Tempers, Money and Ideas
During the few weeks following the coronation, each day was an endless tale of work and judgements. After discovering how much time she had before the Crawler invaded her kingdom, Milena had gone into overdrive.
Luckily, she already owned many buildings in Bowerstone Market and the Millfields area, so she had plenty of rent coming in, but it wasn't enough to keep the Treasury from bankruptcy. Already, there was barely over four hundred thousand gold coins within the room she had kept special guard over and Hobson, her 'new personal guide' who seemed to have no moral value unless it were to gain money, was getting continuously frustrated.
After lowering the taxes, opening a school and rebuilding the Bowerstone Old Quarter, the Treasury had an a million gold hole in it, and she had to find money. Fast.
Giving up everything she already had from her own pocket and scrounging around for unpaid rent just about got her in the black, and the work she'd been doing in the local blacksmith's had raised another two hundred thousand or so, but it was with the help from some sizeable donations from some 'concerned citizens' sources that had got them floating.
She was angry. Angry at the world for resting on her shoulders, hoping she would do everything for it. And it was bloody heavy!
It was the last day of the working week, so there would be no more work during the next two days, only searching around for another source of money. It was usual for Milena to stay behind late on these days, and the blacksmith didn't question her.
He always payed her a fair wage, which would come as a lump sum at the end of the week, and treated her like any of his other employees when she was next to the anvil. Every week he would wish her luck, and every week the other workers would give her their tips, refusing to listen to her when she told them she couldn't.
This week had been no different.
As she entered the castle, bag in hand and dog in tow, Hobson ran up to her.
"Well?" he asked, glancing at the bag, "How much?"
Milena heaved it over her shoulder and made her way to the treasury, "One hundred and… seventy five… thousand." She dropped the bag on the floor and let the coins spill out onto the floor.
Hobson nodded. "That's more than last week."
"I made more swords than last week," she said, "I'm getting quicker."
"I see," he started to count them, "And the rent came in this morning. Another fifty thousand," he was about to say something, but he hesitated.
She frowned. "What?"
The 'guide' stood and coughed. "Your majesty," Avo. It was never something she liked when he started like that, "Why not raise the rent?"
The question hung in the air, a tense silence hanging about them.
"No."
"But, your majesty, it would-"
"I said, no, Hobson!"
The old man froze, his eyes wide in fear, before lowering them to the ground in shame. "Yes… yes of course your majesty. I don't know what I was thinking."
Staring at him for another few moments, Milena huffed and headed up the stairs, nodding to the guard, Tom, that had been looking after Tyson as she passed him.
As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that Hobson was trying to help, even though it was going against everything she stood for. The fact that he kept trying to persuade her to change her mind only made her hate him more. She wasn't going to change it! Didn't he understand that?
After entering her room, she slammed the door behind her, Tyson just barely managing to squeeze through before it shut. How was she going to raise enough money to keep her people happy and save Albion for almost certain doom? How? How!
Shouting her frustration at the ceiling, she grabbed a china bowl and raised it above her head, ready to throw it to the ground.
It was at that moment that she realised her stupidity.
Lowering the bowl back onto the table she had picked it up from, Milena sighed, letting her rage drain out of her.
"I'm sorry Tyson," she said quietly, rubbing behind the dog's ear, "I'm just a bit stressed at the moment."
Tyson yipped his forgiveness and licked her hand. She smiled at him.
As she lay down for the night, neglecting her dinner once again, too exhausted to do anything but sleep, she raised her hand, wishing she had someone to hold it and guide her. Like that night when Ben had pulled her through the revolution…
He'd been thinking about her again. No matter how hard he tried, or what he did, she always ended up in his thoughts again. The princess. The Queen. Milena.
Ben had taken to sleeping during the day, not trusting the night to gift him with pleasant dreams. The sunlight kept the nightmares at bay, or at least gave him only a diluted version of their original ferocity. He knew that if he had these nightmares, then his focus would be lost, and he wouldn't be able to work to the best of his abilities.
There were, of course, days where he had to stay awake, having to recruit new soldiers or have a meeting with the men in charge of the training. These days he forced himself to sleep at night. It was also during these days that he found himself with a greater temper than usual.
Just last week he'd ended up terrifying a young lad because he'd accidentally kicked a ball at him…
He started to pace, trying to get his mind back to the problem in hand.
How could he help the Queen to keep the kingdom to stay afloat?
With the wages he was being paid, though considerably more than what they had once been, there wasn't much room left for donations. It had to be big. Really big. But what?
Not for the first time, he considered the option of robbing some of those who were better-off in Millfields…
No! That's not you thinking Ben, he scolded himself, Don't you listen to it! Don't give in!
He sat down on the stairs, pushing those thoughts away, trying to focus on the more decent and honest ways of finding money for the kingdom.
Bodyguard?
No. He already had a job to do, and he couldn't shirk those responsibilities.
He could always try some stand up in the local tavern like he used to. But there wasn't much money in that kind of business.
Gambling was too risky.
Asking would just get him kicked out of a lot of places.
Bounty hunting… Hm…
Of all the ideas he could come up with, it was that and treasure hunting that stuck, both being idealistic when it came to time and money. Even then, it was possible that he would have to be away for days at a time, and finding these treasures in a good state was improbable, but there weren't many other options.
Standing, he knew what he had to do. For Milena. For Albion.
"What do you mean, 'he's gone'?"
The soldier in front of her spluttered, trying to find a way to explain himself without angering his Queen further, "I um… Well, you see… He wasn't… He must've left in the night and…"
"Did he say where he might be going?" Milena asked, trying to get her temper under control.
The man shook his head, "The captain… he doesn't talk to the men so much anymore. He's usually keeping to himself in his room. The only time any of us ever see him is at night."
She frowned. That wasn't like him. Ben should have been walking round, mingling with his men, bold as brass. Not hiding in the shadows! What's happened to him? "Does anyone have any idea where he might have gone?"
"Well, um… Some of the men said they saw him heading towards the Mistpeak mountains, but they thought he was just going out for a walk. He does that quite a lot these days, you see."
Milena bit back her anger as she felt the need to hit something grow. "Thank you, lieutenant," she said, her voice cold, "you may leave."
Bowing, the soldier marched out of the room hastily, trying to get away from her as quickly as possible.
As soon as the throne room doors closed, she walked over to one of the candle stands and threw it half way across the room, sending a satisfying crash through the room as it hit the carpeted stone floor.
"Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" she asked the air, "Why is it that I have to be kept in the dark about my own captain's behavioural changes? What good can I do if I don't even have that small piece of information?"
"Did you ever consider the fact that they might be doing it to protect you?" Walter asked, stepping forwards from beside the throne where he'd been standing throughout the entire ordeal.
She glared at him. "Why would I need protecting? Do I look like I need protecting?"
He gave her a small smile. "Yes. Yes you do."
Milena felt her mouth open, but her words became stuck in her throat, so she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You already have so much to worry about," the knight continued, "They just want to keep as much stress off your shoulders as they can. It's true that the situation with Ben is worrying, but he's a grown man. And you're a grown woman." He paused, looking her up and down, "Though you're not exactly acting like one at the moment."
She smirked, unfolding her arms, "I suppose not. But I am a… little stressed at the moment," she said, raising her hand and moving her thumb and forefinger close together to demonstrate how stressed she was.
Walter laughed. "I think you need a break, your majesty."
Milena let her shoulders slouch, "Not you too! Can't I have just one person who doesn't always address me by my title?"
He laughed all the harder and slapped her on the back, making her step forwards to catch herself. "Go on! Have another adventure! Search for 'your own captain' if you want. I'll take care of things around here."
She blushed, realising that she had actually said those words, "Thanks Walter. You don't know what this means to me."
"Well, I've got a bit of a soft spot when it comes to you. Now be off with you! You've got a captain to find."
It had been many years since Ben had been in Brightwall's Library, its musty smell bringing up old memories of when he once worked there after his father had died, stacking books on the shelves and reading a few when Samuel, the head Librarian, gave him an hour or so as a break.
Of course, that old man was still here, talking about the good old days where the previous Hero Queen had allowed anyone to use the 'Academy' as he called it. Or at least, that was what the town's folk had told him. At that point in time, he was still stood just inside the doors, hoping that his previous employer was here.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the mess of an entrance hallway and made his way over to the desk. When he found that no one was behind it, he frowned.
Even after Logan had closed the Library down, Samuel had always remained with his precious books. The fact that he wasn't here wasn't a good…
The sound of a page turning distracted him from his thoughts.
"Hello?"
Someone coughed from the room to the right of the foyer. "The library is closed. We don't serve drinks or sell chicken feed. If you plan on buying either of these items, I would suggest going to the 'Ye Quill and Quandary' Tavern, or one of the many traders you'll find by the entrance of the village."
Ben smirked and followed the familiar voice up the stairs.
When he reached the top, he found the person he'd been looking for with his nose half buried in a rather decrepit looking book, sitting on a bench next to a fountain (who in their right mind would put a fountain in the middle of a library?).
He cleared his throat.
Samuel drew his eyes up from the page, glasses perched precariously on his nose, "Ben?" he asked, carefully closing the book, leaving a small piece of ribbon in his page, "Benjamin Finn?"
He grinned, "Long time no see, hey?"
Standing up, the librarian removed his glasses and beheld his once favourite employee. "I haven't seen you in here since… since…"
"Since I left for Bowerstone," he supplied, earning him a smile.
"You're luck's changed since then I've noticed."
"Yes well, it had to get a whole lot worse before it got better Sammy," Ben replied, slapping him on the arm.
Samuel cringed, rubbing the arm in pain, but his smile remained, "I see you've gotten stronger too!"
The captain laughed, "Well that's what you get after joining the army!"
"Ah, I heard about that. I think I still have your wanted poster somewhere…" he said, frowning slightly, "Captain, wasn't it?"
"Last time I checked anyway," he replied with a chuckle, "And what are you doing with my poster? If I didn't know you, I'd say you had some kind of fetish of me or something!"
"Nonsense! Am I not allowed to want to know about what my once employees are up to? And congratulations my dear boy! You really have come a long way since we last spoke," he moved to one of the many book stands around the room and placed his novel there carefully. "I think you'd like that one. It's kind of an adventure tale, only you're the one who decides where the story goes."
Ben simply nodded. Come on Ben! Are you going to ask him or not?
Samuel seemed to notice his thoughts playing on his face, "Is there something on your mind?"
Sighing, the blond haired man sat down heavily on the same bench he'd found the librarian, "I suppose you've heard about the situation the kingdom's in at the moment?"
He nodded, his face turning sombre.
"Well, I think I might have an idea about how to prevent the worst from happening. But I'm going to need your help."
AN - Mwahahahaha!
What's Ben idea? Will Milena find him? What will she say if she does? Well you'll just have to wait and see! :P
Ooo! What shall I write next...
Hope you guys like this chapter. It took a while to figure out where it was going, but I finally got it as good as I think it's going to get.
Until next time!