Bella – Uninvited guests
We were repairing the castle and treating the soldiers when there was a cavalry headed over from the valley. At first it was feared we were under attack again, but it soon became clear that it was only a small bunch of troops heading to the castle. We wondered who they were until they got closer; it was Isaac, Ralph and a group of soldiers heading on their way. Given the way they had helped out during the battle, we weren’t going to be turning them away. We let them into the castle to see what the meaning of the visit was.
“Hello Isaac, Ralph, for what is it I owe this pleasure” I said in a suspicious tone. There was still tension there from what happened with Josh, so I was wary of being too welcoming.
“We’ve been sent by my father to help protect the castle.” He said, which seemed like a very noble deed.
“I’m sure we’ll be quite fine on our own” I said, knowing that, while we were vulnerable, I didn’t want it to be seen that the castle needed help.
“My princess, if any of the other kingdoms attack now, you’d stand no chance” he said. I thought no chance was overstating the case as we were still strong, but he had a point.
I consulted with John about the idea. He told me that we could be okay if we were attacked again, but it wasn’t a risk worth taking. He stated that we should swallow our pride for now and accept them into the case. John was suspicious too. It was seemingly an act of kindness, but an act of kindness between kingdoms was rare. It was an olive branch that we were going to have to accept with trust. The business with Josh always played on my mind however, his lack of appearance hinted that behind the scenes things weren’t as peaceful as they appeared.
John had told me that the Sanyek’s helped fight off the Gattzam from afar with catapults and arrows, and hadn’t been closely embroiled in the battle. Their help was crucial in making the Gattzam retreat, but that they didn’t really get their hands dirty, so to speak.
Isaac, Ralph and the rest of the soldiers were shown into their quarters and a separate part of the castle was made up for them. I instructed guards to keep a watchful eye on them to ensure that everyone in the castle was protected. It wasn’t the most comfortable of environments as the castle was suspicious of having armed guards from another kingdom permanently stationed in the castle.
We discussed strategy and numbers with them to ensure that we were prepared for an attack. We knew that Gattzam wouldn’t be able to attack again for a while, but we needed to counter attack them as soon as we could.
We wondered that the Sanyek’s intentions were, but I was soon to find out. We had a feast on one night and then afterwards, Isaac pulled me to the side to have a private word, between just me and him. I wanted to bring John into the discussion, but Isaac wanted it to just be between me and him.
“We have word that the Gattzam will be ready to attack soon, and also that the Oxerod’s are considering making a move on either this kingdom, or on the Gattzam” he said, I couldn’t figure out how much of what he was telling me was the truth. He was very convincing.
“We need to act now to attack against the Gattzam, before they regain strength” I wondered what he meant by ‘we’, kingdom’s never attack together. It seemed like a strange thing to say.
“Here’s the deal” said Isaac, my heart sank as I knew what was coming wasn’t going to be what I wanted to hear. “We are prepared to use our whole army, in partnership with yours, to eliminate the Gattzam and control their kingdom. What we’d require is for you to give up the control of your army to us Sanyek’s. You’d still be able to live in your castle and have it under your name, but we would have control of all three kingdoms” he said with a smile on his face, as though the deal he was proposing was the best thing that could have happened to us. I didn’t like it, not at all, but I wasn’t going to dismiss it out of hand straight away as I needed to talk to John about what was said, I couldn’t make this decision without him.
“I’ll speak to the general and get back to you” I said, he tried to get me to agree to it right there and then but there was no way I was going that. I immediately sought John’s council on the matter as I took him away from the crowd. I told him was Isaac had proposed that we do and he immediately shook his head before he let me finish speaking.
“What he is proposing is effectively silent surrender” said John, angry at the fact that is was even proposed. We agreed that we were going to reject the proposal, but thoughts then turned to what would happen if we did.
“If they want us to silently surrender, then what will they do if we don’t want to go quietly” I said to John, concerned about their next move.
“Then we’ll go very nosily, and not without a fight” he said, defiant and proud of the castle that he had called home his all life. He wasn’t about to take commands from someone from another kingdom. I agreed, regardless of the consequences, we weren’t going to give away our sovereignty to anyone else. If we did, we’d have no idea what would happen to anyone in the castle. We weren’t going to allow the castle to be ruled by anyone apart from ourselves. John prepared the army for the worse to happen, and any backlash would be controlled. We had no idea how they’d take the rejection, but we couldn’t take any chances.
I told Isaac that we had made a decision and said that I needed to speak with him. I took him into a room with John and he bought Ralph to discuss the matter. I got straight to the point of the matter. “I have decided that we will not be giving up our army, or control of our land” I said confidently, wanting to show my power.
“That is foolish” said Isaac, “There is no way you’ll be able to eliminate the Gattzam on your own” In my head I thought that he may be right, but what was the point of living if you have no freedom? I’d rather die on my feet than live the rest of my life on my knees. I was prepared to do whatever it took for the cause. I was expecting anger from Isaac, but there was only contemplation and confusion at my decision.
“I understand” said Isaac, “I will have to send a messenger to my father to see whether he still wants us to support you at the castle” It was clear to me now why they had come to ‘protect’ us, they had only come to try and make a deal to take over from the castle. They knew that invading us would ring alarm bells throughout the land. A silent invasion wouldn’t do that, and it would grow their empire. I’d wait for the messenger to come back from their castle, but for now we were on our own.
For now Isaac, Ralph and their troops would continue to stay at the castle. The awkwardness of their stay only intensified due to the lack of a deal that just happened between the two kingdoms. The messenger’s arrival the next day would surely not be welcomed with good news. John and I talked about what should be done and whether we should attack, but we thought it would be wise to not make any such moves.