Kared's Children - Chapter 11

"Chicken? I don’t know that word," Benjamin said.

"You’re going to need another plate," Raven said.

"It’s a kind of fowl," Morgan explained. "You know, that makes us the eggs. It walks around and pecks at things."

Piskin rose from the table. "When it’s not being eaten." He followed Nartho into the kitchen.

"I thought that was an-" Benjamin’s mouth was full. "An hadgit."

"A hadgit’s like a big chicken," Raven said. "Only different."

Shaerden sat across from Benjamin and offered juice. "There’s a helpful answer."

"Don’t get him started," Gerald said. "He’ll do his imitations."

"An imitation of an hadgit?" Raven asked. "I’ve never tried. Let’s see: robble-robble. Robble-robble."

Karec laughed. Benjamin ate.

Dox entered with a bowl of fruit. "Good morning, everyone," he rumbled.

"Dox, sit," Shaerden said. "Let the other two bring whatever else you’ve made for us."

Dox set the bowl on the table. "Not much else."

"Then sit."

"I think I will." He sat beside Gerald.

"A good day to travel," Shaerden said.

"My thoughts exactly," Karec said.

Nartho and Piskin brought in other items-including the chicken, roasted brown, and sliced.

"You fellows sit," Gerald said. "Eat."

"Well, if the King demands it," Piskin said.

The two sat.

"Before we begin our trip," Shaerden said, "A toast."

"A toast!" the others agreed.

Shaerden lifted his goblet of juice solemnly. "To our new King Gerald. Hail the King!"

"Hail the King!"

Gerald squirmed. "To Rowan." He lifted his goblet. "To our cause!"

"To friendship," Raven said.

"May we all get back safely," Morgan said.

Piskin took Nartho’s chin in his free hand. "To see this little mug."

"‘To more griddle cakes’, Benjamin says," Piskin added.

They laughed and drank.

. . .

The sun hadn’t cleared the rooftops by the time they joined the Caravan, but wagon after wagon already had lined up near the city’s northern gate. Travelers, mules, horses, well-wishers, and sleepy children milled among the wagons. Soldiers were gathering beyond the gate, near the shantytown, the regular contingent of twenty that accompanied caravans.

The nine also gathered: stopping at the corner of the blacksmith’s, opposite the gate, to wait. Only Dox wore full armor, his chain mail from the King’s Guard. The others wore cloth or leather or the occasional brassard or cuisse. They all carried packs, except for Benjamin, who wore only his simple earth-colored clothing. Each had a weapon. Raven and Piskin also carried crossbows, as did Dox, Karec, and Morgan; the crossbows were strapped to the quivers that each wore behind his shoulders.

Dox waited not far from Gerald while Shaerden tightened the straps of Morgan’s and then Karec’s crossbow. Benjamin also was near the Stonens. The Chairman wore his floppy hat and carried his walking stick and was listening to the conversation Gerald was having with Nartho, who had escorted them along with several of the King’s Guard.

"I wish you’d reconsider," Nartho was saying to Gerald. "If something happens to you, the whole country will be in a fix. Who will we get to lead us then?"

"If something happens to us, Narth, it won’t matter who leads the country."