NOTE! This is an ongoing story. If this is your first visit, please read the About This Page link, and then use the Table of Contents links to go the first chapter.
The banquet hall was getting crowded. Sam and her father sat near the King, who was seated at his rightful place at the head of the long table. Lilly and Bob sat facing Sam and Charles, Bob getting acquainted with Sam’s father. A few chairs down, Tink and Rupert sat across from each other, taking turns tossing bits of food into the others mouths. Wanda had taken control of the kitchen, where she could be heard ordering cooks and servants around with an imperious tone. Servants would occasionally erupt from the kitchen door, glancing backwards in either fear or anger.
“So,” Sam asked, “where do we stand?”
All eyes turned to Bob as he cleared his throat politely.
“I have utilized our new spies, and also used magical means of divination in an attempt to gather as much information as possible. I believe that we have, at the most, a month before the kingdom comes under siege.”
“That’s not a lot of time to recruit and train an army,” Charles commented.
“Recruitment has already begun,” Ronald informed the group. “Tink informed me that we could comfortably increase the army’s wages to ten gold pieces a month. I made an announcement to this effect to the entire kingdom, with the hopes that it would increase the number of men signing up voluntarily.”
“It seems to have been effective,” Bob nodded. “We have already seen a jump in new recruits, but I fear that the tax refund may have hampered our efforts in this regard. The people don’t really need the money as much as they did a week ago.”
“We may need to inform the people of the coming attack,” the King offered, “and hope for the best.”
“That could trigger a mass exodus,” Charles warned.
“What if we offered some kind of bonus to new recruits?” Tink asked. “I think we could spare giving a month’s salary in advance.”
“That sounds like it might work,” Charles commented. “What if we did both? Offer the bonus and tell the kingdom what’s coming?”
The group sat in silent contemplation for several minutes. The silence was broken by Lilly’s hand slapping on the hard surface of the table.
“I say we do it!” she declared. “Tell ‘em what’s coming, that we need their help to defend their homes and that we’ll pay ‘em to do it.”
“I think that is the best option,” Charles agreed with his mother. “I still think that more of them will run instead of fight.”
“I’m afraid that is a risk we will have to take,” Ronald said as he stood. “I want to be honest with my people. Charles, I ask you formally, will you consent to lead my army as its General in our hour of need?”
“I wouldn’t have come all this way if I didn’t intend to help, your highness,” Charles answered. “But I give no guarantees as to how long I will stay after this campaign is over.”
“I could not ask more of you, Charles.” The King smiled. “Tink, please place the General on the payroll with a generous compensation.”
A sudden crash emanated from the kitchen, followed by Wanda’s shrill voice screeching in anger.
“And also add my Master of House Wanda as well,” Ronald continued, “with compensation adequate to quell the harpy in her.”
“I hope your treasury is larger than what I have been led to believe,” Charles commented with a wry grin.
Samantha began to laugh, and was soon joined by the rest of the group. The servants did not join in the revelry, as they realized that this meant that Wanda would not be going away any time soon.
“Master Bobrogonzo,” Ronald began as the laughter died down, “would you and the General assist me in preparing yet another proclamation?”
“Certainly,” Bob nodded.
“Samantha, please send notice to the populace for all citizens to gather in the courtyard two days hence.”
“Yes, sir,” Sam said at once. “After that, I will assist the General with the training of the troops.”
The King nodded in agreement.
“All right, then!” Lilly shouted as she bounded to her feet. “Let’s get crackin’! Come on, Ronnie, we got work to do.”
“I thought the King was going to be working on a proclamation with the General and I,” Bob said, a confused look on his face.
“Oh, you the General just put together a rough outline and you can iron out the details with his Kingliness later,” Lilly said as she took Ronald’s arm in a firm grip and started to lead him from the table. “Ronnie and I have several issues that need to be attended too as soon as possible.”
Tink glared at Lilly with a sly eye. “Like what, you lusty old bat?”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, Tink.” Lilly ordered before continuing in a slightly dangerous tone. “You have things that need to be done, and so do I.”
Sam sighed. “Just hurry up and get it over with, Grandma.”
“Some things shouldn’t be rushed, Sam.” Lilly said with a wink. “Remind me later to give you a proper education.”
Ronald had been turning deeper and deeper shades of crimson as the conversation carried on, but wisely kept silent.
Charles had been looking from his mother to the king for several seconds before the truth dawned on him. His eyes went round with shock.
“Ma!” he yelled. “What would Dad think?”
“You know as well as I do that your father died in childbirth, Charles.”
“Huh?” asked everyone in the room except Lilly and Charles. Sam was the first to recover enough to ask the obvious question.
“How in the seven hells does the father die during childbirth?”
“Well,” Lilly hesitated, obviously not wanting to share the story with so many people, “He wasn’t the greatest of guys, just really good looking. There was an… incident after a night at the tavern, and I got pregnant. When I started to show, his father made him do the right thing and marry me. He didn’t want to, and that was obvious the further along I got in the pregnancy. As I got rounder, he was gone more often. There was talk around town, and I knew what was going on, but I really couldn’t do much about while I was waddling around pregnant.”
She grabbed the half finished goblet in front of Sam and drained it before continuing.
“The night I was giving birth, I had been in labor for several hours and he wasn’t home, of course. As I got closer, the midwife went to find the father and eventually found him in a dark corner of the tavern with his hand up a wench’s skirt. She made such a fuss at him that he eventually followed her back to the house and listened as the angry midwife told me exactly where and how she found him. He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. I got mad, which wasn’t good, since I was in labor and all, and I yelled and screamed at him about how he couldn’t even be home when his child was being born. He told me that there wasn’t anything he could do, and that it didn’t look too hard since I was just laying there.”
She grabbed the flagon of wine and didn’t bother with a glass to take another huge gulp.
“Well?” Tink demanded, not able to take it anymore, “what happened? Don’t quit the story in the middle, woman!”
“It was the midwife’s fault, really,” Lilly answered.
“The midwife killed him?” Bob asked. “How extraordinary.”
“No, the midwife didn’t kill him.”
“Then I am at a loss to understand how…” Bob raised his hands in confusion.
“You don’t, huh?” Lilly shouted as she slammed the flagon back onto the table. “Imagine you are the midwife. You just told a woman in the throes of childbirth that you had found her husband diddling a bar wench, and the husband has just said something really, really stupid. Don’t you think it might be a good idea to get the woman’s sword out of reach?”
There was a stunned silence.
“You killed him?” Sam asked, horrified at her family history.
“Chucked my sword and skewered him to the wall in the same moment I popped out Charles, here.” Lilly answered proudly. “I created a life in the same instant I took one. I had never felt so powerful in my life.”
Charles made a show of wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
“That story gets me, every time,” he said, voice dripping sarcasm. “It’s just so romantic!”
“Oh, shut up, boy,” Lilly ordered her son. “You never lacked for anything but a worthless father. I did right by you.”
“OK, I’ll give you that,” Charles conceded. “I had a pretty good childhood.”
Tink hopped from her chair to the floor.
“Well, I will leave you folks to your happy family memories,” she said. “I have work to do. Hey Charles, send your harpy of a wife to my office so I can go over her new job as Master of the House.”
“Like what?” Charles asked.
“Oh, you know; the usual new job thing. Duties, responsibilities, pay.” Tink answered. “Plus, I need to let her know who’s really running the show around here.”
“You either don’t know my wife,” Charles said with a grin, “Or you are the bravest woman I have ever met. Family excluded, of course. Come on, Sam, let’s go see the troops.”
The Father/Daughter duo was almost to the door when the King called out to them.
“Wait, I should go with you,” he told them. “Otherwise, they won’t recognize your authority. I need to let the army know you are their new General.”
“I’ll tag along, too,” Lilly said as she joined the group. “Bodyguard, and all.”
Bob informed them all that he would be in his laboratory, and nodded a farewell. Tink bounded away, telling a terrified servant in passing that it was her job to tell Wanda that Tink needed to see her.
