Chapter 209: Armed and Dangerous
As usual, Gerald was in his study, and the Warden had to negotiate past a series of aides and secretaries to see him. It didn't take that long. Since they all knew him, the bureaucrats only put up only a token resistance to his advance. Gerald had never bothered to change his standing orders that anyone but the King should be delayed as long as possible, but at the same time, he had never turned away any guest who was persistent enough. One just had to know the tricks for getting to him.
The Warden walked into the dusty office. The only source of light was a small window above the desk. Otherwise, the space was crammed with paper, scrolls, and thick tomes. As he entered. Gerald lifted his pudgy bulk off of the comfortable armchair behind the desk. His hunched figure practically waddled over to the Warden to give him a big hug. "John, my friend, it's been too long! Why don't you visit more?"
The Warden returned the hug quite warmly. Gerald was an odd man, but he'd never met anyone with a better head for numbers. "Well, if you simply would let me past your guard dogs easier, maybe I would. Or perhaps you could come to visit me."
"Hurmph," Gerald said as he sat back down. "If I could ever find you, I might perhaps consider it."
The Warden knew that was a lie. Gerald rarely left his office other than for food or the ministers' meetings. He also knew that Gerald was too mindful of his own time to change the rules, even to let a good friend see him more frequently.
"So, what brings you by?" Gerald asked as he pulled a bottle of whiskey from underneath his desk. The man wiped out a pair of glasses and poured drinks, completely ignoring that it was ten in the morning.
"Well, I can't be the only one to notice that something strange is going on. I want to know if you have any insights on what we can expect from our most industrious King next."
—-
Bee and Tony stood at the gates to the castle as the first of Arthur's army arrived. The steady tramp of boots marching in step rang throughout the valley, echoing off of the mountain walls. Even though they were allies, Bee couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by the display.
She didn't like the idea of there being a force at home that she couldn't match, aside from Void, of course. Not yet, at least. She wasn't sure if she should be bothered by that thought. It had just crept into her assumptions that one day, she would rival an army all on her own. One day soon, too, if a fourteen-year-old at level 50 was any indicator.
Some basic searching in the library had told her that myths didn't even tell of such things. So far, no one had really noticed her true strength. Only Mary and presumably Void knew her exact level. But looking back, what she had accomplished during her time with Void was only so impressive.
Sure, this time was full of challenges and difficulties, but the tales of young heroes and their conquests of legend were at least as impressive. Still, they didn't reach level 50 until well into adulthood. It almost made her feel inadequate, having only done so much. Either their stories were far embellished, or their proper levels weren't accurately recorded.
Each row of soldiers approached the castle and gave a uniform salute before turning and marching toward the marked field before it. The Church had staked out an area for the army but also gave them some of the forest to clear if they wanted more space. They would need the building materials soon anyway.
While she wasn't technically in the chain of command that Arthur and Void had set up, this was to get everyone familiar with her face and that of her second. Bee had wanted Susan to be here as well, but she still was hiding.
She felt bad labeling it that in her head, as she didn't feel that Susan deserved such a disdainful description. But what else could Bee call it? The woman had avoided everyone for days. Only Void's intervention had brought her out of hiding to speak with Bee at all. And that had only accomplished so much. At least she had agreed to talk to Arthur.
It felt a little crummy springing such a conversation on him, but Void had faith in his abilities. Bee wasn't sure what anyone could say to get Susan to move past her issues. Still, it made her oddly competitive relationship with Captain Major make a lot more sense.
The Captain had been a whole other issue. She and Void had actually taken the officer back to Arthur so they could work out what was going to happen. Apparently, many of Captain Major's people were worried about reintegrating with the main forces. Not because they were kingdom loyalists or anything like that. No, a lot of the men had not wanted to leave the Church. The many young widows from the undead conflict had developed strong bonds with the army's young men.
Arthur had insisted that he had no power to force them to return if they wanted to stay in the castle. It wasn't like he had the power to arrest them for dereliction of duty anymore. Still, a compromise had been worked out. While Arthur's army hadn't tied itself to Void as tightly as the current residents had, Bee thought it was only a matter of time. Still, she didn't say anything. Arthur's position was that they wouldn't stop any of their numbers from joining the Church. In fact, it was rather encouraged in order for their training program to work.
So, about half of the Captain's soldiers decided they would rejoin Arthur's army. The other half would take up positions as the castle's official garrison. Pretty much everyone was happy. And with the Captain's report on his troops' levels, Bee saw Arthur's demeanor lift for the first time since their meetings had begun. Seeing how well just being around the faith had assisted their growth made him finally believe their plan might work.
Bee's secret hope was that she would get him to level fifty soon. He was close, and she could only imagine what would happen with his third class. The man was already formidable, but if he picked up a command class like she had, a lot of their bonuses would stack quite impressively.
The pseudo-parade went on for hours, and Bee quickly lost the ability to process the sea of faces moving past her. Only the occasional faithful among the crowd stood out to her anymore. Aside from the occasional thread of faith she picked up from a passing soldier, everything blended together. Arthur joined her a while in, and that conversation thankfully provided some distraction.
"How do you find the space? Do you have enough room?"
"Yes, Miss Bee. We should be able to fit for now. It's going to be tight, but once we start processing some lumber, we should have more room to expand." Arthur said. "One thing that we haven't yet discussed is traffic into the castle."
That wasn't entirely true. They had talked about it several times, but they had never really come to a definite decision. It was obvious to both of them that they couldn't allow the free movement of the soldiers into the castle. "You have some new ideas?"
"I do. The garrison will have guards stationed at the gate around the clock, yes?"
"They will." Bee didn't add that the Nighty Knights would also have their own guard rotations. On the surface, it wasn't that important. But now that their levels were starting to near the double digits, they began to match some of the weaker soldiers, and with their growth…
"I would like to add some of my own men to the rotation to assure that order is kept, if that won't cause any offense."
"I will see that it doesn't. But how will that help with our problem?"
"Well, as my solution will require extra work for them, it's only fair that we contribute." Arthur explained with a smile. "I'm thinking that it would be a bad idea to bar soldiers completely from the castle. That would drive a wedge between us and unnecessarily sow division. While I would like to think that I can control my men, I would rather not have to. So instead, I propose that we have some allotment of day passes to offer as rewards."
Bee thought for a second. That wasn't a half-bad idea; there would need to be a lot of setup work for them at first. They would need to issue some identification for all the citizens of the castle, for example, and measures to verify the pass's holder. But it would be good to mingle with their people. "I think we can work on that. We will need to think about a starting number and get some other things set up. I would like to say that at least half should be strictly training rewards, the other can be discretionary."
"Officers do like to have ways to reward their men, but training is paramount now." Arthur agreed. "This whole army is bloodied now. I wouldn't call them all veterans, but each and every one of them knows a bit about soldiering now.
"Armies like this usually get split at the end of a campaign to form the backbone of new legions. The veterans form the new core and greens fill up the empty slots. I have never seen an army like this be given a chance to train without disruption. We are going to produce something new here."
Bee nodded solemnly as the rows of soldiers continued marching past. They must have taken extra time to prepare last night as, despite being at the end of a multi-week march, they looked clean and sharp. "I hope it's enough."
"I do too."
Tony had been standing off to the side, listening for a long while. This was his first time meeting the general, and Bee could tell that he was slightly overwhelmed. It was rather out of character for the guy, but Arthur did have a presence about him, she supposed. Sadly, this wasn't a great time to get over his awkwardness and have a first conversation in front of everyone. Still, she felt a bit of an obligation to help her friend out.
"Also, this is Tony, our people manager. I think you two will need to get to know each other, as he will also be the army's point of contact for their needs from the castle." Bee introduced the slightly star-struck young man.
They exchanged a handshake, and Arthur gave the younger man a fatherly smile. "I hope you have some staff. Things might be a bit overwhelming, especially at first. You have no idea the amount of paperwork an army generates."
"Well, I hope that the castle'll have enough paper then." Tony said, "And yes, I have a few helpers. Mostly I keep track of people and make sure they're using their skills well, so we're not wasting talents. The castle is pretty settled right now, so of everyone on the council I have the most time."
"Not for long." Arthur grinned maliciously.
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