“I am going to find the Chamberlain. I suppose I will have to put up with one, or both, of you dogging my heels wherever I go; to catch me if I stumble, carry me across potholes or shield me from a shooting star with your own bodies. Come!” The Princess laughed and strode off in the direction of the Chamberlain’s suite. Rising easily to his feet and scabbarding his sword, Toad followed a yard or so behind her.
After a minute or so, she slowed her pace so that she was level with the soldier. “Toad,” she said, turning her face towards him, “the Captain, Bull and now the Master of Horse consider you of outstanding prowess in sword and spear and I must, I think, assume that they are knowledgeable in such things, being soldiers themselves. I am curious though. If your prowess be so great, why do you have so many scars? And your ear? Surely only the inept or clumsy would acquire such things?
“Ah, my lady, ‘tis my standing, I fear,” Toad replied. “Once one has acquired a reputation for sword play, the cowardly incursors fear to fight as an elf should, elf to elf. So you have to battle a brace at a time. When you win that fight, it becomes three, then four and so on. Fifteen is the most; when Bull and I were on patrol and some score or more set upon us. It is hard not to buy a scratch or two in such circumstances.” The Princess gasped in awe. “Fifteen!” she exclaimed.
Toad went on: ”I lost half my ear that day to a disarmed brigand who set at me from behind and, having no steel, used his teeth. I have to say it did cause me some pain but I returned it five, ten fold.” Toad smiled at the memory. “He squeeled like a stuck boar as I first removed one leg, then the other, then a forearm, then the other. I allowed him to live some minutes longer while I dispatched his remaining five companions. Then I removed his head; for which I hope he was duly grateful. It was more than he would have done for me and more than he deserved!”
“Was that not too cruel, Toad?” the Princess asked.
“Aye, perhaps. But they pillage and rape and maim and torture the defenceless just for the pleasure of it. And worse have I seen! Sometimes in the heat of battle it is hard to control the anger when you have seen what these, no, not even animals, have done to our people. No, sometimes I wish I were not a soldier but it is what I do best, so......” Toad left the rest of the sentence unfinished. After a lengthy pause, he continued: “Try not to think ill of me, Princess. Needs must in these troubled times.”
“I do not think ill of you, Toad,” she said. “I am glad that you are here to protect me. Bull too. I think that perhaps if I had seen what you have seen, I would act no different.” She traced a long jagged scar on his cheek with the tip of her forefinger and whispered: “Be at peace, Toad, none deserve it more!”
After ten minutes, she arrived at the door to the suite of rooms that made up both the Chamberlain’s offices and his living quarters. She knocked on the open door and went inside. The Chamberlain was sitting at a monumental oaken desk examining a parchment scroll. As the Princess entered, he looked up from the scrolls on the desk and smiled. “Well met, Princess,” he said. “Too long have we been denied your beauty within these walls. I take it you wish to see the King.” The Princess nodded.
The Chamberlain sighed and leaned back in the large leather chair which seemed to be a part of his form and whose great wings seemed to envelop him, like some martial eagle. “I fear this is an ill time for an audience, my lady. Matters of State weigh heavy on the King’s shoulders at this time. The incursors from the Far Reaches make ever bolder and there is prospect of a grain failure in the Southlands. I fear he will have little time for idle chit-chat, even with his daughter.”
The Princess hammered her fist on the desk. “I did not spend two days in the saddle to come here for an idle conversation about the weather. I have come so that he may explain his actions to me. Why he has shown such crass disrespect for my mother’s memory. You will tell him this. You can also tell him that I will camp outside his bedchamber until he does see me!”
The Chamberlain leaned forward again and placed his palms on the desk. “You are clearly a little overwrought, Princess,” he said softly. “I will pass your message on as soon as I may, but please, I beseech you, do not press your suit too hard. These have been trying times, from which you, to the north, have been largely protected. The King has performed wonders in protecting us as much as he has but at a high price. Do not mar such joy as he has been able to garner for himself these past months. It will serve no purpose except to sadden him further.”
The Princess glowered. “I think I am best placed to decide how strong to press. It is my mother we speak of! She was your Queen! Just give him the message and tell him I await his summons!” She turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Nicely done, my lady,” whispered Toad, smiling, as he once more fell in behind her.
The summons, when it came, was much quicker than the Princess had anticipated. She was just finishing her noonday meal when a page knocked at her door and said that the king would see her now. She gathered her shawl from the bed and followed the page down the passageway, Toad and Bull in tow behind her. “Moral support, my lady,” Bull said. “We’re not too sure what this is all about but I could fill buckets with the anxiety you are sweating right now so………” The Princess turned her head. “Thank you, Bull, and you too Toad. Did I not tell the Captain that he had chosen wisely? You are a credit to him and to your fellows! I welcome your support!”
It took more than a quarter of an hour before the page finally showed the Princess into the antechamber before the throne room. Toad and Bull took up station either side of the entrance in the massive hallway outside the antechamber.
To be continued......
The opening lines are especially charming.
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