Gareth Ogilvie The Great Sea King

by J W Murison

  ‘I will send them to you in a few days time if you wish when you have everything sorted out here.’

  The Eagle King fixed Gareth with a look, ‘I was hoping for your support in the matter. I believe most of your objections have now been removed.’

  ‘I have little sway over the council, especially now I have other responsibilities. They don’t particularly like the situation.’

  ‘They are jealous Gareth, you must know that.’

  ‘Regardless of what I know, they are the voice of our people and I do answer to them whether you or any other bloody King likes it or not. The Sea Kings Kingdom is stable now, its economy is beginning to recover and trade is on the increase. My administrators are running things very smoothly and could probably take full control if they had to.’

  The King shook his head, ‘If you left now the whole Kingdom would collapse into civil war, you know that.’

  Gareth grimaced, ‘I am not without sympathy for the people of the Kingdom, but remember I'm no King, just a man with a fancy magic stick. I could do with a few more months to set up some form of parliament and make sure it’s running properly but if the council decide enough is enough and pull me out, then out I go.’

  ‘You could disobey them; you have the men to do so.’

  Gareth shook his head, ‘you just don’t get it do you, none of you seem to get it,’ Gareth sighed. He leaned forward, ‘all it takes is the word of the council and every man’s hand will turn against me. I will become an outlaw, my family too if they deem it necessary to bring me to heel.’

  ‘What if you weren’t the war leader of your people?’

  ‘Then I suppose I would be free to follow whatever destiny I chose. Once a Highlander leaves the Highlands of his own choice then the law there has no real command over them. It is understood you live by the laws of whatever nation you decide to settle in. For myself being war chief I would still inherit certain obligations, however it would be my choice if I wished to pick up those obligations again and of course I would be able to dictate the terms of my service.’

  ‘Really, I never realised that.’ The King stood, ‘I have a lot to do gentlemen will you excuse me for now. You of course can stay in your old apartments.’

  ‘We know the way,’ Gareth stood as well, ‘but for now I will make sure everything is secure and my men are on guard.

  They left the garden to go about their duties. By the time the Queen arrived late in the afternoon the palace gleamed once more and there was little sign of the fighting and bloodshed earlier in the day. She found her youngest son with Malcolm, Graun and Gareth.

  She swept into Gareth's rooms and swept him into her arms, ‘are you ok?’

  ‘Mum,’ he pushed her away embarrassed in front of the grinning Highlanders.

  She radiated beauty, enough to make the three men uncomfortable in her presence, she turned it on Malcolm. ‘I owe you a great debt of gratitude for saving my sons life and for saving our Kingdom, if there is ever anything I can do for you, you only need to ask.’

  For once Malcolm’s words dried on his tongue, ‘ach, it wasn’t any bother lass, he is and you are family after all.’

  ‘I will not forget.’ She swept the young man away.

  Graun sat watching his brother, ‘that was uncommonly reserved of ye Malcolm.’

  ‘Whit?’

  ‘I’d have expected ye tae inviter her into bed for a tumble.’

  Malcolm stuck his nose in the air, ‘I'm no an animal, ye really have low expectations of me Graun. You aren’t the only one in the family that can rise to a crisis.’

  ‘How did he manage to find you?’

  Malcolm shrugged, ‘I have no idea, he never did say. Did you know I'm a legend in this city?’

  Graun sat back, ‘really.’

  Gareth sat down with a smile on his face; it looked like it was going to be along evening.

  CHAPTER 13

  The Eagle King sat eyeing the Highland council; Deacon McDonald sat nearest and seemed to be his only ally. He had lived through the great battle and fell helplessly in love with Melina in a fatherly sort of way.

  Deacon was getting angry. The council had dealt with the Eagle King in a very blunt manner bordering on rudeness. They had flatly refused to put any more Highlanders in harm’s way in the pursuit of freeing any more of his people. If those here decided to join the Eagle Kings forces that was their right to do so, but the council would not commit a Highland force.

  His eyes went from man to man but each was closed to argument. The Eagle King simply nodded and accepted their decision. The council made its way from the room but Deacon hesitated, ‘I am so sorry your highness, I tried.’

  To his surprise the King simply smiled, ‘don’t worry about it Deacon, you have proved your friendship beyond any shadow of a doubt. They believe they are teaching me a lesson. Your people don’t like Kings or all their trappings and considering your experiences I can surly understand why.’ He stood, ‘now let me give you all a lesson in Kingship and absolute power.’ Deacon opened his mouth to protest, ‘don’t worry my friend, there will be no force of any kind brought to bear on your people.’ The King closed his eyes for a second, ‘there it is done. Could I extend an invitation to you to stay with me for the duration of your stay here?’

  ‘I'm sorry we aren’t staying long, we have to get back to the Sea Kingdom.’

  The King smiled slowly, ‘really, well safe journey.’

  Deacon was puzzled, ‘thank you for your hospitality.’

  Deacon joined the others. They went to their lodging’s and picked up their gear. They all seemed pretty pleased with themselves until they reached the place where they were to be transported back to Gareth's Kingdom. There was no one there to transport them. They waited for over an hour but still no one turned up, no one except other Highlanders waiting to go home or one of the other great Kingdoms. Some of them began to ask questions but Deacon was sure he already knew the answer.

  Tempers within the group began to fray as it became obvious that every Eagle was avoiding them. Before it grew dark the decision was made to return to the palace; when they arrived they weren’t allows inside. An official seemed to have been waiting for them. The members of the council complained bitterly. The official stood quietly waiting for them to finish.

  ‘My King sends his kind regards and wishes you well on your journey home, however you will have to do it the same way as everyone else, either walk or hire horse and wagon. The services of the Eagles for the transportation of any single person or group of persons is no longer available to anyone who is not directly related to an Eagle, or by royal decree a person of significant importance to the King and, or his subjects.’

  The official turned away and the guards blocked anyone of the council from following. They returned to the lodgings to find their rooms already gone. They went from tavern to tavern to no avail. Eventually they found an empty home which had no beds or furniture in it. They also found themselves unable to purchase food and that night they had to eat from the fruit groves and dined on fruit. Deacon left on his own and returned an hour or so later with warm bread and scones from William Grant.

  He sat the bag down, ‘there are some bread, butter, scones and jam if you've a mind. He has stuck a side of beef in the oven for us and will bring it round when it’s cooked.’

  ‘Did you talk to him?’ Asked Brian Govan.

  ‘He can’t help us and his wife wont.’

  ‘She said that?’

  ‘Aye, her King has ordered no help to be given to any visitor from the Highlands, he won’t stop our own people helping us but if we want something from an Eagle or one of their servants we have to pay like everyone else. That does not include transport home. If we want to go home we have to walk.’

  ‘The bastard, how long do you think it will take us to get a force large enough to take the palace.’

  Deacon froze, ‘I will not support that move Brian.’

  ‘Why not, a small force of our m
en has already been able to take it without any bother.’

  ‘That was different, tomorrow I'm going to try and find out which way home is and start walking.’

  ‘Don’t be an arse.’

  ‘No Brian, you were the one being an arse, for days that man has been begging for our help while we wined and dined at his expense. Our people have been getting whipped round this world in the blink of an eye for almost a couple of years now. Wherever we want to go and why, because we are Highlanders, we saved them from slavery. How many tons of soil and shit have they transported for us over the last year?’ I'm buggered if I can tell you. What did we do for them and what they have done for us since. They have opened up the Highlands, our whole nation has benefitted from the union between our two peoples, ours probably more than there's.

  We lost a few men when we smashed the Eagle camps, aye, I will give you that, but look how the families of those that died have benefitted from their sacrifice. This is what I've been trying to tell you for weeks now. It’s only now you will learn how much we have come to depend on them and I doubt if you will get much help from our people who have settled here either.’

  Deacon’s words proved to be prophetic. They found little sympathy from the local populace or those of their own people who had settled there. They helped feed the council members but little else. There was also mounting pressure from others like themselves who were now trapped in the Eagle Kingdom, but unlike the council members the locals did look after them.

  With the Eagle princes gone the tensions between the two factions eased considerably. The council members looked for allies and discovered Malcolm Grant was living in a big house close to the palace. They descended on it one afternoon and found Malcolm and Stan both there. They were sitting at a stone table in a small garden eating when the council members arrived and were shown in.

  Malcolm greeted them with suspicion; Stan took a back seat and listened. Malcolm called the servants to bring food and the meat hungry men wolfed down the hot stew brought to the table.

  ‘So what do you want?’ Malcolm asked once they had been fed.

  ‘We want your support,’ Brian Govan told him.

  Malcolm sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve, ‘I hear you are trying to gain support for an attack of some kind on the palace. Let me tell you before you begin, those people are Clan as far as I'm concerned. Any attack on them and you will have the whole of the Ogilvie Clan and Clan Grant right on your fucking necks. They will be sweeping your body parts off the streets for a week if you even try it.’

  Brian Govan went red in the face, ‘how can you consider these people family, you attacked the fucking place yourself no more than a month ago.’

  ‘Aye to aid one of my family against his bastard brothers, a full bloodied member of my family,’ Malcolm smiled evilly.

  Deacon interrupted, ‘no one is looking for trouble here Malcolm, no one wants to try and hurt any member of your Clans, feathered or not. We want you to approach the Eagle King on our behalf, to try and restore diplomatic relations.’

  ‘No need, you might not have heard but Gareth and Graun arrived today with Stan to try and do just that. He’s up at the palace right now.’

  There was a sigh of relief from the gathered members, ‘well that's something,’ Deacon smiled, ‘nice place you got here.’

  ‘A gift from the Eagle King in gratitude for saving his wee fella. They made me a Lord or some fucking thing; every ones got to call me Sir Malcolm now, got this house and a nice wee estate out there somewhere, never seen that yet. Gonna have a wee look before I go home; you never know I might just move the family down here.’

  ‘You’re no leaving me on my fucking own,’ Stan growled and the men laughed easing the pressure a little.

  Malcolm grinned, ‘don’t you worry lad, it won’t be happening anytime soon.’ He turned his attention back to the council members, ‘why don’t you stay here until Gareth returns, he promised he would.’ They agreed to stay.

  Gareth and Graun were eventually showed into see the King, ‘I'm sorry I had to keep you waiting gentlemen, I was busy with matters of state. How is Melina?’

  ‘Grumpy, moody, bad tempered, happy, ecstatic, grumpy, moody, bad tempered.’

  The King laughed, ‘oh I remember those days, so she is well.’

  Gareth couldn’t help himself grinning to, ‘as well as is to be expected, or so I'm told.’

  ‘What can I do for the two of you?’

  ‘It’s about the council.’

  ‘Ah, I thought it might be. Let me put you in the picture Gareth, I will allow travel again, but I want something off them first.’

  ‘Help with the Eagle breeding centres?’

  ‘Yes of course, that and just a little more. I am trying to teach them a lesson. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for everything your nation has done for mine however, your council has to realise that as much as you have done for us we are now doing a lot for your people. Our friendship brings certain benefits to your people and I believe that is being overlooked by the members of your council. Maybe another couple of weeks stuck here will bring that point home to them. I don’t want them to know that just yet though. Are you going to see them today, I hear they are at Lord Malcolm’s waiting for you.’

  Gareth smiled, ‘you hear more than I do, what would you like me to tell them?’

  The King smiled, ‘tell them to apply to the palace with a petition for an audience, every day until it is granted.’

  ‘I will pass the message on. I'm afraid I can’t stay longer. The King of Clover is leaving in a couple of days and I have to attend another round of meetings.’

  ‘What on earth is it he is after?’

  ‘He is waiting for a meeting with the council or was. He expects me to make decisions on their behalf. He’s just going to have to wait until you are finished with them. With any luck he will return home straight away.’

  ‘Any luck finding those camps.’

  ‘No I haven’t sent anyone looking, the council suspended any farther action before they came here.’

  ‘Couldn’t you just send someone?’

  ‘I'm not my own man, you forget. To do that against their direct orders would put myself and my own family at risk.’

  ‘What if you were your own man, would you do it then?’

  Gareth frowned, ‘I think the biggest objection to my help has been removed. I admit your sons got my back up in a fashion I wasn’t used to. With them gone I don’t think I would have any objections to at least trying to locate them.’

  The King smiled, ‘well that is progress at least.’

  ‘How are you feeling about that?’

  ‘The demise of my sons you mean?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Sad, it is hard not to love a child despite their faults. Now I have only one son left and he has little interest on taking the throne. He wants to be a warrior like his uncle Malcolm.’

  The two Highlanders found that hilarious, Gareth wiped a tear, ‘who would ever have thought Malcolm would have became a role model for royalty.’

  The King joined in the laughter, ‘believe it or not he and your brother are well thought of amongst my people.’

  ‘So I hear,’ Gareth laughed, ‘I admit I sympathise with your son.’

  ‘Of course all you want to be is a sword master. Being a King doesn't leave you much time to practice your art.’

  ‘Not a lot I admit.’

  ‘I may have other sons out there, full sons born by my wife. They always brought the best prices. I am desperate Gareth; if something should happen to Vaary then I have no safety net as it were. I need to find my other sons.’

  ‘How many are there?’

  ‘Seven sons and another six daughters Melina’s full sisters.’

  ‘That's a lot of children, why did they sell them and keep the others?’

  ‘The price of course, I have little doubt most of them would have been used for breeding themselves. The oldest may well be d
ead by now, I have no idea. The females would most likely have been used in the same way as Melina or for breeding themselves.’

  ‘Any more bastard sons and daughters?’

  ‘Many, they normally sold them in batches for riders, another few weeks and that lot would have been gone, they were almost finished their training.’

  ‘It might have been kinder if they had gone.’ Gareth mused.

  ‘Probably, but I won’t make the mistake of inviting any of them back into the palace. They can start life back here from the bottom, which should knock any conceit out of them.’

  ‘We will see.’

  They returned to Malcolm’s where the council ordered Gareth to return them home. So he took them to a point where an Eagle was waiting for them. When Gareth opened his eyes he was back in his Kingdom but only Graun was with him.

  Graun looked around and grinned, ‘that is really going to piss them off.’

  Gareth shrugged, ‘at least they can’t say I didn't try.’ They laughed all the way back to the city.

  CHAPTER 14

  The streets no longer stank and the people looked cleaner. Some ventured to smile at the two men as they walked towards the palace. They nodded politely at those who did. Aswari met them half way to the palace and shook his head at the pair.

  ‘Sire how many times do I have to tell you it is dangerous to walk these streets on your own, not all are under the spell of your Kingship.’

  ‘I fear it is far more dangerous for those who would seek to do me harm than it is for Graun and me Aswari.’

  Aswari grunted, ‘maybe but I still have a job to do and I can assure you sooner or later you will be glad of us.’

  ‘You’re probably right, I will try and behave myself.’

  ‘Thank you Sire, any luck in helping your council?’

  ‘No my father in law is still fucking with their heads.’

  Aswari smiled, ‘serves the bastards right, they are a pain in the arse.’

  ‘Do I have to go over this again?’

  Aswari sniffed, ‘no I know, you’re the war chieftain, blah, blah, blah.’