Chapter 63: The Hardest Decisions

The king saw the castle looming in front of him and smiled. The weather had turned more comfortable as the group had ridden northward. Now, as they approached the water, a pleasant breeze had begun to blow. It cooled their overheated and sunburned skin.

After the attempted ambush, the next 20 days had been relatively uneventful. Even dropping Yerrick’s former betrothed in Symonds hadn’t created a stir. Joseph had explained the situation to Leif Symonds and his wife, Narna. The king wouldn’t have described either as being happy with the situation but they accepted it. Narna had assigned Belinda to kitchen duty after a thorough explanation of responsibilities and privileges.

Joseph wished Yerrick and Lydia had returned so the castle’s governess might take note (not that he was displeased with Lydia’s performance in any way). Narna simply had a way with words and a demeanor that brooked no nonsense.

The return trip had taken longer than the southward trek. The journey to Hulett had been unannounced and Joseph and his group had managed to slip through most towns without much fanfare. He was not so fortunate on the return to Tyrell.

The villagers that had heard of his passage told others. The group had been forced to stop at each hamlet, large or small, to greet the well-wishers and gawkers.

Some wished to thank the king and some even gave him small tokens of their affection. He carried many items, mostly from long-dead children or spouses that the citizens now considered avenged.

Others simply wanted a chance to lay eyes on the man that governed them (or more likely, Joseph thought, the attractive women he had surrounding him and the large animals in his party). While he longed to be home again, Joseph spent as much time as necessary to speak to any that wished to say something or to accept any small tribute they wished to offer, be it a ribbon once worn in a child’s hair or an old rusted ax once used by a woodsman.

The group had veered eastward after delivering Belinda to her new home. The Golrick lands lay next to Symonds and Joseph wished to visit the manor to see if anything of value should be removed. He found little worth coin. The only item of interest he located was a painting. He understood why everyone called Golrick’s daughter “the fair Elsa.” If the rendering did her justice, the young woman had a pretty, open face and a winsome smile.

The administrator had been shocked at the news – not only of his lord’s death but of the man’s hand in murdering his only child. The administrator had turned pale at hearing of Golrick’s suicide but had broken down into sobs when he learned the reason the former landholder had taken his own life.

“I should have suspected treachery,” the man had said as he sat on a chair in the lord’s office. “The story around here was that she died in the mountains on a trip to Burbridge. She was such a friendly girl and we all feared for her. We all knew that eventually someone would come for her. I had always hoped that Golrick had sent her abroad and that she was living a happy life with a wonderful husband and beautiful children to dote upon. I just cannot fathom sending a child to that monster!”

Joseph had merely nodded. His advisers had been watching the man, trying to gauge his sincerity while the king did his best to keep the man talking. In the end, neither mattered. The man had administered the estate but he wasn’t a family intimate. He had known little more than the footman and cook had offered about Elsa’s death – and Joseph also had no way to replace him for several months.

“I have soldiers on their way down to oversee the manor until I replace Golrick,” the king had noted. “In the interim, you will answer to the military commander. I expect this place to be run as it would have been if Elsa were still alive to assume the holding. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the man had told them.

Joseph wished he could have left a contingent of soldiers at the manor but it was impossible. He had only five with him, the remainder left behind in Hulett or to accompany Yerrick, Lydia and her family back north.

The next stop had been in the newly formed McMicken holding – a land that rested north of Golrick, west of Burbridge, east of Westmont and south of Larchman and Aryn. Catherine had passed through the land of her parents’ birth infrequently during her lifetime. The last time she could say for certain she was there was the night her parents had been killed.

The populace in the village where the manor stood had turned out to greet their king and appeared heartened to meet their new landholder. The administrator, sent from Burbridge three years earlier, had done fine work. The ledgers had been in order and the people appeared to have prospered. Catherine had walked among them – just as she had when she was a mere maid in Elizabeth’s service. The action had appeared to endear the young woman to the people she would oversee.

Alexander had beamed with pride as he watched his protégé mingle with the masses. It was something he wished he had done more of when he was in charge of the Burbridge lands. He had used Catherine and Elena as conduits and he had come to regret it. He hoped Elizabeth would see the outpouring of support and emulate Catherine’s decision.

The group had also paid a visit to Genrico’s manor. Many of the men and women had already started the walk to the capital for their lord’s wedding ceremony. Only those with crops in the ground, the infirm and those with children too young to travel had remained behind. For the rest, the marriage of Lord Larchman to their former lord’s granddaughter was an event to be celebrated in person. Those still in Larchman had greeted Genrico as joyously as they did the king.

As the group meandered along the path, they had found small knots of men, women and children headed toward Tyrell. Genrico had ridden ahead with Victoria so he could stop and talk to his people but the larger group had caught up to him before nightfall.

Joseph was gladdened that he had made good choices. In every hamlet and village, the people appeared to be thriving. The markets were doing brisk business, the crops were ready to be harvested and the populace appeared well-fed and clothed.

Now, as he neared the castle, he understood that the winter would probably be a lonely one for him. The landholders would spend the cold months in their holdings, some getting to know the needs of the people better and others simply visiting with the people they already knew. Julia would be in Trimble. Elena and Jonathan would be in Westmont. Victoria and Genrico would be in Larchman. Elizabeth would return to Burbridge and Catherine would head to McMicken. The king had no doubt that Octavia, Liala, Bianca and Lucretia would leave with them.

He felt a sense of melancholy but he knew the needs of Azkoval outweighed his desire to keep his friends close to him at all times. They were capable people and the land would prosper under their guidance. Everyone was too capable to spend his or her life attending to the king’s happiness.

Joseph looked to his left and right. His friends were riding in formation: Bianca in front; Julia, Octavia and Lucretia to the left; Liala, Catherine and Elizabeth to the right.

“Are you happy to return?” Julia wondered when she found the king looking at her.

“I will be happy to sleep on a bed,” Liala noted ruefully.

“I will be happy to sit without my jubblies bouncing,” Octavia added. She lifted a hand off the reigns of her horse and pressed it to her bosom.

“Your bouncing jubblies have kept us entertained for the past week,” Genrico said, laughing as Victoria rode closer to slap his arm.

Julia’s intense gaze didn’t lessen as the others joked with Genrico and Octavia.

“I was just thinking about what comes next for all of you,” the king told her.

“Oh?” Julia asked, moving her horse closer to avoid shouting.

“The time has come for everyone to move forward with life,” Joseph said. “For the previous two years, we have been like Frederick Hulett. We have been moving in circles, neither advancing nor retreating. Now, the military calls to you and Liala and probably Bianca. Elizabeth and Catherine will begin the work of reforming our educational system. Lucretia and Octavia will find facets of life that they enjoy and gravitate toward them. You will seek their counsel as you build your holdings and help your people. Genrico and Victoria will start a family together. Jonathan and Elena might have already started a family while we have been away. Alexander and your mother might do the same or they will begin the travels both have long desired.”

Julia frowned but nodded her agreement. The years were passing swiftly and all her friends had many things they wished to accomplish.

“And what of you?” Julia asked.

“I am the one thing that must remain constant,” Joseph replied with a shrug. “I will never lead the army again into battle. I likely will never see another foreign shore. I find I have achieved most of my dreams. To be sure, they haven’t been as I thought them to be but I have achieved them nonetheless. Now I must look to the needs of the people and of my friends. You need a life that includes more challenges than you will find inside the castle. The rest are similar. Being out on the trail, living life without limitations, I’ve seen how happy it has made everyone. The castle is dreadfully boring and you are exciting. I cannot ask you to set aside your own ambitions to live the sort of life I must lead.”

“You would not need to ask,” Julia told him.

Joseph smiled.

“If you can look me in the eye and tell me truthfully that you prefer a life at the castle to the freedom you’ve just experienced, I would consent to your staying there,” he told her.

Julia’s frown deepened but she looked away.

“You can’t and neither can anyone else,” Joseph said for her.

“Can you say that?” Julia asked him, angry that the group had not hidden the truth better.

“No,” Joseph answered with a laugh. “But remember, this is my dream. Before I arrived at your home, you never once thought about rebuilding Azkoval.”

“But since you arrived, it is been at the forefront of my thoughts,” Julia interrupted. “This is my dream now, too.”

“I know,” Joseph agreed. “That is why it is so important to let you achieve your dreams as I’ve achieved mine. You are too capable to serve as a body shield. That job is for people with only one skill. You – and the others – possess too much talent to waste. You must go forth and teach others what you know. You must teach them to think and act as you do. You must leave your mark on the world, Julia. As much as I’ve come to value your friendship and your guidance, it has been selfish of me to keep all of you near for so long. This is not the life you wish to lead but you live it because I have wished it so.”

“We have wished it as much as you have,” Julia informed him.

“But now you see there is a whole world out there waiting for you to claim it,” Joseph said.

“We will not forsake you,” Julia insisted.

“No,” Joseph agreed. “Nor will I forsake you. In time, you will have accomplished the goals you set and I think you will return here once you do. But now, I must return the choices to you that I have stolen. You are destined for greatness, Julia. All of you need to grow and learn on your own. A good farmer would tell you that things blocked from the sunlight never reach their full height.

“The shadow cast by the castle is long indeed.”

“Why are we not sailing into port?” Nadia inquired to the sergeant.

“The light fails us,” the soldier told her. “It is a perilous trek in the day. We would be foolhardy to attempt at night. Stories say the skeletons of many ships rest beneath us – the skeletons of their crew still aboard.”

“Your king takes his defenses very seriously,” the newcomer noted.

The sergeant merely laughed.

“Well, that it a fact,” he agreed. “But this feature is natural. To the best of my knowledge, no ships have sunk since Joseph claimed his throne. He has asked every sailor or soldier that visits a new port to pass word along to those that might visit our shores for the first time. Do you see how the hills rise upward from the shoreline?”

Nadia narrowed her eyes, searching the dim outline for prominent features. Finally, she nodded her agreement.

“Some say that the rises and crests continue beneath the water’s surface,” the sergeant continued. “If you are awake when we land, I’ll point out a few of the tops that still show above the water. There are only one or two safe passages into port – just as there are only one or two safe passages through most mountain ranges.”

“Fascinating,” Nadia declared. She had learned much during her weeks on the water and seemed to find a new fact in every conversation.

The soldier chuckled at the earnest young woman. He found her bright and inquisitive – and very pleasing to talk with (and look at).

“We have timed our arrival well,” he added. “I watched as the king’s banner was hoisted. He has arrived this day.”

“A banner?” Nadia asked.

“There,” the soldier replied, pointing to a yellow pennant still visible against the darkening sky.

Nadia saw it and frowned slightly.

“Trouble?” the sergeant asked. The DuBront banner had struck fear into many hearts as the battle flag for Johan the Merciless.

“It does not equate to what I know of your king,” Nadia told him. “Why let potential invaders know the castle is empty or full? Any that know of your king’s lineage would wait until he departs before making landfall.”

“Although the king might be gone, the castle is not empty,” the sergeant confided. “We have, I do not know the number in fact, but I estimate almost a thousand men-at-arms now. Well, men- and women-at-arms, I suppose. I went with Joseph on his southern trek. Again, that is true enough but not the absolute truth. The plan divided our army. Genrico – Lord Larchman – took some of us and circled behind while Joseph put on a demonstration in front.”

“A demonstration?” Nadia wondered. She knew the word but not the context.