Firefly Light

Chapter 11

As his party departed Deephaven and started to return home down the dusty road to Hamilton, the horses at a comfortable walking pace, the king considered the past couple of weeks. It certainly had been an eventful period. An attempt had been made on his life. But, at the same time, one of the major political thorns in his side had been removed as a result of that attempt. His army had conducted a very swift and successful campaign, eliminating a serious threat to the kingdom. Two new, fairly large, and several smaller communities and a large swath of territory had been added to their continually growing kingdom. The untested army itself, including some officers new to their positions, had performed flawlessly, like the proverbial well-oiled machine. The gangsters had really never stood a chance against them. He was proud of all of them and it was an honor to be their king. All in all, it had ended up being a good time for Otania. At the moment, he could think of very little to worry about for the foreseeable future. Perhaps history would look back on this as a 'Golden Age' for his small, but ever growing nation. The thought made him smile. He tried hard to be the best king he could be, following all of Hamilton Otani's codes and rules; he hoped that history would judge him kindly and as an effective, honorable and respected leader.

His mind wandered back to that mysterious message his queen had sent him. It was strange that a messenger had ridden into Deephaven two days ago from Hamilton. The rider had been sent by, of all people, Sophia. She had sent a message that she needed to see him as soon as possible, in fact she was begging for him to be back in the city by tonight. She would not say why, only that it wasn't for a bad reason, so he was very intrigued. Joseph was always obedient to his lovely wife. If there was anyone who could run the king, it was her, but he simply couldn't have left and raced home without it being for some sort of emergency, so he hoped that she was not too upset with him......whatever it was about. He had sent the messenger back almost at once, with the information that he would be departing Deephaven as early this morning as he could, but the agreements between the recently liberated towns and the Otani kingdom were just now being completed. He would rush home to her side as quickly as Charlemagne, his horse, could get him there.

Unfortunately, they had left later than planned and would have to spend a night camped beside the road before making it all the way back to Hamilton. Thinking of this, he urged Charlemagne into a trot and told the rest he wanted to get back as soon as they could and to push the horses a bit to shorten the trip. They responded without hesitation and the party picked up its speed down the road.

They kept a steady pace, only stopping for a brief break and meal around lunchtime, but it became clear that there was no way they could make Hamilton before tomorrow morning, even if they kept riding. His party was getting tired and Joseph decided that they would stop in about an hour or so and make camp. He would have to wait till tomorrow to find out what the cryptic message from Sophia was about.

Coming around a corner, they were suddenly surprised to see another Otani party camped up the road. He was unaware of any unit or group that should be in this area and as they neared them, was even more surprised to see that the soldiers were Praetorian Guards. What was going on here? Then, from one of the tents, he saw a figure come out that he knew all too well. It was Sophia! What was she doing here......what were they all doing here? She walked out into the road, smiling as he approached her. He could see that she was well guarded by a company of Praetorians, who were still setting up their camp. She waved. "Hi sweetheart!" was her cheerful greeting.

"Sophia, what in the hell are you doing here out in the middle of nowhere?" asked her disbelieving husband as he dismounted. "Waiting on you, my dear." She happily answered. Guards from the camp were coming up to the riders and taking the horses away to be groomed and fed as the rest of his party dismounted as well. Joseph shook his head. "I don't understand. I got your message, but there was simply no way I could be back in town by tonight. What is this about?" he asked again. "I know," she replied, putting her hand in his and walking him towards the camp. "I got your reply and knew you could not make it, but I need to be with you tonight, so I talked with Victor and he sent a company of his men to bring me to meet you here."