Return to the Nine Kingdoms

28

Wendell
If it had been thirty years ago, Wendell's father would have been so proud to see the battlements fall at the hands of the Fourth Kingdom's Royal forces. As it was happening, Wendell had been proud, too, of the swiftness with which his commanders dealt with the Troll problem. The Trolls, who trained every day, lived and breathed for the time they would see battle, were no match for the superior organization and strategic prowess of High Commander Davis's strike teams. But, looking at the aftermath and the bloodied bodies that littered the Crossing and the customs checkpoint inside the Third Kingdom, Wendell felt a little sick.
"Your Majesty," High Commander Davis was trying to get the King's attention and resorted to standing in front of Wendell, blocking his view of the devastation.
Distracted, Wendell made some mumbled reply to acknowledge the High Commander, but tried, vainly, to look around him.
"Majesty," High Commander Davis continued, "the King, Burly, is dead, though not by our hand."
"Oh?" Wendell was vaguely interested in the news of any Troll-death, but King Burly had been a particular thorn in his side for many years.
"His sister, the Queen. She appears to have pushed him from the bridge as he ran in front of her."
"Interesting," Wendell narrowed his eyes to peer over the side of the bridge where he and the High Commander stood.
"See? There, among the other bodies at the river bank," High Commander Davis said, pointing to the Troll side of the river below.
Several bodies were scattered in the mud, all of them Trolls, and the hulking shape of King Burly was floating face down at the feet of one of his comrades. None of the Trolls there appeared to have seen much battle—no arrow or spear shafts protruded from their backs—and all seemed to have perished either in their fall from the bridge or by subsequently drowning shortly thereafter.
"Trolls. Not good swimmers, it would appear," Wendell said callously, surprising even himself. "And the Queen? Where is she now?"
"Holed-up in the keep, it would seem," High Commander Davis replied.
"And the other?"
Colonel Cooley, who had suffered burns from the Troll Army's burning catapults, had returned from SWMH in bandages to see to his own infantry's attacks at the Crossing. His arm hung at an odd angle and he stood out among the men with his stained and bloodied uniform. He was wounded and tired but the fire in the man's eyes hadn't dimmed. "That little donkey is on the run," he said. "Took to the river and made his way out to sea in a rowboat, if you can believe it."
"All hail King Bluebell the Brave," Wendell mocked.
"Majesty," High Commander Davis said. "We've taken the Crossing and most of the Trolls are either dead, dying, or on the run to their southern provinces."
"We don't stop until Queen Blabberwort gives up the girl," Wendell commanded. "Colonel Cooley?"
The man had begun to sway on his feet beside the High Commander but he snapped to attention and made himself ready to fight.
"Yes, Majesty," he barked.
Wendell placed a hand on the man's shoulder to steady him. "You did well, Colonel. I would very much like for you to collect your wounded men and retire to SWMH."
"Yes, Majesty," the Colonel said more softly.
"But first," Wendell continued. He twisted around and waltzed over to the opposite side of the Crossing. He didn't wait for his injured and tired men to follow. "I would like these poor souls cut down carefully. Take them with you to SWMH so they may be returned to their families."
Wendell had been referring to the human sacrifices that the Trolls had hanged to make their threats. High Commander Davis had already instructed his men to cut down their messenger, Guard Emory, and had the poor young man taken back to King Wendell's castle.
"Aye, Your Majesty, at once," Colonel Cooley answered.
The smoldering wreckage of one catapult, set aflame by its own cargo, still blocked the Troll side of the Crossing, but one squad of the Guard was working with picks and axes to shove the remains off the side and into the water below. Wendell, the High Commander, and Colonel Cooley stood behind them and had been waiting for a clear path onto the Troll Kingdom territory. The horses that Quartermaster Silvestri had arranged shifted on their polished, barely used shoes at the railing of the bridge—the smell of the Troll blood had riled them into attitudes of pure anxiety.
"You think the little she-wolf is really up there?" One of the Guard's voices carried over the sound of the crackling fires and dying moans of Trolls below the bridge.
"Colonel Martin," Wendell called over his shoulder as loudly as he could. He'd heard the careless wondering of the Guard but hadn't taken his eyes from the hanged prisoners. "See to it that the Guard who just spoke of my Goddaughter as if she were unimportant is the first over the threshold of the Crossing."
Colonel Martin, although he had full command of the cavalry, had taken charge in assigning his first squad to dismount and begin disassembling the blockade. He himself stood in a rather clean uniform overseeing the progress.
Surprised, he took a practiced step forward and nodded curtly. His King hadn't seen him reply and he openly scolded the Guard for breaching his oath. "Meekum," he called out.
The Guard clearly hadn't realized that he'd been overheard and took his Colonel's order to the front of the squad with an embarrassed jump into action. The other Guards around him finished shoving the last of the broken and burning pieces over the side of the bridge and formed their ranks behind Meekum.
"If the Troll won't answer my Summons, we'll bring the Guard to her front door," Wendell announced.
"And if she decides to use the...Lady Rose as another message instead?" The High Commander's face was as stern as ever, but there was a note of worry in the grizzled man's brows.
The King grimaced and looked back over his shoulder as two of Colonel Cooley's able-bodied men pulled up the first of Queen Blabberwort's messages that she'd had hanged on the bridge. "Rose is only part of the revenge the Troll wants. If she does anything to her, she'll lose her only chance."
"Orders, sir?" Colonel Martin, having arranged his squad for the attack, waited at the threshold with his men and directed his question to both the King and the High Commander.
If Wolf and Virginia intended to save their own daughter, where are they?
Wendell paused and scanned the end of the Crossing that led over the river and into his Kingdom. There hadn't been any sign of his old friends and the deadline that the Trolls had given them was long past. The sun had set and although a dim glow still surrounded the scene of battle, the flickering of torches lit the destruction that had been exacted by his Royal Forces in his Goddaughter's name. He nodded to the High Commander and he, in turn, gave his own nod to the Colonel.
Guard Meekum took the first step of the march at his Colonel's shout and his squad followed eagerly. Clouds of sinister pink Troll Dust descended with large booms, shot from the remaining catapults a top the balustrades of Troll Palace. The second battle for Rose Lewis began.