A Legend's Tale Season 2

Part 8 - The Bells

In the woods of the Ancient, Hardwin, Ryland, Renata, Aaron, Austin, Felix and all of the other civilians of the village are enroute to the fortress of Anthea. The journey goes a lot slower with so many elderly and children with them. Austin sits quiet in a wagon they had brought with them as Aaron rides on horse next to it. Constantly thinking about what is going on. He heard all about the stories but never thought they would actually be real. It would explain the massive migration of all the wildlife in the woods though, maybe it is even responsible for the disappearance of all those people...the signs were there but no one saw them. Aaron rides next to Ryland and asks him, knight to knight, what he himself thinks. Ryland isn't quite sure but he saw what he saw at the World's End with his own eyes. It's not something he wants to see again. Aaron asks how many other soldiers were with him, to which Ryland simply says "not enough". Aaron can hardly believe that the situation is really that grim, the sky is still blue, the flowers and trees are still blooming, the sun still shines,... Ryland is very serious however and tells Aaron that he was almost dead. He has fought countless of enemies of the queen and never got a scratch...ten minutes with those things from the underworld...and he was almost dead. Aaron realizes how serious he is but can't help but notice that Ryland seems proud of telling him how he never once suffered a scratch from all those enemies he fought. Ryland doesn't respond. Aaron is not a fool however. All the years he has more in his life add for more wisdom. When he sees Ryland, he doesn't see a man who truly wants to save the people, he sees a man who wants to become the next great warrior. Ryland gets annoyed when Aaron tells him this but this only shows that Aaron is right. Ryland remains stern and ignores it. Aaron chuckles a bit. Are these the people who fight for the queen these days? He gives Ryland a last piece of advice: If he truly wants to become a great man, he needs to stop thinking about himself. He leaves Ryland on that note and heads back to Austin to check up on his son. Austin asks his father if he has ever seen the queen. Aaron smiles and tells him that he has and he will too soon enough. He tells him how Austin is going to be a special guest. Austin smiles and is kind of curious, yet that big green thing in his hand still bothers him, it bothers all of them. But soon enough they will find out the truth about it.

In the city hall of the Capital, the party of the queen is still with the one of mayor Lucille. Lucille, Norman, Anthea, Julian, Joyce, Joseph, Gregory, other advisors and other guards of the queen all stand in the meeting room, discussing how things are in the city. Anthea looks around as the meeting is going on, slightly impressed with how the room looks. Nice artwork, a grand table with a gorgeous view of the city at the back. Lucille tries to boast about how the capital is now home to a couple of the richest families of the entire world and such. They receive more visitors every year and have managed to contract the finest builders and architects to expand the city even more in the course of a few years. Without saying a word, Anthea slowly walks to the balcony of the room, overlooking the city. Lucille keeps on talking about how the wealthy families who support her provide for lots of income. As she keeps on talking, Anthea suddenly interrupts her and asks her about the other 90%. Lucille doesn't quite understand what she means by this. Anthea says that Lucille has done nothing but talk about how she has taken care of the rich people in the city and hos she supports the wealthy families...now she wants to know how the other 90% of the population is doing. Julian and Joyce needs to bite on their lips not to laugh. Norman looks at Lucille and notices that those words have struck deep. She isn't even listening to what she's saying. Lucille is hesitant in her answer. Norman intervenes and tells Anthea that the people have nothing to complain about, especially now the arena fighting is so successful and everyone enjoys that. They have good security in the city commanded by the brother of the queen's commander of the royal army! Anthea nods and says that she has heard...and any man with a bit more strategic insight than Willard might have been a good choice. Lucille first felt a bit struck but now she feels insulted. She tells Anthea that as long as she is mayor of the Capital, she will make her own decisions and choose her own operatives. Anthea isn't buying any of her display of power and cuts to the chase and warns Lucille not to fool the wrong people. She knows what kind of person Lucille is. She refers to the last time a mayor of the capital neglected her duties and let her position go to his head, what the consequences were. Lucille is completely frozen but Norman steps in to her defense, saying that the stress has been a lot lately. These are times of change and expansion and it all comes with a cost...but as far as they know they have received no complaints or concerns from the city. Joseph and Gregory feel like screaming after Norman said that sentence. Anthea eventually gives Lucille a breather and tells her that she will accompany her tomorrow to the city. She wants to see what life is like down there, she wants to be impressed. Lucille nods and tells her that she will, she will see to that.