| Subject: Oh, well I'm glad she's feeling better. OK, I'm trying this once more. If it crashes again, I don't know what I'm going to do. Throwing the blasted computer into the pool would be a start. :) Inside (hopefully) |
Author:
Tacroy Bladefire
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Date Posted: 22:26:35 08/18/03 Mon
In reply to:
Vi
's message, "I would, but she's not letting anyone in her room. I have to use Daddy's laptop to type this. Oh, and instead of leaving tomorrow morning, we're leaving tonight. Big sis is feeling a little better now. She rented a bunch of scary videos and made herself sick on popcorn." on 20:47:27 08/18/03 Mon
There came a nervous ripple of movement from the courtiers and Edward's piercing gaze swept from his High Commander, to the Lords and Ladies of the Court. "Please sit," said Edward. gesturing with his hand. Almost hesitantly they did so, shooting nervous glances at their King. His tone had been much graver than normal, and his eyes sparked with worry.
"As you all know, the Wood Baron has been giving us trouble recently. Unlike the towns of Trisc and Glan, the Wood Baron's town, Brid, is quite self sustaining. It is a fishing town, located on the banks of the Losarch river and although the river water isn't the cleanest, it provides the citizens with water to drink and fish to catch and eat. This is so much more than the towns of Trisc or Glan have."
"Glan is under control from the Steel Baron, a good man in his own way, but ruler of an extremely poor town. Glan is a farming settlement, but this vicious and early winter has totally devastated their meager harvest. It lacks workers and the few citizens who squat in their meager hovels starve to death, if the cold doesn't kill them first. The Steel Baron's barely extinguishing a mass revolt through the few troops I can spare to aid him."
"Trisc is even worse off. A mining town can only do so much to support itself, when the items produced from the ore cannot be sold. A person freezing out on the streets, begging for food, cannot afford to buy brass fire tongs or silver kettles. Even the raw ore itself doesn't fetch a high price. The Bronze Baron's threating to resign. The crime rate in Trisc is nearing that of Lurk's and he's faced no less than seven assasination attempts. I do all that I can to support him, though heaven knows it's not enough, and for all the good it's doing, sometimes I even wonder why I bother."
"The Wood Baron harvests a surplus of fish almost every day. These he stores in the depths of his city supposedly for harder times. But things can't worsen much more, except for the total ruin of Herigon city. Unless the gates of H*ll themselves swing open, we are almost at the bottom of this slide we were shoved down. The only way to get out of this rut we are lodged in is to work together, otherwise, we'll did down the remainder of the way, and Herigon will topple into ruin before our very eyes."
"I asked the Wood Baron if he could send whatever fish he could spare to the suffering towns. I made it clear that it didn't have to be a lot. Every little bit helps." Edward paused before continuing. "I recieved no reply. Thinking that there had been some error, I sent a second horseman, to Brid with my request. The Wood Baron gave me no anwser."
"Enraged, I ordered him to turn over whatever excess fish he had, or I'd consider it treason and he'd have to face the consequences. But, it was an empty threat. Both him and I knew that I didn't have the will or the power to march across the country and arrest him and that made him bolder. I recieved a reply, but quite a shockingly insolent one." Edward gestured for a guard to approach the throne, and the King snatched a scroll from his hands. Unrolling it angrily, Edward read through gritted teeth.
"To the King of Herigon, Edward II,
Let it be known that your demand for food was a tyranical request and I will not go along with it. Count it as an act of treason if you wish, but survival has become a one player game and I'm, winning.
Signed,
the Wood Baron of Brid."
The disgust in the King's voice was evident as he finished reading and re-rolled the scroll, handing it back to his guard. Everyone sat staring at the King in a shocked silence, riveted to the spot by the boldness of the Wood Baron.
"Treason!" spat Japal suddenly. "Open treason!" Edward nodded sadly. "Let me go and get him!" snarled both Japal and Reggis at the same time. They whirled around to face each other, glaring fiercely and the Courtiers shifted uneasily, but Edward just shook his head.
"No Japal, no Reggis. Although I harbor no doubt that you both could accomplish the neccesary but regretable task of killing the Wood Baron, that might just make things worse. Brid would revolt. It's citizens would come marching over here, with some newly appointed leader who would use the assaisination of the Wood Baron as an excuse to overthrow Herigon. We can't have another war! That must be avoided at all costs!"
"I sent the Embric to Brid, to try and work out a deal with the Wood Baron, to soothe things over. That was two months ago. I haven't recieved a single message or report from him, though I've sent no less that ten horsemen, and five fairly skilled mages to try and reach him. He is definately in Brid. My second highest mage Trezicalr, is able to detect a strong magical aura over the town. My High Mage is in the City. The Wood Baron doesn't have the strength to hold him hostage against his will, the Embric's powers are too great. I know he's there, unharmed, but what he's playing at is far beyond me. Something's not right! There is no logical reason why he shouldn't be contacting me!"
"I agree," said Philip, clasping his hands over the pommel of his sword. "Something's up." Edward turned and flashed his son a quick, grateful smile. Ever since his mother Catherine had died, Philip had become withdrawn and surly and it was rare that he agreed with jis father on anything. He too must have realized how unusual and serious the situation had become, thought Edward grimly. Many of the Courtiers nodded in agreement.
"What do we do sire?" asked a woman who was clutching the edge of the bench so hard that her knuckles were slowly turning white.
Edward sighed. "There's not a lot I can do. High Commander, when this Court is over, I want you to dispatch one last messanger to Brid. We'll wait two more weeks, for an answer, and then...then I might have to leave Herigon and travel to Brid to sort this whole thing out." The Courtiers stared at each other in alarm and Japal and Reggis stared at each other grimly. No news from the Embric wasn't a good sign and trouble would come of it. Of that, they were sure.
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