Chapter 122 The Traits of Men
In the Greenwood.
Two captains and twenty knights waited on their horses in a clearing near the forest. One of the captains held a staff with a red flag and, below it, the flag of Costa Lunas. Esteban and Rodrigo approached riding their unicorns. Behind them came twenty knights on horseback.
The Count: We forgot our flags at the castle. But we will honor your flag of peace at this meeting.
The captain: Thank you, Count. King Valero the Brave has a message for the Blue Knights and for the knights and soldiers who have rebelled against him. He is offering titles and money, commensurate with their positions, to those who return to the castle to serve in his army. No one who accepts will be punished for the rebellion. There are terms of surrender for all others involved.
Rodrigo: I have a message for you. Shove this message up your ass and run to the city before we kill all the men in your companies.
The captain: Honor demands that you deliver the message to your soldiers. Or has honor perhaps abandoned your body, Count?
Esteban leaned his body slightly forward, and his unicorn, Indigo Strike, passed alongside the horse of the captain.
The count looked him straight in the eyes and spoke in an angry tone: Do you speak of honor when you fight against the rightful queen alongside a traitor?
The captain: The message is delivered under a flag of peace. Your honor has an obligation. If you wish to remain a knight loyal to your oath, you must accept it.
The man offered the other man a leather bag. The Count took it and slung it over his shoulder. Esteban returned to the side of Rodrigo and Cobalt Storm.
Esteban: I will deliver the complete message to the army of my queen. They will have tonight to decide. If you are still around when dawn breaks tomorrow, I will destroy you.
Azure Death suddenly leaped into the clearing from behind some large bushes. He reared up and struck the air with his hooves. He emitted a high pitched scream that could not have been more clear to all present.
Rodrigo: A word of warning, Azure Death does not understand the meaning of flags. So, if any of you get too close to our camps, he will be stalking these woods.
Their horses were moving nervously. When the large unicorn struck the ground twice with its right hoof as a sign of challenge, some of them nearly threw their riders.
The captains gave the signal, and they retreated to their former positions.
Rodrigo: They are smart. They delivered tne message at a time when it would be dark after the men hear the offer. Easier to sneak away from camp.
Esteban: Yes and I was dumb enough to let him bait me.
Tha captain: Your honor guides you. It is not the worst trait a man can have.
The royal castle.
Victorino watched from the bell tower. The soldiers in the nest were lowering four thick ropes from the nest to the ground. Each one had iron splices to make them extremely long. The soldiers had worked all day to create these ropes, which measured more than twice the height of the nest. Next to the Count of War stood a captain of ballista operators.
Victorino: How do those devices work?
The captain: Twelve arrows are placed in the ballista and fired simultaneously. Behind them is an iron disc that propels them all at once. The arrowheads are arranged in such a way that the distance between them is slightly greater at the tip than at the base.
Victorino: And do not the arrows have feathers?
The captain: Not those long arrows. They are heavier, and they fly quite well without them. Each shot will create a circle of arrows pointing at the same target.
Victorino: And what about three of them?
The captain: We can use them in unison to create a line of three circles or a triangle of thirty-six arrows.
Victorino: Excellent. And could you hide them in the Pegasus nests until a Pegasus is spotted?
The captain: Yes. They have wheels. A team of soldiers could put them in position in a few minutes.
Victorino: Use all the soldiers and horses you need to get those three to the nest before dawn. If you manage to kill a Pegasus for me, you will become a lord with more riches than you can imagine.
The quarters of the servants.
Bartolo was in his office. Some pages and guards were helping him organize the service staff and find new servants.
Page: There are some boys who could serve as ordinary pages in the corridors. Most of them were rejected by Lord Hector in the past, but now there are not enough pages in the castle.
The chamberlain: Fine, we can pay them one coin less for the family and for themselves. I will record the normal payment, and at the end of the month, we can divide the rest among ourselves.
The men and boys laughed. They had been helping Hector for years under the reign of King Aloysius.
Bartolo: Tell them that tomorrow I will appoint an experienced page to train them. Tonight, they can eat and sleep in one of the common dormitories.
The man looked at another page and gestured for him to come closer.
Bartolo whispered: How many women are waiting to become maids?
Page: Fifteen, I think.
Bartolo: Good, choose three who are beautiful and tell them I want to speak with them about serving a nobleman directly. The others can start in the kitchens tomorrow.
The page smiled: Of course, my lord.
After a few minutes, three young women were sitting in the office. The chamberlain looked into the eyes of the page and received a wink in return. One of the guards closed the door with a bolt without making a sound.
When Bartolo received the title of chamberlain from the king, he used his money to install a very thick and heavy door in his office. Thanks to that door and the stone walls, no screams could escape from the room.