Author's Note:

This chapter is updated as of 16/5/16. Hope you enjoy the additional information. I'll be trying to beef up the rest of the chapters as well!

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            Sir Wilbur called all the youths of the town, even those that hadn't gone into the tower, to his supper table that night. He had his cook, Shannara, who was also Shandra's mother, make a feast for them. An entire spiken was cooked, dressed, and then repositioned so that it looked almost lifelike. Shandra's mother was a clear indication of where Shandra got her… eccentric inclinations from.

           The spiken's thick, sweet legs were posed so it looked like it was resting on them, poised to leap. It wasn't, which was demonstrated when Sir Wilbur took one and cracked it open without disturbing what remained of the sculpture. The legs rested in a thick green sauce that had been artfully designed to look like the forest floor, complete with tiny nuts which looked like insects and insects that looked like nuts. The insects had a creamy texture and tasted like chocolate, no one had ever gotten sick from eating them except for Francis, that one time five years ago or so, but everyone knew he had a weak stomach. Powdered crocalyal shell, which tasted like powered sugar but was tough on the stomach, if you weren't used to it, had been used to give the illusion of spiken webs.

            Shandra's mother was known for her food sculptures. Given the slightest excuse she would create whole bizarre, fantastical stories about them. Compared to Lizzy's last birthday, what she had done for dinner was tame. Lizzy's birthday had featured dargons of almost every color: blue, brown, grey, black, green, orange, purple and white. One was even rainbow colored and made to sparkle with iridescent scartle shells. The piece had centered around three dargon flights fighting for dominance over the table. It had been quite the achievement and everyone had regretted the need to eat it. Sir Wilbur let her do what she wanted because she was a fantastic cook.

            The second main dish was sculpted to look like a kraken enveloping a ship in its tentacles. The kraken's part was played by a land octopus. Which unsurprisingly looked very similar to an ocean octopus, but tended to be more goopy and was venomous if not properly prepared. As it cooked, the spines leaked their poison back into the creature, tenderizing the meat. The meat then had to be cooked for an additional twelve solid hours to bake out all of the poison. Since it was Sir Wilbur's favorite dish, he considered the extra time and expense well worth it.

            The ship was made from stacked cuts of cowbra meat. Domestic cowbra, of course, not even the people of Pode were dumb enough to tangle with the wild red, brown or black cowbra which were both venomous and poisonous. The domestic cowbra resembled a snake that could be milked and had legs. It's white scaled hide had great black splotches on it, making it completely incompatible with the vivid colors of the woods and unable to survive in the wild Skógur Forest. When threatened, it tended to coil in on itself, trying to hide it's vitals. It was also dumber than a box of lifeless bricks and didn't perceive a threat until something started eating it. They had been known to drown in the rain, looking up with mouths open at whatever was hitting them on the head. Sir Wilbur had lost an entire herd of them once because a wild cowbra slithered into a pen and ate three of them before the rest knew there was a problem and started making their crooning hissing cries of distress. Not that anyone could stop the creature, they just had to wait for it to leave and hope it left to full too look for any additional snacks.

            The waves that both the ship and kraken rested in were made from whipped cowbra milk, sweetened with crocalyal powder. The waves had been dyed blue by using froten eggs and purple by using froten tadpoles. Tiny figures made out of tree slime were clutched in the tentacles of the kraken.

            The final dish was considerably tamer, though massively more inappropriate, than the other two. It was a simple lamb dish made to look like a small town being overrun by lizard folk. The lamb's organs had been candied to look like little fires around the town. When Sir Wilbur saw it come out, a frown had struggled with his mustache before he turned to Shannara with a smile. "You've outdone yourself once again!"

            Shannara grinned, squeezing her hands behind her back, "I'm glad you like it. I feel like I might have gone a bit overboard this time, but when the inspiration strikes… there is nothing I can do about that."

            Sir Wilbur had smiled and thanked her, sighing inwardly. She says that every dinner, but I've never seen her even try to plate dinner in what could be considered a normal fashion. His eyes had lingered on the flaming town, so much like his own. It's delicious; she's probably just upset about Shandra leaving.

            After much of the group had finished eating their delicious and strange meal, Sir Wilbur stood up and began to address the group, "My thanks to the group of the hour. Without your help, not only would we still be under the shadow of that dark tower, but Chanceux would have been lost with the others."

            Katrina wiped her eyes surreptitiously. The family had known he was probably dead, but it was one thing to infer his death from his continued absence and another thing to have only one member of the group be brought back alive. Without her father to care for the family, they would be hard pressed to withstand the coming months.

            It was a good thing the town was so close knit. The community would rally together and help each other survive until Katrina's siblings grew large enough to help sustain their family. I wish I could stay with them. They need my help. What if one of the little ones gets sick? Katrina wasn't normally one to indulge in her fears, but she had never had to worry about her family before. Her father had been a strong, steady, secure man and she had never feared that he would allow bad things to happen to her mother or siblings.

            "However, Cole tells me that the tower has not been completely cleansed from the land. Having this danger lurking over us makes it imperative that we send a delegation to inform the king." Sir Wilbur folded his hands, "Even if the tower were not still a threat we would have to report it to the king in Capita. It is not a good sign of the state of the realm when the undead begin to encroach."

            Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Broden continued to masticate his cowbra steak, the juices dribbled out of the corners of his mouth into his beard. He was largely there for the food, it wasn't often that he bothered cooking his own food. Delicious…

            Kegar squared his shoulders. Even though it means going into a large city, if I'm ever going to demonstrate that I'll make a good lord, I need to take this responsibility. He hadn't heard about the draft.

            "Also, Percival and Francis returned from Capita this morning. Percival has brought me word from the king. It is something you are all required to hear." Sir Wilbur sat back in his chair and gestured to Percival who stood. "Please, skip the formalities."

            Percival nodded. His eyes scanned the document for a moment before beginning, "Sir Wilbur... as a peer of the realm... you must send a levy of soldiers to defend Capita... all the militia... in fact, all adults, including common women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-seven, excepting if they have children... even singletons must report... as well as a representative of your person." He scanned the document for a moment, "Members will be compensated according to their contribution at such a time that it may be made available... His royal highness... etc." Percival sat down.

            Ellen listened in shock. In spite of how she struggled to remain calm, horror crept into her eyes. The others were too young to understand the necessity of those exceptions. Things must be truly dire if they aren't giving exceptions! Those exceptions were how a country maintained its food supply during a war. With that declaration, the king had told the entire country that they were beset so strongly that they would be better off starving in winter. For without hands in the fields, they would be starving in the coming winter.

            Silence permeated the room. Katrina used Finos' hanky to wipe her eyes before handing it back to him, "Excuse me, my lord. But if we all go to war, who will till the fields?" She glanced to where Ellen was seated, "Who will prevent the strange beasts from killing the sheep? Or mating with the chickens?"

            "As in any war time, some will make sacrifices to the kingdom. While you are away, there will be a group effort to come together and set things to rights." Sir Wilbur rose again, "For myself, I would love to go and fight for my kingdom, but I am getting long in the tooth. So I have chosen to send my soon-to-be grandson Kegar in my stead." I can only hope that Kegar will leave and, on the journey, find someone else in the chaos of the world or perhaps with Kegar far away, Lizzy will move on to someone more considerate and more acceptable.

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            "Sir!" Kegar stood, eyes bright with unshed, manly tears. I didn't know he felt that way... I always felt like I would have to elope with Lizzy... He thought about the bag he had told Lizzy to pack. I guess we won't need to run away.

            Lizzy smiled looking at Kegar. That is, she smiled until she realized that Kegar was going to be her grandfather's representative, not her.

            "Kegar, you have always been like a son to me." A disobedient, headstrong, arrogant son, he thought. "I am honored to have you marry my granddaughter." He took Elizabeth and Kegar's hands and joined them, "Even if you are a dwarf!"

            "Am I not worthy of going?" Lizzy looked at her grandfather.

            "Lizzy, you are worthy of many things. Unfortunately, we live in a world where it is better to be a man and a dwarf than a woman and a human. Though it is only slightly better, and only better in certain situations." He looked around at the other women at the table and sighed, "Ladies. Your femininity does not save you from the draft. The lords are aware enough to realize that common women can fight. They do not however recognize a woman's sovereign right over herself." He sighed again, "It would be better for your sakes if Kegar was not a dwarf. But he is. Even so, he is a worthy man, one I put my complete faith in. He will lead you well." Sir Wilbur poured confidence into his words. Please follow him, please believe in him.

            Each of them would be going off to war on the king's command. Some of them - those unconsumed by duty - knew they could have shrugged off the king's command. He was far away and his most intimate moment was sending his tax collector to hassle their parents. Sir Wilbur was different. His calm regard weighed on them. Even the most self-serving and disobedient among them would be hard pressed to willfully disappoint Sir Wilbur.

            A collected mental sigh went up from them. They were headed for war.

            The next morning, after they had said goodbye to their families, kissed their mothers, hugged their siblings and been pulled into hearty bear hugs by their fathers - with the exception of Katrina - they stood before Sir Wilbur who personally gave each of them a finely crafted weapon.

            The majority of the weapons had been made by Ellen. Sir Wilbur hadn't known this was coming, exactly. But he had been good friends with King Tiranious a long time ago and they still exchanged letters nearly every time Francis came into Pode. He had heard a few details here and there, but he had seriously begun stockpiling weapons after his son had died during the dwarven betrayal.

            Many of these weapons were crafted from the most dangerous creatures in Skógur Forest. They were stronger than non-magical steel, they wouldn't break for a long time which was exactly what this group of inexperienced adventurers needed to help them along. The poisons had long since dried up, of course, and even if they hadn't the poisons wouldn't last more than a strike or two.

            What Sir Wilbur didn't know, was that Percival had been buying and stockpiling the interesting Skógur venoms. Ellen had made a tiny fortune off the lad. Over the years of traveling with his father, Percival had invested in a few magical items, one of which was a small box that was bigger on the inside. Anything he put in there was frozen in time, so even though some of the poisons he had purchased were over ten years old, they were as fresh as the day he had purchased them.

            Once the weapons were distributed, the group started the weeklong journey eastward to Capita. As the days passed they fell into a routine and became increasingly annoyed with one another. As the sun set on the fourth day Kegar realized they were being followed.

            He called his animal companion over to him. The two conferred for a moment. Kegar with whispers and Köttur with hushed mmmers of a grumbling large feline, before Köttur eventually stalked off.

            Not long after, there was a shriek and Köttur appeared with Lizzy in his mouth, "Lizzy?" Percival followed behind at a slow jog.

            Faute exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you are no longer willing to let your man do your job for you!"

            The long list of things that Lizzy had expected people to say when they finally knew she was following them had not included righteous indignation and accusations of cowardice. "What?"

            Kegar looked at Faute for a moment in horror before turning to his betrothed, "What are you doing here? You could be hurt!"

            Lizzy was trying to look dignified, which was difficult given her position in Köttur's mouth, "I couldn't stay away knowing you could be hurt and I did nothing! Anyway, the king requested all the able bodied youths. It would be remiss of me, both as one such youth and as the grand daughter of Sir Wilbur to not come."

            "I will take you back myself!"

            "And forfeit your responsibility?"

            Kegar's jaw clenched, "Very well. I will find someone in Capita to take you back."

            Percival stepped forward. "Kegar, did you stop to think why I was with her?"

            Kegar was taken aback, "What? No..." He looked from one to the other, "Why are you with her?"

            Percival shrugged and leaned against a tree, "Because Sir Wilbur didn't have a problem with her coming. The Captia lords won't let her lead the levee because she is a woman, but that doesn't mean she is any less able. Sir Wilbur hired me to be her bodyguard. But he also knew you would protest to her coming, so we were to follow behind until it was too late for her to be returned to Pode." He shrugged, "I suppose it is too late now."

            Katrina watched the exchange with Broden. She signed to him, "There is so much honor here, it is a wonder they can move with it stuck up their asses."

            Broden signed back, "They let their honor get in the way."

            "Of what? Their relationship?"

            "Killing."

            Katrina laughed, replying aloud, "You said it Broden!" She slapped him on the back.

            The rest of the group looked over at Katrina and Broden. Broden had obviously said nothing, though he seemed to be laughing in a grunting sort of way. This, on the whole, confused them. Ellen watched the exchange with interest. She had long known that Katrina could communicate with Broden in a way no one else could, though Ellen was one of the few that understood Broden wasn't deaf and could understand when people made requests of him. Some of the others began thinking that maybe Broden could be communicated with. Others, though they were in the minority, thought Katrina must be crazy because clearly if there was a way to speak to the fool they would have already discovered it.

            The rest of the trip was uneventful. With the exception of Cole pulling Katrina aside to talk.

            "You shouldn't lead him on."

            "Cole, I have no idea what you are talking about, let alone who."

            "Broden, he obviously cares for you, but you are already betrothed."

            "First off, I'm not betrothed. I turned you down. Which makes this none of your damn business. Second, I will not abandon my friend just because it makes you feel insecure about something you don't have. Third, he likes someone else. We are just friends, something we can be since we both know the same language."

            "Broden doesn't speak."

            "Yeah, and he is illiterate too." She held up her hands, "We talk with our hands and our bodies."

            Katrina was talking about the complex language of flexing ones muscles and gestures that she and Broden had come up with. People constantly underestimated their intelligence. Cole, who didn't really pay attention to what they did, hadn't noticed it. He had really only noticed the amount of time she spent in Broden's company rather than his.

            "Next I'm sure you'll tell me to spend less time with Ellen, Mary and Strozazand. I have friends and who they are isn't your concern."

            "Your mother made it my concern."

            Katrina glared at him, "If you want to be in my family so bad, go home and marry my mother, but leave me out of your delusions." Katrina rode off to chat with Mary.

            Cole sat glumly on his mule. He wasn't delusional. He wouldn't give up on their parents dream for them. Unfortunately, Katrina was unwilling to talk to him for the rest of the evening and in the morning they saw the gates of Capita.