23 The Emperor and the King
The chains around Stoick's body weighed heavily on the Viking chief as he trudged along the road. None of the prisoners had eaten since they left the ship and it was beginning to show on all their faces and in each of their stumbling steps.
"Excuse me Your Leadershipness... sir" a very familiar looking old man enquired of the Guard Captain "with your permission sir, I'll hand out some food to the prisoners during the next rest stop; they appear to be slowing down a tad... well... quite a lot actually."
"There will be no more resting" he replied "as it is, we won't make the Capital before night fall and I don't want to spend the night out here; who are you anyway?"
"Oh err... I was charged with taking care of the prisoners on the ship sir."
"So what are you doing here then?"
"Well... you see sir... nobody told me to stop taking care of them, so I just... came along too."
"Well we don't need you any more so get back to your ship and I never want to see your face again; understood?"
"Understood sir; fair weather and good fortune to you sir" the old man declared as he turned and left.
The Guard Captain looked to the road ahead satisfied that he had seen the last of that annoying old man, but he would be very surprised during the next head count. Not only did he find that he had not lost any prisoners, but he had actually gained one.
"THERE'S TWO MISSING" General Karoc screamed at the top of his lungs "DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD GET AWAY WITH THIS?"
"Please... I'm sorry" Astrid begged before Fishlegs paid the awful price "I ordered them all back, it just that the Gronckles are much slower that the others. I still have a few minutes left, don't I?"
Before the furious General could respond, one of the ships lookouts called down that he had spotted the last two dragons bobbing slowly along like two giant Bumble Bees.
"You were lucky this time" he spat "but I don't like being made to look the fool."
"I am sorry General; I'll try to do better next time."
"Next time it will be your life on the line girl; your dopey looking friend will take the next group out"
"Hey!" Ruffnut sneered at the Generals offending remark.
"And you will stay here and hope she is more responsible that you were; your hands are so pretty... it would be a shame if you were to lose them."
The three Dragon Riders led the slightly happier dragons back to their pens below deck and prepared to take the other half out.
"Thanks for coming back in time Astrid" Fishlegs was still shivering at the thought of losing his hands.
"Yeah... Hiccup was quite upset when I told him I couldn't stay" Astrid whispered.
"You saw Hiccup?" Fishlegs whispered rather loudly; too loudly for Astrids liking.
"Quiet!" she hissed "I didn't notice him until my time was almost up. So Ruffnut, you make sure you head up to the clouds as soon as you can; tell him what we know and find out what he's planning.
"Righty O" Ruffnut took her saddle from rack in her Zippleback's stall, but Astrid lifted it from her hands and gently placed it back.
"It's very important Ruff, that you ride Swiftwing this time."
Out on deck, the Dragon Riders gave each individual dragon the order to go feed and return before setting off, while Karoc and his men watched on.
"You seem to have these beasts very well trained" the General noted as Ruffnut and Swiftwing disappeared from sight "but why are you looking so worried girl; your friend doesn't have any of those slow dragons in her charge."
"No... but she has Hookfang in her group. Dragons tend to take after their riders; his is rather lazy and undisciplined."
"Oh dear" General Karoc smirked "how unfortunate for you my dear."
"PRESENT... ARMS!"
The imperial soldiers under Captain Pratt's command stood stone still in perfect rows as the Emperor's coach passed by before coming to a halt near the Clipper Ship. Eight members of Scias's personal guard leapt from their horses and lined up on either side with their backs to the carriage door and their swords drawn; when a man is hated by his own people as much as Scias was, he cannot afford to take chances. This was why the Emperor normally spent most of his time in the safety of the palace, but the anticipation he felt at the impending arrival of his new dragons, was just too much for him to bear and he just had to see them as soon as they arrived. The Imperial Coach was almost three times as long and twice as wide as a normal carriage or wagon and it no signs of life for almost ten minutes while Pratt's men continued to stand at full attention with their swords at arm's length; one by one the tips of their swords began to droop as their muscles began to burn.
The coach door finally opened but Emperor Scias still failed to appear; instead it was Borges who made his way down and approached Captain Pratt.
"The Emperor wishes to speak with you Captain; I suggest that you do not keep him waiting" it was plain to see that Borges was not pleased for some reason, and Captain Pratt just hoped that Scias was in a better mood.
"Err... yes sir... permission to have the men stand easy sir?"
"Yes, yes of course" Borges waved his hand in dismissal of Pratt's concerns "just hurry up about it."
"STAND AT... EASE" the Captain ordered before hurrying to the coach steps.
"Captain Julius Pratt at your service Your Highness" he declared to the open door "you err... wanted to see me sir?"
"Please, do come in Captain" the Emperor's slippery voice seemed to run physically down the steps "but that accent of yours; Elydonian is it not?"
"Err, yes Majesty; I was once a Captain in the Elydonian Navy" Julius Pratt had never felt so totally out of control in his entire life.
"And it was you who sent word to me that amongst your prisoners was the King of Elydonia himself; is that not right?"
"Y-yes Majesty" Pratt had assumed that the Emperor would be greatly pleased to have King Joric as his prisoner, but now he was beginning to wonder if he would be very lucky enough to see the sun rise tomorrow.
"So you gladly betray your King; do you expect to be rewarded for this act of treason?"
"If y-you p-please Majesty... Joric was never my King; I served in the court of King Rekkur until he was overthrown by this man and imprisoned."
"So you did not fight to free your King; instead you simply fled to the New Loren Empire for a better life."
"Well... err... everyone else... that is... all my colleagues... began to serve the new King and so I..."
"You didn't fight to the death?" Scias feigned surprise "Answer me this Captain; how can a man such as you be trusted, having given up on your King so quickly?"
"But Majesty... I haven't given up... I just didn't want to give my services to this man who was not the rightful King and... so I came... err..." Pratt felt strongly that he was losing his own argument when a burst if inspiration hit like one of Toothless's plasma bolts.
"I came here to serve you Majesty; the rightful ruler of this mighty empire." Pratt was on a roll now "Every land you have entered to the south and east has been blessed to come under your rule and so I was sure that in time, Elydonia would also gladly join in New Loren statehood with Rekkur as Regent; following your orders and helping to keep the Empire safe from barbarians like the Dragon Riders. But when this false King took the throne, I decided that the best thing to do was to offer you my services straight away."
"So you want me to invade your former home and free your King for you?"
"Oh no Majesty; I merely wish to serve but as I said, it is only a matter of time before the known world comes completely under your protection and rule... as it should."
Captain Pratt could feel the relief flowing over him as the Emperor smiled, although it was more like a self satisfied smirk. Scias was not so much pleased at the thought of ruling the world, but was very satisfied that he could still make someone who had just done him a great service, feel like they were just a small and insignificant cog in the machine of empire; and very fortunate to be so.
"Hey... that's not Astrid" Starkard declared as Swiftwing drew closer with Ruffnut "Are you going to kiss her while flying upside down too?"
"Oh Starkard" the Dragon Master beckoned.
"Yes Hiccup?"
"Shut up!"
"Yes Hiccup."
The dragons from the Mighty Ivar splashed around in the ocean below, playing and feeding as Ruffnut and Swiftwing flew into formation with the other two riders.
"I hope your presence here doesn't mean something has happened to Astrid" Hiccup noted nervously.
"She fine lover boy" Ruffnut smirked "General Karoc just likes to mix things up in a vain attempt to keep us off balance; so what's your plan?"
"I can't think of anything brilliant" Hiccup admitted "so the plan is this; you swap dragons and take Stormfly back to Astrid, and we will attack tonight... no... before dawn when everyone is still asleep; so be ready."
"You got it Boss" Ruffnut waved a kind of salute before peeling off to swap dragons.
Although she was nowhere nearly as good as Astrid at stunt riding, Ruffnut managed to swap dragons without looking too silly, and soon she was dropping back down towards the ocean on a similar looking, but slightly bigger dragon."
Emperor Scias said nothing for several minutes as King Joric just stood before him in manacles (or as we say in our modern and enlightened times, personacles). While the Emperor had been making Captain Pratt sweat, Borges had ordered the guards to bring the Elydonian King from the ship so he would be ready as soon as Scias desired to see him. As a result of this, Joric found himself in earshot of the open carriage door during Pratt's nervous speech; he had smiled of course at the Captains desperation.
"Of course you realise that very little of what Julius told you was true."
"Naturally... I'm not a fool" Scias smirked "So then... would you like to tell me your side of the story... King Joric?"
"To tell the truth, I don't see the point; you'll just believe whatever suits you and kill anyone who disagrees."
"Ah... so... my reputation precedes me; it is refreshing though, not to be in the presence of just another pandering toad."
"One again, I don't see the point; I was dead the moment we landed in New Loren."
"Oh don't be like that; it might be nice to have a prisoner who is brave enough to indulge in a little... straight talk."
"Until you get too worried about anyone else hearing my 'Straight Talk'. Then you'll have me thrown into a deep pit somewhere."
"I see you know the score... Joric the Fourth of Bolthorn."
"Fifth actually; and I see that you know about my legitimate claim to the throne of Elydonia."
"Indeed; and in that matter, your traitorous Captain Pratt was right. Even before this business with the Dragon Riders, we had been making plans to annex Elydonia as soon as the rest of the Empire was stable enough. Rekkur was never well liked here or in your country, so I thought that all I had to do was to give him enough time to become really hated, and then march in and take over; not as a conqueror, but as a saviour."
"But my ascension to the throne spoiled your little party then?"
"It wasn't one of my favourite occurrences, but I knew we'd find our way round to taking over your lands eventually. Then those dragons appeared here late last year... that was just too delightful. Do you have any idea how far and wide I have been searching for creatures such as these... and for how long?"
"Err... a long time?" Joric offered while not caring.
"I took over from my father as nothing more than a King... like you, but I knew; oh yes I knew that there were creatures out there that most people couldn't begin to imagine and in order to find them, I needed ships; ships and men. Many more than a kingdom could produce and so the first fleet I sent out was to conquer; I conducted my search while I built my empire, but all I could find were rumours and legends that were no more than stories, but then... in my own country... flying reptiles that turned out to be dragons... and with riders who were little more than children."
The Emperor face, that had been so full of delight, suddenly turned very serious and solemn.
"And now I discover that they are your friends and allies... I'm afraid I can't allow that."
You may remember that in the past I had mentioned that I had travelled through a war zone and been surrounded by men with automatic weapons; of all the stories told so far, this is one of the biggies.
It took place in central Sri Lanka in the late 1990's – early 2000's (I've lost track a bit) on my second trip there. The war was still going on at the time, so we stayed in Negombo on the west coast just north of the capital of Colombo. Some of the local people we knew, told us that there was a Cease Fire on, that had been holding for a few months; therefore it was currently safe to go to Jaffna on the northern coast where they had friends. So after a few days planning, four of us piled into a Toyota HiAce and set off along roads covered with pot holes, and landmine warning signs every kilometre.
Several times through the day, we had to stop at military checkpoints, show our passports and explain our presence there. Every time we stopped, the soldiers would assume we were American (this was not a problem because they don't hate Americans in Sri Lanka, they quite like them) but when they heard we were from Australia, all the soldiers close by would rush over excitedly to ask questions. Was it because they loved Aussies? No; they just wanted to find out what was happening with the cricket matches leading up to the Cricket World Cup.
I discovered something very interesting that day: When you are surrounded by about thirty battle hardened soldiers with automatic weapons, it is nice to have them smiling and talking about sport.