Unexpected Return, page 16
“I agree with you doctor. But how…?” The King paused in thought for a moment and then turned to Arius. “Arius, could you fly my son back to Wiltshire? The queen would take good care of him. And Dr. Ross is there, too.”
“I would be honored to, your majesty. I will fly him there as soon as he is able. I was informed that Prince James brought Gretchen with him. You will be in good hands while I am gone. I will alert the seekers who remain in Wiltshire of my arrival and they in turn can alert others. I do not want to scare the villagers, the soldiers, or the royal family.”
“May I go in with you to see John, Father? I would like to see my brother.”
“Aye, you are welcome to join me. Please excuse us. I need to see my son.”
King William, James, and Dr. Lange proceeded to leave the small group and entered the King’s tent where they found John awake with much of his upper body covered in bandages.
John attempted to get up and his father put his hand on John’s chest to prevent him from moving.
“You need to stay in bed, son. You have some injuries that will keep you down for a while. Dr. Lange has said you are not to move since you have some broken ribs and a broken arm. I am expecting you to follow his orders.”
“I am sorry, Father. I did not intend to be captured. I have ruined our chances of a peaceful resolution to this problem with King Henry.”
“I am not worried about that right now. You are more important to me and I need to attend to you at the moment. I have asked Arius to take you back to Wiltshire when Dr. Lange says you are up to traveling.”
“No, Father. I want to stay here with you.”
“John, you are not well and would do me no good if you stayed here. I would only worry about you and I need to concentrate on King Henry at the moment. James will be here and will fight alongside me if it comes to that.”
“Father, Arius turned into a dragon. A dragon!” And then he laughed. “Ow, that hurts. He must have scared King Henry to death!”
“He was not the only one who was scared,” James interjected. “You should have seen how quickly this camp grabbed bows and arrows and took their positions. Then, I saw a person sitting on the back of the dragon and Father yelled to everyone to stand down. When we realized it was you, we allowed the dragon to land. You were able to slide off and then Arius changed back into himself. I will never forget that moment.”
“If the presence of a dragon does not deter King Henry from his quest to go to war, then he truly is obsessed and we will need to defeat him in battle. Sir Gregory may still come through for us. Time will tell. Now you rest, son. You do not need to worry about anything right now except letting your body heal.”
“I will stay with him, your majesty, and let you know when I think it is safe for him to travel.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lange. Come, James. We need to let your brother rest.”
CHAPTER 28
BACK IN DORCHESTER
“What just happened?” King Henry yelled. “There was a dragon in my palace! How did it get here? Where did it come from? Why is there a hole in my ceiling? Where are my daughters? I want someone to give me some answers right now!”
“Your majesty, I have soldiers seeking the answers to your questions at this very moment,” Sir Gregory replied. “We have found your daughters and they are coming here as we speak. I think I have an answer to where the dragon came from, but I do not think you will be pleased.”
“Tell me right now if you plan to live any longer!”
“My thought is that the dragon may have been Arius, your majesty.”
“Arius?” Then King Henry laughed. “That old wizard. He is not capable of turning into a dragon. He is no Merlin. Is that your answer? You had better come up with a better explanation and soon!”
“Think about it, your majesty. Who else does magic and would be concerned with the safety of Prince John?”
“Arius?” King Henry repeated his name several times as he was thinking. “You may be right. There are no other wizards in England, especially one who would be looking out for the Prince. So, Arius can become a dragon. That doesn’t change anything! They want us to be frightened of their dragon. Well, we will not be turned into scared little rabbits,” he stated snidely.
“Your majesty, if I may speak.”
“You may not! I want you to gather the army together and be ready to march toward the River Stour by tomorrow. They will not be expecting us! We will have the advantage. We will defeat King William and his army, dragon or no dragon, and then move to take over Wiltshire! We will have victory!”
“Your majesty, your daughters have arrived.”
“I did not request to see them! Get them out of here!”
“But, your majesty, you asked to see them but moments ago.”
“Well, I do not wish to see them now! I must prepare to go into battle! But first, I need food!” Then the King yelled at his servants, “Where are my servants? Will someone bring me some food? All this talk of a pending battle has made me hungry!”
One of his servants cautiously stepped up, “Your majesty, food has been prepared and is awaiting your presence in the Great Hall.”
“Finally! At least someone around here knows how to get something done! Sir Gregory, why are you still standing here? I ordered you to prepare the army! Now leave!”
The Captain bowed to the King, turned and walked out of the room.
As he was leaving, he grabbed his second in command and whispered, “Walk with me.”
Once outside the palace, Sir Gregory stopped, looked around for a private spot to talk, and signaled to his second to follow him.
“What is it that you need, Sir Gregory? Why the secrecy?” Sir Abbot asked.
“Have you noticed how the behavior of the King has deteriorated over the past year? And gotten even worse over the past week?”
“Yes, his thoughts seem to be consumed by King William and what he might find in Wiltshire. But during this past week, he has been acting crazy!”
“I agree. He wants me to assemble the army and be ready to leave tomorrow morning. He wants to leave the protection of the castle and meet King William on the battlefield. I do not know what is in his mind! And now, King William has a dragon, a fire breathing dragon! I truly think the odds are against us and I fear many will die in this battle.”
“I agree, but what can we do? If he orders us to go, we go. He is the King.”
“That is true, but I think if we order the men to stand down, they will do it.”
“The men trust you, Sir Gregory, and if you give that order, they will know it is for a good reason. So, what is your plan?”
“I will amass the army as ordered and we will ride out to meet King William. The King will think he is on his way to a battle. After the soldiers move to their positions, I will give the order to stand down and the men will take a knee indicating they will not fight. I realize this will make the King very angry. As Captain, I will state we feel the King is no longer capable of making rational decisions and needs to be confined in the palace until such time that the palace physician feels he is of sane mind.”
“That is a very bold plan, sir. Do you think it will work? Will there be any in the army who would not follow your orders and continue to follow the King?”
“Aye, there may. But I think that would be very few if any. It is my hope once the majority of the soldiers take a knee they will follow. We must not make anyone aware of this plan for I fear word would get back to the King.”
“You are certainly counting on the loyalty of the men to do as ordered without any prior warnings.”
“That, I am. But there is one more thing. I need you to ride to the River Stour where King William is camped and tell him our plan. If this is to work, his army cannot attack us after I tell our soldiers to stand down. I am asking you to do this as I cannot leave. King Henry would suspect something if I am not here to lead the army.”
“But, sir, his soldiers will try to kill me if I attempt to ride into their camp.”
“Prince John was in the palace to talk to me about establishing peace between our two kingdoms when King Henry saw him. So, I know King William will be awaiting my decision. However, he may not be very happy to see you due to the treatment his son received at the hands of King Henry. You should leave tonight under the cover of darkness. Do not stop for any reason. You must reach King William before our army arrives at the river.”
“I will not let you down, sir. I will take one of the fastest horses and leave by a side gate.”
“God speed to you.”
CHAPTER 29
SIR ABBOT DELIVERS A PLAN
Sir Abbot left Sir Gregory hoping the plan would work and King William would not kill him when he arrived at their camp. He went to the stables and saddled the horse he knew had the stamina to make the trip, grabbed the reins and walked stealthily through the town. He located the side gate but as he tried to open it, he found the gate was locked. He checked the hook beside the gate where the key was kept, but it wasn’t there. It must have fallen off the hook. He searched the grass and bushes near the gate hoping to find it. It had to be there. He kept looking and just when he was about to give up, he saw something shining in the moon light. It was the key! He quickly picked it up and unlocked the gate. Once the gate was open, he maneuvered the horse through the opening and shut it behind him. He continued to walk the horse away from the castle. When he was out of ear shot, he climbed on the horse, gave it a hard kick, and horse and rider took off at a gallop.
Sir Abbot stayed on the road through the night since he figured he would not encounter any travelers. But, as soon as the sun was up, he took to the fields so no one would see him. The only time he stopped was to allow the horse to drink water and give it a short break. Both he and the horse were very tired by the time they neared the River Stour. He wasn’t sure where King William was camped so he followed the river to the north for awhile. When he caught the whiff of fires burning, he knew the camp wasn’t far away. He continued on until he finally located the tents in a small clearing on the other side of the river. He looked for a shallow place to cross the river and then proceeded cautiously at a walk toward the camp. He was halfway across when he heard a soldier yelling to the camp that a rider was approaching. He heard the rustle of soldiers running and then quiet. Since he knew they had seen him, he decided to dismount and walk his horse the rest of the way hoping he would not look intimidating.
As he neared the camp, he was surrounded by several soldiers. He raised his hands in a gesture of peace to show that he meant no harm.
“I request an audience with King William. I have a message for him. I am here at the request of Sir Gregory, the Captain of the Guard for King Henry.” Then he saw the soldiers on one side of him part and noticed King William was approaching.
“Stand down. We have nothing to fear from this man. I have been awaiting word from Sir Gregory and am eager to hear what he has to say.” The King walked over to Sir Abbot. “What is your name and your position?”
“I am called Sir Abbot, your majesty, and I am second in command to Sir Gregory. He has sent me here to deliver a message to you.”
“Please follow me to my tent where we can talk.” The King proceeded to his tent followed by the soldiers who were escorting Sir Abbot.
Upon entering the tent, King William gestured to Sir Abbot to sit on one side of the table. Sir Abbot remained standing until the King was seated and then sat down himself.
“You are here with a message from Sir Gregory so please deliver that message.”
“I must begin with an apology from Sir Gregory to you and your son. King Henry has been possessed by demons and ordered one of his guards to torture your son. Sir Gregory knew it to be against the covenant between our two kingdoms but was afraid of what King Henry might do if his orders were not carried out. He tried his best to spare Prince John from the beatings. But King Henry stepped in and kicked the Prince several times. He is most sorry for that.”
“Prince John is recovering and will heal over time. I cannot forgive King Henry for his treatment of my son, but I accept Sir Gregory’s apology. It has become very clear over the past year that King Henry has lost his mind. That is why Prince John went to Dorchester. He was to talk of this with Sir Gregory in hopes of averting the battle that was to come, save many lives and thus restore peace between our two nations.”
“Your son was successful in his plea and did convince Sir Gregory something needed to be done. This is his plan to which we must have agreement if it is to succeed.”
“I am listening.”
Sir Abbot laid out the plan from beginning to end for King William. He then finished with, “We hope this is agreeable with you and our two kingdoms can again live in peace as we have these many years.”
“Thank you for putting your life at risk to deliver this message. I agree to this plan and to one day restoring peace in England. What will become of King Henry and his daughters when you return to Dorchester?”
“King Henry will no longer sit on the throne and he will be confined for the remainder of his life. He will not be placed in the dungeon and will receive the care befitting a King. His daughters will be able to visit with him but only under guard. His eldest daughter would be next in line to rule the kingdom in his stead.”
“He should live out his life in a dungeon for what he did to my son, but I will respect your wishes. It is important he be kept under guard at all times for his influence may be more widespread than you realize. King Henry can be very charismatic when he needs to be and could deceive his kingdom into believing he is sane and being wrongly persecuted. You must be vigilant as long as he is alive.”
“I have witnessed this first hand many times, your majesty, and know what you say to be true. I will leave you now and return to Dorchester where I will deliver your response to Sir Gregory. We will meet you on the battlefield within the week.”
“Very well. Godspeed to you as you travel back home.”
Sir Abbot bowed out of respect for King William and departed the tent. Once outside, he mounted his horse and galloped toward Dorchester. King William beckoned to the guard at the entrance to the tent.
“Please summon Sir George, Prince James, and Arius to my tent immediately.”
Within minutes, all three were inside the tent.
“Sir George, please assign one of your fastest riders to follow Sir Abbot, at a distance so Sir Abbot is not aware of him. He is not to engage anyone unless it is necessary. His purpose is to ensure Sir Abbot arrives in Dorchester without incident. After you have done so, please return to my tent so I may present our new battle plan.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Arius, I think John should be able to travel and I need you to take him back to Wiltshire where he can continue to recover from his injuries. Dr. Ross is there and will be able to attend to him. I have sent a messenger to the Queen to inform her of your new appearance in case your message to the seekers did not get through. She in turn can warn the kingdom of your arrival. After you have seen to it that John is safely home, I need you to return. We will be meeting King Henry’s army on the battlefield within the week. I will explain everything upon your return.”
“If that is what your majesty wishes, then I will do as you command. I have sent word to the seekers who remain in Wiltshire that I will be arriving with Prince John and that I will be a dragon. I told them I would explain later. I also told them that it was imperative they alert the soldiers. I would not appreciate seeing arrows whizzing by me upon my arrival.”
“Thank you, Arius. Now that we have each sent messages, there should be no problems once you arrive at the castle. James, you will assist Arius and travel with your brother.”
“What? Me? But, Father…. Ride on the back of a dragon? How does one do that?”
“By holding on, I assume. James, I need you to hold John so he does not fall off of Arius on the flight.”
“What is to keep me from falling off? We have many soldiers here who are more capable and stronger than I am. Assign one of them to this task.”
“I am asking you to do this. You may return with Arius and I will explain everything then. Now, you two are dismissed.”
“Aye, Father. But I am not happy about this.”
“Understood.”
Arius and James left to prepare John for the flight home.
CHAPTER 30
IT’S NOT EASY TO RIDE A DRAGON
“John, we are taking you home. Arius is waiting outside. And yes, he has changed into a dragon, and yes, Father has asked that I accompany you.”
“What?” John exclaimed as he tried to sit up in the bed. “Oh, that hurts.”
“Here, let me help you.” James reached over and helped his brother achieve a sitting position.
“I can hardly sit up much less ride a dragon. What is Father thinking?”
“Not sure right now. I have been advised there is a new battle plan of which I am not aware but will learn more upon my return. That means I am privileged to be able to ride Arius twice!”
“Well, I certainly do not envy you for that. How are we to both ride on his back?”
“We did not have much time, but some of the soldiers and I were able to devise a sort of harness to hold you in place. We cannot have you falling off now, can we? We fashioned it out of some tent material and whatever else we could find. It was hard to get enough of anything to go around that large belly on the dragon! Arius declared he would have come up with something more substantial had he been given more time.”
“Little brother, you surprise me sometimes. But remember, I can still get the better of you, not now of course, but when I am recovered.”
