Chapter Five of "The North"

Chapter Five – Out of the nest
‘what!’ burst Hevel at her husband. ‘He’s just a boy! How can you do this?’ Hevel was in a state of shock at the news of her boy riding to war. ‘He’s going to get killed!’ Broderick hushed her.
‘He’s not going to die, and he is not riding to war. All he is doing is retaking a fort on our borders. Felicia is its name. He is getting all of the Capital guard to ride with him. One hundred riders, Hevel. For a single Fort’ he held his beloved wife close. They were on the balcony of their room in the castle.
‘Oh, I don’t know’ she wept, ‘I just don’t want him to get hurt. It’s as if, not only is he leaving the nest, he is flying right into the enemy’s talons. Are you sure there is no way to avoid this?’
‘We need to take the fight to the enemy, away from us’ he said softly, ‘I don’t know what you may think of me, sending our son to war or whatever’ he began, looking out over the capital. The little orange lights below sparkled like fallen stars in the darkness below and beyond. ‘But that is not the case, not at all. He wants to go to war. What we are doing is absolutely necessary. All I’m ever doing is what is best for us, for the family’ She looked up at him, and he continued. ‘What is the Leron’s Line?’ She fell silent before whispering them.
‘Family first, Kingdom second’
‘That’s right. The Leron’s have always commanded the north. Ruled over it, treated her people as every one of her children. My brother goes with Peter, to keep him safe. All he is to do is ride out there, retake the fort. Then he, and my brother, will return back here having stationed the garrison. Four weeks at the most’ Hevel said nothing else. She knew her husband was right, he knew what he was doing. She said nothing for the rest of the night. Peter was due to leave in the morning as none of his forces were coming from afar, only from within the city. She did not sleep a wink.

Morning, and Peter stood in the courtyard, by his side stood Alavor. Both in identical shining armour. Outside the castle gate stood Broderick, Hevel, Duncan and Lira with the two in armour opposite, behind them still stood, mounted, the entire Capital guard of one hundred riders. Ready for war. From the moment Broderick saw such a force mobilised under his son’s command he lost all doubts of concern in his mind. Peter hugged each of his family, especially his mother who even still had her fears. Saying goodbye to Duncan had been hard for Peter. He had never really been apart from him but Duncan knew what had to be done, besides he would be back soon enough anyway.
‘When you get back we can go hunting again, right?’ asked Duncan eagerly, Peter glanced at his father to his left.
‘I have every confidence, little brother, just perhaps not until we hide the bodies’ he winked. Then there was Lira. He hadn’t even opened his mouth to say goodbye when she hugged him, wordlessly. She did not fully understand what was going on, but she saw her mother unhappy so guessed sad seemed appropriate. Peter kissed her quickly on the forehead and turned to Alavor, nodded, and turned to the Capital guard. They had their orders, as did Peter.
‘The ruins of Felicia have laid disrespect to our clan for many generations since its fall. The wildmen in the west probably wonder why we cannot look after our own garrisons. But I tell you this now’ said Peter loudly, speaking to the army. ‘Our very lands are at risk, our very lives. In danger is our families, our loved ones, our lands! Two days ago my father, myself and my brother were ambushed by one of their raiding parties. Do you understand now, my friends?’ he was humble and strong. ‘It ends now!’ And then he shouted the special phrase his father taught him. ‘DIOTA TURIS!’ he bellowed, followed then by the chants from the guard.
‘DIOTA TURIS’
‘DIOTA TURIS’
‘DIOTA TURIS’
Peter mounted his white horse and, along with his uncle, waved a farewell to his family and rode to the front of the army, they departed the courtyard and the army followed. Outside the crowds had lined the sides of the streets down to the gate, all pushing and squirming to see the future king ride out to war. They cheered, waved and smiled as the riders all passed through the city and out the city gate, banking left, then left again towards the north.

Back outside the castle the last of the riders left the courtyard and the gates closed. Hevel took Lira back into the castle. Broderick walked Duncan in.
‘What does it mean?’ asked Duncan.
‘What?’ replied Broderick
‘Tiora Duris’ said Duncan ‘or something like that’ Broderick sniggered briefly.
‘Oh, my dear boy. Diota Turis’ he corrected.
‘Oh, Diota Turis. But what does it mean?’ asked Duncan. The two entered the throne room from the courtyard and the doors closed behind them with a clang.
‘It’s an old saying, from the old language “Caladont”. The literal translation means Revenge in Time. In fact, it’s one of the only sayings in Caladont still being spoken today; for it is a dead language. Long forgotten. It’s more widely spoken in the north in Hithian, yet even still only a few speak it and sparse phrases’ Duncan looked a little confused.
‘But, if it’s a dead language why do people still say it?’ he asked, trying to remember it ‘Diota Turis’.
‘That phrase is special, it’s a war cry I guess. All soldiers who fight under my command know it, I taught Peter it last night’ Duncan was silent for a little while before he spoke again reaching the staircase at the far-left side of the hall.
‘Will he be okay?’ he asked.
‘Peter will be fine. He’s got uncle Alavor to look after him, after all I did send the entire capital guard with him’
‘Capital Guard?’ Duncan questioned.
‘Yes, it’s a regiment position in our armies. At the bottom we have a position called the Lowland protectors. They are the basic infantryman and bowmen. Then there is the capital guard who defend Curtelen, all one hundred of them have gone with Peter’
‘Oh, that’s fine then. I guess’ he said, ‘What is above that? I mean rank-wise’
‘Oh well, then there is the secondary guard. There are fifty of them. Twenty here in Curtelen, ten in Camble, ten in Thort and the final ten in Warroch to the south of here’
‘What about Darator? And uncle? They aren’t in the secondary knights? Are they?’ enquired Duncan.
‘Ah, no quite right. Then above the secondary knights is a semi-royal order called the First Knights. Founded by my father – your grandfather – Caranor McAllan. There are ten of them, Darator and my brother are part of it. They are sworn to protect the royal family, us’
They stopped half way up the stairs and went out onto a platform of stoner that spread along the side of the castle as some form of terrace.
‘Am I going to be like uncle when I’m older?’ asked Duncan bleakly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you know, living in Peter’s shadow while he reigns as king’
‘No, no. Alavor chose to join the First Knights. If he chose otherwise I gladly would have held him as high honour as myself. He chose the honour, where normal knights can marry and hold lands as granted by myself the first knights have no such privilege. They can never have a family of their own. When you grow up, my son, I have no doubt you will be the best knight in all the land. You will marry a beautiful princess, perhaps from the east on the isles, and you will hold the grandest castle’
Duncan smiled and said ‘no’ much to the surprise of his father.
‘No?’ he frowned.
‘No, I don’t want to be a knight. I don’t want to hold a sword. I want to hold my bow’ Broderick grinned.
‘Then an archer it is’