The king ch 6
Several people have been asking me, "Why doesn't Katniss know that Peeta is the king?" well, she is a mother. I know, I can hear many of you saying, that is not a good excuse, but there is a time when you have young children, then add to that the grief of Mitch dying, well, she hasn't been paying attention. Plus, a part of her thinks that there is no way that she would meet him in the forest like she has been. Then add to that the Peeta is a king who doesn't plaster his face all over his kingdom, so she honestly doesn't know what he looks like. There are other people do know who he is, but when Katniss has seen Peeta, no one else has been around. I hope that helps.
I need to thank so many…. First I need to thank norbertsmom for all of her hard work. And then loueze! She has named all of these villages. And then there is my wonderful Sarah. She has always been there whenever I ding her on Facebook messenger to ask her dumb questions about medieval times. And then I need to thank my pumpking! Thank you all for all of your hard work.
And of course there is you, my dear reader. Thank you for coming back to me. And I hope that you enjoy! Also I have made a map! you can find it on my tumblr page at . com
More fun with Gaelic words!
Iascaire- fishermen
Salt peter- gunpowder- while this one is not a Gaelic word, it is what they called gunpowder before they had guns to use it in.
Mara- four marine
Coillte- seven- lumber
Eadach- eight -textile
Arbhar- nine -corn, grain
Bainne- ten- livestock
Ullord- eleven -orchards
Gual- twelve coal
Airgead- silver
The iascaire in Mara don't think much of it when the fishing nets are more tangled than normal one morning. After all, it stormed the night before.
The carpenters in Coillte notice however, when all of their tools are dull on that morning after they all came in from the woods and sharpened them together the evening before.
The cotton pickers in Eadach scratch their heads in wonder when it seems that half of their crops were destroyed overnight. They shrug their shoulders and blame it on the storm.
The mills in Arbhar have to stop their work for a day when they can't find the mules needed to grind their grain.
The farmers in Bainne are awakened before dawn by the mother cows crying because they can't seem to find their calves. They worry when they find the young cows penned up in a side field by some fallen trees. Even the youngest farmhands who are helping can see right away that the barricade is man-made and not caused by the storm.
The pickers in Ullord notice the strange foot prints in the soft soil around the fruit trees. They immediately notice that half of the crops in the orchard have been thrown down and destroyed.
The miners in Gual quickly notice that someone has been around the gold mines. After sending a messenger to the castle, the guards come and investigate. The men only continue that day's work under heavy guard.
Pollux rushes into the king's office. Peeta looks up at him in surprise, and before he can say anything, Darius follows close behind him. He bobs his head in greeting, and says, "Your majesty." He then takes a deep breath. "I am afraid that I have some dreadful news. The forest outside of Coillte has been set on fire." Peeta jumps to his feet and quickly goes to the door. Darius asks behind him, "Are you going, sire?"
Peeta nods as he continues down the hallway. "Pollux, go tell Effie and Sae that I'm riding with the guard to Coillte. Are the men ready, Darius? It's a good hour's ride to get there."
Darius replies, "It's the woods of Coillte closest to the castle that is on fire. So it's only half an hour to get there."
Peeta keeps on walking until he reaches the courtyard and can't help but to think how close that is to Gual. The stable boy runs to get Bishop, but Peeta stops him and says, "Leave Bishop here. He doesn't like fire. I'll take the new grey stallion instead."
The stable boy runs to get the horse out for the king while Darius continues his report. "The village of Eadach and Gual are there carrying water to help put out the fire. They think they might have it almost contained."
The horse, Airgead, is brought to Peeta, and Darius finds his own seat on his steed. Together the men join the rest of the guard and are on their way. In no time, they arrive at the fire.
There are many men from several different villages surrounding the fire. Peeta slips off of his horse, and hands the reins to a boy who is watching over the horses. He joins the men as they carry buckets of water to extinguish the fire.
They work well into the night, finally getting the fire out before dawn. Peeta notices immediately a man approaching with his hat in his hands. Often through the night, the other men would listen to his gentle commands while they fought the fire. "Thank you, your majesty for coming to help us. Your help along with the guards made all the difference."
Peeta nods and lays his left arm over his chest. The man copies him while Peeta asks, "You know who I am. Can I ask you your name?"
He flushes red while he answers and Peeta can hear the nerves in his voice, "My name is Twill. It is my wife, Bonnie who first smelled smoke."
"Well, I will forever be grateful to your wife, sir," Peeta says with a bow. The men surrounding them, all chuckle along with Peeta and Twill. "I do have a question. Did you or your wife see anything suspicious?"
The men fall quiet while they wait for Twill to answer. Instead of doing it right away, he looks over his shoulder. Peeta looks in the same direction but only sees the others who helped to extinguish the fire. "Ah, there she is." He waves at one of the figures and they wave back before approaching Peeta's small group. When the person is closer, Peeta isn't at all surprised when he sees a young woman. He smiles and thinks that his Katniss is not the only woman who likes to wear britches when he sees this woman dressed that way. "Your majesty, this is my Bonnie."
She reaches for non-existent skirts and her cheeks grow even more flushed in the early morning light when she realizes what she is wearing when she meets her king. She bobs a small curtsey anyways and says, "Your majesty! Welcome to our humble village."
He bows his head again, and lays his arm across his chest. "I am glad that we were able to save it. Tell me, was there anything weird that happened before you noticed the fire? Anything unusual?"
Bonnie looks towards her husband and in the dark shadows before dawn, Peeta can make out how she is worrying her lip. "What is it Bonnie?" He hears Twill ask. He must have seen her biting her lip, too.
"There were two men. I saw them in the woods. I didn't think anything about it until now." She wrings her hands together. "They did it, didn't they? They set our woods on fire. I knew I should have said something."
Twill wraps his arms around his wife, and Peeta turns towards Darius. He nods at the king and says, "I'll start looking for the men now, sire."
Peeta overhears Twill comforting his wife, and he has to fight the urge to rush to Katniss' side to check on her and Violet. He briefly wonders how he can move her and her daughter to the castle before one of his other guards comes over with a note for the king. He opens the note and scans it quickly. Peeta looks at his guard with a question on his lips. The man volunteers, "The calves, your highness. Someone had separated the young ones from their mothers. The cows were looking for their young, and crying out for them. That is what woke up the farmers. They went searching for them, and found them penned up in another part of the pasture. When they got back to the village after returning the calves-"
Peeta looks at the messager who stopped talking. "Then what happened?"
The young man swallows nervously and stutters, "Y-y-your highness. They found a couple of young ladies who were helping at the edge of the field. They were covered in blood and crying. They confided that some strange men had caught them, beat them and forced themselves on them."
The king's anger washes over him in a red-hot flash. Who would dare to come into his kingdom like this and hurt his people? He looks at the people who are gathered around him. "Whoever is doing these evil things will be punished and hanged. I promise you this." He runs his hands through his hair, making his curls almost black. "I need some men to ride to the other villages to check on them. I will be going to Ullord to check on the orchards."
Several men, both royal guards, and villagers step forward ready to go forth to check on their friends and family. After he makes sure that everyone has some place to go, he spies Finnick riding up. Finnick doesn't get off of his horse, but instead lets out a low whistle. "This is much worse that I thought it would be."
Peeta looks out again on the singed forest behind him. Now that the sun is creeping over the horizon, it looks worse now than it did in the middle of the night. Peeta climbs into Airgead's saddle. "I'm going to check on Ullord."
Before Peeta can even ask, Finnick volunteers, "Can I go too?"
Peeta nods, and turns the horse towards the east, and the men, accompanied by several guards, head out to Ullord.
Katniss slides her bow onto its familiar resting spot, followed by her quiver and then her game bag before Katniss opens the back door, her mother, who is sitting in the rocking chair working on her knitting says, "Don't forget, I need some nettles and comfrey."
Katniss pauses before she goes out the door and looks sharply at her mother. "What do you need those for?"
Lily shrugs. "I had to use what I had last week and haven't had a chance to go into the woods. That's all."
Katniss nods, knowing that her mother likes to keep those two herbs in supply, especially during the summer months with everyone always coming to her with their injuries. "I'll be back soon," Katniss says, and opens the door, but stops when she sees the guards from the palace. There is one sitting beside the path she uses to go into the woods, and another down several hundred feet at the other end of the meadow. The guard beside the path comes riding over.
"The king requests that all stay inside the boundaries of Gual today."
She looks beyond him, nervous that her first thought is to look for Peeta to see how handsome he would look in the guard uniform. Her face betrays her thoughts as she feels it heat up with embarrassment. She turns her thoughts to worry about the safety of everyone. "What happened?"
The guard looks nervous as he looks around to see where the other guards are. "Someone set the woods around Coillte on fire, and then in Bainne, they tried to-"
The other guard shouting at him interrupts him. He looks back to Katniss nervously and says, "If you see anything, let us know." He nods his head at her and goes to join the other guard.
Lily joins her in the doorway. "What was that about?"
"He said that someone set the woods outside of Coillte on fire. I hope everyone is alright." She whispers, "I hope he is alright."
She jumps when her mother says, "You hope who is safe?"
Did she really say that out loud? She wonders as she stammers, "The guards. I hope the guards are safe."
Lily shoots her a look that she can't decipher. Violet comes out of her room, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She goes to Katniss, wrapping her arms around her mother's waist. She looks up at Grandma. "What's wrong?"
Katniss wonders what to tell her as she looks out the open door again, wondering if she should try to go into the woods when about two scores of men go racing through the small meadow separating her cottage from the woods. Its then they hear the shouts coming from the other side of the village where the guards raced off to. Violet grabs her boots, and they follow behind.
Everyone in the village is running towards the mines that are on the other side. Katniss doesn't miss the horrified look on her mother's face. She grabs her hand and tries to reassure her, "The starting bell hasn't rung yet. No one should be in the mines yet."
Lily nods at her words, but still doesn't say anything. They pass Lily's cottage, and Prim comes running out to meet them. The ladies all hug one another, each one reliving old memories from then this happened so many years ago.
Silently, the village gathers at the entrance of the mines. Katniss looks at Prim, and says, "Stay with mother and Violet. I'll be back." Prim nods and Katniss starts to weave in and out in between her neighbors. She finally gets through the press of people and sees Thom and some other men bringing out the couple of men who were in the mine early.
Thom looks up and spies her. "Go and get your mother and Prim. These men need looking after."
Katniss nods but she doesn't have far to go, as they come up behind her. Her mother and sister start looking over the several men who are lying on the ground. Katniss isn't surprised at all when Johanna comes up beside her. Violet wraps her aunt in a giant hug. "They need to take these men to Uncle Haymitch's," Jo whispers.
Katniss says, "It would be best. Go tell the old man, and I'll find the men to get them there."
Jo nods. "Come Violet, you can help me get ready. "
Katniss hears her daughter ask, "Get ready for what?" While she turns towards her sister and mother. She waits for them to acknowledge her, but she gasps when she sees Gale lying there covered in blood.
Lily looks up, and says, "You have to go tell Madge. She doesn't need to see him like this."
Still unable to talk, Katniss nods and takes off running towards Gale's cottage that he shares with Madge. She makes it to his door, as Madge and Colton are coming out. When Madge sees her winded friend, she starts shaking her head. Katniss catches her as she collapses in her arms. "They are taking the men to Uncle Haymitch's house."
Madge looks at her, tears wetting her cheeks. "So he is alive then?"
Katniss nods, and Madge smiles, grateful while Colton asks, "Where's Daddy?"
Madge straightens herself, and pulls him to her side. "He is at Haymitch's house. But first, let's go play with Posy."
Colton looks uncertainly between his mother and Violet's mother before he agrees, "Can we go see the horses?"
Madge grabs his hand and leads him to Hazelle's house. Katniss waits outside for Madge, not ready to see her friend's mother after seeing him covered in blood. Madge comes back out, and Katniss can see her still wet cheeks. They silently walk across the village to the big house on the hill.
They walk in slowly, where they are met with men lying on tables in the living area and around the kitchen. It only takes them a moment to find Gale, who is lying on his stomach while Jo rearranges some rags on his back. Madge flies over to him, with Katniss following close behind. Lily meets them at the table. "Thom thinks that someone used salted peter to blow up the mines. There were several men already in the mine, getting ready to work. Thankfully no one was that far inside, but Gale did have some burning beams fall onto his back. It was Thom who pulled everyone out."
Madge crouches down, so she can see her husband's face. Katniss looks away, wanting to give them a moment of privacy. Her mother pulls her to the side of the room and away from everyone. "I need you to go to the forest for me. I'm going to need the nettles and comfrey after all."
"What about the guards?" She asks.
Lily doesn't have a chance to answer her when they bring in another man who seems to be covered in even more blood than any of the other men. "Just get me those herbs!" Lily tutters and then follows the men further into the house. Katniss watches after them for a moment, willing her stomach to stop the familiar churning it does when she sees blood.
She finds her way to her cottage, retrieves the items she had on just a little bit ago. When they are replaced, she looks out her back door for the guards that were there earlier. She sees no sign of any of them, realizing that they are all probably at the mines, helping with that. No one sees her slip into her woods.
Peeta and Finnick arrive in Ullord. At first it doesn't look like anything is wrong. The men are silent for a moment, before they hear the water. Water that they shouldn't be able to hear at all. Peeta swears, and Finnick says, "Did the dam break?"
Peeta nods. "I think the village is out of the way, but not the vineyard."
His men follow him into the largest village in Dosean. It's Darius who observes, "Where is everyone? Ullord seems to be deserted."
"Let's keep riding towards the damn," Peeta says. "If it has broken, then that is where everyone will be."
They ease through the village, following Darius. As the travel, they come upon the people who are gathered beside the river that has been damned up for so long, that the youngest people of Ullord didn't know that there was even a river. Peeta watches it flow, and he can't help but to feel relieved when he sees that it only washed away a couple of rows of grapes, instead of the whole field like he was afraid of.
He gets off of Airgead, and his men follow. The mayor of Ullord, Chaff, approaches Peeta. The men exchange greetings and Chaff asks, "Who would want to collapse the damn?"
Peeta, after seeing the fire, in Coillte, and now this, has a strong feeling that this isn't an unfortunate happenstance. "I'm not sure. When I get back to the castle, I will talk to the builders. They need to rebuild it as soon as possible."
Chaff bows his head and says, "Thank you, your highness."
That is when a young man approaches them, his nerves written plainly on his face. He nods at Chaff and says, "Chaff, your majesty, May I say something?"
Peeta nods encouragingly. "What is your name?"
He stands up a little straighter. "My name is Thresh, sire. I was up early this morning, even before first light, when I saw some strange men around the dam. I was getting ready to call out when the dam broke. That's when I woke everyone up. When I got back, they were already gone."
Peeta looks to Darius, and Darius nods. Without a word, he nods to his men, and they walk over to what is left of the damn. Peeta turns back to Thresh and ask, "Do you remember anything about the men? Anything at all?"
"They were all wearing brown cloaks. They had several horses, but no wagons. I don't think they saw me."
"How many were there?" Finnick asks.
"There were only four of them," Thresh answers.
"Could you see how they destroyed the dam?" Finnick asks, before Peeta has a chance to.
Thresh says, "They must have used salt peter because I heard a small bang."
Peeta nods. "That would be the only way to do it. Who is bringing it into the country? I didn't think we've had any boats from the Orient coming through."
Finnick shrugs. "It could have come from anywhere. The real question is who are these men?"
Thresh adds, "Their cloaks weren't make like ours. They were different."
Finnick nods, and Peeta says, "Thank you. If you see anyone who is a stranger, raise the alarm."
Both Thresh and Chaff nod in agreement. They talk to several more people who come over to them, glad that no one is hurt, but sad that they came to visit under these circumstances. After the horses had a chance to rest, the men were off again. This time, they don't ride the horses as fast, and they arrive at the crossroads after a couple of hours. Peeta reigns in Airgead, and everyone stops behind him.
Finnick looks at him, worried and asks, "Are you alright?"
Peeta looks worriedly towards the road that leads to Gual, to Katniss. Instead of following his instinct, he turns Airgead towards the castle. He has the fleeting thought that he should get everyone home, and then he will come back on his own to check on Katniss and Violet.
It only really takes her just a short while to find the herbs she needs. The nettle is growing at the patch she has been cultivating at the edge of the path, while the comfrey is just over the little hill. There are several times Katniss pauses in her picking, to look around when the hair on the back of her neck prickles. She doesn't see anything out of the ordinary, but still forces herself to walk slowly out of the forest instead of running like she really wants to do. She doesn't see the men watching her with the spy glass they had stolen from the captain of the ship that had dropped them off weeks ago.
Ethan meets the men in the courtyard, with a wide eyed Annie following close behind. Peeta and Finnick give the reigns over to the stable boys and the king's family goes into the castle. Peeta doesn't miss the relived look on Pollex's face, and even Sae has come up from her kitchen to greet them. Peeta tries to hide his nerves as he looks at their anxious faces. "What happened?"
Sae shakes her head in relief. "Nothing, sire. We were all worried about you. There was no word and everyone was gone for so long-"
Peeta interrupts her when he wraps her in a hug. "We are here now, Sae. Soon we will catch who is committing these acts of well, treason. No one can act this way against my people."
Before anyone can say anything else, one of the other guards, meekly approaches with a note. Peeta opens it quickly, and even he can feel the blood leaving his face. He announces, "The mine collapsed in Gual. No one was killed, but several men were hurt." The women gasp, while Finnick softly curses.
Ethan throws his arms around his dad's waist. "Are Violet and Colton, alright?"
Peeta, who doesn't see the questions on their faces, reaches down, and swoops Ethan up into his arms. "I'm sure they are alright. I'll go and check on them."
"I'm coming too," Ethan adds.
Peeta sets him back down. "I'm sorry, Mac. You have to stay here and help Sae."
Finnick asks, "Are you leaving right now? You haven't had a chance to rest. Send someone else to check."
Peeta can't tell his friends and family about Katniss, not yet at least, but he also knows that he should have gone to Gual instead of coming to the castle. He shakes his head as he says, "I can't. I'm their king; I'll ride out there and be back in just a bit." He looks to Sae, and he feels guilty for the worried crease in between her eyes. Instead of saying anything, he sets Ethan down, and heads for the stables.
He walks silently past the stable boys, and walks into Bishop's stall. His beast nickers at him in greeting, and Peeta scratches his ears. Its Annie's soft voice that surprises him, "Why are you riding out again? You are worrying us."
Peeta sighs before he meets her eyes. "I have to go. I have to check on my people-"
Annie interrupts, "And you don't trust anyone else to do it?"
Peeta nods. "It's just a short ride. I'll be back soon. Go and help Sae feed the men."
Annie asks, "Will you take some guards with you?"
"I won't need them. I'll stick to the forest." He kisses his sister-in-law on the forehead, and finishes getting Bishop ready. He feels for his sword, satisfied that it's at his side; he jumps up into the saddle. After a long and weary night, he is ready to see her. He spurs Bishop out of the barn, and he doesn't miss everyone's surprised looks.
Bishop lengthens his stride, picking up on his master's nervous energy. Before long, they are halfway to Gual when something catches Peeta's eye. He reigns in the horse, who snorts at the sudden stop.
Peeta's practiced eye doesn't see anything at first. What he does notice is how quiet the forest is. He turns Bishop around, trying to peer into the surrounding trees. All of a sudden, there is a burst of pain, exploding on his back. It steals his breath, making him hold on to the saddle for dear life.
He struggle to find his breath again, when he hears voices walking up behind him. "Damn it! I was hoping that he was the king."
The other man snorts. "Like the king would be out here riding without a guard. Let's do make an example out of him."
Even before Peeta can unsheathe his sword, the men, have pulled him out of the saddle throwing him onto the ground. "Are you sure he isn't of importance? This is a very fine horse for a villager to be riding."
The other man says, "He probably stole it." Peeta, who is curled up on his side during this, is trying to find his breath as he tries to open his eyes. He peeks out from narrow slits, and all he can see are two tall figures in brown robes. The one who is holding Bishop's reigns, slaps the horses flank, making him snort and rear back pulling the reigns out of his hands.
The other man says, "Why did you let him go? We needed another horse."
"He jerked the reigns out of my hand. I didn't expect that." The man kicks Peeta in the back before asking, "What are we going to do with him?"
Peeta swallows the painful grunt that threatens to escape when he feels the man kick right to his lower back, exactly the place where they first hit him.
Even he can hear the menace in the other man's voice, as black invades his brain. "I told you, we are going to make an example of him."
I know... I can hear you screaming from here...