For Her They'd Do Anything

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

To the north of Desmond, lies the Kingdom of Meath. This is where King Richard Hardy lives, with his wife, Queen Lucy, and their two sons, Princes Miles and Leonard. Meath is about a ten day journey from Desmond. King Richard is a noble king, who does his best for his Kingdom and his people. They enjoy hunting, fishing, and goofing off when the work is done for the day. King Richard loves his family and is an extremely devoted father. He gets along beautifully with King Avery Brocksby, and hopes that one day there could be a union between the two Kingdoms, or at least they can remain civil and supportive of each other.

Word was sent from Desmond, there has been an incident in the Demon Kingdom's village of Lamia. This arrived 8 days after the return of General Lacy to Desmond. The messenger travelled as fast as they could, in the hopes of King Avery receiving help in revealing what exactly went on. King Richard, along with his Queen, decided to send a couple of investigators to assist in the matter. They also decided to send their youngest son, Leo, since he has never met anyone from Desmond yet, to disguise himself and keep tabs on what is happening in the Kingdom. He does not want another war on his hands, in which he will have to choose to fight either for King Avery or King Astaroth, both of whom he has a remarkable relationship with. All three kings have been good friends since they were young and, up until this incident have supported each other and had each others backs. Their big issues have always been handled together as a team. A united front they called it, even if they are from different Kingdoms and Astaroth is a different species. They are practically brothers, not by blood, but by heart.

This huge blunder, brought on by Brocksby, certainly has King Hardy worried. He has never reacted in such a way, even when there was danger. To say he is worried, is an understatement. Brocksby has always acted responsibly, and has rarely ever resolved anything with violence. Even the worst of the worst, in his own Kingdom, he punishes justly and without vengeance. Even when we were at war with a different continent, Brocksby treated the warriors with utmost respect after they surrendered. He helped the injured with his own two hands. So, to attempt to slaughter thousands of innocents, even if he was told that they were planning an attack, is absolutely against Brocksby's morals. This decision, made by King Brocksby himself, not with any of the other kings input, should have never been made. This, honestly sounds like a completely different person to him, to act so callously and put peoples lives at stake, even if they were not the same species, well, it should not have happened. Something is clearly wrong, and it should be treated with the utmost care.

"Marly," he calls for his royal secretary, "send for the best investigators we have. Tell them it is important, and not to dally."

"Yes, your highness, I will at once." Marly sends a messenger to Simon and Gilbert Lupton. They leave for the castle as soon as they can. Its was 2 hours later, that they finally walked past the threshold. King Richard ushers them into his study. They go over, in great detail, all of the information they have received thus far. After they receive their missions, Simon and Gilbert leave to get everything packed and ready for their travels to Desmond. They are to embark in the morning, they should reach Desmond in at the most ten days. If the journey goes well, they will arrive within seven.

After the departure of the Luptons, Richard summons his servants, Mary and George Stokes. Mary has a cousin who works in Desmond as a laundry maid, Ruth Moore, who should be willing to help Leo, Mary, and George get jobs and living quarters within the castle of Desmond.

Leo, who was summoned along with Mary and George, walks into the study, wondering why he had been called forth. "Dad, what is going on? I was in the middle of a game with Miles, and I was winning!" Mary and George look at one another, telling each other with their eyes that this should be interesting. They sit down in some chairs that were placed up against the wall, relaxing and just watching the events unfold. They had been vaguely briefed about the issue already.

"We have important matters to discuss, Leo. I am going to send you on a mission. Top secret, of course." Leo looks at his father, unsure as to why on earth he is going on a mission.

"What kind of mission?"

"Well, there has been some concerns with a recent event that took place in Desmond. We aren't sure exactly what happened, as of yet. We need you to go undercover with Mary and George, here, to find out what is going on in the Castle." Richard hands a stack of papers to his son, detailing the issue. "This is top secret, son. No one can find out who you are, nor can they learn of what you are doing. I am not sure how long you will be there, but as of right now, it will be for at least a while. Hopefully we can get down to the cause of everything quickly, so you can come home. You are going to be working within the castle, nothing, I'm sure, you can't handle."

Leo looks from the documents to his father, confusion written all over his face. "You want me to leave home, and go all the way to Desmond, right? And the ONLY allies I am going to have with me are going to be Mary and George Stokes... I don't get it, Dad, why isn't this task going to Miles? He is the oldest, shouldn't he be the one to go undercover?"

Richard, studying his son's face, answers his questions without any delay. "They are good people, Leo, and you make friends so easily. I am sure that you will have plenty of people that you can rely on, should something come up. Besides, you will not be completely alone. The Lupton brothers will be there to assist with the investigations. In fact, anything you happen to discover, you can report it right to them directly. Plus, I know Avery, he usually does not act without thought. Which is why we need someone on the inside to see if there is any foul play going on behind the scenes. I am almost certain that Astaroth is thinking along the same lines as I am right now. Probably preparing his own investigators to send to Desmond. And, about your brother, he can't go in disguise. The King and Queen already know what he looks like. You, on the other hand, have never met any of them. This works out perfectly, because I know that I can trust you no matter what. I also know that you will remain unbiased with any information you uncover."

"And, what if I uncover absolutely nothing?" Leo is not happy about this situation. He still has a lot of doubts and concerns about travelling to Desmond.

"Well, if there is nothing to uncover, there is nothing to uncover. You will come home and we will explain to Avery and Mabel why you were there. It shouldn't be too much of an issue, honestly. I am sure they would do the same, if the shoe was on the other foot. Look, son, we aren't just doing this to protect ourselves, we are doing it to protect all three kingdoms and to prevent a war. One that will be most devastating, simply because our three kingdoms share and trade so much with each other. Not to mention, there are a lot of families that have split up and moved between all three kingdoms. We do not want to make the people choose between their family and their homes. That's for damn sure."

"Okay, I understand. I will do my duty and go on this mission, father." Leo knows that his Dad absolutely detests when he is called 'Father' in that tone of voice. He did it simply because it would get under his skin. Richard looks at his son with a face that says 'really, you went there,' causing Leo to stifle a laugh.

"Don't push my buttons, Leo. If there was any other way, you wouldn't have to go. I do not want this getting out to everyone in the three kingdoms, it will cause panic. And, when people panic, they tend to over react. Who knows what kind of disasters that would lead to."

"Well, nothing good I'm sure, Dad. I will go. I will do what I need to do. But, what if it takes, like, years before anything comes up again?"

"If it takes longer than one year, we are going to abort mission, and bring you home. If anything sinister is developing, it shouldn't take longer than that for someone to slip up. I hope, at least. I will be sending a monthly payment to Ruth for her contribution to our cause. I will also be sending a monthly allowance for you, Mary, and George. This will be to cover your room and board. It will also cover everything you need, like food, clothes, and supplies. Whatever you earn from your jobs, you can spend on anything else you need or save it. It doesn't matter to me. I just want to make sure that you guys will have all of your basic needs met, since I am sending you three to do this." At that, Mary and George finally sat up. They were just relaxing, taking in the mission and the responses from both the King and the Prince.

"Your Majesty, we will do everything we can to find out what is going on. We will also ensure that no one finds out who our young master here really is." Mary said with a soft smile to Leo.

"You cannot be calling him Master, both of you are going to have to get used to calling him either Leo, Leonard, or son. We don't need any slip ups, got it?"

"Yes, right, King Richard. We will make no mistakes. Your son is in good hands with us, we promise to protect him as if he really was our own." George declared, rising from his seated position to kneel down on one knee. "Plus, with Ruth's help, we really shouldn't have many issues, honestly. We are truly honored that you chose us for this mission, and to care for one of your precious sons. Have you already sent word to Ruth?"

"Well, yes. We haven't received word back yet, but I am sure everything will work out alright. Hopefully, we receive a letter here soon. I sent out our fastest carrier pigeon, in hopes that Ruth gets back to us in a timely manner. It should be returned here in a day or two. In the mean time, you three can go get packed. Make sure you take everything you absolutely need with you. Necessities, like toilet paper or socks, those can be purchased when you get there. I will give you each enough money for a couple of months before you go. More will arrive next month. I just want to make sure that all of you will have everything you need while you are gone. I sent Ruth's payment with the pigeon, and a note explaining everything and that she will be getting more each month. I also explained that this isn't anything nefarious, we just need some answers as to what happened. And you three being with the staff, you might be able to uncover some information that the investigators can't get. Most people lock up when they talk to authority figures. But, since you three will just basically be like any other staff members, it shouldn't take long for them to open up to you."

Richard begins making a list of everything they should need to take with them. He wrote down on Leo's to not take anything flashy. He then sent Leo to the seamstress, Avi, to get work clothes made, since he wont be able to wear any of his royal attire. Leo has old clothes that he works goofs off in now, but they don't want any suspicions arising because of them. Leo always insists on having his own mark on things, Richard thinks its a little odd, but to each their own. If he shows up with something like that, it is going to stand out to everyone.

The next morning, as King Richard makes his way to the dining hall, he is sought out by the castle pigeon post master. "Your highness, the pigeon just returned. Here is the note that was attached to his leg."

"Ah, thank you Jim, this is good news I hope." Jim tips his hat and dashes off, heading back up to the pigeon tower. Richard opens up the note. It states:

'Your majesty, I hope this note finds you well. I have received your plea for help. I am most willing to help. I have not said a word to any of the other staff or anyone else. I have, however, started asking around for work for Leo, Mary, and George. They should have no problem finding any. We can always use more hands on deck. George will be in the forgery, since he is a master blacksmith. Earl practically begged as soon as I asked him. Mary can join me in the laundry department. Leo can have his choice of the kitchens, the gardens, or the stables. I wasn't sure what he would be interested in, but we have available positions in those three areas. Unless, of course, he wants to learn metal forgery with George. I will leave that up to him. As far as lodging, they can have one of the new developments we have built, in hopes that they draw new staff to work in the castle. They are clean and pretty spacious, really. There will be monthly rent, which I will show them how to take care of all of that when they get here. It is also furnished, to help ease the burdens of people coming from far to work here. Patiently awaiting their arrival.

Sincerely Yours,

Ruth Moore'

Richard thinks to himself, 'oh thank God. I knew she was the one to help us. They will go and see what is happening. Hopefully, it is only a minor issue that will be taken care of in no time.' He heads off, looking for Leo and the Stokes' to inform them of Ruth's letter. They all decide to depart the next day, leaving only a little bit of time for Leo and the others to say goodbye for now. Richard had had George's nephew, Philip, move into their cottage and take over for him while he is gone.

After some family time, Leo and the Stokes head to Desmond. They practice calling each other 'Ma' and 'Pa' and 'Son' along the way. Honestly, the Stokes are pretty, well, stoked about this development. They were unable to have children, you see. So, this opportunity is low key filling one of their dreams as well. They vow to treat Leo as they would have their own children, had they been blessed with any. Leo is a little worried about how they are going to feel once they come home. Knowing them, they are probably just going to continue treating him as a son from here on out. He honestly wouldn't mind that. He developed a bond with them pretty quickly, given the circumstances.

When they arrived, eight days later, Ruth met them at the development past the market. She showed them their cottage and helped them settle into their new home. Then she took them along with her to meet their new co-workers. Leo decided that he wants to learn how to forge, it might prove useful later on in life. Plus, he always had a thing for weaponry. He feels that he should be able to defend his Kingdom, just like his father had.