Prince of Dragons

Chapter 50 - The knight and the king

It was around noon when Ottbern, who was standing guard on the ramparts of castle Dracherwold, spot the lone rider, hurrying to the castle in full gallop. "Rider approaching!" he shouted. Was this a servant of duke Hadufried's, offering the castle the opportunity to surrender itself before the inevitable attack? Word had reached them that the duke had got help from Sid Enracio, some Southerner in the king's direct service, who had by chance already been in the north at the time of the Dracherwold rebellion. If the two had joined forces, Ottbern feared the rebels would be destroyed completely. There was no way they could defeat so many opponents.

The rider descended from his horse at the drawbridge and spoke to the guards. They immediately let him through. Inside, the rider said something to a woman working in the courtyard, who rushed to the great hall. Not much later, Amahilda Friedwinns came outside, who was now more or less in charge of the rebellion. She quickly went to the visitor, and as he explained where he'd come from, her eyes widened.

Not much later, a fellow guard gave Ottbern the order to come down from the ramparts and prepare. An army was coming. But it belonged to Arwund Marholdson.

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The Servants were too many to stay in the castle, so they set up camp around the castle. In the meantime, Arwund went inside to speak with Amahilda.

They met in the great hall. Duke Hadufried's throne was empty.

"Look at you," Amahilda said. "So you're a king now."

Arwund shrugged. "A rebel leader isn't bad either."

She laughed. "Well, if you want to change places..."

He laughed as well. For days, he'd been surrounded by Servants and people he didn't know; it was a relief to talk to Amahilda again. The castle was kept comfortably warm by its many fireplaces; the cold of the mountains was slowly disappearing from his limbs. Maybe everything would get well again.

Then he remembered why Amahilda and he had met up in the first place. "I hear an army is on its way."

Amahilda nodded. "The duke. Apparently, a Southern knight called Enracio was already in the north with a small band of soldiers at the time of the rebellion. They've joined forces."

O, deceptive warmth of Dracherwold!

"So what do we do?" Arwund asked.

"We defend ourselves," Amahilda said. "With your help, we have an army. The duke and his pal won't be expecting that. That means we stand a chance."

Arwund sighed. So there would be another battle. Just when he was tired of fighting and travelling and having adventures.

But he wouldn't let the duke take Dracherwold from him. After all his travels, Arwund had finally reached a home here; and he decided that he would not be robbed of his home yet again.

"We'll fight with you," Arwund said.

"Thank you," Amahilda said. "Then there's still hope."

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Duke Hadufried was riding at the centre of his army, next to the towering figure of Sid Enracio, made even taller by the size of his horse. Hadufried could not help but look at him in admiration: he was wearing an impressively designed suit of dark armour and his crimson cloak was waving on the wind.

Sid Enracio himself was gazing straight ahead, his back straight, his expression like that of a hungry wolf. The duke had to admit he felt intimidated by the man; but because of that, he grew only more determined that he wanted him to be his friend.