to offer to Samuel and his soldiers. While seated at the table, the others had gradually left and exited the tent. Now, there were only Lord Gaston, Samuel and three of his soldiers at the table.
Samuel explained why he was there. He also showed the artist's portraits of Prince Theo and his daughter Emma and advised Lord Gaston that the pair may venture outside of the palace with some warriors behind them to protect them, but they are not indicating a declaration of war when the two children happen to trespass upon their lands. He explained the prince was the first in line for the throne and therefore he needed protection wherever he went, yet no one in the palace could restrict his wandering habits outside of the kingdom. The warriors were simply there to protect them, not to incite a war with Gaston's warriors.
Lord Gaston responded that he understood the King's concern and he vowed to protect the two children against some smaller tribes as well.
He presented Samuel with a map that outlined the tribes in the surrounding landscape. He pointed to somewhere further up north which showed two tribal names.
“Here!” said Lord Gaston, pointing to one of the names, “Here is the tribe operating under the banner Merek and not too far from it, almost adjacent live the Beckett,” he said, “These two tribes are always at war with each other. They are smaller tribes but their warriors are well-trained for battle.”
“Are you, by any chance, involved in their wars?” asked Samuel curiously.
“No!” Lord Gaston replied, shaking his head, “I don't get involved with smaller tribes' wars. I let them fight each other. It is not my war to fight.”
“How far are those two tribes from us?” asked Samuel again. He was beginning to worry for Theo's and Emma's safety.
“Oh, these two tribes are far north. You need not worry about them. It would take both children several days and nights to reach them even if riding on their dog wagons. There is no way they could reach them.”
“Now, here on this side,” Lord Gaston pointed to the south of the previously mentioned tribes, there are several unknown tribes. They are outlaws. Almost like pirates. They would disguise themselves as fishermen who go out to sea everyday, but in fact, they would rob everyone who trespasses their territories. These are the ones you should be worrying about. They have not formed a group yet, they are loosely governed by unknown Chiefs whom they would elect daily. They are operating without any names or banners. They intend to keep their identities and banners unknown so they could carry on their illegal activities. Most members are wild and untamed people. They will rob and murder anyone who trespasses, and sometimes will capture strangers after taking all their belongings they would force them to become their members to fight for them, and if the strangers don't agree they would be killed. They are so wild and untamed that they would even murder their own Chiefs. These small unknown tribes are the ones that your children and the protective warriors should never venture to.”
Samuel made mental notes of all that Lord Gaston was telling him. He asked if he could have a map to take back to show King Aylard. Lord Gaston fetched him an extra map as a gift to repay King Aylard's generosity.
“However,” Lord Gaston held up his index finger as though he had some more information to share.
“If you can conquer all of those unknown wild tribes you may reach the Kingdom of Everland,” Lord Gaston continued. He shifted the map up so it would show what was on the far down south side. Upon saying that he pointed to the large lot behind those wild tribes where the name Everland was indicated.
“Oh? Who runs Everland? Aren't they afraid of those wild unknown tribes that seem to be just outside of their kingdom?”
“The Kingdom is run by King Bennett and Queen Camilla. He is a very strong king! A very good fighter. His army is well-trained. They have won many wars along the southern outskirts of their kingdom. They have only one daughter, Zena. Because the king and queen of Everland have no son, so Princess Zena has been trained as a warrior ever since she was a little girl. The princess is now about 8 Autumns of age. She is still very young. I heard she's a good fighter even though she is still fighting with a wooden sword.”
“That is very interesting! But what a shame! While our King Aylard has three sons and no daughter, the king and queen of the Kingdom of Everland have only one daughter, so they may not have an heir to the kingdom after the king is gone unless Princess Zena decides that she would remain with the Kingdom and not married,” he hesitated for a while, and then added, “Lord Gaston! Are you aware of the rumour that our Prince Theo was conceived by magic?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I was aware of that,” Gaston answered. I heard that King Aylard and Queen Isabella were infertile for the first many years of their marriage, but soon after a magician visited them Prince Theo was born 18 full moons later.
“Do you know the magician's name? Do you know where I can find him?” Samuel took the opportunity to ask Lord Gaston. “I would like to find that same magician again. But I don't know his name, I only remember his face,” by saying that, Samuel reached into his pocket and presented a sketch by the artist, a picture of the magician.
“Here he is!” He said, spreading out the piece of the picture and presenting it to Lord Gaston, “Have you seen this magician lately? Does he belong to your tribe? Or some other tribes?”
Lord Gaston looked intently into the picture but realized the magician wasn't anyone in his tribe.
“No,” he replied, “He's not one of us. Perhaps he belongs to one of those tribes that are at war with each other. Or the outlaws on the south. I have not heard from him, nor anything about him.”
“Very mysterious person indeed!” gasped Samuel, “It seems to me that this magician just appeared in our kingdom one day, and then prescribed an unknown, strange potion for the king and the queen to consume every full moon, and then Prince Theo was born 18 full moons after. I have to wonder what was in those potions that the king and the queen had consumed.”
“Lord Gaston, may I ask for your assistance in finding this magician for our kingdom? I will have to see if he still possesses even more magic to exercise on the king and the queen, or even on our young prince, Theo. If he has any bad intentions for our kingdom, we would never allow him to do that. THIS, Lord Gaston, has been the second reason that we are paying you this visit. The King will deeply appreciate your help in locating this magician.”
“No problem, Sir Edward! Please inform King Aylard that I shall look into this matter as well, and shall do whatever I can to help find this man.”
Upon leaving, Samuel was presented one of the hides to return as a gift to King Aylard from Lord Gaston, and a map of the surrounding landscape of the Kingdom.
“I hope the map will show where the young children can and cannot venture. You must ensure the two children and the protective warriors are forewarned of those unruly wild tribes,” warned Lord Gaston.
“Yes, I will! We must be on our way back now before the night falls. Please send a messenger to our kingdom each time if any information is found of the magician.”
“We will! And thank you for your visit, Sir Edward!” Lord Gaston promised.
Samuel and his three soldiers were escorted back to the border, and they headed back to the palace to see King Aylard and the Queen.
I must call for a meeting with the king and his children, and perhaps Emma should join us too so she will realize this is serious and that she and Theo will not venture too far.
Samuel made it a commitment to himself to ensure the children know of the danger they may be facing.
This gets better and even more intriguing and interesting Sandie!
There is also a real confidence in your writing as your story
progresses that is very pleasing…
Theo may have his own agenda when he becomes the king. Perhaps his wandering habits may help him to see a much wider world than what his father saw when he was the king. Perhaps he was destined to wander, to fight, and to conquer, and Emma was destined to be the future queen. We will never know what is in store for these young people's future. But the concerns of the elders are always justified.
Well, so it seems that Samuel and Lord Gaston have come to a peaceful accord, although there is still concern for Prince Theo during his wanderings outside of the Largo boundaries by those smaller tribes.
Bars of gold and six cows and six sheep appear to be a welcome gift by Lord Gaston... Looking forward to see how this all turns out.
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