As it turned out, Beowulf was wrong, the King was not about to speak, although he, and the new Queen had appeared to address the Parliament. The Queen was about to speak; in her hand she held Caractacus’ letter which said,
‘In the matter of the revenues from the Holy Gambling, I, King Louis the First, have come to the decision that the following disbursements should for the future and in perpetuity be applied. After defraying costs and expenses incurred during the acquisition of the revenue and ensuring that capital monies sufficient to maintain and develop the structure of the gambling industry, the following tributes shall be made; one eighth part shall be retained by myself, Louis the King of France, for my personal use as is appropriate to a Monarch and beneficial to his state. One fourth part shall be made payable to the Army and the defence of France, which shall be sufficient to develop our army to meet foreign threats. The residual and remaining part we shall pay to our ally and protector, the nation of Britain in order to cement our friendship and alliance and secure our northern frontier.’
Caractacus himself had left the ante room in order to hear the speech (which he had written) in the Parliament, and, spotting Beowulf, he had come over to him.
‘Listen to this,’ he whispered, with a wide grin, ‘this is going to be great; a real triumph of overseas diplomacy!’
Amarilla began to speak,
‘Members of the Parliament and Citizens of France, today I must speak for my new husband, your King. I would like to say that he is speechless with joy, having just gained a beautiful wife; however, he has a sore throat, and so I must do the talking.’
Lewis gently touched his throat, to indicate its soreness, and then smiled to indicate his happiness. There was polite applause. She continued,
‘There have been expectations that there will be changes made in the pattern of disbursements generated by the industry of Holy Gambling, and it has been anticipated that these changes will have significant political ramifications, My husband, the King, has indicated that although there are to be pecuniary changes, it is his intention and his Royal Will that the political situation should be encouraged to remain stable.’
Caractacus gulped,
‘She wasn’t supposed to say that,’ he said.
Beowulf smiled at him brightly,
‘I’m sure this isn’t your Lewis’ work; I doubt if they had “political ramifications” on the sheep farm.’
Amarilla continued,
‘Currently, from the profits of Holy Gambling a full half goes in tribute to his Holiness, Our Blessed Father, the Pope and a quarter goes to our great friend and ally the Duke of Jutland, leaving but a fourth part to share between the state of France and her Monarch; this can not and will not be sustained. The Nation of France is grateful to its benefactors and allies and wishes to share with them our bounty, and so, continue to act in partnership. In respect of this, His Royal Majesty proposes to continue to donate a full fourth part of the revenues to His Holiness, the Pope; an eight part to The Noble Duke of Jutland and, additionally, a sixteenth part to our new ally of Britain. This is subject to all three ratifying and approving the King’s will in this manner. The remainder shall be retained by the state of France for the purpose of building and maintaining her defence and the development of her industry and trade whereby she may be a fine partner to her European neighbours.’
‘That’s not in the letter,’ said Caractacus dully.
‘She’s stitched you up well,’ observed Beowulf, ‘there’s enough left for the Pope and the Duke to mean that they’ll leave her alone, at least for a while. You should even be grateful for your “sixteenth part”. How much were you hoping for, a quarter?’
‘Just over half,’ mumbled Caractacus, who was looking edgily at the crowd. Following his gaze Beowulf saw an angry looking Boo Dikka coming their way.
‘Excuse me,’ said Caractacus, slipping quickly away.
‘Where is he?’ asked Boo Dikka, ‘The weasely, pea-brained, outmanoeuvred by a girl, alleged master spy?’
‘You mean Caractacus, of course?’ queried Beowulf.
Boo Dikka laughed,
‘Yes, him. I suppose I shouldn’t be angry; I think I may have given her the idea, and at least we did get something for our trouble.’
Beowulf nodded,
‘But trouble will now follow,’ he said, ‘the Duke wanted a war and this will only postpone one.’
Boo Dikka thought,
‘Will you help us stop the Duke?’ she asked.
‘Probably,’ said Beowulf, ‘Are you not content with the work of your master spy?’
He continued before she could answer, ‘But first I have business in the East?’
Gretza the Angel smiled; Boo Dikka looked at him quizzically,
‘The East? What are you going there for?’
‘You wouldn’t believe me, but I’m told, “All zhat I can desire,” is what I can expect’
‘That sounds generous and perhaps a little tantalizing,’ replied the Queen, ‘but I must get on. I have a master spy to chastise and some money to collect. I’m sure we’ll meet again.’
After she had gone, Beowulf turned to Gretza and said, ‘To the East?’
Gretza nodded and they set off.
Emsie had learned how Amarilla had taken charge of France, and perhaps managed to find a way to keep the Holy Gambling money without inciting a war with the Pope and the Duke of Jutland, before she had finished loading up the cart, ready to spread ‘The Marshall’s Chicken’ to the east. She was proud of her friend and happy for her, but now she was starting out on a journey to claim her place in the world,
‘And a lot greasier it will be than hers!’ she thought to herself.
She was surprised that the Marshall had stayed to watch her leave; Grandpa had, predictably but disappointingly, wandered off looking for something to drink some time before. As she was ready to go he said,
‘I do think the chicken business is a good idea, however there is another reason I wanted you to go to the East.’
Emsie was surprised, but said nothing.
‘You are clearly a very resourceful girl. I do know that you helped Amarilla and you saved me from the guards. There is something going on in the East at the moment and I need someone to go and keep an eye on it for me.’
‘What kind of a thing?’ Emsie asked.
‘I don’t know. I hear strange stories about a powerful nation, a plot and the gates of hell opening. None of it sounds very credible; but I think there is something going on there that we should know about.’
‘So I’d be a spy?’ said Emsie.
‘If you like,’ said the Marshall with a grin, ‘I think that sounds like a better job than “chicken handler”, don’t you?’
Emsie had agreed that it did, and had set off in the chicken wagon; but now, as the afternoon drew on, the temperature was a little cooler, the sky had become a little darker, and she felt uncertain. She had wanted to travel the world, she did want to be her own woman and she was ready for adventure; however, she wasn’t entirely sure where she was going or what she was doing when she got there, and she was sure that she would have liked at least one friend to go with her. She put this thought from her mind and continued to drive on resolutely.
She was so focussed on remaining resolute that she almost missed the cries of two men, a women and a dog who had hailed her from the side of the road. Quickly she pulled up the cart, to see what they wanted.
‘Are you travelling east?’ asked Beowulf, ‘if so could you use some company?’
‘We would be really grateful,’ said Roscow.
‘And I am knowing of zhe vays,’ said Gretza the Angel.
Gareth, the former Royal Dog, didn’t speak, he just jumped aboard.
‘Thank you,’ said Emsie, ‘but you’ll have to work.’
With that, the wagon began to roll and the gentle coast of Monte San Carlos was left behind; ahead were the forests, mountains, dangers and treasures of the East.
In the dungeon, beneat
h what remained of the Monastery of Monte San Carlos, the Louis’ brothers were playing chess. The games were interesting and even; Louis preferred to attack with his knights, while Louie-Louie was inclined to try and build a good defence centred on his bishops. Neither of them was particularly good at defending the King or taking the Queen. The irony of this was completely wasted on them.
‘In a way, I think this has turned out rather well,’ said Louie-Louie, who had not enjoyed his time pretending to be King at all, ‘I think the experience has brought us closer.’
Louis, who had quite enjoyed being King, grunted.
‘I mean,’ said Louie-Louie, ‘we’re safe, we’re fed, we don’t have to worry about anything; and, best of all; we have each other.’
Louis grunted and moved his knight.
The End
(for now)
But don’t worry!
Beowulf and friends will return for more adventure in
Beowulf in the East
Available Autumn 2015
If you can’t wait that long you can contact the author at
[email protected] and tell him to get a move on!
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