Chapter 15

King Derek

Derek's mind was racing, and though he put on a brave face, all he wanted to do was hold Genevieve. She was so white! He'd never seen her so frightened before! He never trained for battle, except a few spars with practice swords in the garden.

He studied foreign relations first, and then he was supposed to learn different kinds of weaponry. Though he did not feel ready to be King, his lessons had been cut short, but he also knew he wasn't prepared to be King.

The soldiers bustled around him as they helped him into his armor; it was beautiful and must have cost a fortune; engraved in the breastplate was the Glidonia crest.

Then a sword was pushed in one hand and a shield in the other they were so heavy to Derek as he felt his arms droop when they were put in each hand. Then someone was yelling something, and he and the other soldiers were leaving to go outside. The Glidonia castle was protected by tall, strong stone walls.

Then there were fields, and the areas eventually turned into sand and docks. Derek was taken up to the top of the walls; it was littered with soldiers with bows and arrows. He swallowed when he saw the ships; men were staring up at them in the fields.

"Your grace," a man said, nudging Derek. "The men need your words to inspire them." Derek almost gaped.

Why would they need his words? They were more seasoned warriors than he was. He remembered Genevieve telling him that subjects expected their morale to be boosted by their rulers. His head spun, and he had no idea what was coming out of his mouth, but he started yapping.

"Men of Glidonia, I am honored to find myself protecting my country with the likes of you. Fight for Glidonia and all you hold dear!" he said.

What was he saying? Why did it just sound so phony to him? He thought of Genevieve's face, and his resolve hardened.

"Like many of you, I have a beloved wife waiting for my safe return. Fight for those you love! I will defend every man I can see so that he may return home to his wife or his mother or his sister. I hope I see the same devotion from you. I am your comrade on the battlefield, your friend. Will you fight with me?" He asked the knights.

Derek felt stupid like he had spouted off a bunch of nonsense. He wanted to tell these men how he felt, but he couldn't get the words out.

He was a shoe cobbler for crying aloud! Not a king! But his words must have reached the men because they started cheering and smashing their weapons into the ground. Derek's ears rang, and he felt a sense of adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream.

He had to make it back to Genevieve; he couldn't leave her alone; Derek wondered for a moment if the Bulovian leader was telling his men to fight. What would they be fighting for? Perhaps one of them had poisoned the King! The men readied their weapons, but they couldn't hear what was going on below.

And then a wave of arrows came flying at them. Instinctively, they held up their shields, and the arrows bounced off, but some of the men weren't fast enough. Derek gasped when a few men fell from the wall. More arrows came at them, and they didn't have time to fire themselves.

Then some thirty men below came running at the wall, holding what appeared to be a battering ram. They smashed it into the wall, and Derek had to fight to stay on his feet. The wall shook.

"Partner up!" Derek yelled. "Someone defends while someone attacks!" he said as they obeyed his orders, and every other man held up his shield so that the other man could ready an arrow and shoot.

Derek wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel when the arrows rained down on their enemies; some of those men could have families too… Derek held his shield up and protected the man beside him, who shot at the men below. The man was a genius with the bow. Then the men slammed their battering ram once again, and more men fell from the wall.

They slammed it again, and suddenly Derek saw that the gate had burst open. He was grateful that the men behind their wall knew what to do. When the men started pouring in, the Glidonia attacked, and the battle continued. Derek's partner said to him:

"Your grace, we are needed below." He nodded, his throat dry, and he and his partner ran down the wall, holding their shields up for protection.

Once on the ground, Derek found that they had more men than the Bulovians, but that didn't prevent some casualties. He worked not to step on anyone, and his arms trembled with his sword. A beefy bald man came at him.

"Watch it!" The warning came just in time from his comrade.

Derek put up the shield, and the man bounced back, but Derek nearly fell over from his weight; then, Derek used the side of his blade to smack the man in the head. He wobbled, and Derek's partner entered the scene and finished the man.

Derek probably would have been sick, but he was forced to keep fighting. He was clumsy with the sword, and his companion always had his back.

On top of that, no matter what, Derek couldn't kill anyone. To Derek's dismay, the fight continued, and more Bulovians stormed through the gates.

"Order the men to open the Queen's tunnels," his companion said to him as he fought off a man. The Queen's tunnels? Did he mean Genevieve's tunnels? He'd never heard of that before. But this man had saved him so many times that he trusted him.

"Open the Queen's tunnels!" Derek yelled out. He wasn't quite sure what happened next. He suddenly saw what appeared to be grass shifting and moving. It was like an earthquake was on its way. He was pulled out of the way of an oncoming attack.

Then, as if by magic, the ground opened, and Derek saw inside a series of wheels working and a deep pit. Reinforcements poured out of it, climbing up ropes, and they charged down the Bulovians. Then they pushed Bulovians down inside the pit.

While the Bulovians struggled to climb the ropes, the men above cut them down so that the Bulovians were trapped. The angle of the pit was perfect, too; their arrows couldn't reach them. Derek just gaped.

Had the pit always been there? Did they have reinforcements the entire time? What other secrets did the castle have that he was unaware of? As he asked himself those questions, he was interrupted when he engaged in combat once again.

This time Derek was able to defend himself with the shield and then shove the man over the side into the pit. He landed amongst his friends, spitting, and screaming up at Derek.