Hannah sat tall and ignored the pains of riding. The stop had given her much to think about. Being a queen was far more than sitting on a throne and allowing people to serve you. The position required you serve others. Friends were going to become scarce, no matter how many people she met.
They encountered a patrol of ten men late in the day, and the general ordered them to join the procession. He dispatched scouts, and during the night more soldiers arrived, nearly a hundred at a quick count. By mid-day, another hundred marched with them, and by nightfall, the total was more than six hundred.
Brice waited until the general was meeting with his officers after they camped for the night, before saying, “Prin, what the hell are you doing?”
“Hannah, from now on, please. To answer your question, what are you talking about?”
“You’re in a mood. No talking for the whole day and when you do say something, it’s an order. Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s very right for the first time in years. My name is Hannah. I’m going to rule a kingdom, a small one, but I will rule it for the people and not for my pleasure.”
He sat in silence for a long time before muttering, “Well, you’re sure acting like a queen.”
Instead of ignoring the remark, she said, “And I intend to act that way from now on.”
The following day the general commanded three more units to join the march, which now numbered nearly a thousand men. Hannah couldn’t see the front of the line, nor the rear. The general sent men ahead to announce her arrival to King Edward.
At the last night’s camp, Brice sat with her. “Why did we gather all the troops we encountered? There’s no danger of Ansel attacking us here.”
“We’re getting the King’s attention. He might have refused to see me, but now he cannot refuse.”
Brice looked confused, and she smiled at his innocence. “Why would King Edward meet with someone he does not know, a girl who claims to be a displaced princess from another land?”
“I don’t know.”
“Me neither. The general thought the troops escorting me might impress him,” Hannah said.
“If it does not?”
Hannah paused and decided to slip past the question. “I hope he will voluntarily grant me an audience. Together, we can perhaps solve common problems as well as our own. He can help me, and I will return the favor.”
Brice snapped his fingers, and his eyes twinkled. “I get it!”
She acted innocent. “Get what?”
“You want King Edward to recognize you as his relative and as the rightful heir to the Wren throne. He will provide you all these troops to march into Wren and Elenore will not dare oppose you with an army protecting you. Then, you will not only return the troops to Peermont after your coronation, but they will return with the Wren Royal Army to help defeat Ansel. King Edward might even end up ruling both Peermont and Ansel instead of losing his kingdom. When he understands that, you have his full support.”
“We both get what we want. But first, he must talk with me and agree to a treaty.”
“If he’s already figured out your plan, he’ll have a band playing when we enter Calverton. There will be a party like the city has never seen.”
“I hope so,” Hannah said, but without a trace of joy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Three high-ranking officers in full dress uniforms, accompanied by a squad of palace guards riding magnificent white horses, waited within sight of the city gate. They carried a message from King Edward that ordered the army to disperse and return to their assigned duties. They were to arrest the general and deliver him to the King’s court where he would face charges sedition as a traitor. Princess Hannah was to also be arrested and taken to King Edward.
The officer with the scroll rerolled it after reading it aloud to the troops and placed it under his armpit with military precision as if it was a weapon. The soldiers in the ranks were confused. The King’s officer shouted for them to return to their duties, to fight and win the war. Some fidgeted, but none broke ranks.
Hannah spurred her horse ahead, riding down the center of the road, her horse forcing the men to move aside as she passed. She kept her eyes on the officer, never flinching. She heard the general’s and Brice’s horses following her, but neither spoke.
When she reached the front of the army, she continued until her horse’s nose nearly touched the nose of the officer’s horse. “I am Princess Hannah.”
“I have an order for your arrest. Come with me without issue, and it may go easier on you.”
She raised her voice so those behind would hear, as Brice pulled up to one side and the general on the other, “I am the rightful heir to the throne of Wren, as well as royalty of Peermont. Do you dispute that, sir?”
He paused, and in that instant, lost. Hannah continued without hesitation, “That means you have no authority to arrest me. Attempt it, and the great army of Wren will join forces with that of Ansel. When they are finished destroying Calverton in the next thirty days, no two bricks will sit one above the other.”
He appeared deflated but tried again. “I have my orders.”
Hannah turned her horse enough so she could face the army behind her. “Do you want your kingdom destroyed?”
A hundred voices shouted, “No.”
She called, “I heard only one in ten of you!”
The rumblings grew. Soldiers raised their weapons and shook them. Others stamped their feet in unison. She raised a fist. They quieted.
“Archers, draw your bows.” She turned to face the King’s officer again without watching, but she heard the grunts as men strung their bows. The expressions on the officers and guard’s faces froze. She shouted, “Archers, aim for the eyes of any who attempt to touch the Princess of Wren.”
Hannah gave the mare a gentle touch with her heels and rode past the officers and palace guards. None made a hint of a move in her direction. Once past, she half stood in her stirrups and shouted to the army, “Follow me.”
General Case waved an arm for them to advance, and every man fell into formation and marched. A cadence caller struck up a marching tune. The men picked up the song, shouting the chorus. A drum took up the beat. The army moved as one to the city ahead.
The officers and palace guards spurred their white horses aside out of the way of the advancing army and raced for the city gates on side trails and paths until they were well past Hannah, who now rode at the front of an army a thousand strong. They returned to the road at a full gallop, leaning low over the necks of their mounts and spurring them to run faster.
Brice said, “Now, you’ve gone and done it.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
He laughed.
Hannah raised her eyes to study the city wall. Most of the city was outside the walls, a sprawl of squat buildings on narrow, winding cobblestone streets. Compared to Gallium, the city seemed small, poor, and in disrepair. The farmers were not the only people suffering at the hands of the King during the war. Yet, when she lifted her eyes higher, gaily colored banners and streamers flew from the palace palisades, above the original protective walls of the city.
Behind the cost of the banners, flags, expensive officer’s uniforms, and white horses was the King. Her relative. Her blood.
Hundreds of years ago, when the original walls were constructed, they may have held off an army of the time. But as she rode closer, there were sections that had fallen down, and the remainder was in poor repair. A small river flowed from the nearby hills and probably the mountains beyond, into the walled portion of the city. An enemy with a bucket or two of poison could kill everyone inside the walled city.