Alcingeria Volume Two Chapter Four: Pardoned

In return for their help in stopping the devastating war her mother would have started, Queen Estaire pardons The Scorpions and The Vipers for all of their crimes.

Chapter Four Pardoned:

Saturday July 17^th 1690

My friends were already kneeling before Estaire, who sat on the throne. I noticed that there was only one throne, it was the one that belonged to her while her mother ruled Vulrock. It had been polished up and it had been touched up with some gemstones as well as some gold.

A servant stood next to the throne, standing up straight and stock still. He held a few pieces of parchment in his hands.

            “I have gathered you all here today to commend you for your heroism and valor.” Estaire began.

We all perked up, but still kept our heads bowed.

            “What you all did was outstandingly brave and I will remember your deeds until the end of time. Sadly, Edwin and his men had business to attend to and couldn’t be here.” Estaire told us.

Estaire got up and grabbed the parchment from the servant next to her. She then walked slowly to us and presented us each with a piece of parchment.

            “Please rise, brave heroes.” She instructed.

We all stood up, looking at Queen Estaire.

            “I had to have the Royal Seal of Vulrock changed after my mother’s reign of terror ended. I figured it would be useful for improving relations between royalty and the commoners of Vulrock, among other things.” She explained.

I looked at the seal. It was an ornate drawing of an angel wearing a crown slaying a demon who was also wearing a crown. The angel wielded a blade of light. There were many angels in the background, clouds and lights were everywhere. There were a few demons in sight, but they seemed to be retreating. The border of the drawing was a complex series of connected curving lines. On the back of the parchment was a message;

This Royal Seal was presented to Sir Redmond Bradford on Saturday July the Seventeenth, Sixteen Ninety for assisting in the downfall of the Tyrannical and evil Queen Yuka. For his service, he is hereby pardoned for his crimes.

At the bottom was a signature written in fancy cursive writing; Estaire Yuka.

            “You are all hereby pardoned for your crimes.” Estaire told us with a smile.

            “Wow! Thank you so much, Estaire!” Macalister cried.

            “You’re the best!” Don laughed.

Estaire laughed heartily.

            “You all earned it, don’t thank me.” She said with a smile.

            “The seal looks great, by the way.” Erin said in awe.

            “Thank you, I came up with the design myself. Quite fitting, no?” Estaire asked.

            “I’ll say!” Tabatha said with a grin.

            “Think of it as an inside joke. No one knows what happened that day except for those who are loyal to me. None of the commoners know. Let’s hope it stays that way.” Estaire sighed.

            “What did you tell the commoners?” Macalister asked.

            “I told them it was an assassination. I had wanted posters made and posted all over Vulrock. I even posted a reward as well as an ‘eye witness’ sketch of the assailant.” Estaire chuckled.

            “You’re a real slick dame, ya know that?” Walden asked.

            “Walden! She’s the Queen! Show some respect.” William scolded.

            “… Right, sorry…” Walden said, scratching the back of his head.

After a moment of silence, Estaire clapped her hands.

            “Anyhow, I wanted to present you all with these. I figured that since some of you were leaving, it would be of some assistance.” She told us.

            “Yes, thank you very much. We won’t get arrested now.” Macalister said with a grin.

            “Yes, so as long as you don’t commit and more crimes. If you get arrested and thrown in prison here, I may be able to help you. However if you get arrested and thrown in prison in another province… Not so much.” Estaire warned with a finger raised.

            “We got it. I think we’ll all go clean from now on.” Don said with a chuckle.

            “That’s good to hear.” Estaire exclaimed with a smile.

After she said that, her face lit up.

            “Oh! I also saw to it that your wanted posters were taken down, so you shouldn’t need to show those seals too often. Still, better safe than sorry.” She added.

            “Wow, you’ve really helped us Estaire!” I exclaimed.

She closed her eyes and smiled slightly.

            “I trust you all will use your freedom responsibly?” Estaire asked.

            “We will, thanks again.” I told her.

There was a moment of silence as we stood in appreciation for Estaire’s kindness.

            “I think we should be taking our leave now. We’ve already said our good byes.” Stella said sadly.

            “Oh? So soon?” Estaire asked, dismayed.

            “I think it’s for the best. But hey, we’ll come back to visit!” Erin laughed.

            “I look forward to that day.” Estaire said with a smile.

            “Good luck with your Queenly duties.” Robert told her.

            “Yeah, now that you’re the Queen and all, ya can do anything ya want!” Walden laughed.

            “Not anything, but I see your point.” Estaire laughed.

            “Thanks for everything you’ve done for us, we’ll never forget it.” Robert told Estaire.

            “Likewise, your services will always be remembered here. This castle is always open to you.” Estaire said warmly.

            “Thanks!” Macalister said with a grin.

            “Do you need me to send servants to get your things?” Estaire asked.

I already had my things on me.

            “No, I’m fine.” I replied.

Everyone else shook their heads silently. Everyone else was good to go.

            “Then I bid you all farewell. I wish you safe travels. Remember to be careful, especially at night.” Estaire warned.

            “We will, thanks for the concern.” I replied.

            “Good bye, friends.” Estaire said sadly.

            “Good bye, Estaire.” I replied, equally dismayed.

With that, we turned and walked into the throne room foyer, into the main entryway and out of the castle. As we exited, a young, poor looking boy with dirty clothes and even dirtier short brown hair came running up to us. He also had brown eyes. I heard Walden quietly mutter something, which I assumed was an invisibility spell.

            “Oi! You the chaps ‘ho came ridin’ up ‘ere ‘bout three weeks back?” He asked.

I thought back to when we first came to Valgate. It was about three weeks, maybe twenty days.

            “Yes, why?” I asked.

            “We still got yer ‘orses in the stables back ‘ere. Ya still want ‘em?” The boy asked.

I had completely forgotten that we had bought horses off of Tomothy back in Riverguard! They were surprisingly cheap.

            “Oh, yes we do!” I said.

The boy shrugged and walked off.

            “Follow me!” He called over his shoulder.

We walked off after the boy. He led us to a series of stables, the smell of manure hung heavy on the air.

            “Ew!” Stella squealed, plugging her nose.

The boy disappeared into the stables. Moments later he came out leading our six horses by the reins. They still had our saddles on them.

            “All yours, chaps.” The boy said, handing Robert the reins.

            “Thanks, kid. Here.” Macalister said, flipping the boy his gold coin.

The boy’s eyes widened in gratitude as he caught the coin.

            “This real?” He asked, holding it up to the sun to inspect it.

After a few seconds, the boy nodded his head, still grinning.

            “Thank ya kindly, sir.” He said, pocketing the coin.

With a wave, the boy was off.

            “He’s an interesting one…” Stella muttered.

            “Okay, so let’s mount up and get out of here.” Robert said.

I held my hand out to take my horse’s reins. Robert handed them to me and I mounted the horse. It had light brown fur on its body, but from its tail to its head was black fur. Just above the hooves on its calves was black fur as well. The others mounted up, except we had two horses that wouldn’t be leaving these stables. Four of our friends who we rode in with are staying behind, so we only had four horses.

            “It looks like ya got too many horses there.” The same boy who just walked away said.

We all turned to look at him in surprise. I looked to Walden to make sure he was invisible to the boy. Walden gave me a thumbs up.

            “I can take ‘em off your ‘ands. I can even get me dad ta pay ya for ‘em. ‘E runs the stables ya see.” The boy explained.

            “That sounds good!” Macalister exclaimed.

            “Right then, follow me.” The boy said.

We followed the boy into a nearby house, it was a simple stone and wood dwelling, it was pretty small too. Inside we found a man dressed in torn clothes standing across the room, looking out the window.

            “Dad, these chaps got too many ‘orses! Think ya can compensate ‘em if they leave ‘em be’ind?” the boy asked.

The man turned around. He was a fairly muscular guy who was taller than me, but shorter than Macalister. He had a scraggly beard and short brown hair. His eyes were also brown, like his son’s.

            “Sure, that can be arranged.” He said kindly, but quietly.

He then walked up to us.

            “So, what’s the reason for leaving behind a few horses? They sick?” Asked the man.

            “No, a few of the people we rode in here with are staying in Valgate, so we have extra horses.” Robert exclaimed.

            “I see, well I’ll go see those horses.” He said.

He walked outside, but we stayed in the house with the boy.

            “So, what’s your name?” Stella asked.

The boy flashed a yellow toothed smile. His face had a thin coat of dirt on it, as did his simple clothes.

            “Name’s Lloyd. ‘Ow can I be of service madam?” He asked, still sporting his grin.

Stella giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth. She eyed the boy, still giggling.

            “Somethin’ I said?” He asked with a shrug, holding a confused gaze with Stella.

            “No, it was just cute.” Stella explained, finally regaining her composure.

Lloyd looked confused and he shrugged.

            “… Right then…” He trailed off.

About a minute later, the man came back in.

            “I have to say, those are some fine horses you have there. Are you looking to sell them?” He asked.

Robert nodded.

            “Indeed we are. How much can you give us for them?” He asked.

The man looked to the ceiling with his hands on his hips, thinking.

            “I reckon I can sport you two hundred gold pieces. Does that sound good?” He asked.

I almost gasped. We bought all six horses off of Timothy for fifty (well, technically fifty three) gold pieces, and this man was going to give us two hundred for two? Timothy and Ceberus must have been good friends.

            “That sounds good to me.” Robert said with a nod.

            “Right, I’ll go get the money then.” The man said, walking off to a room at the back of the room.

He returned momentarily holding a medium sized cloth bag. He handed it to Robert and he took out each gold piece one by one, counting them. He counted two hundred and nodded. He put the coins back in the bag.

            “Okay, it’s all here. Pleasure doing business with you.” Robert said to the man.

            “The pleasure is all mine, it’s not every day we see horses that fine here in Valgate.” The man replied.

We walked back towards our horses and mounted up, two to a horse. I rode with Macalister, Robert rode with Walden, Stella rode with Erin and Tabatha rod with Don. The man walked to the two horses we just sold to him and he took them by the reigns, leading them away. We rode our horses slowly down the street. We didn’t gallop, as that would most likely attract suspicion from the law enforcement officers. We would only need to show them the seals Estaire gave us, but it was better to just go slowly. We reached the main gate. The guard let us through. We rode until we could only barely see Valgate in the distance behind us. We now found ourselves surrounded by forest.

            “Okay, where’re we gonna go now?” Walden asked.

            “I don’t know, where do you guys want to go?” I asked.

I looked up at the sun through the canopy above and estimated that it was after noon. The sun had passed its apex in the sky. We still had a bit of daylight left.

Author's Note

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