Baldwin is devastated! His six soldiers suddenly fell dead, and he has no idea who has murdered them. What is Baldwin going to do now?
Kingdom of Largo
Chapter 24
Deaths of The Six Soldiers
When Theo decided to tell Emma everything about what was happening, including his ability to communicate with Belinda, Emma laughed and told him he might have been overworked and was thus having ridiculous dreams. But as time passed, she began noticing what Theo had talked about was unfolding in front of her eyes.
She noticed that when her father and Baldwin returned from the Oakwood Village, a group of boys in black clothing came back with them. She found it odd because this was not the attire for the soldiers to wear. Emma also noticed that Baldwin brought his warriors back to the kingdom, but there were six soldiers who he took upon himself to a house in another unknown location. She began to suspect that perhaps what Theo had told her may be true .
“Father, who are these young boys with black clothing? Why are they here?” Emma asked Samuel.
“Emma, they are going to be my special team of warriors. I shall be training them to use real swords and to fight real wars. They are the farm boys recruited by Baldwin. They are young, healthy and strong! They will have a bright future with me,” answered Samuel.
“But Father! Why are they in black clothing? I have never seen soldiers wearing such attire. I find it very odd,” Emma asked again.
“Emma, they are only in black clothing because they are a special team of warriors. Unlike those who are fully trained, they are only beginners and require full training. We want to be able to identify them by sight, and knowing that they are in black clothing means that these warriors are not fully-trained yet,” Samuel continued to answer Emma's query as best he could.
“But why, Father? The kingdom is not lacking warriors. Why are we recruiting farm boys from a village? They have only known farming all their lives? Do they not need farmers to do farm work? That village will suffer from the lack of production from now on. Are you sure Baldwin meant to offer these young soldiers to you as your warriors?”
Emma was pressing for answers. She tried to find a way to lead her father into a conversation so he would reveal the true purpose behind training these soldiers. She suspected it was not because her father thought they would become his warriors but it was because he was blackmailed and forced by Baldwin into giving these young men training.
Emma had all the questions inside her head to ask her father. She wanted to find out if what Theo told her was actually the truth. Blackmail and extortion inside the kingdom are crimes. It should not be allowed.
“That is what Baldwin has told me,” Samuel continued to respond to Emma as best he could but was very careful in what he would reveal. He did not want Emma to know he had recently lost a lot of his own warriors.
“My dear daughter, you need not worry. These young men do not pose any danger to the kingdom. They are very enthusiastic about being trained as warriors. They will, in time, become my warriors after becoming fully trained. They must be trained from the beginning like every other warrior - with the wooden swords first and then gradually moving on to the real sword. Sir Henry will be in charge of the wooden sword training, and when they are good enough, they will move on to the real sword, and Sir Godwin will be the one to train them to use the real sword. Both are good trainers! They have trained Theo, Galien, and Xavier as well. I hope the enthusiasm shared by these young recruits will drive them to learn fast.”
Emma watched her father as he spoke but did not question further. She did not want her father to suspect that she knew something already about the recent massive deaths of his warriors in black. Yet, in the back of her mind, she reminded herself that she must take a trip to visit her friend, Oriana, again. She was hoping that Oriana may come up with a plan just in case things went haywire.
Oriana had always been a great help to her and has never failed her yet. The last time Oriana helped her, it was to find out where Baldwin had obtained a large number of ducks and chickens to hold a large feast for himself and his warriors. Now, she may need her help again.
First, they had to uncover the activities of Baldwin and his team. Most importantly, they must find out where he had located the six soldiers and where he had hidden the original scrolls of testimonies. They must find those scrolls before he could expose everything about the king and queen, and most of all, her father. She felt that her father did not trust her enough to tell her the truth.
She felt anxious because time was running out soon. Miles was due to be back the day after the next full moon, which would not be too long from now. She wondered what would happen to Miles when he returned. She must find out the true testimonies and destroy them, so Baldwin would not have the power over her father and the king. Baldwin needed to learn to behave.
And what about the six soldiers who were supposed to testify in court? Thinking about them made Emma anxious again. What were they supposed to reveal in court? She must do something about those six soldiers before Miles' return. Baldwin, the scoundrel, should not hold any powers over her father and the king.
Baldwin must be stopped!
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Baldwin woke up feeling energized again. He was happy that everything he had been planning seemed ready to come to fruition. He felt success was already within his reach. He looked out the window and everything seemed unusually beautiful at this time of the morning. He was overwhelmed with happiness.
For the past several days, he had been secretly congratulating himself. First things first, he must look into the scrolls of the original testimonies from the six soldiers. He needed to reassure himself every morning that the scrolls were still there where he had hidden them. He hid them in a bamboo-framed painting bought from a street vendor. The painting was in colorful ink. It showed a white horse leading and galloping in front of brown horses behind it. Baldwin reached inside the frame and touched the scrolls of testimonies there. He felt relieved again.
Baldwin would do this every morning to reassure himself that the scrolls were still encased in their proper hiding place.
He would then leave his house and go to the market to fetch the meals for the six soldiers. He would buy them what they needed for the day: meat, rice, vegetables, cakes and pastry, water, and wine. The six soldiers were well fed and well treated. They were happy to be where they were without much fuss. Baldwin told them he had to switch them to a secret location for their own safety and that they should stay there until the court date. He ensured them it would not be too long now. The six soldiers had agreed.
Baldwin went to the market as usual today. Once he bought everything he needed, he mounted his horse, heading toward the secret location. As Baldwin approached his destination, he suddenly felt as though someone was following him, but when he turned around, he could not see anyone.
Perhaps it was my imagination. Baldwin shrugged his shoulders, turned around, and continued. But lo and behold! His horse neighed loudly and reared. Its two front legs leaped up, almost hitting someone. Baldwin looked to the front to find a young lady riding a dog wagon, which had been running fiercely toward him. As the wagon approached, it nearly collided with his horse. The young woman screamed and fell to the ground. Her dog would not stop barking.
“My dear lady! I am so sorry! Are you alright? Are you hurt in any way? Please allow me to help you up."
Baldwin held out his hand to help the startled lady to her feet.
The young lady got to her feet and immediately motioned for her dog to calm down. Baldwin noticed she could not have been more than her 13th season. She was very tall and athletic, beautiful for her age. She seemed to handle her dog wagon well, and her dog seemed well-trained.
“Thank you! Please do not be concerned! I am alright!” The young lady answered. She got back to her feet and immediately climbed into her dog wagon and sped off, leaving Baldwin standing in the middle of the road.
Wow! That is a fast dog! I didn't know they train dogs to run so fast. Baldwin thought, watching the beautiful lady as she sped away with her dog.
Baldwin remembered the dog wagons were introduced only about 2 or 3 seasons ago. It had, at first, been introduced as a plaything for the children but later became a piece of farm equipment for the farmers to transport the bounty collected from their crops from one location to another. There were more of the dog wagons made too. Larger wagons were now available to be pulled by either horses or several dogs. Baldwin looked behind him again, trying to get a glimpse of that young lass, but she, along with her dog and wagon had long disappeared.
Baldwin mounted his horse again and continued on his journey to the secret location to meet the six soldiers.
As he was approaching his destination, he could sense something was amiss. Being a detective himself, he possessed a keen sense when something was not quite right.
As he got closer, he saw some people standing around, talking in hushed tones among one another. They were scattered in groups alongside the road's edge, whispering to each other. Baldwin immediately sensed that something was wrong. He had a bad feeling about the six soldiers.
As he reached the front of the secret dwelling, he found guards shielding the place. He was curious and asked one of the bystanders what was happening.
“Oh! They have found six soldiers inside. All dead!” replied the bystander.
“What? Are you sure? How did they die?” Baldwin felt the hair at the nape of his neck rising. He had a sinking feeling that he could be in for a whole lot of trouble.
“They don't know how they died yet, but someone is fetching a doctor to inspect the scene. The word is that there are no marks on any of their bodies, so we assume the soldiers did not die violently,” replied the bystander again.
Baldwin felt cold sweat pouring down his face. He regretted all that he had planned. He wondered how much trouble he would be in now if someone, somewhere, could identify him as a person who had been frequenting this hideout lately. Who could have done this to his six soldiers? When did they die?
Baldwin's mind suddenly traveled to Sir Samuel.
Sir Samuel! You think you have won! You must not play games with me! At the back of Baldwin's mind he suspected it was the work of Samuel. He must seek revenge! But how?
Well, the original scrolls of testimonies are still with me! Sir Samuel! You will regret this!
Baldwin could not stop scolding and cursing Samuel in his mind. He turned around and sped back to his own house. He must not lose those original testimonies. He must get a hold of them and never let them out of his sight. Those testimonies would be his only defence. He planned to publicly reveal just what kind of a person Sir Samuel really is. He drove his warriors in black to their deaths, and now he has killed six innocent soldiers!
I must reveal to the public what Sir Samuel is all about! He must not get away with murder! First, I must get back to my house and make sure the original testimonies are safe. Baldwin told himself.
As Baldwin returned to his own house, he reached for the scrolls from inside the slot of the bamboo frame. He exhaled a sigh of relief when he found them, still in their hiding place. He reached in and pulled the scrolls out.
As he opened the scrolls he was surprised. Beads of sweat began to pour down his face. He could not believe what he was seeing. His hands were shaking. Then he pounded his fist hard on the table in anger. He held his fist so tight his knuckles were becoming white! He threw the scrolls onto the ground and began weeping. All the scrolls were empty of testimonies. They were all blank. Someone must have broken into his place to switch the testimonies with scrolls of blank ones! When did that happen?
What is Baldwin going to do now? Baldwin could not believe his eyes! He knew now he could be in a whole lot of trouble and may be arrested by the king anytime. He had no defence. All are gone! He could now be accused of being the one who murdered those six soldiers!
This was serious! Baldwin needed to think fast about what he needed to do. He must not allow himself to become helpless. He must not allow himself to be arrested and thrown in prison! He thought about those warriors in black that he had recruited, but they were not trained for anything yet. All he had left now was his 150 troops of warriors that the kingdom had awarded him and his 1000 gold bars! Should he stay and be arrested in the hopes that he could clear his name? If so, how would he convince the people that he was not the killer? Would Samuel pin this on him just to put him in prison? There must be something he could still do.
Oh, think fast! Baldwin! You must think fast! Baldwin told himself. You know Sir Samuel is on his way to catch you! You must think fast.
No, I must not leave! That was Samuel's plan. He must think I would be so scared that I would run away. If I do that, Samuel would announce to the public that I was obviously the killer and had run away to avoid facing the consequences. Samuel must have thought I was going to do that. No! I must stay behind and act normal. I can still let Samuel know that I know the information about the deaths of the warriors in black in the forest. I still have my warriors as my witnesses. Miles would testify to that too. If I could get Miles to be on my side, I can still deal with Samuel. Baldwin continued to brainstorm.
With that in mind, he sped back to the six soldiers' secret location and acted as though he just got there and had just found out what was happening.
Now, the kingdom's doctor was at the scene, and the Royal Crier announced that the six soldiers' death was due to ingestion of rat poisoning. According to the bodies' temperature, they had all died around the same time, assuming after consuming supper the night before.
XXXXX
It did not take long for the news to reach the palace. No sooner had Samuel and King Aylard finished the morning court procedures than the Royal Crier appeared before the palace to announce the news of the strange case of rat poisoning of the six soldiers.
Samuel could not believe what he was hearing. When he heard the news, he had a strange sensation of relief course through his body, but all the while was wondering who could have murdered the six soldiers? Obviously, it could not be Baldwin because he needed them to testify upon Miles' return. Who else would want those soldiers dead?
King Aylard was just as surprised as Sir Samuel was! But he was still worried about the original scrolls of testimonies. After the Royal Crier departed, King Aylard reminded Samuel about the original scrolls. He said that even though the six soldiers were dead, they would still need to be careful about Baldwin. Sir Samuel agreed with King Aylard. He told the king he would go back to his own chamber to ponder a solution to the problem at hand, vowing to provide some answers for him by the following morning.
Sir Samuel went back to his chamber. He thought about the whole scenario but could not piece everything together. He knew Baldwin had nothing to do with this.
After a while, he saw Emma coming back from her morning duty after attending to Belinda, and his mind suddenly yelled out... EMMA!
He watched Emma closely as she moved about the chamber. He wondered about Emma. It was only several days ago she was inquiring him about the warriors in black, but that was all he and Emma talked about. He had never mentioned the six soldiers to her, nor had she asked about them.
He watched Emma's facial expression as she walked about the chamber, helping her mother to do the chores.
No! It couldn't have been Emma! I must be out of my mind to be suspecting my own daughter! Sir Samuel thought. He watched Emma's innocent face as she did her chores. My Emma has become so good and so caring lately. She has grown a lot since last season. How could I even suspect her?
But who else? Who else would know about the six soldiers? Can I pin this on Baldwin? After all, he was the only one who knew their whereabouts, it would make more sense if Baldwin was the one who murdered them.
But I need to uncover a motive! There must have been a reason for Baldwin to want to have them killed before their court appearance. I must think fast before Baldwin accuses me of being the killer. I think that's what he would do to clear his own name. Perhaps, he is already suspecting me of being the killer. I must stop him before he gets me first. I didn't kill those soldiers, that's for sure! But I'm glad they are dead now. Sir Samuel was trying hard now to form a plausible scenario in which he could pin Baldwin as the killer. He thought it would serve a lot of purposes if they could lock Baldwin away for good.
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The following day as Emma came to the palace in the morning to care for Belinda, she found Theo in the garden, standing next to Belinda's cage. He seemed to have been anxiously waiting for her.
“Emma!" He immediately called out to her loudly as soon as he saw her. "Have you heard the news?”
“Well, good morning, Theo! What news?” Emma asked.
“About the deaths of the six soldiers that Baldwin brought back! The whole kingdom has been buzzing at it! People are talking about it everywhere,” Theo said excitedly as he watched Emma's face.
“Oh, those six soldiers! Yes, I heard about them too. It was said that they had died of rat poisoning. Too bad! They must have accidentally eaten the poison,” Emma said.
“Oh my! Baldwin must be really mad!” Theo said. His face shone with mixed emotions. He did not know how he should appear to feel in front of Emma at a time like this.
“Why?”
“He will not have anyone to testify against Miles!” Theo said again. He watched as Emma went around Belinda's cage, throwing some treats into the water for Belinda.
“Who knows what Baldwin is up to? I am glad the soldiers are dead anyway, even though I sympathize with them. Miles is safe now,” Emma responded.
“Yes, Miles is safe now,” Theo said, “But I feel bad for the six soldiers too.”
My Emma! What has she done? Theo looked at Emma suspiciously, watching her every move.
No! She couldn't have! Theo reprimanded himself as he observed Emma's sweet and innocent face. Yet, a smile escaped the corners of his mouth.
LET ME TELL YOU RIGHT NOW...I THINK IT WAS BELINDA WHO TOOK OUT THE OTHER SOLDIERS IN BLACK AND NOW THESE. I AM HEADING ON TO READ CHAPTER 25...LOVE IT!!! LOVE, BLESSINGS AND FAITH...HIS+INSPIRATIONS!
Thank you, friends, for the continued reading and commenting on this story! I appreciate your enthusiasm!
I will post Chapter 25 soon, and you shall see how the kingdom will develop.
Theo has obviously changed a lot while growing up. With Emma by his side, helping him in his growing process, his childhood whims and bullying behavior are now almost all gone. Emma will be the future Queen of Largo, and she and Theo will be the rulers. She will play an important part later in Volume II of the story. Volume One will end soon with Theo and Emma getting married.
Volume Two will be about how Theo and Emma rule the Kingdom of Largo after King Aylard's passing, the problems they have to deal with and the people they will encounter. It will also be about Theo's two brothers, Galien and Xavier, whom Theo has promised his father to protect. There will be more twists and turns to this story. Please stay tuned.
Thank you for your continued interest in the story!
Sandie
Reviewed by Miyanna Law
7/30/2022
A great chapter! Sandie, you have a very unique way in storytelling!
So, who has done it? I suspect it has something to do with that young lady whom Baldwin has crashed into on the road while he was on his way to see the soldiers. Either she must have been running away from the scene, or she was in a hurry to go somewhere. I look forward to the next chapter.
A very interesting development of the story indeed!
So intriguing. The plot fills me with questions and that is what keeps the reader's interest. Good for you, Sandie. May you continue to be inspired. Love, peace, and best wishes to you,
A well-developed and well-organized chapter! It captivates me from beginning to end. At times I feel anxious too for both Samuel and Baldwin. I am assuming a big war between the two will happen soon.
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