Chapter 24
Lixen and his eight bodyguards galloped full speed along the path to Castle Dachwald. The spider horses sensed the urgency of their riders. Some unnerving growls from the horses forced the riders to stop, briefly rest the horses, and feed them some of their oats to avoid becoming lunch themselves, but aside from that they galloped at nearly full speed all the way back to the castle. The guards were on the lookout for the emissaries and their bodyguards, so as soon as they appeared on the horizon, the guards immediately opened the castle doors.
“LIXEN HAS RETURNED!” shouted one of the guards, and a soldier quickly went to alert King Duchenwald. The king quickly summoned the senators.
As Lixen entered the senate chamber, all eyes were on him, inspecting every square inch of his face, trying to determine whether he brought good news or bad news.
“Well,” said King Duchenwald, “how did it go? Did you manage to work together successfully with the Sodorfians? Did you find the perpetrators? Were they all brought to justice? Come, speak!”
“King Duchenwald . . . senators . . . it is with great trepidation that I bring this news to you. At this point, we . . . we just don’t know exactly what happened. We—”
“Well, that’s not overly surprising,” said King Duchenwald, interrupting. “I mean, it might take a few more days to track down these varmints and bring them to justice. How much longer do you think it will be before the joint team of Dachwaldian and Sodorfian trackers bring these vandals to justice?”
“Good King, at this point, we will be lucky if the Sodorfians do not wage total war against us!”
“WHAT IS THIS YOU SAY!!?” yelled King Duchenwald, rising from his chair, veins bulging out of his fat, bull-like neck. “I told you and Sifindel to go over there to make peace and to negotiate, not to cause problems and agitate things!”
“Your Majesty, let me explain. Everything was going well; I swear to the gods by it. Sifindel, the ten bodyguards, and I all made it safely to the City of Sodorf. We were all very nervous we would not even be granted an audience. Instead, all the nobles were quite generous. They listened and showed sympathy and concern. They even sent five hundred Sodorfian regulars and twenty-five trackers to accompany us back to the border. The Sodorfian nobles instructed the Sodorfian trackers to cross into our lands and take a look at the damage. In the event they discovered we had suffered serious damage and the perpetrators’ tracks led into Sodorf, they had full permission from the nobles to authorize some of the Vechengschaft to cross into Sodorf, as well as some Dachwaldian trackers. Then, the Sodorfian and Dachwaldian trackers would work together to trace the tracks to the perpetrators. Then, the Vechengschaft and the Sodorfian regulars could fight side by side against the vandals. The survivors would be handed over to us for punishment, and the Sodorfian nobles fully intended to help us with our upcoming comestible shortage. However, just when we were within miles of the Sodorfian-Dachwaldian border . . . .” He paused, struggling for the right words.
“Yes, go on; speak up!” King Duchenwald prompted him.
“Well, there was an attack.”
“An attack?! An attack by whom?”
“We don’t know exactly. Arrows started flying out of nowhere. Two of the royal bodyguards were killed within seconds. The other eight bodyguards formed a protective circle around Sifindel and me and escorted us to safety. At first, I thought that surely the Sodorfians had laid a trap for us. However, Tulgug managed to look back as we were fleeing, and he attested he saw Sodorfians being shot with arrows and apparently being killed on some kind of large trap. Unless there is some third party at work, which is highly unlikely, what the evidence does suggest is that perhaps some of General Sivingdon’s men were just a little bit too anxious for action, and they decided to take matters into their own hands!”
Then he paused. “But why they would also shoot at us . . . I don’t know. Perhaps they intended to kill all me, Sifindel, and all of our bodyguards so that it would be assumed the Sodorfians killed us.”
“This is egregious! Horrible!” yelled King Duchenwald. “Here we were, on the verge of getting full cooperation from the Sodorfians, and now this?! They’re going to think we led them into a trap! Not having seen the damage that truly has been done to our farms, they’ll assume it was all a pack of lies! They’re going to think we want war! We’ll be lucky if we don’t all die from famine! Believe me, Lixen, you can tell General Sivingdon that there will be an investigation. I want everyone that was anywhere near the border questioned. This is scandalous! Lixen, the senators and I are going to have to discuss what measures to take as a result of this horrible turn of events. Go—have refreshments and rest; when we have decided what we are going to do, you will be summoned.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” He bowed politely to the king and to the senators and then exited the room.
As soon as he left, the senate erupted into debate like a series of large volcanic explosions. Even if there were an investigation, and even if it were discovered that Vechengschaft hotheads had been responsible for this, and even if, in that event, the hotheads were punished severely, even executed, how would they ever be able to convince the Sodorfians they had not planned an ambush? They feared if they even attempted to make contact with the Sodorfians now, the Dachwaldian emissaries would probably be killed on the spot. Furthermore, they realized there was also a strong possibility the Sodorfians themselves might be planning an attack now in retaliation for what likely appeared to them a well-planned ambush. The senators debated on and on. They realized that for the first time in their lives that hardship just might reach their doorstep.
The best initial step they could think of was forming an investigative committee to question the Vechengschaft and see if there was any evidence some of them had crossed the border and ambushed the Sodorfians. They took a vote and decided to go ahead and set up the committee. King Duchenwald called Lixen back into the room and gave him his instructions.