A company of twenty men rode single file on horseback on the remnants of a road in a wooded forest. Even though the overgrowth had swallowed the road with bushes, grasses, and even some rooting trees. One could still see the outline of the former road, well now more path than a road. The pathway was used primarily as a game trail now by the wild animals in this forest. It was still a better, but much slower, way to navigate the forest. The birds chirped their warning calls, and the sounds seemed to echo endlessly throughout the forest as other birds took up the warning calls, notifying the rest of the inhabitants of their forest that there was a twenty-man incursion into their wooded domain.
The men wore armored black steel; all were uniform in their appearance, with swords and shields holstered onto their backs or sides of their saddles. Each of their shields was painted with a Crystal Dragon clutching a rose. However, among these twenty men, one man was not armored as the others; his armor was polished steel, gilded in gold trim. On his head sat a war crown, a metal steel cap with a thin golden dragon curling around the outside, and underneath the crown was a chain mail coif concealing his dirty blond hair. The eyes of the dragon were green to match the king’s dark green eyes. His chest armor had an engraved image of a dragon clutching a rose, the standard of his house, and his kingdom. The man was High King Danyais Hathat Loudas, master of Castle Rose Claw, protector of Dragon Crest, and the ruler of all Loudas, one of the four great kingdoms in Gawraith. His family’s castle was centralized in Loudas for well over 600 years, giving rise to the largest city in his kingdom, Dragon Crest.
The forest they traveled through was called the Nagian, named after the Brobdingnagian Flower Pines. The flower pines in Nagian, where the king of all trees in Gawraith, larger than any other species of trees and the only trees allowed to grow in this forest as if they themselves declared it by royal decree themselves. Growing at the top of the enormous trees were giant translucent flowers that would expand out during rain or snowfall. The forest was ancient, smelling of rotted and humid vegetation. Giant blue and red pinecones ranging from the size of cats to as big as a man lay scattered around. Limbs fallen from the trees were the size of trees at least a hundred years old in other places and dried crusty sap droplets the size of a horse hugged the bark of several of the trees. Since entering the forest, they had come across some of the sap flows that made it down to the forest floor from the behemoth trees. They saw smaller animals such as birds and rodents ensnared or encased in the amber tar-like sap. To their surprise, they even found larger game animals entombed in the hardened amber, perfectly preserved. If Danyais had the means, he would have ordered them to be cut from the amber and sent back to Dragon Crest to put on display. Regrettably, time was something they did not possess, and the idea of having an exhibition of the many perfectly preserved animals had to be filed away for a later date.
The Brobdingnagian pines stood taller than any castle Danyais had ever seen, including his own. The massive gates of Dragon Crest’s walls were made from these titans of trees, due to the difficulty of the wood to catch on fire. A lot of the older nobles’ homes and the old inner city of Dragon Crest were constructed from these trees. No one knew why the wood was so resistant to fires, but the lack of fires in the Nagian forest would explain why these trees have been able to grow to gargantuan sizes. In contrast, other forests would have to contend with natural fires that would have burned and claimed their larger trees over the course of time.
This forest was once a prized commodity for his kingdom, but a dragon made the Nagian its roost hundreds of years ago. The Dragon, with his harem of dragonesses, forcefully annexed the forest from Loudas. The clutch of dragons protected the forest fiercely, even burning and killing the population outside of the woods. Driving the people away, even venturing further out till one of Danyais’ ancestors treated with the dragons and promised to never let another tree be harvested from their forest ever again. Even after the dragons vanished and with the proclamation lifted, no one dared to venture into the woods. Their greed was kept at bay by the fear of the forest being protected by spirits or the prospect of dragons returning one day.
Danyais scanned the forest with his eyes, looking for a possible attack behind any shrub big enough for a man to hide behind. He knew he did not have to observe such things since the men with him, even though they appeared in a relaxed manner and joking amongst themselves, each scoured the forest with fierce scrutiny. They were his king’s guard and not just his normal king’s guard; some of these men Danyais would consider his family, trusted beyond even some of his advisors in his court, though they were forbidden to speak on political matters unless the matters would impact the throne severely. While others with him now were chosen for their deadly proficiency in weapons and the zealot like-way they would protect the throne of Loudas.
Danyais looked at one of the falling limbs; it was clearly as big as the largest tree he had ever seen until he came here to this forest.
“If a limb falls in a forest, would it make a sound,” Yadu, one of his men, joked, and Danyais chuckled along with the rest of them.
“We know your mother makes all sorts of sounds,” Mansa said, and this time Danyais had to stifle his laughter at the crude but funny joke.
Danyais had his hand over his face, trying to hide his smile as the men were in a fierce battle of words of one-up-manship. Feeling the facial stubble on his face with his ungloved hand, he found being unshaven for twelve days uncomfortable and irritating. He even formed a habit of plucking at the stubble with his fingers lately. I wonder what my girls would think of it, rubbing the stubble with his hand not wearing a glove. The missing glove was tucked into one of the saddle side pockets. Danyais spotted another of the giant limbs that had fallen not too far from the path, the giant needles of the limb still retaining their dark green color. It must of happen recently, raising his hand and pulling the rest of the men behind him to a stop. Several of the men quickly pulled alongside their king with shields raised, forming a protective pocket.
“Be at ease. I just want to collect some of the wood from that limb to make Ari some practice swords with,” Danyais said, leaning back in his saddle and pointing behind one of the men shielding him. A tall man rode up, and the guards around Danyais parted to let him through. The man was Zander, Danyais’ closest friend, and most trusted advisor. Zander was considered a scoundrel according to the nobility in his court, and the king couldn’t even deny it since he knew how his friend was, but when it came to Zander’s loyalty to Danyais, there was no one higher in Danyais’ heart other than his wife and daughter.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Growing up, Zander was skinny and ungainly. In fact, he looked out of place in the armor he now wore. His hair was sandy brown, and his eyes matched. Zander’s entire existence in Danyais’ world seemed out of place to the nobles of his court. Zander was not born a noble. He was the son of a cook serving in the King’s kitchen, and on his cheek were three tattooed lines.
The lines were the mark of a servant bonded to a noble house. The firstborn of every generation was born to servitude. A line would be added for each generation until after seven lines amassed, and then their families would be granted their freedom. When Danyais was young, he was not fully aware of social standings, and he did not understand the cultural doctrines or any of the complicated rights and wrongs of their world. To him, Zander was a friend who took the blame and a beating for stolen sweet pies from the kitchen. Even though Danyais and another one of his friends, Elhanan, were the true culprits. Looking back on the entire thing and knowing how the castle and peerage work, Danyais knew if he had spoken up and assumed responsibility for the sweet thievery, he would not have suffered much for it. However, from Zander suffering in their place, that sweet act of cruelty, a friendship was born.
The three of them ran rampant throughout the castle, getting into all sorts of trouble. When they got caught, Zander was punished, and they were not due to their nobility. It was during these times when King Danyais learned of the class system, and his friend Zander was a slave. None of it mattered to Danyais, even though it was a concern of Zander’s when they got caught in some new scheme. Danyais went to his father, King Ledan, and expressed his concerns about the way Zander was treated and how he did not like it, or the whole concept of servitude in general. Being a doting father and to placate his son from such dangerous thoughts, King Ledan issued a creed throughout the castle of Rose Claw. If Zander was with the prince when mischief struck, he was to be pardoned along with Danyais.
With his newfound immunity, Zander, Elhanan, and Danyais set out on a reign of terror. It did not end until Zander’s mom, Zumi, much like the head executioner, showed no mercy to his friend. Zumi, in her judicial righteousness, punished the entire castle by not making anything sweet for a whole month. Not even his father had the nerve to invade the kitchens when he found out the Queen and his mother-in-law sided with Zumi. It became known as the “Sweets Rebellion” incident. King Ledan seeing how the trio of women outmaneuvered him, began to monitor Zander’s upbringing along with the entire castle. Danyais’ father even made sure Zander was tutored and educated alongside his son in every aspect expected of the prince, although the lessons on mannerism and courtly conduct never seemed to stick. The rambunctious Zander still got into trouble well into his youth, and even now, Zander found ways to cause mischief for King Danyais.
Later in their friendship, Zander proved to be brave when he stepped between Danyais and a poisonous assassin’s blade. For weeks after the failed attack, Zander was sick and on the brink of death. The attempt left a long scar on his right arm. Zander exploited in more ways than one. ‘I just tripped trying to get out of the way,’ Zander often told the story as such. When he found himself in a dispute with Zander, his friend would often nonchalantly rub the area around the scar on his arm, guiltily reminding Danyais of what Zander did for him to secure a better outcome, which as of lately did not work on anything of importance but it still did not stop Zander from trying.
Even long before the assassination attempt, Danyais made his mind up never to treat Zander as a servant. Zander’s heroic act gave Danyais all the precedent he needed to set his family free and raise them to the peerage. Zander’s mom, Zumi, stayed in the kitchens even though she now had the status of a noble lady, and for months the staff grappled with calling her Lady Zumi or Zumi like they all were used to, before she eventually just made them all settle on Zumi. But all knew better than to mess with her. Danyais was afraid that he may have started a precedent with all future head chiefs in the kitchen would be nobles. The entire concept was weird at best, and King Danyais still did not give up on the notion Lady Zumi would one day retire to the village and lands he rewarded Zander with. If such a day came, then Danyais would make many visits to the village for her sweet pies. Zander did not know who his father was, and his mother never spoke on the subject to anyone. It was no doubt a noble who took advantage of Zumi. Danyais’ daughter, Ari, called him uncle and loved to hear the stories of their youth, but often scowled in disbelief at how her father “got” her beloved Uncle Zander in trouble all the time.
“What is going on? Why are we stopped? Dany, I should’ve never talked you into letting me come to this place,” Zander said, guiding his horse to a stop near Danyais.
“As I recalled, I didn’t have to do much convincing. Something about my wife trying to set you up with a certain young lady.” Danyais retorted, causing several of the surrounding men to laugh.
“Really, in front of the men,” Zander said, raising his hands in disbelief.
“What?” Danyais asked, his eyebrows arching.
“You know this lot can’t keep my secrets. They are going to go back to Crest, and someone is going to let it slip that I am engaged,” Zander said. As if realizing what he said aloud, he stood up in his saddle, looked over his shoulder, and announced loudly, “I am not engaged!” Laughter picked up in the ranks as others asked to be filled in on what was going on before adding their own mirth to the situation.
“I know you are not engaged, Zander,” Danyais said, pausing for a brief moment before adding “Yet!” loudly enough to be heard by most people.
“Really!” Zander said, turning his horse around now to face all those behind him. Standing up in his stirrups, “Alright, I want you all to repeat after me. ‘Zander isn’t engaged, betroth, promised, married, or in love with anyone.’” The men were laughing at the absurdity of his demand. “Wait! Hold off on that love part because that can mess me up just as badly. Come on, repeat it now!” By now, several of the men were outright laughing. Yadu, a loyal and portly King’s Guard, was even crying about how his one abdominal muscle hurt and was begging for someone to stab him, to put him out of his misery, causing even more laughter. “I want to make sure you all know that I am not engaged. Yet or otherwise,” Zander miserably pleaded his cause.
“I-I-I am sure they heard you,” Danyais said, barely able to complete his statement before turning his face away from Zander, his cheeks clearly raised in the hilarity of Zander’s words. Zander glared at his friend and kicked Danyais’ foot in the stirrup, forcing the king to look back at him.
“I can use your help here,” Zander said, nonchalantly rubbing his right arm where his scar was. The act of it almost made Danyais want to declare that his abs were about to hurt as well.
“All right, I will ask,” Danyais said, turning his horse around to face his men. He waited for the men to regain some of their composure. With all their laughter, the men were still intently glancing around at their surroundings to make sure they were secure. “Repeat what Lord Zander said.”
The King was not prepared for what followed; it was a hodgepodge of wrong and right responses said aloud. He heard some say that Zander was not engaged. A couple declared he was, others said he had a secret betrothal, and one even said there was a secret marriage because of a love child. But what really threw the whole lot of them into uncontrollable laughter was when Mansa announced to the group, they needed to help get Yadu up from off the ground. He passed out from laughing and fell from his horse.