Chapter 150 Returns
Costa Lunas.
No soldier or guard slept more than three hours. But when the bell rang in the tower of Colina Alba to announce the dawn, the royal castle and most of the city were at peace. Three of the four great castles in the city were under the control of the army of the queen. The forces of Valero and Octavio, who had not surrendered, were camped around Colina Alba. The lady of the noble house, with the help of elderly knights, ordered them to prepare to defend the lands of her family. A caravan was organized to bring the people from the Greenwood to the city. Soldiers and servants secured and prepared the nest for the return of the Pegasi. Ships from the islands arrived with the last soldiers they could provide. People were searching for enough food to survive another day. And the Sisters of Shadow continued working to collect corpses and help the wounded.
The rooms of the Count of War.
The commanders ate as they talked. Every person and Unicorn who had magically jumped yesterday had eaten and drunk often to help their bodies recover from weeks sacrificed from their lives.
Esteban: How is the situation?
Pedro: Manuelo and the militia control the castle and the soldiers of Colina Verde. Heinrich is with the army of Colinas Gemelas and Puerto Blanco southwest of Colina Alba. He will await the orders of the queen.
Peador: The dead and wounded on both sides number over two thousand. Many horses were killed or so badly wounded that they cannot fight. With our Unicorns, there are two hundred and twenty-seven capable of fighting. Rodrigo is looking for knights or squires for some of the riderless ones.
Esteban: The magical jumps were difficult for both rider and Unicorn. I believe many died from mistakes caused by physical and mental weakness.
Peador: Yes, we must be careful when using them against Aurelio.
From the tower, the bell rang the signal to indicate the sighting of a Pegasus. The count watched a page run from the hall to the stairs. He started climbing, shouting to the pages above. When the message reached the nest, several boys would be able to carry it to the first floor of the tower quickly, exchanging it to a boy below with fresh legs.
In the nest.
The young priest waved the flag in a circle to show that it was clear to land. Almost no one in the nest had seen a landing. The signal was so erratic that Grey Wing and the bipeds wondered who it was. But the matriarch managed to land without the aid of flags. She ran between the walls the riders used to mount and dismount. Only the passenger released his ropes and jumped from the saddle. The Master Rider shouted orders to unfamiliar faces.
Nestor: The message is for Count Esteban. Quickly. Water for my beautiful Grey. That is Corsino. He is in charge when I am not around. I will stay in the saddle, ready to leave when the count replies.
The small rider went down the ladder and found a page waiting for him. The young man took the message and hurried towards the stairs. The young man noticed bloodstains in many places in the nest. He took a sip of water and grabbed the arm of the priest.
Corsino: Priest, where are the attendants of the nest?
The priest: They were arrested by Count Octavio. They were hanged from the supports of the nest.
The blood of the rider ran cold. He turned his head toward the man on the Pegasus and saw that he had heard him. Sadness filled his aged eyes. The rider grabbed the priest by the shoulders.
Corsino: The girl and her mother, what happened to them?
The priest spoke with a hint of fear: I do not know. I saw many bodies hanging from the nest before the Sisters of Shadow moved them.
Corsino: Nestor, I am going to find out what happened to our family.
Nestor, with a small tear in his eye: Yes, please do so. I need to fulfill my duty to the queen.
Office of Esteban.
The message reached the count in four minutes. He opened it and read it to the others.
The Count: If the castle is safe, I wish to return immediately. The army needs the aid of the Pegasi, and the people need to see them return to the nest. Please reply soon. The Master Rider awaits. Queen Olivia.
Peador: The Queen is right. There are families who lost a son or a father who fought for her. They need to believe it was for a good cause.
Pedro: My men control the corridors and entrances now. The castle is as secure as possible under these circumstances.
Esteban: Okay. I will tell her to return to the nest with the Pegasi. I hope the little animal lands safely.
The count wrote his message on the same parchment and handed it to the page, who hurried up the stairs. Grey Wing took off ten minutes later.
Peador: We need to think of a strategy for a war against Aurelio.
Esteban: I have one. It is from Victorino. I found his maps from yesterday and his plans for Aurelio if he had the unicorns. He was a strategic genius.
Peador: But you won yesterday. Your strategy was better.
The count sighed: No. We won with the magic of the Unicorns. If they could not jump with magic, we would have lost. His strategy was perfect, even with the deception of the fake unicorns.
Pedro: A great strategist and the best fighter I have ever seen. It is a shame he did not have a good father. He would have been a great king. His father was his weakness. If Valero had not been in the fight, I would be dead.
Esteban: We will all probably be dead soon. Open a bottle of wine Pedro.
In the air above the nest.
Danilo and Shadow Dancer slowly circled where she could see the others landing on the stone path that now did not seem wide enough to mind of the priest.
White Stockings and Snowfall landed first, using the perfect technique they had learned from the Master Rider. They wanted to demonstrate it to the young Pegasus before she landed with a rider for the first time.
Little Feather flew in the same line as the others and carefully used her wings to slow down. Her mother, Grey Wing, flew beside her, giving her instructions.
The queen was frightened, excited, and happy all at once. This was her dream. For over a decade, she had watched Pegasi fly. She cried a little, a mixture of happiness and sadness.
Little Feather made an almost perfect landing and as she stopped, the young Pegasus reared up and opened her wings in a gesture of happiness and pride.
A soldier in the nest: Queen Olivia, Royal Rider!
Many voices: Queen Olivia, Royal Rider!