Ch1: Flag Battle

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Have you read the Prologue ?

125 years later

The afternoon sun reflected off the snow-covered trees, forcing Prince Dominic to shade his eyes as he squatted behind a lone bush on the ridge. Eleven-year-old Jacob knelt down beside the prince. Even though Jacob was five years younger, he was almost as big as his companion. The two watched the hill below, counting the boys scurrying through the forest like lizards, trying to remain out of sight.

Jacob motioned toward two boys wearing blue arm bands and moving downhill along the stream. "Forty-six and forty-seven. Can you tell who they are?"

"Not from here, but they'd better move closer to the trees if they don't want to get caught," Dominic answered.

Another boy, climbing along the hunting trail, slipped and tumbled down the hill, his brown, woolen tunic flapping like wings. The descent ended in a bush. After untangling himself, he pulled off his knit cap and used it to dust the snow off his tunic and chamois-skin boots. He pulled the cap tight over his ears and renewed his examination of rock crevices and tree branches.

Jacob pointed to the boy. "There’s your cousin Philip. Thirty-eight for the red team. He looks like he's trying to hide something. Did he have their flag?"

Dominic watched his ten-year-old cousin for a few moments. "I thought Ciro was going to hide their flag. Philip probably pouted and whined, so they let him do it. Did you hear what he said just before we started? ‘I’m glad I’m not on the blue team. No way they can win. They’re nothing but a bunch of soft-skinned crown-kissers.’ I’ll kiss that boy’s crown! I almost sent him to the meadow for poor sportsmanship, but I figured we’d do better just to win.”

As the last competition of the Mid-Winter celebration, Flag Battle was a contest primarily among the city’s younger boys. After starting their apprenticeship at twelve, most boys favored staying by the fires, sipping tea and enjoying soup with the adults and girls. Occasionally, an older boy would decide to play. The red team had even convinced Mario, the aging blacksmith, to join them.

When the blue team had begged Dominic to join them, he initially turned them down. After some good-natured coaxing from Jacob and Benito, he agreed to be their captain. It will be a great way to build relationships, he figured. His father often told him: "These boys will grow up to be the men who make your city strong. They need to know you love them. Show them every chance you get."

The two boys watched Philip until he moved over the hill and out of sight, then turned their attention to the rest of their team. Four guards staked out a prison along the cliff directly below them. “Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one, and fifty-two.”

Across the stream, in enemy territory, two boys crashed through a cluster of bushes and right into the arms of their opponents, who led them to the prison near the water hole. “Fifty-three and fifty-four for us. Thirty-nine, forty, and forty-one for them.”

Jacob nudged Dominic and pointed to Antonio. The eight-year old boy dived between a bush and the cliff, avoiding his opponent who crashed through the underbrush behind him. “Forty-two and fifty-five. Looks like he’s really having fun, today.”

“First time I’ve seen him play since his father disappeared in the snowstorm last month,” Dominic agreed. “How many do we have? Fifty-five? And fifteen more running defense. We’ve found most of our team. Let's go back down and make some invasion plans."

The pair moved downhill and found the their defensive team resting on rocks and fallen logs. Dominic sat with them. "Did you find a good place to hide our flag?"

The boys jabbed each other and snickered.

Dominic looked around the circle. "You followed the rules, right?"

In the way of an answer, a hare scampered across the clearing with a blue wool flag tied to its neck.

Dominic laughed at his teammates. "How’d you do that? Very creative, but once he goes into his burrow, the flag will not be in plain sight. We need to rehide it."

"Aww, you're no fun," the others mocked. "’We have to follow the rules.’ Everything’s always by the rules."

After a few moments of jeering and good-natured arguing, one of the boys pointed out a second blue flag tied to a tree along a narrow path. "There's only one way up there, and they aren't going to get through."

"Much better," said Dominic. "Now, how we are going to invade their territory? Have any of our scouts returned, yet?"

As if on cue, Antonio came crashing through the woods. He caught Dominic by the sleeve and whispered, "I found the red flag! I know where it is! I saw it! I saw it!"

The prince pulled the boy into the center of the circle. "You found the flag and made it back without getting caught? Great job! Where is it?"

"You know the oak tree where Old Owl nests? They have it in the branches of that tree. I know I could climb it, but I need help so I don't get caught."

"How many guards are there?"

"Only my grandfather and Philip. They are the only ones I saw, and I watched for a long time. I went all the way around the tree to make sure there was no one else."

"You think like a good warrior. And going against your own grandfather, too," Dominic said, patting the boy's shoulder.

Antonio smiled. “He won’t mind.”

“I know. He’ll be proud of you.” Turning to the rest of the team, the prince said, "Here is the plan. I want five of you to go to the water hole and make a prison break. While the red team is busy with you, Jacob, Antonio, and I will sneak around and capture their flag. I need two of you to stay here and guard our flag. Everyone else, go up on the ridge and watch to make sure everything works out okay. Benito, I’d like you to go with that group so you can run things if I get caught. If the prison break doesn't work, send a group down to try it again. If it looks like we need some help, then come help. If Jacob or Antonio is captured, make sure to free them. If I get caught, leave me in prison and let me rot there."

The boys all laughed.

Dominic looked at Antonio. "Are you sure you can climb the tree and bring the flag safely back here?"

The younger boy grinned and puffed out his chest. "I can do it!”

The boys all cheered, “For the blue team! For Idania!” Dominic whispered to Jacob, “For the crown kissers!” Then, he sent the five volunteers, one at a time, into red territory to create a diversion. After the last boy crossed the stream, Dominic, Jacob, and Antonio slipped through the trees.

Antonio led them down the hill to the Owl Tree. They crouched behind a nearby a bush and listened to Philip and Mario talk. Mario stroked his gray beard as Philip explained why he lost the sledding competition the day before and recounted every detail of his victory in the fire starting contest. Above them, nestled in the branches of the old oak, hung the flag.

The trio waited patiently until shouts from the red team’s prison echoed off the hills. Philip and Mario walked over to the edge of the hill to view the scene below.
Dominic whispered to Antonio, "Wait here ‘til we have them chasing us, then scramble up the tree, grab the flag, then run like a chamois. Don't get caught!" The little boy bit his lip and nodded.

Jacob and Dominic sneaked around the hill, then came back up on the opposite side. Philip pranced back and forth on the edge of the ridge calling directions to his teammates too far away to hear. Mario held his round belly and roared. Jacob nudged Dominic and pointed to several dried twigs lying off the path. Both boys suppressed a laugh as he deliberately placed his foot on the pile, causing a loud snap. They waited just long enough to make sure both Philip and Mario were chasing them before they spun around and started running up the hill.

They slipped in the soft snow and tripped on tree roots. Once, Dominic stepped into an air pocket and sunk up to his knees. While Jacob pulled him out of the hole, they looked back. Philip had stumbled and was sliding back down the hill on his stomach, yelling and wildly grasping at tree roots. Mario leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breath. He called to Philip, "You go after them. I think I'll go check on the flag."

By the time Philip had regained his footing, Dominic and Jacob were almost to the stream. Their team greeted them with cheers as they crossed the rope bridge. A few moments later, Antonio bounced from behind a tree and raced across the bridge, hollering and waving the red flag. The group rushed to him and lifted him on their shoulders. He waved the cloth all the way up the hill. When they reached the meadow, he climbed down from his teammates’ shoulders, bowed low before his mother and handed her his trophy.

Without warning, his mother grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him toward the woods. “Dragon!” she shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd of boys.

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