The Wishing Princess - Chapter 7

7. The War Council

The Great Hall is nothing more that a gigantic tent, filled with tables forming a circle. Here, all the kings of the united kingdom ate their dinner and discussed war. The war council is composed of all twelve kingdoms.

The Kingdom of the Hidden Valley representatives, the Great King and his daughter, The Wishing Princess, sat at the place of honor. It has been decided unanimously that all the other kingdom will submit to his rule, having seen his bravery and skill in actions. All the other kings plainly admitted that only the Great King will have the means to ensure survival against the royal might of the evil Queen.

The Kingdom of the Red Sands, of which lands they occupy, holds the distinction of having the most to lose. The kingdom is mostly desert with precious little oasis scattered about. The king and his son were confused by the whole situation, and yet having the difficult issue forced upon them, invited all the kings to meet and hopefully to reach some kind of compromise.

The Kingdom of the Tall Grooves has riches that other lands lacked. Consequently, their people tend to look down upon other kingdom. Although the king was wise enough to realize that their prosperity is mostly due to luck of having access to fertile lands, most of the people did not. Even the king's son, The Tall Prince, so called because he was fair and he was tall, exhibited haughty manner that the old king lack.

The Kingdom of the Dry Marsh bore the opposite of the kingdom of the Tall Grooves. Their lands were poor, and hunting and farming were hard to do. Consequently, the people were malnourished and few. They were usually ignored by other kingdom and the few people who were present were eager to prove themselves.

The Kingdom of the Three Mountains was the most spiritually attuned of all the kingdom. It was their shaman who predicted with certainty, the date of the birth of the prophesied child. It was their shaman who correctly predicted the hidden location of their gathering. And it was their insistence that the Great King of Hidden Valley be invited, far though their kingdom be, to help them in the great struggle ahead.

The Kingdom of the Long Grass bore no distinction of riches, nor fame, nor any of the superior attributes of the other kingdoms. What they have, however, are of supreme value in the coming battle. Their people are great fighters and great soldiers. Their plains means that bandits frequently attacked their villages, and the people of the Long Grass decided that they all will learn how to fight, and to a man, they were great fighters who can hold their own against all but the most professionally led armies.

There were other kingdoms in the council, but they presented no interest to the narrative.

"That's right. Our shamans did predict to the day when the prophesied child will be delivered to us. The spirits told them that it will happen when the sun hangs low on the horizon." The king of the Three Mountains said to the general assembly.

"But how can that be?" challenged the Tall Prince. "How come your shamans can do what ours cannot? Our shamans did agree with the location, but not the day or the hours of the passing!"

"Our shamans have had to go deep into the trance in order to discover this information. It was not easy. Trust us that the message is correct."

"I still don't believe it!" said the Tall Prince. "Do any of you believe this nonsense?" he addressed the group.

Most of the other kings did not bother to response. They have long ago decided to ignore the ramblings of the Tall Prince. His father, the king of the Tall Groove finally said, "The shamans of the Three Mountains are legendary in their skills. If they said that they have encountered the spirit who told them so, believe them." The Tall Prince was not satisfied. The king continued, "However, just because they were told so, does not mean the future is guaranteed. I think it is prudent to have a plan to deal with the possibility that they have been misinformed. This is just for the sake of safety, not to slight you in any way." The last statement has been directed to the king of the Three Mountains by way of apologizing for the rudeness of his son.

The king of the Three Mountains nodded his acceptance. "We can only pass along what we heard from the spirit. Nothing more. As to what to do, we have the wisdom of the council. That is why we're here." Everybody was nodding his head.

"I heard that the Queen will arrive tomorrow with her army." said the king of Dry Marsh. "Will that means that she will attack tomorrow? Or will there be parley?"

"The Queen will not attack without her full army being ready. As I understand it, the routing of her cavalry today means that they will not be ready tomorrow." said the king of the Long Grass.

"Or they will form well tomorrow and attack late in the day."

"What do you think, will happen?" This last question was directed at the Great King.

"It is certain that they will regroup by tomorrow. However, I do not believe that they will attack late in the day." said the Great King. "The bigger the army, the longer it takes to organize them, and they don't strike me as being very well organized." Heads were nodding.

"The prophesy states that the child will be delivered in three days. If indeed the Queen will attack in two days, then it will be too late."

"Do we know when the child will be delivered? Perhaps we can delay the attack long enough so it will be safely delivered and so avoid any battle altogether!"

"When the sun is low in the sky."

"Is that morning or afternoon?"

"The spirits did not say."

"Then we must assume afternoon." said the Great King. "However, it will happen 3 days from now. I don't believe the Queen will wait that long. She will arrive tomorrow, and if we fail to achieve any agreement tomorrow, she will attack before the child is born. Thus, securing her power from any possible threat."

Nobody said anything after that. Each was deep in their though. What the Great King said makes sense. The evil Queen will certainly make the effort to kill the child unborn, greatly easing her task. Finally someone asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should eat well tonight, and rest well. Tomorrow, we will wait for the Queen to arrive and we shall parley to the best of our ability."

"The Queen is not known to be merciful. She has been known to break treaties just to suit her purposes."

"We will still talk to her. It's the right thing to do. Be prepared to defend ourselves, but we should make the attempt to make peaceful agreement if possible."

With that, there is nothing more to say. They begin to relax, as the wine flows freely. The Wishing Princess, though, did not drink deeply. She merely sipped hers. This act did not go unnoticed by the Tall Prince.

"What's wrong, little runt? Can't hold your wine?" the Tall Prince sneered at the Princess.

"There is no honor in being able to drink large quantities of wine. There is every dishonor in being drunk and falling all over the place." she stated evenly.

"Oh, the child speaks!" jeered the Tall Prince. "Why do you bother?"

The king of Tall Groove looked embarrassed. "She speaks the truth. Listen to her wisdom and do not drink so much wine as to cause your legs to be unsteady."

But the Tall Prince was ignorant regarding such things. "I can drink my wine just fine. Perhaps it is you who drinks too much, for you call him 'she'."

"I am a woman." stated the Princess plainly.

The Tall Prince was about to say something, but changed his mind. His mouth was half open. His eyes narrowed in trying to see her better. Her leather armor looks flat enough. Though her hair looks long, so is her father's hair. After a few moments of indecision, the Princess carefully removed her traveller's cloak, allowing the full length of her hair to be visible. There was no doubt. She was a woman.

"Oh, a woman here!" said the Tall Prince. "What is she doing here? This is a meeting of men!" All the old kings simultaneously lost respect for him. Some of the inexperience princes may not understand the breach of etiquette, but the old kings certainly do. You do not insult a king's offspring in that manner. It was obvious that the Tall Prince had drunk too much wine and was drunk.

"My daughter has every right to be here, as you do." said the Great King. "There is no question about it."

"Oh, but there is!" said the Tall Prince. "We are in a battle. Everyone must be able to fight with their sword, or they have no business here!"

All the old kings stiffled their laughter. They all know how proficient all the Great King's children with sword play. It was the Princess who spoke next. "Then, if I beat you in sword duel, you will accept me as comrade-of-arms?" It was said in an off-handed manner, like maybe saying that you should bring an umbrella today because it might rain, but there is no doubt that it was a challenge for a duel.

Some of the old kings couldn't hide their smile any longer. They knew the eventual outcome. The Tall Prince was oblivious to all this. "There's no way for you to beat me!" he said.

"So, will you take up your sword and have a duel with me, right now?" asked the Princess.

"I can take you on at any time!" said the Tall Prince. He strode boldly into the center of the circle. The Princess did likewise. She saluted the Tall Prince with her sword, in a proper duelist manner. The Tall Prince did like-wise.

The Princess then turned around, knelt in front of her father, her sword in her hand. And she said, "Father, please forgive your daughter transgressions, being involved in a duel so soon after we arrive." The Great King merely smiled, knowing what the Princess was really doing. She continued, "I hope that this rudeness of mine will not decrease your stature, for I am but a foolish woman compared to you."

The Tall Prince became impatient. "Come and fight me, now!" he ordered.

Still the Princess continued, "It may be that I shall be defeated in the duel and must retire with shame having solicited such a shameful defeat. I will have no one to blame but myself. If such event should happen, I hope that you can find it within you to forgive me, your only daughter."

On and on she went. The Tall Prince stared at the Princess. When would the duel start? He looked at his father, and saw that first the old king expression was that of smiling, then surprised, then shaking his head in disbelief, smiling once more. The Tall Prince puzzled over this, before finally realized that the Princess has stopped talking.

As he turned to look at the Princess once more, he was startled to see the tip of the Princess's sword an inch away from the tip of his nose. He reflexively retreated backward, but the tip stayed with him. The Tall Prince tried to parry the sword away, but the Princess merely push the tip of her sword into his nose. All his movement ceased.

The Princess expression was stern. After making her point, she gently ease her sword back to an inch away from the Tall Prince's nose. "Will you cede the point?" she asked. The old kings cannot contain their laughter any longer. The Tall Prince was red in embarassment.

"I could have struck you from behind at any time!" said the Tall Prince.

"Not to insult you, but I don't believe you can." said the Princess.

"Anybody could have done so." said the Tall Prince.

"Nobody I know could have done so." said the Princess.

"Nobody can defend an attack from behind." said the Tall Prince.

"Then, why didn't you?" asked the Princess. She withdrew her sword and put it in the sheath. Yet her demeanor did not change. She was still in full alert as if the duel has not ended.

The Tall Prince did not have a reply to that. It was the Captain of the Cavalry of the Kingdom of the Hidden Valley, who stood loyally behind the King and the Princess who replied. "I am a Captain of the Cavalry of the Kingdom, and I can assure you, that having trained with her every day, not only can she defend herself from a rear side attack, but that she can do it from all the soldiers in the kingdom. Furthermore, she has dueled every single one of my men, consecutively, one after the other, and won every single time. Unless you fancy yourself better than all of us combined, I suggest that you concede the point."

With that, there was no question whose point it was. The Princess went back to her seat. The Tall Prince still stood in the center, unable to understand what was going on. It was the Tall Prince's father, the King of the Tall Grooves, who spoke. "We concede the point. It is our fortune to have witnessed such skill. If having a daughter means that such skill is attainable, then I wish for as many daughters as possible!" With that, he raised his wine goblet to the Great King in gesture of respect. Everybody did likewise.

The Princess still sipped her wine by a little.