A week had passed since the explosion. Lucky for us, no tremendous event happened over these past few days. We were able to focus on training and lessons as well as practising all the knowledge that we have acquired for the past few days.
"Her Grace!" Someone shouted from a distance while I was with the other maidens. I gently pressed the herbs that I am currently holding in the basin with warm water. I looked at the woman beside me and entrusted her to the whole process of collecting an extract from the herbs.
A maidservant quickly went to me when she saw me trying to stand and handed over a clean and dry towel. I wiped my hand properly making sure it's dry before I went near the servant who is now in the doorway of the facility, panting and breathing heavily. When she saw me coming, she immediately stood up straight and bowed her head a little.
"What brings you here?" I inquired. She clumsily took a letter from her pocket and handed it to me. I eyed her carefully when she swallowed a lump on her throat after handing me the letter. She nervously looked at my eye and blinked several times.
"A messenger came here saying he was ordered by the Baroness of England to bring this message to you. None of us know what the letter is all about. But, the messenger said that the Baroness wants you to open the letter as soon as you get a hold of it," the maidservant breathily said.
I looked at the letter, and looked back at her before dismissing her. I went to the open field and called Fergus as well as the high officials present. Together, we formed a tiny circle when I opened the letter. I immediately saw the brief cursive message that was written in the letter.
Victoria Elizabeth of Duncan,
We will be seeing each other once again next week at the borders of Scotland and England. Bring your best warriors.
Yours Truly,
Catherine Dankworth, Baroness of England.
That was incredibly short, yet it sends a thousand threats to us. A tingling sensation trickled in my spine. This is the start. This is the moment that I feared the most. The start of the war. The start of anguish, and never-ending cries, pleas, and misery.
"What shall we do now, your grace? The reinforcements from other distant kingdoms have not yet arrived. Only a few platoons are right here with us," one of the generals told me. Indeed, he is right. Currently we are short of troops and given by the numbers, we cannot withstand their own forces.
"Send an urgent letter to all the allied kingdoms far and wide. Send the messengers as soon as possible. Also send a personal letter to the king saying the current situation. Although we are short of troops right now, they are expecting the war next week. Our alliances will still have time to give reinforcements and if we are lucky enough, we will be able to receive reinforcements in the middle of the war. In which we can then balance or outnumber their troops."
As soon as I dropped the orders, all of them acted upon my command. The generals went on their way to write several letters addressed to the leaders of different kingdoms. The other forces from other kingdoms that are already here are also writing a letter asking for additional troops. The young soldiers went to find some messengers, the Maclean men arranged the horses that the messengers could use and assembled some sticks and stone to form a spear to be used as an alternative native weapon. Fergus also calmed me down a bit before he left to write a letter personally addressed to the king and queen of Scotland.
I formed my hand into a fist before knocking it in my head. Trying to think of other things that could help us aside from the preparations here. Nana quickly came to me and guided me towards a light wooden chair brought by another Maclean girl. She tapped my back lightly and cooed at me with some encouraging words.
I looked at her and said some words of thanks and appreciation before standing up and leaving them there. Thinking that everyone is still busy because of my orders, I decided to go to my father's room hoping to find some clues there. Father's room was isolated from the rest of the rooms thus none of us visited his room ever since he had left.
I tried to be as discreet as possible when I entered his room. A feeling of loss and loneliness splurged within me when I saw his old, cold, and dusty room. I quietly approached my father's bed and sat on it before roaming my eyes around. I can still remember vividly how this room used to be livekly. With me bouncing on the soft mattress, my mother holding me tight and rumbling words for me to stop, and my father's heartfelt laugh in the background.
I wiped the lone tears that started to fall on my cheeks. I stood up and rummaged over his bedside drawers. There was nothing but a bunch of papers probably from the paperworks he had over the recent years since my mothers passing. I opened the second drawer and was surprised with what I saw.
It was my mother's necklace. Before my mum passed away, she had made me and father promise to her that she would be buried together with their marriage ring as it was her most prized possession. Yet, he gave father her necklace, the one that she had been wearing during her teenage years for my father to keep. She said that since we cannot keep her ring, then at least we can still keep something that is valuable from her. I never expected that my father wpd treasure it like this over the years.
I pulled out the necklace and saw a tiny paper below it. It was folded neatly but I can see that the paper is still new given the quality and the dust forming above it. I picked up the paper and sat again on the bed. I gently placed the necklace on the mattress, just beside me and unfolded the paper. It was my father's cursive handwriting.
"My love, forgive me for what I have done and for what I will do. I gave my promise to you that I won't let any grievances befall upon our daughter. Pardon for not being able to keep it. It was never my intention. Nevertheless, I do hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. We both know why I am doing this."
The letter from my father made me confused. It was clearly freshly written. My mother passed away years before I turned into a full grown teenager so I cannot fathom how this secrecy happened between my father and mother. Unless, they have been keeping it since mother was still alive. Maybe they had this secret that both have sworn to protect and bring to the grave.
This concerns me, yet I have never heard of such matters, until now. Whatever this is, surely my father is the one who can tell me about this. Unfortunately, he is not around to explain matters to me so I have to find myself groping in the dark. I promise to myself, no matter how much it takes, I will bring my father back. Let him explain matters to me, especially this secret with him and my mother and reconcile with him. Never mind if he has several counts of treason waiting for him here.
I decided to place my mother's necklace right where it originally belonged in my father's drawer before stuffing the letter in my side pocket. It is good to have it with me so if ever I can find the answers that I am looking for, a piece of evidence will always be with me whenever I go.
I went down the stairs only to see Fergus talking to someone at the doorway of the manor. I softly called his name and he looked up on me as I descended. He strode towards me and offered me a hand in which I gladly took. As soon as I was down, I immediately saw the King and Queen of Scotland at our doors smiling at us. I bowed down and gave them some pleasantries before offering them a seat.
"Oh no, don't bother. Fergus also offered us a while ago. We just want to wait for our bed chamber to be ready. Your husband already asked some servants to clear the best chamber for us. We would just like to stand for a minute or two while waiting," the King replied.
We chatted for a while before I jumped into the question I was dying to ask earlier. "Pardon if this may sound a bit rude, but I would just like to ask the King and Queen. What brings you here in Duncan? I mean, we have indeed sent a personal letter with the intention of asking you for additional resources but I am exceptionally honoured to be personally visited by the royal couple."
The King and Queen nodded before the Queen gave me a tight hug and the King gave Fergus a light tap on the back. "We will help you. The additional resources such as medicine, cloth, herbs, and other products are with us in the carriage. The boxes are already being sent to the facility. Some soldiers and knights from the palace also came with us in chariots." The Queen broke the hug as she said those.
The King looked at Fergus then looked at me and back to my husband. "Also, in times of war, a great King does not fall behind the numerous line up of soldiers. It is the King who leads them in the front. I will be with you in leading the troops in a huge battle against the sassenachs. I am going with you."