Chapter 6

Information was the key.

"Thank you, that will be all." Humperdinck dismissed Captain of the Guard Tu Whitu with a wave of his hand and sat down on his throne.

He considered the latest report and ruminated. Humperdinck considered that Count Rugen would have known it all too well. It was his doing to create the spy network that reported on the news from the different kingdoms, not to mention anything of importance happening in Florin. Humperdinck's father had been a naive old man, unaware of the troubles brewing with his neighbors even though his son the prince was well informed. But three years ago there had been a very bad week.

Humperdinck's plan to preemptively start a war with Guilder had gone awry when his fiancé's planned kidnapping had been thwarted and the man hired for the job was killed. No matter, he then had killed Buttercup's true love; but it turned out the man just wouldn't stay dead. Then due to a technicality his marriage wasn't really one, and the back-from-the-dead Westley took Buttercup away from him again. Without the marriage he remained a prince until his father died a year later. And Rugen had gotten himself killed somehow. The captain of the guard and half of his men had quit and refused to work again, claiming a nervous condition. Even the albino was wandering around now with no memory of who he was or of any events before that day.

Humperdinck missed having Rugen around. He had known the man since he was young, and they got along well as long as he ignored the Count's penchant for cruelty. Humperdinck wasn't so much cruel as that he just didn't care too much for people outside his family, and especially outside the castle grounds. Without his long gone younger brother John, Rugen was the closest thing he had to a sibling and friend. It was he who had educated the young prince on just what dangers the other lands posed, and had volunteered to set up the spy network that even now ran on its own headed by the Captain of the Guard Tu. And Rugen had even been the one that found and recruited the new counselor Andy.

"Page! Send for the Court Counselor." The page standing by hurried out of the throne room to fetch the summoned person. Most often Andy could be found in his castle room, which was part living quarters and part laboratory. Actually it was mostly laboratory with only a minimum amount of space begrudged to a small bed and chest of drawers. The remainder of the room was given over to work tables, wash basins and shelves stacked with books and labeled boxes of ingredients. Herbs, roots, minerals and various animal by-products jostled for space along two sides of the room.

It was at the main work table that Andy sat now. One of the exotic items from far away that Humperdinck had managed to bring was a type of tree sap that could be cooked into something that was softer than metal, wood or stone but held its shape more permanently than wax and would return to its original shape when bent and released. Andy thought it might be good to coat the wheels of the kingdom's carts to soften the ride, but the rough stones of the roads tore through the layer easily. He had tried to make a small cannonball out of the stuff, but it tended to melt when fired, almost like a fire stone but that extinguished itself shortly after leaving the barrel. He picked up the round ball and threw it across the room toward a waste pile, but missed and the ball struck the stone wall. It ricocheted off the wall, bounced off the desk and finally out the window into the courtyard below. Andy made a notation in his journal: "Not a good year for new cannonball types." He closed the book, revealing a large drawing of an eye on the front cover.

He looked up from his journal as the court page entered and cleared his throat. "His Majesty requests the audience of the Court Counselor."

"Tell his Majesty I shall follow momentarily." As the page left, Andy went about dousing flames and closing containers of liquids. He grabbed writing materials and made his way to the throne room.

He entered the room and came to a stop. "The King's Counselor, by command" he announced.

Humperdinck roused himself from thought. "Come on in Andy." He waved in the direction of an ornate dish by the throne that held numerous dates. "As always, help yourself. I can't stand the things, but they always bring more after you eat the ones that are here. Andy, I've just been given the final report by Tu on our raiding parties. On two of the three raids your new firepots worked very well. Although we didn't manage to kill the people that are inciting those kingdoms to attack us, I'm sure we put quite the scare into them. There was a problem on the last raid though; a small army ambushed our men on the shore and burned one of our boats. I'm told that only through some heroic action on the part of Tu were we able to get all of our men back."

"Most fortunate, your Majesty" replied Andy as he munched on the delicacies, putting in his pocket those in excess of what good manners forbade him to eat at the moment.

"Indeed. Although I am still a little concerned that those traitors still live and will probably lead an invasion against us some day, I think for the moment we are safe. But I've been wondering if there might be a way you can make our kingdom safer. Do you think you could invent some type of communication device that could operate over long distances? It takes too long to send messages by horse, man or ship."

Andy hummed for a few seconds. "I'll give it some thought your Majesty; I think I read about some system much like that in an old text years ago. Do you wish for me to work on it now?"

"You can work it in with your other projects. Anything new to report?"

"No, your Majesty. I've been working on that tree sap compound but haven't found a good use for it yet. I've still working on that idea for a drink that will give our troops extra energy but I'm not happy with the results. It did make a good rug cleaner though."

"Very good, keep up the excellent work. You're always free to come and update me if anything important develops."

"No problem, your majesty. With your leave" he said as he turned and headed out of the throne room to return to his room. Even with so many great projects to work on, he often made excuses to visit the king just to a get a break from his projects. That and the dates, he thought as he chewed on another one.

Not a bad kid, mused Humperdinck after Andy departed. He loved his science. Rugen had said they could appeal to his patriotism to use his talents for the kingdom; giving him a room and resources with which to work was not a problem. Andy seemed very keen on helping make the kingdom a safe place to live in.

The king strolled over to a window to look out towards the sea. He was never overly fond of the water, preferring the sport that land offered instead. Hunting and tracking; now there was something that made the senses sharper! His gaze was drawn down to the courtyard, where some children were squealing as they kicked and threw around a round bouncy object. Enjoy childhood while you can, he thought, things aren't much fun when you grow up.

At that moment a trumpet blew from the castle's watchtower. Humperdinck scanned the horizon and saw a ship in the distance, bow forward as it was heading toward Florin City from the southeast. Humperdinck called for Tu. He didn't know who was on the ship, but he didn't have much time to get ready.

"The story is named after Humperdinck and he doesn't show up until Chapter 6?" commented the grandfather. "I was beginning to wonder if he was even alive. But he is a smart operator to not let talent like Andy's to go unused. Isn't it about time for you to get going to class?"

"Yes it is Grandpa" the grandson answered, somewhat questionably. "Trying to get rid of me?"

"Never! I just...ah...well...promised some of the patients here that I'd start reading The Princess Bride to them. You know, none of them know the story? Kind of sad, but I guess I've been talking about it enough some of them are curious. But don't let that stop you from coming in with your story you wrote."

"That I wrote?"

"Of course you wrote it. Nobody said 'no problem' back then - that's a modern thing. People used to say 'thank you' and 'you're welcome'; call me old-fashioned but I like it better that way. But it's still a good story; see you tomorrow kid."