The shipment
King Soto from his window observes how the contingent that will accompany King Alcott to Ruana was preparing to leave.
The servants were cinching the horses to the royal carriage, and two extra wagons to carry their belongings. To his point of view, everything was ready.
On the other side, the battalion of soldiers guarding the king was in formation. And among them, standing out like a beacon on a cloudy day, was Perseus the bastard. Mounted on a black horse, contrasting immensely with this hideous pale colour. His armour was silver like the rest of his army, but in him, he looks like an epic figure from a tale.
Soto spat in his direction, but of course, the spit ended up smeared on the window. “Maddox,” the king yelled as he removed himself from the window.
“Your Majesty, at your command.” Maddox immediately answered his king’s call, bowing.
The king, pointing his finger towards the window, said, “The security of that Ruanes will be relaxed, thinking that in that damned place, there will be nothing to attempt anything against her. If that good-for-nothing Perseus doesn’t do his job, which I doubt he will, then you must do your duty.”
The king walked towards his guard and, taking him by the shoulders, said, “You can’t fail. If we can’t get rid of that woman, we won’t be able to do much to overthrow King Alcott.”
∞∞∞
Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Narumia, King Bengal and his advisers were figuring out the best and cheapest ways to get the products he had agreed to give to the kingdom of Mahala. This was the first shipment as part of their trade treaty signed last spring.
The shipment that was about to arrive at his port contained merchandise of seeds and essential oils for the preparation of food for Mahala. These goods came from the distant continent that was months away. The cargo of limestone and the merchandise were expected to be delivered as agreed.
“The terrain is flatter on the west side. The wagons will have no trouble reaching the heavy limestone.” The master builder, Amos, said rightly. The king nodded, believing that product safety was the main concern.
“But that path will take many nights to reach Mahala. What about the seeds and oil that are needed right away?” The Foreign Minister complained, knowing very well the times that had been set to deliver the merchandise. Since he, along with his king, was present at the last official visit of the king and queen of Mahala.
After acknowledging the terms that had been negotiated, the king was left thinking and agreed with the minister.
“We cannot take that road to transport the rocks, your majesty. We would not make it, and even more so, we could run the risk of losing the cargo due to an accident,” the master builder said.
Bengal reflected for a few seconds, getting up from his seat. But when he was about to make a decision, a royal guard entered with an urgent message.
He bowed in reverence before the king, and stood up immediately, saying, “My king, there has been a problem with the shipment from the far continent.”
The king approached his soldier, agitated, and took him by the shoulders. He asked, “Has the shipment reached the port yet? What’s wrong with the cargo?”
The guard shook his head and said, “No, my king, the ship suffered an unexpected accident. A few kilometres away from the port, something happened. One of the sailors said that the seawater started to leak, and soon after the ship sank completely. The merchandise is visible from a distance, and it is floating in the sea.”
The king’s blue eyes glittered with intensity. The poor guard winced from the pain that the tight squeeze was causing him. When he realized it, he released him and took a few steps back.
After recovering from the initial impact, the king said, “Take me immediately to the place, I want to assess the damage.” The guard nodded and led the way. The king, the master builder, and the minister followed him, all with hearts full of anguish.
Upon arriving at the port, a crowd was gathered observing the merchandise float aimlessly, amazed at what had happened. And about the ship, it couldn’t be seen any more. The guard made their way through the people, allowing the king a better view.
Bengal watched the merchandise float, wondering how something like this had happened. Never in his life, as the king, had anything happened to his fleet. His ships were always in perfect condition and received regular maintenance. The king had to talk to the captain, and he would have to give a good explanation for what had happened.
“Guard, where are the captain and crew?” The soldier pointed his finger at where a group of sailors is getting out of some makeshift boats, helping each other up to the harbour. The king hurriedly walked over to them, and seeing them having a hard time pulling boats, he began to help. Together, they managed to bring the boats closer to the posts and secure them, and the crew got out of them safely.
When Bengal was satisfied that the men were all right, he asked, “Who is the captain?” And from among the rescued men, a halfling man stepped forward, raising his hand. Amidst all the commotion, none of them noticed that the king was the one lending them a hand. However, now that they were calmer and seeing clearly, they stared in amazement at the sight of Bengal’s royal clothing, bowing their heads in reverence immediately.
“It’s okay, raise your heads,” The crew obeyed their king.
“Captain, could you please explain what happened? I need you to provide me with further details. This is the first time this has happened, and I need to determine the cause of this terrible incident.” The king said, looking directly at the person who had previously identified himself as the captain.
“Yes, your majesty, everything was very fast. We didn’t have time to find out what was happening until the inside of the boat was flooded. My men and I were able to remove some water, but the amount increasing was faster than we could remove it. Since I know these waters very well, and we never went through any rocky area which could damage the hull of the ship, this was unexpected.” The captain turned his head towards the sea and said, “The ship is completely submerged, and I can’t say anything else until I find out what happened and where it happened.”
The pensive king tried to find an explanation with all the information he heard, but nothing could be speculated. In the meantime, he had to find a way to solve this terrible incident. He didn’t want to look bad in front of the sanguinary king, for nothing in the world.
