Chapter 21 - Silverhand's Guests

The King and his royal guards, clad in thick armor, made their way to the Silverhand estate. Behind them marched four hundred men—knights, squires, and soldiers from their respective families and estates. Following closely behind the knights were the catapults and war machinery. The King hoped that this display of force would deter Abigail and her men from further conflict.

Forests, hills, and rivers characterize the southern part of the Kingdom. While there are many paths they could take to reach the Silverhand estate, the King chose the shortest yet most dangerous route, leading them toward the ravine, believing it would be less guarded. The ravine tends to flood when the ice melts in the northern part of the Kingdom. Although the water reaches a child's height, the King was confident they could safely cross it on horseback, and the catapults were large enough to be pulled across by their ropes.

Upon arriving at the ravine, the King and his men observed loyalist soldiers armed with only a handful of weapons and clad in leather armor for protection at the other side of the ravine. The King shouted from across the ravine, stating that no bloodshed was necessary; he requested that Abigail surrender to end the civil war. However, the loyalists responded that they would only accept the King's terms if he agreed to pay for his crimes.

The King then strode forward into the water and asked them if they genuinely believed he would order to poison his people. The Kingdom was cured, yet only the ones under Abigail are poisoned. He urged the loyalist to think why the vials worked across the Kingdom, and somehow, the tampered ones all arrived at the Silverhand's estate. The words of the King stirred something in the hearts of the loyalists. Still, before both sides could talk it out, hidden Silverhand soldiers leaped from the trees surrounding the ravine. They engaged the knights defending the King's catapults.

"They're mad! They can't take all of us down with just a handful of them. Why throw away their lives?!" the King exclaimed, confused by what he perceived as a futile attack. Meanwhile, loyalists hidden deep within the thick forest rained arrows upon the King and his royal guards from all directions. The onslaught forced the King and his men away from the rest of the knights. The knights were doing their best to defend the catapult, but once they noticed their King was under attack, they fought with renewed vigor, trying to reach his side.

The King and his royal guard saw that the main bulk of the ambush was circling them. They had no choice but to charge toward the other side of the ravine; otherwise, the Silverhand arrows could quickly decimate their numbers. The King and his guard charged deeper into the ravine, and then more loyalist soldiers crawled out of the mud surrounding the ravine and raced to the King.

Abigail watched it all unfold from a cliff a kilometer from the ravine. With her Sense, Abigail watched the battle as if standing beside her soldiers. She observed that the King and his guards have sturdy armor but weigh them down when submerged in water, making them slower. While her enemies are over-cumbered, her loyalists on the ravine are outmaneuvering their enemies in rushing water. Due to this factor, many of the royal guards fell to the blade of the loyalists. Seeing her loyalists rive her foes pleases Abigail. Her emotions were further elated when she saw one of her soldiers throw a spear at the King, wounding him, which sent the Kingdom's troops into a panic.

But before her men finish the King, Rolfe Einherjar and his knights burst through the loyalist lines and secured the King, retreating to safety. Abigail won the fight, but the Einherjar knights stole her prize. She wanted to scream and kill Rolfe for his heroic deed, but there was nothing she could do. The King will retreat to the Capital; until then, it will be fortified and impossible for her army to penetrate. Abigail knows she must double the effort of tunneling to the Capital and killing the King before they can retaliate.

The King survived his wounds, but without him on the frontline, morale faded fast, and this was the opportunity Abigail needed: a series of counterattacks that captured the King's catapults, retaking more land from the King for the Silverhand within a few weeks, and pushing the King's men away from the southern part of the Kingdom. Confident of her impending success, Abigail returned to her manor and left her commanders to push the assault. At the same time, she continued supervising the unearthing of the Zonian tunnels.

Two months after the King's defeat, with Abigail supervising the tunneling, Pentalium's victory slowly came to fruition. Abigail was about to enter the mines that morning when two knights and their squires approached Abigail's manor, asking for her audience. The Princess sent them to deliver in hopes of making parley. The loyalists would turn away or kill any knights or soldiers, but the Frosthold formulated the cure for the plague. As much as to Abigail's dismay, her subjects still treat them with respect and the only royal family that they consider friends.

"My lords, welcome to my humble abode!" Abigail said as she bowed before them while her subjects enthusiastically welcomed the knights. Showered with smiles and praises, Berg and George slowly rode their horses to the entrance of Abigail's home, where most of her subjects waited with her in curiosity.

The knights and their squires dismounted their horses and gave Abigail a parchment.

"Lady Abigail Silverhand, thank you for the warm welcome. This is my grandson George and our squires, William and John." Berg greeted their gracious host with the same demeanor. William and John gave a respectful bow and were ever cautious to Abigail.

"My goodness, you have gone from the Northern realm of the Kingdom. Just see me? You have to bring something significant then," Abigail sweetly said as she read the scroll aloud to her subjects.

"The King, his daughter, Princess Chatelaine, and the rest of the royal court are willing to negotiate for peace. I must implore you to reconsider your options. We lost many from this war." Berg said.

Abigail looked at the scroll. "And what about the lives we lost? Shouldn't we avenge the ones who died for our freedom?" Abigail's stern voice commanded the crowd. They all cheered and demanded the Frostholds to go back and tell the King that the war would rage on until he gave the crown to Abigail.

William noticed Abigail's voice immediately. Hearing it, he found it sharp like a harp yet soft-spoken like a lyre, putting them into peaceful bliss. He found it difficult to believe this was the woman who threatened the peace of the Kingdom.

"The price of peace is paved with the blood of the many. But I believe we are almost at the end of that road." Abigail said confidently.

The knights looked around them and saw many loyalists coughing and breathing heavily from their hard labor in the mines.

"If not for peace, then for health. Lady Abigail, will you allow us to help your people? We are not on the same side of the war but still want what is best for our people." George's words stir the people around them, and they soon sided with him. The crowd then demanded Abigail to let the knights and their squire stay till they treat their ailments. Abigail was irritated by his notion. As much as she wanted to kick them out, the people have sided in his favor.

Since this was the will of her people, Abigail invited her guests to stay in her home for the duration of their stay. The manor was large and full of colorful tapestry. Every statue and gift is from the time she sang in the theater. And all are kept in an orderly fashion. Most rooms have speaking tubes, pipes linking one room to another that allow voices to be heard from the end of each pipe. William and John were impressed as this was the first time seeing such a unique technology. The Keep and even the Frosthold's castle didn't have these things.

John curiously leaned in and asked the tube, "What's for lunch?" In a short moment, a voice replied, "Tomato soup and garlic bread, your grace."

Abigail asked the men to rest for a while, for she needed to leave to check on her people and the mines. But she promised that by night, she would meet them and discuss a plan for how they could help her people. George and Berg agreed that they would wait for her return. In the meantime, they were permitted to go everywhere they pleased, except to the mines, as Abigail forbade them to meet anyone who could potentially disrupt their work.

By noon, John went to a market. His charming words caused the people to enjoy their small talks with him and manage to loosen some of their tongues. John has gathered much information about tunnels but nothing about Abigail that they can use against her. William opted to stay inside the mansion. He uses his Sense to eavesdrop on the gossip inside the manor and has the same luck as John with his information.

In an hour, the Frostholds gathered outside of the manor, away from prying ears and eyes and a large table and kegs before them. The boys returned but didn't utter words until William used his Sense to ensure nobody was spying on them. Detecting no soul near them, he signaled the group that the coast was clear.

"The tubes are everywhere. They will hear us when we open our mouths inside Abigail's mansion," Berg begrudgingly said. He then looked at the two squires and smiled, proud they had come a long way since they had taken them under their wing.

"Don't disappoint us now. The Princess will give you a hearing if you mess this one." George reminds the two boys that this is their only chance to find evidence that Abigail is a Pentalium member. And if she is, they must do everything to bring her back alive. The two nod and are eager to show everything that they have learned from them. This is their chance to bring peace to the Kingdom, to drag Pentalium to the light, and hopefully bring justice for Eldric's death.

John looked on to the crowd, preparing to travel to the mines. Their clothes were full of soot and holes, yet young and old gave everything they had to help Abigail win this war.

"I talked with the locals. The mines have found something ancient—something old writing on a slab of stone that they cannot understand," John said.

"I heard that, too, back in the manor. I heard staff gossip that Abigail used to command them to dig faster. All changed to digging slowly and carefully around where the slab was. The staff is just curious why they slow down when their victory is drawing near," William replied to John.  

John then opened his satchel with two piles of sacks. "Found these on a trash pile."

William smiled at his friend, John, who was always resourceful. He is the smartest among Eldric's tutelage, and he is happy that he is with him after all these years. Now they have disguises but cannot enter the mines, not with all the people, guards, and patrol that roam the entrance. But the Frosthold have come up with a distraction while the boys are gone.

"Come, people of Silverhand! The Frosthold Knights are ready to take you in for your checkup. This is just a preliminary step for us to gauge your well-being. The earlier we have you checked up, the faster we can detect and remedy your problems!" George yelled at the crowd. To attract more people to them, Berg placed a massive keg of beer, tea, and sweet treats before them.

"And while you wait your turn, I shall serve you our Frosthold's northern blend of refreshment and treats. All are made with cinnamon and spices; most importantly, they are FREE! So come while our supplies last," Berg said, throwing mugs at the people and inviting them to drink—a large crowd suddenly formed around them, demanding their audience. Even the guards and a patrol could not resist their offer.

The boys took this opportunity and entered the mines without a hitch.

Now, the stage is set. Abigail has the audience's favor, but do William and John have what it takes to win them from her? The boys plunge into the dark depths, not knowing the revelation that awaits them there.