King of Blades - 20. Unusual Allies

It turned out that Brother Pelles needed more time to learn exactly how to properly connect Coulta and Jaimathan so that the Algoman could use his abilities to save Phelin. This made for more stress, as everyone expected an attack to come at any time.

But hope grew when the Shifters began to arrive. A flock of flying creatures arrived, led by a great dragon carrying a large white flag in its claws – if it hadn't been for the flag, most of Ryal would have thought they were under attack from Reesh's beastly forces. Jaimathan had been spending his days walking the castle battlements, waiting for his wife's people to arrive, so he was there to meet them when they finally landed in the castle yard. Coulta had been having a brief lunch with his spouses when the Shifters landed, so he didn't hear until later how amazed and terrified people were to see them arrive. They all came in animal form, as bats, songbirds, birds of prey, phoenixes, and two were even winged horses.

Surprised by the sudden arrival, Wildas had rejected the planned meeting in the throne room to a less formal one in his own office. Dragon, a gray-haired man around the same age as Shelton, with a hard warrior's body regardless of age, greeted both Wildas and Coulta as Jaimathan had upon arriving – as a guest of equal rank.

"I thank you for allowing my people to fight beside our Algoman allies in your land," the older man said with a slight dip of his head. He had an accent much like Jaimathan's, but slightly more... rustic, Coulta decided, as if the two Algomans spoke a slightly different dialect, but the same language, which was yet another dialect of the same language spoken in Phelin.

Wildas nodded his head in return. "An ally of an ally is a friend, is it not?"

Dragon offered a small smile. "This is true. The Shifters try not to become too involved in anyone else's wars, or we would happily ally ourselves with Phelin, as well."

Wildas nodded again. "I understand. I'm glad you are here to aid in this war, for whatever reason. I feel we will owe you much."

"I will give my life to protect my daughter," was Dragon's only reply.

From the serious expression on the man's face, Coulta knew that he meant what he said. He hoped it would never come to that.

Coulta was just finishing his daily training with his spy-fighters the next morning when Wildas intercepted him as he was walking back to his office.

"I received word that the guilds in the city want to speak to me this afternoon," Wildas stated as he fell into step with his husband. "I want you there with me."

Coulta raised an eyebrow at Wildas. "Every guild?" Even he knew there were numerous sub-guilds within each of the four main guilds – within the merchant guild was the cloth merchants' guild, the jewel merchants' guild, and countless others; within the artisan guild was the potters' guild, the weavers' guild, the dyers' guild, and so many more; within the farmers' guild was the horse breeders' guild, the shepherds' guild, the millers' guild, and one for every crop imaginable, animal and plant; there was even a guild for the prostitutes, known as the pleasure guild, which had sub-guilds for every sexual preference catered to.

Wildas nodded. "Well, all four guild masters speaking for all of their members. I have an idea of what they mean to speak about."

Coulta continued to glance at his husband speculatively. "What would that be?" he questioned.

"When the city was first established, Grand King Caolan set up the four main guilds and instructed them to divide up among sub-categories however they wished, but to always honor their founding by protecting their city when war came – along with paying taxes," Wildas explained, patient as always with Coulta's ignorance. "I wasn't even aware that the plan for wartime defense was still being followed by every guild until now. I don't think Shelton was very aware, either."

"Why do you want me there?" Coulta asked. Wildas knew he was terrible with all the political details of being a king.

"I want you to know exactly what is happening. It's only right. Also, my other court advisers will be there. I want no questions asked about my decisions today."

So, after having a quick lunch, Coulta changed into more kingly attire and went to the throne room with Wildas, where he sat on his throne, wearing his crown, surrounded by the other members of the court. Guards finally ushered in a group of twenty people, four of which were dressed in robes – one man in green, a woman in blue, a man in pale red, and a man in gold. The other sixteen group members seemed to be dressed in some sort of uniform matching in color to each respective guild master, but with an embroidered insignia of a slightly different color on each chest, each a different symbol. Coulta assumed they represented a sub-guild, but he was clueless as to who represented which. Two of the blue-uniformed men pulled a fairly large cart with them.

The uniformed group members all knelt before the throne dais, heads to the floor, while the guild masters knelt with their heads bowed, slightly more upright than the guild members themselves.

Wildas acknowledged them with a nod and instructed them to speak.

The group stood again, and the man robed in gold stepped forward with a deep bow. "I am Master Cameron, elected overseer of the guild of merchants." He seemed to be older than Wildas' middle-aged parents, with a deeply lined face and a head of nearly white hair. Upon regaining his feet after bowing, one of the other group members had handed him a gold-handled cane for him to lean on. "I stand here before you with my associates, Master Balfour of the guild of farmers and growers -"

The man in green bowed his head deeply. He was nearly as old as Master Cameron, but seemed to hold himself as a younger man would, without the slightest slump. Coulta would have thought farming would wear a man down, not build him up. Perhaps he'd been wrong in this case.

"- Master Niall of the guild of pleasures -"

The man in red bowed his head. He seemed to be close to the same age as Master Balfour, though slimmer. There was a sense of fierceness that emanated from him, and Coulta was a bit put off by it – it was hard for him to face a known prostitute without fearing that he was about to be robbed. The male prostitutes who worked within Arren, the city of Coulta's old life, had all used seduction for murder and thievery. The women used it to have children, since marriages or families of any kind except for mothers raising children were strictly outlawed. He'd lived his life avoiding them all – even if he had known he was infertile at the time, he still would have been too weary of disease. Arren had not been a wealthy or clean city, unlike most of Ryal.

"- and Mistress Annelise of the guild of artisans."

The woman in purple bowed her head swiftly. She was middle-aged, with long gray hair and stood somewhat slouched, as if her back bothered her slightly. Coulta wondered what her trade was.

Master Cameron continued, "We wish to remind you of the arrangements created at the founding of this great nation, and our grand city. Grand King Caolan decreed that, in a time of battle, the professional armed forces may defend the city from the fields and the river outside the city walls, so as to keep enemy forces from getting near the walls at all. In case they did, the guilds would defend the walls."

This stunned Coulta. How could untrained fighters hold the walls during an attack?

Wildas seemed to be thinking the same. "Untrained?" he questioned, holding up a hand as his advisers around him started mumbling to each other.

"Not entirely," Master Cameron replied. "All members of the merchant guild, no matter their specialization, are required to learn to wield a sword and fire a crossbow. Not only for this situation, but to defend our caravans during travel. We also employ guards, because few merchant families have enough members to protect every shipment on every journey. Those guards are also members of the guild, usually employed by families for life. Taken together, we are as well-trained as your soldiers, and do have members who once served in your army or your Guard. Our homes and trades are what we always fight for."

"The same is true for us," Master Niall stated, his hands clasped behind his back. "Many would assume that those who sell themselves to pleasure-seekers have no honor or self-respect, but they are wrong. We each have our boundaries that we feel comfortable within, and we let no one interfere with those boundaries. No matter our sex or the sexual preferences we cater to, we all are required to spend time learning to defend ourselves against drunkards, angry spouses, and yes, rapists. I have seen many instances where a customer was trying to force a worker into something he or she was uncomfortable with, and the customer usually wakes up with a headache and a formal request not to return. Our training usually relates more to incapacitating and immobilizing when it comes to handling out of control customers, but we do train to kill with swords and arrows in case we need to kill to defend our city – our home."

Mistress Annelise nodded to him. "The artisans also wish to fight for their homes and livelihoods. For years, we have collected scraps of our works – broken pottery, ill-formed stone carvings, shards of glass, metal that is no longer worth reheating, and scraps of cloth too frayed or small to be useful. These have been stored in a great warehouse made just for this. We know how to make heated vats of tar, and with it we will combine these heavy and sharp objects. The cloth and ribbon can be set aflame and shot to the enemy with arrows or catapults, or simply added to the tar mixture. We are not citizen-soldiers like the merchants and pleasure-workers, but we can fight when needed."

"As can the farmers," Master Balfour declared. "We have collected broken hoes, shovels, wagon parts – any piece of equipment we can no longer use. This can be added to what the artisans plan to dump on the enemy invaders. We also plan to collect vats of animal manure to add something more insulting to the mix. After all, it isn't truly worth it to fertilize the fields if they are just going to be trampled to mud. We do know how to fight, as well, but not with fancy swords, only axes and hunting bows. But we will fight for our lands. We will also bring as many animals as possible to the city so that there is food once the battle has destroyed most of the farmland. Rebuilding will take time, but it is a sacrifice we must make for Ryal and Phelin."

Wildas surveyed the group, and Coulta was sure the Grand King was as stunned and awed by the determination of Ryal's people as he himself was.

"I will not deny this right of yours to the defense of the city," Wildas finally announced. "But first, I would like a demonstration. I'm guessing that's why you each brought attendants with you."

Master Cameron nodded. "Mistress Annelise brought some of the scraps that will be used in the tar mixture. That is what her attendants are for, and they can bring the cart closer if you wish for a better look."

Wildas nodded and the artisans brought the wagon over, bowing deeply once they had stopped as close to the throne dais as possible. Coulta could easily seen a number of very sharp pieces of broken pottery and glass, some jagged shafts he assumed were from broken arrows, a few chunks of rock that appeared partially carved with designs or chiseled into semi-completed figurines, some lumps of brittle metal, some broken buttons, and long knitting needles, along with some finer sewing needles that were very difficult to see at first.

"How much more of this is there?" Wildas questioned.

Mistress Annelise gazed around the massive throne room. "Enough to layer this floor until it nearly reached the seat of your throne, Your Majesty."

If the guild had truly been collecting for generations, Coulta thought she might actually be speaking the truth without exaggeration.

"Is that with or without the pieces from the farmers?" the Grand King asked, motioning for the cart-carriers to take the load back.

"Without," Master Balfour answered. "We have only begun our collection. All farming households collect their broken scraps for this, but we have only begun taking the collections of each household and combining them into one large collection."

Wildas nodded and tapped the arm of his throne. "Speed that up, if possible, and begin setting up corrals on the castle grounds for the animals so they can be brought up here as quickly as possible. Make sure all large livestock are branded if they are not already. Keep a ledger of the brands, if you don't already."

Master Balfour nodded. "We do, Your Majesty, but we've never forced anyone to take a brand if they didn't want to."

"I don't want to force anyone," Wildas clarified, "but if a farmer brings unbranded stock onto the grounds, it will be very difficult to ensure he gets his rightful animals back at the end of this. They also have the option of selling their livestock to the crown for one hundred and fifty percent of the cost of the animal. After this war is settled that livestock will be sold again."

"I will inform my people," Master Balfour replied with a bow.

Wildas nodded, then smiled. "So, who have you brought to spar with my husband?"