The Kingdom of Liticea: The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Anton

"My Lords," he said to the others, but he approached the Prince, "I-it's an honor to have you here. W-we are happy to welcome you to Anton."

"On behalf of the army and my officers I thank you."

"Oh, Lord Yorod. Good to have you here my young lord," he said to his future duke. Yorod the fourth was not screaming for a feast yet so perhaps he would be a more tolerable creature here.

He also happily greeted Nicholi Gramman. The two fought together during the Corasian War. With his one-fingered hand, Nicholi shook hands with him. He passed by Bailor and Blackwell. He went to the Prince's right and passed Jon Malken and Bartera, but shook hands with Rengle. It appeared Balter was a man who did not waste time on those without a name for themselves. He then ordered his men to deal with the rest of the army, while he and his family escorted the Prince into the Castle itself.

It was typical for the host to speak to an important guest when they arrive. According to tradition, this is when the guest would explain his reasons for coming and when the host would decide whether or not he would accept them. Most times it ended with them accepting, but there a few times when a host would refuse the hospitality of his house.

In this case, Balter Oaran was happy to welcome the Prince to Anton, but he did have many questions. Nicholi warned him that he would have such.

"Why? Why is there an army outside my gates?" he hurriedly asked.

"We are marching to Lord Ryden's aid. He asked for an army to be on standby at Blackfield, but we took the initiative and are marching west to drive the Morcars out of Liticea."

"Oh, I see," Lord Oaran's fingers were tying knots around each other, "And what do you want from me?"

"Duke Yorod sent word to all his arch-barons to mobilize for war. His orders to you are to march with me."

"Oh, I see," his breathing was creating a whistling noise between his two big front teeth, "My men have reported that there is a band of Userians following you. Is this true?"

"It is. They are the company of Nakbar Nazeen. Supposedly some of Useria's greatest."

"Oh, no," Oaran cried, "Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! My Prince! My hold has been free of Userians for years! And you now bring a whole army of them? They'll disturb the peace!"

"Our number are limited at the moment, Lord Oaran. There were two thousand soldiers available for hire and I took advantage of that."

"But why did you have to take them here? To my hold? Now they'll rob and rape anywhere they go!"

"My son had Mr. Nazeens assurance that the company will cause no trouble," Ulysses Cassius spoke up.

"You can't trust the word of a Userian! Markus Elenor tells us that all the time. And now there are two thousand outside my castle."

"You will just have to live with that until we are done here!" Yorod scolded mockingly.

"Oh, very well. But not a single one enters my castle! They'll go after my maids and kitchen wenches."

"Nakbar has actually requested that he be invited to the next feast," Tauron said.

"No! Not a single one! Before long they'll be swarming all over the kingdom. Nothing but trouble the lot of them!"

"Mind your tongue, Lord Balter," Tauron said, "Do not forget that my aunt is Userian, and my cousins have her blood in them. I will hear you slander their people no more."