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Palace servants woke the group shortly after sunrise the next morning and informed them that the King had requested that they join him for breakfast. They agreed and were soon seated in the same positions as the night before.
“Good morning,” the King offered. “Please have something to eat.”
Plates were filled, mugs of coffee steamed and Tink chewed noisily.
“Your Majesty,” Bob began.
“Please, Magician,” the King interrupted with a smile, “kindly hold any continuation of last nights conversation until after I have had a chance to eat. You put me off my meal last night and I fear that if you continue, it may happen again and I am starving. Please allow me the chance to enjoy my meal, if you please.”
“Of course, your Majesty,” Bob returned the smile and turned his attention to his own meal.
The King asked many questions of the group as they ate, wondering where they grew up and their backgrounds. He listened with rapt attention to the tale of how the group came to be traveling together. After many stories, and more food, the King leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh and patted his stomach.
“If you are now ready to continue our discussion?” Bob asked.
“We can wait until Tink has concluded her meal, the King protested.
Bob looked at the elf who had just filled her plate for the fourth time.
“I’m afraid we don’t have that amount of time,” Bob said. “If we were to allow it, Tink would have your staff so busy with her breakfast that they wouldn’t have time to prepare your dinner.”
Tink nodded as she reached for a loaf of bread.
“In that case,” the King began, “I have a boon to ask of you.”
“Boon?” Tink asked, spraying bread crumbs, “What the hell is a boon?”
“I think it’s a bird,” Lilly told her. “Big thing, lives by marshes.”
“That’s a loon,” Sam corrected her grandmother, “The King is asking us for a favor.”
“Then why didn’t he just say so?” Tink demanded.
“He did, Tink,” Bob told her. “Please continue, your Majesty.”
“I formally request your assistance in the protection of my kingdom, as well as my person, from what would seem to be an imminent attack.”
Bob and Sam exchanged looks, silently informing each other that their positions had not changes with the new day.
“We discussed this last night after you went to bed, your Highness,” Sam informed the King. “We were mostly in agreement that we would offer such assistance.”
“Mostly?” asked the King, one eyebrow raised.
“Unanimously,” stated Lilly, drawing smiles from the other three.
“You have no idea how grateful I am,” the King sighed, visibly deflating. “I seriously had no idea what the hell I was going to do.”
Bob blinked in surprise. The King noted his shocked expression and chuckled.
“It may surprise you to know that underneath the crown sits a man like any other,” he told them, “subject to the same emotions, fallacies and, on occasion, expressions as any other. So first things first, lets dispense with all this ‘your highness, your majesty’ bullshit. Call me Ronald.”
“Um… Yes, sir.” Bob stammered, deliberately avoiding the honorific, but unable to keep the deferential tone from his voice. “If I may, are you trying to tell us that you were unable to form any kind of plan to protect your kingdom?”
“My mind raced most of the night,” the King confessed, “but for all its racing, it got nowhere. I am open to suggestions. In fact, I am hoping for suggestions.”
The group exchanged uneasy glances. They had agreed, but they had not considered any possible solutions.
“We defined the problems last night,” Sam said. “Now we just need to find solutions for those problems. So, the first problem; the enemy has an army, you don’t.”
“As I see it,” Lilly said, “the only way to get an army on short notice is to recruit your citizens. Either that, or hire one. But I hate hiring armies; they will turn their back on you for a higher bidder.”
“That would bring us to problem two,” the King said. “The citizens hate me.”
“That’s because they have no food or money,” Tink said around a mouthful of food. “You have it all.”
“That could be accurate,” the King nodded. “I left the Chancellor in charge of the treasury so long ago, I really don’t know the state of the kingdoms finances.”
“I would place that on the list of problems to be solved,” Bob said. “Unfortunately, I can offer no assistance in the matters of finance, having no experience. Do you have any others in your employ that may be able to take over those duties?”
“I checked before breakfast,” the King answered. “It appears that those working in the treasury under the Chancellor have either departed with him, or left because they knew what was coming. In either case, the answer to your question is no.”
Bob looked at Sam, who shook her head.
“Don’t look at me,” Lilly answered before she could be asked. “Until last night, I’ve never had enough money to keep track of.”
Bob looked at Tink, who was focusing on her plate, not meeting his eye.
“The finances will just have to wait,” the King stated, “at least until the current crisis is over.”
“I do not believe that we will be able to weather the current crisis without dealing with the finances,” Bob countered. “In order to secure the loyalty of the populace, you will have to provide them with food and tax rebates. Otherwise, they may not see that they have anything to fight for.”
“Then what am I to do?” The King exploded, throwing his hands above his head. “I cant fight for my kingdom without money, and I cant take the time to find a financier because of the coming fight!”
Tink sighed, deeply.
“Hang on a minute, Ronny,” she said. “I’ll take care of the budget and the tax rebates.”
There was a stunned silence as all eyes focused on the elf. She met their stares defensively.
“What?” she demanded. “Before I met Sam, I was forced by my father to be educated. I did exceptionally well at accounting, so that is what I studied. It was easiest. Then Father put me to work as an accountant, which is why I wound up running off and meeting up with Sam.”
“Well,” Bob broke the silence, “yet another astoundingly useful skill from our diminutive friend. My dear Tink, you are a constant source of amazement.”
Now that the cat’s out of the bag,” Tink answered, blushing, “why don’t you get someone to show me to the treasury? I hope that miserable snake kept books.”
She stuffed one last fistful of food in her mouth, and hopped from her chair.
“By the way,” she said, smiling at Bob, “My name is from the sound of coins, not bones.”
“Based on Tink’s revelation,” Bob announced, “I now have a plan. Tink, see how much the treasury can afford to hand out as a tax rebate, but keep in mind we have to fund an army as well. King Ronald, you will announce a proclamation for tomorrow. There you will announce that the food stores are open immediately, and a tax rebate is forthcoming. You will also announce the formation of an army.”
“What can I do?” Lilly asked.
“Protect the King.” Bob ordered. “You are now his personal body guard until we can obtain some loyal troops to do the job. I shall be in charge of gathering intelligence information regarding the movements of our adversaries through both traditional means, as well as magical divination. Samantha, please see if you can find some persons gifted in the art of stealth.”
There was silence as everyone evaluated Bobs plan.
“I don’t hear any objections,” the King stated, “so I will send messengers to every town square to post notices that the kingdom is to gather in the courtyard tomorrow morning for a proclamation. After that, go door to door and tell everyone. Someone show the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to the treasury.”
“Your Highness,” Bob started, and the King gave him a sharp glance, “Sorry… Ronald, it may help matters if I had access to a laboratory.”
“I will have someone show you to the former mages lab,” Ronald replied. “It should suffice; the Gods know he demanded enough space for it.”
“I need to see the armory,” Sam said, “and whatever troops remain need to be assembled so I can look them over. Could someone point me to the garrison?”
The King summoned attendants, and Sam, Bob and Tink departed, leaving the King and Lilly alone at the table.
“So,” Lilly began, looking slyly at the King, “I guess I get to guard your body for you.”
The King looked around cautiously, making sure no one remained in the dining hall.
“And how, exactly,” he asked, “Do you intend to guard it?”
“Well,” Lilly answered, standing up and inhaling deeply, “I was thinking of lying on top of it.”
“That would seem to be an effective method,” the King replied, standing to take Lilly’s hand. “I should have offered you a different reward, I think.”
Lilly let out a guffaw.
“That would almost, but not quite sufficed” she said. “But I wont charge anything for defending the kingdom. How’s that?”
“A genuine bargain for me.”
* * *
The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance when the group once again gathered in the Dining Hall for dinner.
“It was just like I expected,” Sam reported, “The best of the troops disappeared overnight, probably to join the Chancellor. There are a few of the men who remain loyal that are very good soldiers and leaders.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” the King said.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high, Ronald,” Sam cautioned. “Your army is still very outmanned and under trained. They can fight, but I don’t know how long it would take to get them good enough to deal with the troops that abandoned you.”
“Luckily,” Tink interrupted with a smile, “the kingdoms finances aren’t in quite as bad of shape. The Chancellor had been hoarding the gold, and overpaying a select few people to retain their loyalty, but he was greedy enough to keep track of everything in doctored books. He worked hard to get lots and lots of money into the treasury, and from that he was building a small personal fortune. But he wasn’t as good at doctoring books as I am reading them.”
“So where does the kingdom sit financially?” asked the King
“As long as the population data in the books is accurate, we can give each family a tax rebate of about a hundred gold pieces each. That will leave a healthy amount of money in the treasury for day to day operations as well as providing a salary for the army to make it tempting to join up.”
“I’m impressed, Tink,” Bob smiled. “I will have to remember in the future to not limit my thinking. I had thought of you as ‘just’ a thief.”
“A thief and an accountant aren’t that far off in their professions,” Tink said, blushing at the compliment. “Ask anyone in either profession and they will probably tell you they started in the other. Or, they’re both.”
“So we can raise an army,” Ronald said with a relieved sigh. “Good.”
“It will have to be done very carefully, Ronald,” Bob cautioned. “Do not forget, you may not be very popular with your subjects. We can discuss that later. Your former magician kept an impressive array of books, potions and reagents at his disposal, and now they are at mine. I should be able to add considerable force to whatever army Sam is able to gather. In addition, I will be able to create additional troops of Undead. My only concern is your people. If they are superstitious about them, it may be better to not use them. Otherwise, we face our own regular army fleeing from their supporters.”
Ronald nodded, and they ate in silence for several minutes.
“We haven’t heard anything from you yet, Grandma,” Sam said. “Have you uncovered any plots or attempts on the King?”
“I can accurately state that the Kings body is safe and sound. Very sound, in fact.”
“Ahem!” interjected Ronald quickly. “So how do we go about raising the army?”
Tink expelled bread crumbs across the table as she stifled a laugh. Bob spoke to cover the noise.
“The best first step is the opening of the storehouse. Hopefully, that announcement tomorrow will raise your subjects spirits. You should also announce the tax rebate, but I would withhold any information concerning the expected coup attempt at this time. You should announce what you have found out regarding the three conspirators, and their expulsion from the kingdom. After a period of time, providing things go well with the populace after the rebates and an army has been established, you can announce the possibility of attack from the expatriates.”
“And how long a period of time do you anticipate?” asked Ronald.
“That is very difficult to estimate without information that can be provided by scouts and magical means. I can begin attempting to use my talents to gain some information, but I am expecting those attempts to be hampered by Norman. That is why I requested Samantha provide talented individuals for provide the same information via non-magical methods.”
“I would appreciate any estimate, no matter how ill informed.”
Bob sighed. “Without knowing the personalities of those banished any better than I do, I would estimate a few weeks, at the extreme. If they have been sufficiently angered towards retribution, the may be motivated to attack much sooner. Much of it depends upon the ability of our adversary to gather the required forces and supplies.”
The King stood and nodded. “Tomorrow morning is the proclamation,” he told them. “We should all get a good nights sleep, for I feel that we will all be very busy come the new day.”
“Agreed,” Bob said as he stood and gave a bow to the departing King.
The King stopped in the doorway and turned to face them all once again.
“I must once again offer my deepest thanks to each of you,” he said, meeting each of their gazes in turn. He offered Lilly a slight bow, a wink and a head gesture towards the royal chambers.
“I gotta go check on something,” Lilly said as she rushed out the door behind the King.
Sam, Bob and Tink all looked at each other knowingly, then burst into stifled giggles.
