Unexpected return, p.19
Unexpected Return, page 19
“I have been doing what you asked me to do, Sir.”
“Aye, sorry. Please tell the men there are to be no fires lit tonight by order of the King.”
“But, Sir, how are the men to eat? There has to be a fire to cook the meat.”
“I understand. But they will have to find something to eat that does not involve cooking.”
“This order will not make the men very happy.”
“I know. But it came straight from the King.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Aye, he wants to set up battle lines at first light in order to take King William by surprise. But that will not be possible since I saw King William’s spies in the fields following us. I did not make King Henry aware of that though. So we will do as we have been told but then stop the battle before it begins.”
“I will tell the men about not lighting fires and inform them of the plan for the morning.”
“I will see you in the morning then.”
As the sun began to make its appearance, King Henry emerged from his tent wearing his armor and ready for battle. He noticed the rest of the camp did not seem to be stirring yet so he started toward Sir Gregory’s tent to demand an answer as to why his soldiers were not ready. As he neared the tent, he saw Sir Gregory in the distance dressed and already giving orders to the men.
“It is a good thing you were not in your tent sleeping!” King Henry bellowed as he approached.
“No, your majesty. You specifically stated we should be ready at first light.”
“Aye, I did. I did indeed. Are all three groups lined up and ready to advance?”
“Aye, your majesty. They are.”
“Where is Sir Abbot? I do not see him anywhere.”
“He is ready to lead the men on horseback, your majesty.”
“I cannot wait to see the look of surprise on the faces of King William and his army. This will be my finest hour! I, King Henry, will soon be the ruler of two kingdoms! Next, all of England!!! Now, let us get this over with.”
“There is one problem: a morning fog has settled over the field making visibility almost impossible.”
“That will not stop us. We must attack despite the fog.”
“I would suggest that we wait till the sun begins to burn some of it away so the men can see where they are going. We will be successful, I assure you, but not if we cannot see our hands in front of our faces. It will not take away the advantage we have of surprise if we give the fog time to dissipate.”
“It had better not! All right, we will wait, but not for very long!”
Sir Gregory rode his horse up and down through the soldiers to tell them to line up across the field and be ready to charge when given the signal and asked Sir Abbot to have the horse soldiers remain near them for now. The soldiers moved into their positions and waited.
King Henry began to grow impatient and was ready to order his army to proceed when he noticed something on the other side of the field. He moved a little closer to get a better look and realized King William’s army was there in front of them not three hundred feet away. The fog had given them the cover they needed to advance on King Henry’s army and now they stood there in front of him. Then he heard a loud noise coming from above him and saw a dragon and rider fly over the field and settle down near King William’s army.
At first, he was stunned. King William had caught him by surprise. How could this have happened? It was supposed to be the other way around! He turned his horse and began riding through the soldiers yelling at them to attack. But they didn’t move! Then he heard a horn blowing in the distance and every one of his soldiers took a knee and placed their weapons on the ground.
“What are you doing? You are supposed to be fighting! I order you to fight! Get up and fight! This is my battle to win! You cannot take that from me! I am supposed to rule all of England!”
Then Sir Gregory rode up on his horse.
“What is this? I am King and I order you and your men to attack!”
“We will not, your majesty. We find your majesty unfit to rule Dorchester and are removing you as King, by force if necessary.” Sir Gregory stated as he stood his ground for he knew if he had been acting alone this would be treason. But he had the whole army and the people of the kingdom behind him.
“You do not have the authority to remove me as King. It is my right! It was passed down from my father! I was his only son!”
“I do have the right granted to me by the laws you have put in place. You have proved you are not of right mind and would have sent many of your men to their death for your own glory. This has been witnessed by the men in your army as well as the people of your kingdom. We have all seen it. You are no longer our King and your eldest daughter will now become Queen. You will be confined at the castle until your death.”
“I will not stand for this! You cannot take my crown away from me! I will have Wiltshire and England at my feet!” And with that, King Henry rode his horse as fast as it would take him through the line of soldiers and toward the army on the other side of the field yelling, “England will be mine!” He drew his sword, held it up in front of him and charged. He ran his horse into the front line of soldiers swinging his sword from side to side. The soldiers parted and let him through. Once through the soldiers he looked around and saw King William sitting on his horse. He started to charge King William yelling, “Your kingdom will be mine!” Suddenly, seeing that his King was in danger, one of his knights let go of an arrow which struck King Henry in the heart. King Henry fell from his horse to the ground.
King William dismounted and walked over to where King Henry had fallen. He checked to see if he was still alive, but he was not. He then shouted, “He was a King and should be carried back to his army. I need eight soldiers for that honor.”
Eight soldiers stepped forward and took up a position on both sides of King Henry’s body, lifted him and proceeded to walk across the field. King William mounted his horse and followed the soldiers to where Sir Gregory was standing.
Once they arrived, Sir Gregory announced to his army, “He died a soldier’s death and will be buried as befits a King. We will carry his body back to Dorchester.” At that point, the soldiers stood up and saluted Sir Gregory with a fist pound on the chest of their armor.
“When will a successor be named?” King William queried.
“We cannot leave Dorchester without a ruler and will crown his daughter soon after we return. However, I am not sure how this will be received by the lords of the kingdom. They may not be willing to follow a queen. That remains to be seen. There will be a period of mourning after which I would like to meet with you regarding the future of our two kingdoms. This was for the best and ended as it should. You were in danger and one of your soldiers shot him to protect you. King Henry would never have submitted to confinement for the rest of his life. I want to thank you, King William for working toward peace and preventing unnecessary bloodshed on this field. We will not forget. Now, we must return to Dorchester and bury our King.”
“I look forward to our next meeting with you and your new Queen. We will return to Wiltshire and hope to observe many more years of peace between our two kingdoms.”
The two bowed to each other out of respect and King William turned to leave along with his contingent. King William then bowed toward the body of King Henry, mounted his horse and returned to the other side of the field where his army was waiting.
CHAPTER 34
THE TRIP BACK TO WILTSHIRE
King William ordered the camp be dismantled and the army began the trek home. James, however, had convinced Arius to allow him to ride home on his back, as a dragon of course. Also, James thought this would give King William intel from the sky as they soared above. King William agreed and James was excited to be able to ride on the back of a dragon again. The King knew when Arius was near for the sound of his wings could be deafening at times. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the two disappear through the clouds and then reappear moments later. It was hard to believe Arius never knew he could shape shift. But then again, there had never been a moment when he had needed to as the kingdoms had been at peace for the past one hundred fifty years. There were writings and pictures from long ago that showed sorcerers had been able to take many forms, but no one was sure it was a skill that passed down through the generations until now. Arius seemed just as surprised by the transformation as anyone. The King was sure news of this had already traveled throughout England by now. The King knew he would definitely be able to use this to his advantage and should be a major deterrent to any further incidents in the future.
“Arius, what do you think about staying a dragon? You could fly wherever you wanted and I could go with you! Who knows how far we could go and what we could see? We could travel over other countries and continents and…”
“Prince James, I do not have to permanently remain a dragon for that to happen. I can change any time I please and soar off when I want. I do not have to always have you with me, either. But there are some impediments to your plan.”
“And what may those be?”
“For one thing, I am in service to your father, the King. If he requests my presence, how am I to comply if I am out flying all over the countryside. And for another, you are newly engaged which will not allow you the freedom to just leave Wiltshire.”
“Very good points, Arius. As for being newly engaged, it is my feeling it will make no difference for I think Justine will be excited for me. She would not deny me the opportunity to travel near and far. Also, if I should ever be King, our travels would be of benefit as I would know more about those who live in other places. To your first point, we have just established peace among kingdoms again and if my father intends to maintain that peace, I think checking on those around us on a regular basis would be very beneficial. Sending you and me into other kingdoms rather than relying on horse and rider, would be more expedient.”
“Prince James, before you or I make any plans, we must have the approval of your father, the King. Without his blessing, there will be no more dragon unless absolutely necessary. As much as I have truly enjoyed this newfound power, I still serve the King.”
“Arius, do not worry about my father. I know I can convince him of the benefits of having a dragon around. By the way, can you become anything else? Maybe if we dig out the old writings concerning your ancestors, we might learn something.”
“We have lost sight of your father and the army. We need to focus on the task at hand for now. We can look into this further once we are back in Wiltshire.”
So, Arius dove below the cloud deck and caught sight of the army moving rather slowly, it seemed to him, through the valley in the direction of Wiltshire. The sun was setting by this time and he knew the army would soon be stopping for the night. Before setting down, Arius had an idea. He had never seen the sunset as a dragon and decided to soar back through the clouds.
“Arius, what are you doing? I thought we were to land for the night.”
“I want to see the sunset from up here first.”
As Arius came up through the clouds, they saw the sky above them begin to glow in bright pinks and oranges, and the clouds around them took on the colors of the sunset. Then they witnessed sunbeams spread out through the sky emanating from the sun in front of them. Arius hovered in mid-air as the pair took in the glorious sight.
“Never seen anything more beautiful,” James murmured as he sat there in awe of what they were witnessing.
“That was certainly better than I had anticipated. That has filled my body and soul with peace. Now, I am ready to land for the night.”
Arius let his body drop straight down and finally flapped his wings so he could land on the ground below.
King William was waiting for them.
“Please explain to me why you hovered overhead as if you were to land and then suddenly disappeared back through the clouds, only to come out sometime later.”
“The sunset.” Arius replied.
“The Sunset? I am confused.”
“Arius wanted to take in the sunset, Father, for the first time from up in the sky. It was breathtaking. The colors were so vivid up there. We watched until the sun disappeared below the horizon. Once that happened, Arius was ready to land for the night.”
James slid down from his saddle and Arius, the dragon, transformed back into himself.
“That must have been a beautiful sight, indeed. Someday, I would like to see that… But right now, we need to think about returning home. We will get an early start tomorrow and I want you two back up in the sky to keep watch. So, eat something and then rest well for we have another day ahead of us.”
“We will, Father.”
The next morning, everyone was up bright and early, excited they were to be home that day. After a quick breakfast, the King ordered everyone to tear down the camp so they could be on their way as soon as possible.
“James, since we are not far from Wiltshire, I think you and Arius should sweep the area when we depart and if you do not see anything suspicious, then you two may continue on to Wiltshire. We will not be far behind you,” King William instructed his son.
“I am relieved to be able to put this all behind us and return home. At some time in the future, I look forward to meeting the new Queen,” James replied.
“As do I. It will be important to establish a rapport with her early on in her reign. But we will wait until the period of mourning is over and then pay her a visit.”
Arius suddenly appeared before them and startled them both.
“Your Majesty caused my heart to stop beating, Arius. Please stop doing that. Good morning, Arius. What do you need?” the King asked.
“Your Majesty and Prince James. I am assuming we are to arrive back in Wiltshire today, are we not?”
“That we are. As I have instructed James prior to your arrival, you and he are to fly overhead to ensure there is no danger as we begin our departure this morning.”
“I am to become a dragon again?”
“Aye, you are. You offer us the advantage of seeing things from above. You, as a dragon, have been a true asset for our kingdom and will continue to be from now on. Your powers were limited before, although I very much appreciated the feats you could perform. But now, as a dragon your powers are truly remarkable! We must take the time to discover whether or not you have other talents unknown to you up till now. But not right now.”
“And I am lucky enough to be able to ride on your back! Four eyes are better than two!” James offered excitedly.
“Now off with you two. Inform me if you observe anything we should know about.”
James and Arius left the King to do as they were commanded. Soon, the great wings of the dragon could be heard flapping in the wind as the massive body lifted into the air and took off. A yell of excitement spread through the air and all knew James was aboard the dragon.
The two of them soared back and forth over the army as they broke camp and began the trip home. Once the army was on their way, Arius enlarged the area over which he was flying to determine whether there were any threats below them.
“Arius, look! Over there to our right, in the tall grass. I see two riders! They look to be following the army. However, they are both wearing cloaks with hoods and I cannot discern who they are. What do you think?”
“Well, two riders would certainly pose no threat to our army, but it is curious as to why they are there and I do not see anyone else in the area. We must alert the King and he can decide what course of action to take now.”
The two flew north until they located the army. When they spotted the King, Arius flew toward the ground and hovered over the King’s position. King William saw them and immediately stopped his horse. Sir George was also nearby.
As they hovered, James yelled, “Father, there are two riders approaching our position. They do not look to be a threat, but we wanted you to know. I do not think they saw us as we were too far up in the sky. What do you want us to do?”
“The only thing you can do now is to guide Sir George to their location. He can take it from there. We will remain here until Sir George returns.”
“Aye, Father.”
Then he turned to Sir George and instructed him to gather five trusted soldiers, follow Arius, and ascertain who the riders were and why they were following the army.
Arius continued to hover until Sir George was ready.
When they saw Sir George signal, they climbed even higher so their presence would go undetected. Sir George would be the one who would confront the two riders and determine if they posed a threat. Once Arius and James spotted the riders, Arius hovered overhead to indicate the riders’ position. They watched from above as Sir George and his men approached. The riders got off their horses as did Sir George. Sir George did not draw his sword nor did his stance appear rigid, but relaxed. Then the three mounted their horses and the small band of eight riders rode off in the direction of King William and the army.
Arius and James followed them now very curious as to the identity of the riders. The riders reached the army and located the King. They watched as the two strangers dismounted. Both dropped their hoods but James still could not figure out who they were since he and Arius were still too far away. Then James saw one of them curtsy in front of his father. That was strange for that meant one had to be a lady. His curiosity had now gotten the better of him.
“Arius, one of the riders is a lady! We need to get down there and find out who that is!”
So Arius dropped toward the ground and landed as close to the King as he was able without knocking anyone over. James descended to the ground and moved as quickly as he could to stand by the King’s side. He was glad to see Sir George standing near his father with his hand on the hilt of his sword. As he approached, he realized the lady looked to be one of King Henry’s daughters. What she was doing there was anyone’s guess.
“James, this is Catherine, the eldest daughter of King Henry. They have been trying to catch up to us ever since the battle.”
“Aye, sorry. Please tell the men there are to be no fires lit tonight by order of the King.”
“But, Sir, how are the men to eat? There has to be a fire to cook the meat.”
“I understand. But they will have to find something to eat that does not involve cooking.”
“This order will not make the men very happy.”
“I know. But it came straight from the King.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Aye, he wants to set up battle lines at first light in order to take King William by surprise. But that will not be possible since I saw King William’s spies in the fields following us. I did not make King Henry aware of that though. So we will do as we have been told but then stop the battle before it begins.”
“I will tell the men about not lighting fires and inform them of the plan for the morning.”
“I will see you in the morning then.”
As the sun began to make its appearance, King Henry emerged from his tent wearing his armor and ready for battle. He noticed the rest of the camp did not seem to be stirring yet so he started toward Sir Gregory’s tent to demand an answer as to why his soldiers were not ready. As he neared the tent, he saw Sir Gregory in the distance dressed and already giving orders to the men.
“It is a good thing you were not in your tent sleeping!” King Henry bellowed as he approached.
“No, your majesty. You specifically stated we should be ready at first light.”
“Aye, I did. I did indeed. Are all three groups lined up and ready to advance?”
“Aye, your majesty. They are.”
“Where is Sir Abbot? I do not see him anywhere.”
“He is ready to lead the men on horseback, your majesty.”
“I cannot wait to see the look of surprise on the faces of King William and his army. This will be my finest hour! I, King Henry, will soon be the ruler of two kingdoms! Next, all of England!!! Now, let us get this over with.”
“There is one problem: a morning fog has settled over the field making visibility almost impossible.”
“That will not stop us. We must attack despite the fog.”
“I would suggest that we wait till the sun begins to burn some of it away so the men can see where they are going. We will be successful, I assure you, but not if we cannot see our hands in front of our faces. It will not take away the advantage we have of surprise if we give the fog time to dissipate.”
“It had better not! All right, we will wait, but not for very long!”
Sir Gregory rode his horse up and down through the soldiers to tell them to line up across the field and be ready to charge when given the signal and asked Sir Abbot to have the horse soldiers remain near them for now. The soldiers moved into their positions and waited.
King Henry began to grow impatient and was ready to order his army to proceed when he noticed something on the other side of the field. He moved a little closer to get a better look and realized King William’s army was there in front of them not three hundred feet away. The fog had given them the cover they needed to advance on King Henry’s army and now they stood there in front of him. Then he heard a loud noise coming from above him and saw a dragon and rider fly over the field and settle down near King William’s army.
At first, he was stunned. King William had caught him by surprise. How could this have happened? It was supposed to be the other way around! He turned his horse and began riding through the soldiers yelling at them to attack. But they didn’t move! Then he heard a horn blowing in the distance and every one of his soldiers took a knee and placed their weapons on the ground.
“What are you doing? You are supposed to be fighting! I order you to fight! Get up and fight! This is my battle to win! You cannot take that from me! I am supposed to rule all of England!”
Then Sir Gregory rode up on his horse.
“What is this? I am King and I order you and your men to attack!”
“We will not, your majesty. We find your majesty unfit to rule Dorchester and are removing you as King, by force if necessary.” Sir Gregory stated as he stood his ground for he knew if he had been acting alone this would be treason. But he had the whole army and the people of the kingdom behind him.
“You do not have the authority to remove me as King. It is my right! It was passed down from my father! I was his only son!”
“I do have the right granted to me by the laws you have put in place. You have proved you are not of right mind and would have sent many of your men to their death for your own glory. This has been witnessed by the men in your army as well as the people of your kingdom. We have all seen it. You are no longer our King and your eldest daughter will now become Queen. You will be confined at the castle until your death.”
“I will not stand for this! You cannot take my crown away from me! I will have Wiltshire and England at my feet!” And with that, King Henry rode his horse as fast as it would take him through the line of soldiers and toward the army on the other side of the field yelling, “England will be mine!” He drew his sword, held it up in front of him and charged. He ran his horse into the front line of soldiers swinging his sword from side to side. The soldiers parted and let him through. Once through the soldiers he looked around and saw King William sitting on his horse. He started to charge King William yelling, “Your kingdom will be mine!” Suddenly, seeing that his King was in danger, one of his knights let go of an arrow which struck King Henry in the heart. King Henry fell from his horse to the ground.
King William dismounted and walked over to where King Henry had fallen. He checked to see if he was still alive, but he was not. He then shouted, “He was a King and should be carried back to his army. I need eight soldiers for that honor.”
Eight soldiers stepped forward and took up a position on both sides of King Henry’s body, lifted him and proceeded to walk across the field. King William mounted his horse and followed the soldiers to where Sir Gregory was standing.
Once they arrived, Sir Gregory announced to his army, “He died a soldier’s death and will be buried as befits a King. We will carry his body back to Dorchester.” At that point, the soldiers stood up and saluted Sir Gregory with a fist pound on the chest of their armor.
“When will a successor be named?” King William queried.
“We cannot leave Dorchester without a ruler and will crown his daughter soon after we return. However, I am not sure how this will be received by the lords of the kingdom. They may not be willing to follow a queen. That remains to be seen. There will be a period of mourning after which I would like to meet with you regarding the future of our two kingdoms. This was for the best and ended as it should. You were in danger and one of your soldiers shot him to protect you. King Henry would never have submitted to confinement for the rest of his life. I want to thank you, King William for working toward peace and preventing unnecessary bloodshed on this field. We will not forget. Now, we must return to Dorchester and bury our King.”
“I look forward to our next meeting with you and your new Queen. We will return to Wiltshire and hope to observe many more years of peace between our two kingdoms.”
The two bowed to each other out of respect and King William turned to leave along with his contingent. King William then bowed toward the body of King Henry, mounted his horse and returned to the other side of the field where his army was waiting.
CHAPTER 34
THE TRIP BACK TO WILTSHIRE
King William ordered the camp be dismantled and the army began the trek home. James, however, had convinced Arius to allow him to ride home on his back, as a dragon of course. Also, James thought this would give King William intel from the sky as they soared above. King William agreed and James was excited to be able to ride on the back of a dragon again. The King knew when Arius was near for the sound of his wings could be deafening at times. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the two disappear through the clouds and then reappear moments later. It was hard to believe Arius never knew he could shape shift. But then again, there had never been a moment when he had needed to as the kingdoms had been at peace for the past one hundred fifty years. There were writings and pictures from long ago that showed sorcerers had been able to take many forms, but no one was sure it was a skill that passed down through the generations until now. Arius seemed just as surprised by the transformation as anyone. The King was sure news of this had already traveled throughout England by now. The King knew he would definitely be able to use this to his advantage and should be a major deterrent to any further incidents in the future.
“Arius, what do you think about staying a dragon? You could fly wherever you wanted and I could go with you! Who knows how far we could go and what we could see? We could travel over other countries and continents and…”
“Prince James, I do not have to permanently remain a dragon for that to happen. I can change any time I please and soar off when I want. I do not have to always have you with me, either. But there are some impediments to your plan.”
“And what may those be?”
“For one thing, I am in service to your father, the King. If he requests my presence, how am I to comply if I am out flying all over the countryside. And for another, you are newly engaged which will not allow you the freedom to just leave Wiltshire.”
“Very good points, Arius. As for being newly engaged, it is my feeling it will make no difference for I think Justine will be excited for me. She would not deny me the opportunity to travel near and far. Also, if I should ever be King, our travels would be of benefit as I would know more about those who live in other places. To your first point, we have just established peace among kingdoms again and if my father intends to maintain that peace, I think checking on those around us on a regular basis would be very beneficial. Sending you and me into other kingdoms rather than relying on horse and rider, would be more expedient.”
“Prince James, before you or I make any plans, we must have the approval of your father, the King. Without his blessing, there will be no more dragon unless absolutely necessary. As much as I have truly enjoyed this newfound power, I still serve the King.”
“Arius, do not worry about my father. I know I can convince him of the benefits of having a dragon around. By the way, can you become anything else? Maybe if we dig out the old writings concerning your ancestors, we might learn something.”
“We have lost sight of your father and the army. We need to focus on the task at hand for now. We can look into this further once we are back in Wiltshire.”
So, Arius dove below the cloud deck and caught sight of the army moving rather slowly, it seemed to him, through the valley in the direction of Wiltshire. The sun was setting by this time and he knew the army would soon be stopping for the night. Before setting down, Arius had an idea. He had never seen the sunset as a dragon and decided to soar back through the clouds.
“Arius, what are you doing? I thought we were to land for the night.”
“I want to see the sunset from up here first.”
As Arius came up through the clouds, they saw the sky above them begin to glow in bright pinks and oranges, and the clouds around them took on the colors of the sunset. Then they witnessed sunbeams spread out through the sky emanating from the sun in front of them. Arius hovered in mid-air as the pair took in the glorious sight.
“Never seen anything more beautiful,” James murmured as he sat there in awe of what they were witnessing.
“That was certainly better than I had anticipated. That has filled my body and soul with peace. Now, I am ready to land for the night.”
Arius let his body drop straight down and finally flapped his wings so he could land on the ground below.
King William was waiting for them.
“Please explain to me why you hovered overhead as if you were to land and then suddenly disappeared back through the clouds, only to come out sometime later.”
“The sunset.” Arius replied.
“The Sunset? I am confused.”
“Arius wanted to take in the sunset, Father, for the first time from up in the sky. It was breathtaking. The colors were so vivid up there. We watched until the sun disappeared below the horizon. Once that happened, Arius was ready to land for the night.”
James slid down from his saddle and Arius, the dragon, transformed back into himself.
“That must have been a beautiful sight, indeed. Someday, I would like to see that… But right now, we need to think about returning home. We will get an early start tomorrow and I want you two back up in the sky to keep watch. So, eat something and then rest well for we have another day ahead of us.”
“We will, Father.”
The next morning, everyone was up bright and early, excited they were to be home that day. After a quick breakfast, the King ordered everyone to tear down the camp so they could be on their way as soon as possible.
“James, since we are not far from Wiltshire, I think you and Arius should sweep the area when we depart and if you do not see anything suspicious, then you two may continue on to Wiltshire. We will not be far behind you,” King William instructed his son.
“I am relieved to be able to put this all behind us and return home. At some time in the future, I look forward to meeting the new Queen,” James replied.
“As do I. It will be important to establish a rapport with her early on in her reign. But we will wait until the period of mourning is over and then pay her a visit.”
Arius suddenly appeared before them and startled them both.
“Your Majesty caused my heart to stop beating, Arius. Please stop doing that. Good morning, Arius. What do you need?” the King asked.
“Your Majesty and Prince James. I am assuming we are to arrive back in Wiltshire today, are we not?”
“That we are. As I have instructed James prior to your arrival, you and he are to fly overhead to ensure there is no danger as we begin our departure this morning.”
“I am to become a dragon again?”
“Aye, you are. You offer us the advantage of seeing things from above. You, as a dragon, have been a true asset for our kingdom and will continue to be from now on. Your powers were limited before, although I very much appreciated the feats you could perform. But now, as a dragon your powers are truly remarkable! We must take the time to discover whether or not you have other talents unknown to you up till now. But not right now.”
“And I am lucky enough to be able to ride on your back! Four eyes are better than two!” James offered excitedly.
“Now off with you two. Inform me if you observe anything we should know about.”
James and Arius left the King to do as they were commanded. Soon, the great wings of the dragon could be heard flapping in the wind as the massive body lifted into the air and took off. A yell of excitement spread through the air and all knew James was aboard the dragon.
The two of them soared back and forth over the army as they broke camp and began the trip home. Once the army was on their way, Arius enlarged the area over which he was flying to determine whether there were any threats below them.
“Arius, look! Over there to our right, in the tall grass. I see two riders! They look to be following the army. However, they are both wearing cloaks with hoods and I cannot discern who they are. What do you think?”
“Well, two riders would certainly pose no threat to our army, but it is curious as to why they are there and I do not see anyone else in the area. We must alert the King and he can decide what course of action to take now.”
The two flew north until they located the army. When they spotted the King, Arius flew toward the ground and hovered over the King’s position. King William saw them and immediately stopped his horse. Sir George was also nearby.
As they hovered, James yelled, “Father, there are two riders approaching our position. They do not look to be a threat, but we wanted you to know. I do not think they saw us as we were too far up in the sky. What do you want us to do?”
“The only thing you can do now is to guide Sir George to their location. He can take it from there. We will remain here until Sir George returns.”
“Aye, Father.”
Then he turned to Sir George and instructed him to gather five trusted soldiers, follow Arius, and ascertain who the riders were and why they were following the army.
Arius continued to hover until Sir George was ready.
When they saw Sir George signal, they climbed even higher so their presence would go undetected. Sir George would be the one who would confront the two riders and determine if they posed a threat. Once Arius and James spotted the riders, Arius hovered overhead to indicate the riders’ position. They watched from above as Sir George and his men approached. The riders got off their horses as did Sir George. Sir George did not draw his sword nor did his stance appear rigid, but relaxed. Then the three mounted their horses and the small band of eight riders rode off in the direction of King William and the army.
Arius and James followed them now very curious as to the identity of the riders. The riders reached the army and located the King. They watched as the two strangers dismounted. Both dropped their hoods but James still could not figure out who they were since he and Arius were still too far away. Then James saw one of them curtsy in front of his father. That was strange for that meant one had to be a lady. His curiosity had now gotten the better of him.
“Arius, one of the riders is a lady! We need to get down there and find out who that is!”
So Arius dropped toward the ground and landed as close to the King as he was able without knocking anyone over. James descended to the ground and moved as quickly as he could to stand by the King’s side. He was glad to see Sir George standing near his father with his hand on the hilt of his sword. As he approached, he realized the lady looked to be one of King Henry’s daughters. What she was doing there was anyone’s guess.
“James, this is Catherine, the eldest daughter of King Henry. They have been trying to catch up to us ever since the battle.”
