In which Henrietta makes a discovery (or two), a battle is fought, and we eventually arrive at happily ever after.
-5-
Henrietta was not happy- at all. She was perfectly capable of holding her own in a battle, and he knew that. She had been fencing since the age of 7 and had defeated Max in friendly duels with wooden swords plenty of times. Yet here she was, bumping along in a carriage headed towards her father's estate several miles out of the city. She mumbled uncomplimentary phrases about Max under her breath.
"Would you stop that?" demanded Brianna. Brianna was very good at demanding.
Henrietta glared at her. Brianna glared back. Father intervened.
"Why don't you read a book, Henrietta?"
She stopped glaring at Brianna and glared at him instead. "Alright," she said. "Did you bring any books with you?" He handed her a small, thin volume. She opened it.
"A History of the Royal Family" was on the cover. It had been written recently, just 10 years ago. She opened it, thinking that her father knew her far too well. He knew that the mere sight of a book she'd never read instantly made her forget everything else, and he had used it against her. Defeated, she began to read.
****
Max's stepfather was inspecting his new armor. Max was in the room, being measured for his. The two of them were talking about a very serious topic generally known as war.
"What is their motive?" asked Max.
"We are," replied the king. "That crazy wizard is convinced that he can take over the kingdom."
"Idiot," said Max.
"My thought exactly," agreed his stepfather. "So anyway, this Eugor's main plan is to march through the city, violently forcing the people into submission as he goes, surround the palace with dragons, and send infantry in to find our family and drag us outside. He'll try to force us to submit to him. If that doesn't work- which it obviously won't -he'll give the order and those dragons of his will fry us."
"What about the soldiers? If they're still standing around when he incinerates us..."
"He doesn't care. Neither do they. They wouldn't work for him otherwise. He's done something to them so that they're incapable of emotion and thinking for themselves."
"That's horrible!" ejaculated Max. The king grunted a little as he started trying on his suit of armor. "Indeed it is, Max," he said soberly. "That's why he needs to be stopped. If not, he'll do that to the entire kingdom to prevent any uprising against him. Eugor will rule a nation made up of blind, unthinking machines."
Max was shocked. "Are we sure about this?"
"Our intelligence service is excellent. Each spy is trained from the age of ten to tell nothing but the plain truth. They couldn't exaggerate if they tried."
They fell silent for a while. The fellow taking Max's measurements was about to leave when Max suddenly stopped him. "Stay a moment," he said.
"What are you up to?" asked the king.
****
Henrietta found the book to actually be quite interesting. As she came towards the end, the book began to talk about the current royal family. There was a page with paintings of all of them. One was of a little boy. She estimated his age to be about eight or nine. As she looked at it, she wondered why he seemed so familiar. She read the caption: "Prince Maximilian III at age 8".
She stared at it in numb shock. Several things were suddenly falling into place. "HE'S THE PRINCE!" she practically shrieked, startling her family. "You're joking!" scoffed Rain from her perch on Mother's shoulder. "What on earth are you talking about?" asked Brianna. "Max! He's the prince!" Henrietta still didn't know exactly how to feel about this. She figured she should either laugh or be mad that he didn't tell her. She chose to laugh. Trying to control her giggling, she explained. "Don't you see? He said he lived at the palace, he just didn't mention why." She tossed the book to her sister. "Look at the picture there." Brianna's eyes widened. She looked at their parents. "Did you know about this?" she asked. Father and Mother were grinning and trying not to laugh. "We suspected it," said Mother. "But we didn't want to tell you in case it wasn't true," said Father. "Aaaaaaloo!" said the baby.
****
"Uh, what exactly is the point of all this, Max?" The king was trying on armor again, but this time it looked exactly the same as that of any regular soldier. "It's simple," said Max. "The soldiers that the madman will send in after us won't be able to recognize us if we're dressed like ordinary footmen." Max was already wearing such armor, holding the helmet under his arm. The king blinked. "Why didn't I think of that? Simply ingenius, son." Max started, and suddenly a lump threatened to rise in his throat. His stepfather had never called him that. The king coughed slightly, as Max tried to wipe his eyes without it looking like he was wiping his eyes. "Er...(sniff) thanks." Blast! I'm not supposed to cry. Not the time, Max!
Moving on with their conversation (and trying to get past an awkward moment) they walked over to a table with a map on it. "Eugor's footmen will enter here," he pointed to a spot on the map," here and here." He marked three of the city gates on the map. "The dragons will fly in and surround the castle from all directions. We'll assume for now that Eugor will be riding one of them." "Everyone has been evacuated, right?" Max asked. "Everyone, and we're calling in troops from all the neighboring provinces," replied the king. "How long will it take them to get here?" "Two days at the most." "How long until Eugor arrives?" "We're not sure. We're preparing for his attack as fast as we can. Why all the questions? I thought I already told you all this." Max mused. "Just thought a review would be nice. I'm going to take off this armor. I'm working on an idea...I'll tell you about it later." And Max left the room, leaving his stepfather with a confused expression on his face.
-6-
At last! They arrived at the country estate. A good sixty leagues away from the city, it was a very long ride, almost eighteen hours in a bumpy carriage. Rain was already flitting about the house, exploring every nook and cranny. Henrietta followed a servant carrying her things to her room. She had by now gotten used to the fact that Max was royalty. After the servant left, she sat down on her bed and looked at little Max's picture again. She realized now what the "something" he hadn't told her about was. His father had died, and his mother had remarried. Closing the book and putting it on a shelf, she said softly to herself, "I'm in love with a prince." What?! Where did that come from? I'm not....oooh dear. I am! Bother.
"Mother, I have a predicament." Mother put another nightgown into the wardrobe of her's and Father's room. "Can it be worse then war?" "Not exactly," said Henrietta. She closed the door. "This is stictly confidential, you understand." Mother nodded, an amused look on her face. Henrietta began with, "Um....well....." "What is it?" asked Mother, now nearly grinning. Henrietta took a deep breath and tried again. "I love Max!" she said in a despairing voice. Mother's reaction was not what Henrietta expected. She laughed and laughed, and at first Henrietta didn't understand. Then, sheepishly....she began to laugh too. Rain flew into the room, and Mother explained it to her. She laughed too, and Father, in the hallway, wondered what all the merriment was about.
****
Max and the king sat down to a hurried supper before rushing off to supervise the warlike preparations taking place all over the city (the queen had already left town). "So, what's this idea you've been hinting at?" asked the king. "Well, it's really just a basic battle-plan. What I thought we'd do was, when Eugor's army shows up, they'll storm the palace and find it empty." "But--" the king objected. Max continued, cutting him off. "They'll have orders from Eugor to spread out and search everywhere. But we won't give them a chance to. Our men will be hiding in the turrets above the main gate and in the courtyard behind the front door. As soon as Eugor's men come through, we'll shut the gate behind them, the men on the turrets will drop down and the men in the courtyard will come through the door, and we'll have them surrounded. From there, you get the idea."
The king thought a moment. "Interesting. Not bad at all, really. And what about those outfits you picked out for the two of us? If no one's going to be looking for us, what's the point?"
"Precautions," said Max. "And in case you decide not to go with this particular plan of action." He handed his empty plate to a servant. "Well, if we do that, what next?" asked the king. "I haven't a clue," said max. "I told you, this is just a basic idea. We're going to need to do a lot more than that if we're going to defeat anybody. Any ideas concerning the dragons?"
****
"Father, may I send a letter?" Henrietta asked. "To whom?" he replied. "Max." He looked up from his desk. "Why?" he asked. "I want to ask him a few questions. Please, Father. The messenger will be there and back long before whatever idiot wants to take over gets there." Father sighed and leaned back in his chair. "All right." He gave her some paper, a quill and some ink. "Thank you, Father," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
Dear Max,
I know you're the prince. Don't bother asking how, I'll tell you another time. I thought you should know that. I'm not sure why you didn't tell me, but don't worry. I'm not angry or anything. I am sorry though...about your father. He was a good king, and knowing you tells me that he was a good father. How can I tell? Because you turned out pretty well. He would be proud.
Getting to business; what exactly is going on? Who is attacking, why and how? I'll just say that Rain's curiosity is rubbing off on me. Let's hope it isn't permanent.
Affectionately,
Henrietta
She had thought of telling him about her newfound feelings concerning him, but decided not to tell him. He could bring up the subject if he wanted to. She folded the letter and sealed it with wax. She was about to take it downstairs to give to a messenger, when she had a crazy idea. (Also a very silly one. had someone more sensible come along and shown her the folly of it, things might have turned out very differently.) Without stopping to think about it, she quickly changed into her old riding clothes. She had worn these two years ago, during a tomboy phase. The loose trousers and belted tunic still fit, thankfully. She added a cap and a small knife, and the outfit was complete. She snuck outside by the back way, stopping only to leave a note on the kitchen table and to grab some provisions, ran to the stables and chose a fast horse. As she saddled it, she heard a small, accusing voice behind her.
"Just where do you think you're going?" She whirled around. Rain was there, with a face like a thunderstorm. "Running off to battle, are we?" Henrietta looked angrily back. "Do you intend to tell on me?" Rain huffed. "Of course not! I'm only wondering why you didn't think to take me along!" Henrietta laughed.
And so, the two reckless companions galloped off down the road.
(To be continued.)
-5-
Henrietta was not happy- at all. She was perfectly capable of holding her own in a battle, and he knew that. She had been fencing since the age of 7 and had defeated Max in friendly duels with wooden swords plenty of times. Yet here she was, bumping along in a carriage headed towards her father's estate several miles out of the city. She mumbled uncomplimentary phrases about Max under her breath.
"Would you stop that?" demanded Brianna. Brianna was very good at demanding.
Henrietta glared at her. Brianna glared back. Father intervened.
"Why don't you read a book, Henrietta?"
She stopped glaring at Brianna and glared at him instead. "Alright," she said. "Did you bring any books with you?" He handed her a small, thin volume. She opened it.
"A History of the Royal Family" was on the cover. It had been written recently, just 10 years ago. She opened it, thinking that her father knew her far too well. He knew that the mere sight of a book she'd never read instantly made her forget everything else, and he had used it against her. Defeated, she began to read.
****
Max's stepfather was inspecting his new armor. Max was in the room, being measured for his. The two of them were talking about a very serious topic generally known as war.
"What is their motive?" asked Max.
"We are," replied the king. "That crazy wizard is convinced that he can take over the kingdom."
"Idiot," said Max.
"My thought exactly," agreed his stepfather. "So anyway, this Eugor's main plan is to march through the city, violently forcing the people into submission as he goes, surround the palace with dragons, and send infantry in to find our family and drag us outside. He'll try to force us to submit to him. If that doesn't work- which it obviously won't -he'll give the order and those dragons of his will fry us."
"What about the soldiers? If they're still standing around when he incinerates us..."
"He doesn't care. Neither do they. They wouldn't work for him otherwise. He's done something to them so that they're incapable of emotion and thinking for themselves."
"That's horrible!" ejaculated Max. The king grunted a little as he started trying on his suit of armor. "Indeed it is, Max," he said soberly. "That's why he needs to be stopped. If not, he'll do that to the entire kingdom to prevent any uprising against him. Eugor will rule a nation made up of blind, unthinking machines."
Max was shocked. "Are we sure about this?"
"Our intelligence service is excellent. Each spy is trained from the age of ten to tell nothing but the plain truth. They couldn't exaggerate if they tried."
They fell silent for a while. The fellow taking Max's measurements was about to leave when Max suddenly stopped him. "Stay a moment," he said.
"What are you up to?" asked the king.
****
Henrietta found the book to actually be quite interesting. As she came towards the end, the book began to talk about the current royal family. There was a page with paintings of all of them. One was of a little boy. She estimated his age to be about eight or nine. As she looked at it, she wondered why he seemed so familiar. She read the caption: "Prince Maximilian III at age 8".
She stared at it in numb shock. Several things were suddenly falling into place. "HE'S THE PRINCE!" she practically shrieked, startling her family. "You're joking!" scoffed Rain from her perch on Mother's shoulder. "What on earth are you talking about?" asked Brianna. "Max! He's the prince!" Henrietta still didn't know exactly how to feel about this. She figured she should either laugh or be mad that he didn't tell her. She chose to laugh. Trying to control her giggling, she explained. "Don't you see? He said he lived at the palace, he just didn't mention why." She tossed the book to her sister. "Look at the picture there." Brianna's eyes widened. She looked at their parents. "Did you know about this?" she asked. Father and Mother were grinning and trying not to laugh. "We suspected it," said Mother. "But we didn't want to tell you in case it wasn't true," said Father. "Aaaaaaloo!" said the baby.
****
"Uh, what exactly is the point of all this, Max?" The king was trying on armor again, but this time it looked exactly the same as that of any regular soldier. "It's simple," said Max. "The soldiers that the madman will send in after us won't be able to recognize us if we're dressed like ordinary footmen." Max was already wearing such armor, holding the helmet under his arm. The king blinked. "Why didn't I think of that? Simply ingenius, son." Max started, and suddenly a lump threatened to rise in his throat. His stepfather had never called him that. The king coughed slightly, as Max tried to wipe his eyes without it looking like he was wiping his eyes. "Er...(sniff) thanks." Blast! I'm not supposed to cry. Not the time, Max!
Moving on with their conversation (and trying to get past an awkward moment) they walked over to a table with a map on it. "Eugor's footmen will enter here," he pointed to a spot on the map," here and here." He marked three of the city gates on the map. "The dragons will fly in and surround the castle from all directions. We'll assume for now that Eugor will be riding one of them." "Everyone has been evacuated, right?" Max asked. "Everyone, and we're calling in troops from all the neighboring provinces," replied the king. "How long will it take them to get here?" "Two days at the most." "How long until Eugor arrives?" "We're not sure. We're preparing for his attack as fast as we can. Why all the questions? I thought I already told you all this." Max mused. "Just thought a review would be nice. I'm going to take off this armor. I'm working on an idea...I'll tell you about it later." And Max left the room, leaving his stepfather with a confused expression on his face.
-6-
At last! They arrived at the country estate. A good sixty leagues away from the city, it was a very long ride, almost eighteen hours in a bumpy carriage. Rain was already flitting about the house, exploring every nook and cranny. Henrietta followed a servant carrying her things to her room. She had by now gotten used to the fact that Max was royalty. After the servant left, she sat down on her bed and looked at little Max's picture again. She realized now what the "something" he hadn't told her about was. His father had died, and his mother had remarried. Closing the book and putting it on a shelf, she said softly to herself, "I'm in love with a prince." What?! Where did that come from? I'm not....oooh dear. I am! Bother.
"Mother, I have a predicament." Mother put another nightgown into the wardrobe of her's and Father's room. "Can it be worse then war?" "Not exactly," said Henrietta. She closed the door. "This is stictly confidential, you understand." Mother nodded, an amused look on her face. Henrietta began with, "Um....well....." "What is it?" asked Mother, now nearly grinning. Henrietta took a deep breath and tried again. "I love Max!" she said in a despairing voice. Mother's reaction was not what Henrietta expected. She laughed and laughed, and at first Henrietta didn't understand. Then, sheepishly....she began to laugh too. Rain flew into the room, and Mother explained it to her. She laughed too, and Father, in the hallway, wondered what all the merriment was about.
****
Max and the king sat down to a hurried supper before rushing off to supervise the warlike preparations taking place all over the city (the queen had already left town). "So, what's this idea you've been hinting at?" asked the king. "Well, it's really just a basic battle-plan. What I thought we'd do was, when Eugor's army shows up, they'll storm the palace and find it empty." "But--" the king objected. Max continued, cutting him off. "They'll have orders from Eugor to spread out and search everywhere. But we won't give them a chance to. Our men will be hiding in the turrets above the main gate and in the courtyard behind the front door. As soon as Eugor's men come through, we'll shut the gate behind them, the men on the turrets will drop down and the men in the courtyard will come through the door, and we'll have them surrounded. From there, you get the idea."
The king thought a moment. "Interesting. Not bad at all, really. And what about those outfits you picked out for the two of us? If no one's going to be looking for us, what's the point?"
"Precautions," said Max. "And in case you decide not to go with this particular plan of action." He handed his empty plate to a servant. "Well, if we do that, what next?" asked the king. "I haven't a clue," said max. "I told you, this is just a basic idea. We're going to need to do a lot more than that if we're going to defeat anybody. Any ideas concerning the dragons?"
****
"Father, may I send a letter?" Henrietta asked. "To whom?" he replied. "Max." He looked up from his desk. "Why?" he asked. "I want to ask him a few questions. Please, Father. The messenger will be there and back long before whatever idiot wants to take over gets there." Father sighed and leaned back in his chair. "All right." He gave her some paper, a quill and some ink. "Thank you, Father," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
Dear Max,
I know you're the prince. Don't bother asking how, I'll tell you another time. I thought you should know that. I'm not sure why you didn't tell me, but don't worry. I'm not angry or anything. I am sorry though...about your father. He was a good king, and knowing you tells me that he was a good father. How can I tell? Because you turned out pretty well. He would be proud.
Getting to business; what exactly is going on? Who is attacking, why and how? I'll just say that Rain's curiosity is rubbing off on me. Let's hope it isn't permanent.
Affectionately,
Henrietta
She had thought of telling him about her newfound feelings concerning him, but decided not to tell him. He could bring up the subject if he wanted to. She folded the letter and sealed it with wax. She was about to take it downstairs to give to a messenger, when she had a crazy idea. (Also a very silly one. had someone more sensible come along and shown her the folly of it, things might have turned out very differently.) Without stopping to think about it, she quickly changed into her old riding clothes. She had worn these two years ago, during a tomboy phase. The loose trousers and belted tunic still fit, thankfully. She added a cap and a small knife, and the outfit was complete. She snuck outside by the back way, stopping only to leave a note on the kitchen table and to grab some provisions, ran to the stables and chose a fast horse. As she saddled it, she heard a small, accusing voice behind her.
"Just where do you think you're going?" She whirled around. Rain was there, with a face like a thunderstorm. "Running off to battle, are we?" Henrietta looked angrily back. "Do you intend to tell on me?" Rain huffed. "Of course not! I'm only wondering why you didn't think to take me along!" Henrietta laughed.
And so, the two reckless companions galloped off down the road.
(To be continued.)
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