My wife nodded, a serious expression on her face. “Yes. I’m ashamed to admit that I was unable to see them directly, but they waved the banner of House Ferdinatto. Two knights clad in silver armor cut enemy troops in half.”
“It sounds too absurd to even be a heroic tale. Fighting in full-body armor is no mean feat, and a single cavalryman riding into a group of a thousand knights is a suicide mission. Yelenetta’s forces numbered in the tens of thousands…” I let out a breath. “This is only conjecture, but I don’t believe that those two knights were human.”
My wife cast her gaze down, her expression darkening with guilt. “Long ago, Arte put on a display of her magic for me by controlling a marionette. At the time, I was furious that she showed aptitude for marionette magic, which is considered so vile. I ended up yelling at her…” She trailed off, biting her lip and looking out the window as she tried to fight back tears.
“When I first met Baron Van,” I said quietly, “he rebuked me harshly. He said that the wounds on Arte’s heart would never completely heal, but that they could still be treated. He wanted me to open my ears and truly listen to what she had to say. It might be too late, but if you truly wish to apologize to Arte as her mother, then I would be willing to take you to Seatoh Village one day.” I turned around as I said these words to find my wife quietly sobbing.
At long last I finished building the additional housing and the park. We didn’t have enough books yet so I put the library on the backburner, but I did manage to complete the two-story school and hospital. Oh, and while I was building all of that, Seatoh Village’s lone carpenter actually built a house all by himself; it was nice, pretty cozy. At that pace, he’d be able to build a house every two months. His skills would only improve as he continued to build, and eventually more people would seek his talent.
We already had farmland, businesses, blacksmiths, inns, and restaurants. The adventurers could get us timber, stone, and metals. Soon we’d be able to hire folks as educators, doctors, and nurses. We still didn’t have any seamstresses, but that wouldn’t be the case for long.
Sitting on one of the benches in the new park, I whispered, “Man, Seatoh Village has really become something else.”
“Did you say something, Lord Van?” Khamsin asked from a short distance away. He must have seen me whispering. I raised my head and watched him swing back and forth on one of the swings I’d crafted; he was moving pretty energetically.
It was his first time using a swing, so he must’ve been having a grand old time. Arte, too, looked like she was having a blast, gently swinging back and forth. And for the record, Till was watching them with clear jealousy in her eyes. She had recently turned nineteen, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to play.
I suppose it isn’t that crazy to want to go back to a more innocent time, I mused, eyeing the three of them.
We were interrupted by a youngster from the Chivalric Order, coming over from the front gates to report in. “Lord Van! A bunch of Chivalric Orders have… Whoa! What is all of this?!”
“Oh, His Majesty is here? I suppose that makes sense. The faster we get back to invading Yelenetta, the better.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Lord Van, um, I’m fairly sure this garden wasn’t here before. Also, what are those…?”
“Hmm?” I asked, briefly puzzled to hear him call a park with a playground a ‘garden.’ “Oh, the playground equipment? Just so you know, those are only for kids. Nobody over eighteen is allowed to touch them.”
This shocked Till for some reason. She and the young man both looked as if I’d just told them the world was ending. I smirked and quickly modified my rules.
“Okay, fine. Nobody over nineteen. Twenty and ups are forbidden, okay?”
“Awesome!” said the messenger, just as Till said, “Thank goodness!” Their eyes sparkled as they cheered. I guess I should be happy they’re happy?
“Ah, right,” I said, sitting up from the bench, “I totally forgot: we have visitors.”
This had the effect of snapping the messenger back to reality too. He nodded. “Right! There are at least a few thousand men, potentially even as many as ten thousand!”
“Whew, that’s a ton of people.”
I had Arte and Khamsin stop swinging for the moment so that we could all make our way to the gates. Arte, Khamsin, and Till all looked terribly reluctant to leave the swings behind, but I just smiled at them. As we arrived, I quickly spotted His Majesty’s personal carriage.
“Ooh, Baron Van! Long time no see! Or I suppose not really!”
“Welcome, Your Majesty. I am glad to see you in good health.”
The king descended jovially from his carriage. The horseback knights looked no worse for wear, but the infantrymen around him looked exhausted. It must have been a fast-paced march.
Noticing my gaze, His Majesty smiled and jerked his chin at his soldiers. “We will be departing from Seatoh Village in about two weeks. Until then, I would appreciate it if you could let my elite Royal Chivalric Order rest. At the rear are other Chivalric Orders who joined us en route. You would have my gratitude if you could also offer them somewhere to rest. Additionally, the amount of food they will require will not be insignificant. Do you have reserves?”
“Yes, that won’t pose a problem. I estimated that we might storm Yelenetta in less than two weeks, so I have more than enough food to go around.”
He squinted at me, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “Hoh. And why is that?”
“Huh? I mean, we invaded enemy territory and took one of their important strongholds,” I explained casually, “so obviously they’ll want to take it back as soon as possible. For our part, as the attackers, we’ll want to get as far into enemy territory as possible before they give up on retaking the stronghold and retreat to a defensive position. I figured you might stay here in Seatoh Village while you reassemble the royal military. I also anticipated that you might draft local farmers and offer them rewards if it meant increasing the amount of time you can spend on this invasion, as much as I’d feel bad for those folks. Time is of the essence, after all.”
His Majesty offered me a strange look, like he was trying not to show his delight. Did I mess up somewhere? I thought, feeling growing concern as I observed him. I’m not even ten yet; please forgive me if I said something stupid.
Finally, he laughed loudly. “What child thinks like this? You have a tremendous mind for strategy. That being said, you still lack real experience. You are correct that one possible tactic would be to invade Yelenetta with an overwhelming force before they have time to react. However, engaging in repeated battles with tens of thousands of soldiers is unrealistic for both sides, especially when you have to pass through the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range first.”
I nodded. “I see. I suppose that many soldiers would make it difficult.” The stress from that kind of long campaign would be intense, a factor His Majesty had clearly considered.