The Toymaster's Castle

Chapter Thirty-Eight - The King

When we got back to the island, Daniel ordered an evening of celebration. Flossie the sheep had been slaughtered and aged for a couple of days and so she was just about ready to act as our guest of honour. So we selected the largest lump of her that would fit in the oven and set her roasting.

He even got me to raid the cellar for bottles of wine and beer! "Enjoy it while you can!" Daniel told me as he poured me out a glass of Prosecco. "I have no doubt that, in time, people will start brewing perfectly adequate beer and even some sort of spirits but it will be a long time before we are able to import more of this stuff from Italy!"

I'd never been a big one for lumps of dead animal but, after weeks of eating soups and stews and texturised soy stuff, It felt great to be sinking your teeth into some solid meat for a change.

And, of course, after the feast, there had to be a speech!

"We've come together tonight to celebrate a victory," Daniel began. "Not so much a military victory... you two did well but that shambolic bunch of kids was never going to give you any real trouble... but rather for the political consequences that follow on from it. We've now got our first... should we say... client farm. They will provide us with food and we will provide them with security. That's more or less what the feudal system was all about!"

That drew some laughs.

"Now that we've established our reputation, I'm confident that we'll have more farms coming along, asking for the same sort of deal. If things go as I anticipate, and nothing I've seen recently makes me doubt it, then, before long, we are going to have set up our own little kingdom, here in the west."

"The King in the West!" Sarge shouted, raising his beer bottle to Daniel. "The King in the West!" His men took up the chant and soon we were all shouting it at the top of our voices.

"After a few seconds, Daniel raised a hand to quieten the room. "We're not there yet... a long way from it... but it's a first, important step and we're moving in the right direction."

He paused for a moment and took a swig of beer.

"But now the lead has started flying... even if it was just birdshot from hopelessly out of range... I think it's time for us men to make a commitment to one another. If anything happens to any one of us, the rest of us will take care of their family. On that..." he looked around the group of men, meeting each eye... "I give you all my word. How about you, Sarge?"

"I give you all my word."

"Jake?"

"I give you all my word."

He went around the Royal Marines, one at a time, meeting each eye and demanding that commitment.

"And, that being said," he went on, "I need to go about formalising my own arrangements. Since we've been here, Constantia, you have proved to be an absolute star! Not just keeping us all in line on the domestic front but also satisfying my quite extraordinary sexual demands!"

That comment was of course met by an explosion of laughs and hoots and sarky comments but the funniest thing was that they all assumed it was a joke. None of them knew just how true it was! He flicked an eyebrow in my direction and I basically wanted to die of embarrassment!

"And, as we all know, every king must have his queen. Constantia, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"

I sat there and stared at him for a long time. My mouth was opening and closing but no noise was coming out. "Yes," I managed to breathe at last. "Yes, I will marry you. Nothing would make me happier."

And then he was kissing me... and then he was slipping a ring onto my finger... and then all the other wives and girlfriends were suddenly all around me, sort of welcoming me into their club and admiring the ring and things... and, at Daniel's command, Sarge was collecting more drinks from the cellar... and I just sat there, basically queen of all I surveyed!