Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 1: The Beginning

Plans For An Expedition

After the mealtime together with the settlers, everyone had shared morsels of their meals with Sir Blackie which ate with such relish while wagging its tail high in the air. After having its meal, it let out a sharp bark to show its appreciativeness or maybe its a sign to ask for another helping, I suppose?

It circled around near its bowl, presumably chasing its own tail when it finally settled itself down near the hearth or fireplace. It curled up near the fireplace as it pricked its ears open and looked at us as it placed its head on top of its paws.

After everyone had settled down, I motioned to the settlers that I would like to make an announcement. "My dear fellow citizens, I would like to inquire if there's a chance for an expedition over to the nearest civilisation within the next few days."

"Since our current food staple is dwindling, would it be a good idea to venture out and gather some supplies back?"

"At least in this way, we would be able to replenish our stock and from there, at least we know that there would be such a place where we could be heading to when we are short of supplies in the future."

"That would be a good idea, Young Master. I do notice that our staples are dwindling and there won't be enough to last for the next week. The chance of meeting a travelling merchant would make a sweet surprise for us in the next few days." Frank remarked as his family had managed to grab the essentials when they made their getaway.

"Ah...that would be a great delight if a travelling merchant happens to pass this way. But who would even know that there would be a tiny settlement of 12 people and a dog over here in these parts?"

"Besides I realised that Darlington had not been visited by any travelling merchant for the last 3 to 5 months and that may also lead to our dwindling food supplies within the kingdom." added Ben as he spread his hands as he retorted.

"I agree with what Ben had said. No one knows of our existence over here and it would be best to keep it in the down low. Besides, exposing us to the travelling merchants would also expose us to the possibility of being found by the rebels." added Jack as he stroked his beard after giving it much thought.

"By the way, to travel to the nearest settlement would take 3 days to and 3 days back provided that we would not encounter any of the scoundrels. Besides, I am sure I would have no issue in facing 2 or 3 of them in a group. No one would be able to avoid my eagle eyes."

Gwen mentioned her having eagle eyes due to the fact that it was a kind of nickname that was given to her by the merchants in our former Darlington's market.

This was due to the numerous number of pelt that she had managed to gather herself. On top of that, she had also managed to snare and shoot down several deers and wild boars and had sold their meat away after she had preserved them. In Darlington alone, she can easily top the ranking list of hunters among hunters.

"Well, I suppose the guardian angels would still be on our sides since it had been looking over after us since we had managed to get away from the grasps of those rebels."

"Right now, in order to ensure we would be able to survive through these few months, I would really love to have lots of seeds in order to start a small vegetable farm for ourselves."

Kayla began to suggest her plans for the expansion as well as increase the survivability rate of the tiny encampment even though it had a dozen settlers at this time.

"It would be great to be able to live close to civilisation and even better to move in with them. Even though the chances of being discovered by the rebels are higher, at least we would be able to live much more comfortably and be protected. This thought is in favour of our Lordship's welfare too."

Heather proposed to the settlers as they murmured the issue among themselves. They had almost forgotten that I came from the Royal Family and had a royal bloodline even if I am dressed up as a simple commoner on a single long sleeve piece tunic.

"Please do not divert our discussion and ends up discussing about me and my welfare. I cannot be selfish and think only about myself right now. The most important thing is to think about us and the future that lies before us."

"Besides, how many coins do you all have right now since heading towards the nearest settlement and purchasing their goods would need at least a few of those."

I managed to reply and dismissed the idea of them thinking about my wellbeing. Right now, all I could think was that I am extremely glad to be alive and in one piece. If I am able to coax them to my suggestions, I am sure in the next following week, there would be grains and flour added in our staple menu.

The issue now was money and even though I had my stash, I would like to gather what the rest of the settlers would do to pool their resources together during times of need.

Even if I am this young and may look immature from the outside, but I had learnt about diplomacy and able to curb their interest thus being able to negotiate around the bends at most time.

The settlers excused themselves as they went to about their personal belongings and reappeared in the circle after some moments later. They all handed all their coins in their possession to Jack Levi whom they had regarded one of the elders that would be entrusted with the current financial situation.

"Ahem... Young Master, there are a total of 5 silvers and 20 Coppers with me right now. This is the accumulated wealth of this tiny settlement and this would be enough to purchase sufficient staples to last us for one month." Jack cleared his throat as he held the coins in his hands and was looking at me for a glimmer of hope.

I thought back at my personal stash that was inside my knapsack. 1 gold coin would be equivalent to 50 silvers and 1 silver would be equivalent to 100 Coppers.

"How much was the current rate for grains and flour back in our town?" I inquired as I was getting ready to make a mental calculation based on the price of staples.

"During spring and summer, the price of grains would be slightly higher, while in autumn and during the harvesting period, the prices would be much cheaper as there would be an abundance of supply than demand. It varies from town to town, Young Master."

Crystal added since she was accustomed to the trades within the market place of our former town. She dealt with livestock for some years and was well versed within the trades of grains and other produce.

"A pound of grain or flour would costs between 2 to 6 copper depending on the season. Right now we pooled together our wealth and this would be 520 Coppers altogether. We would be able to buy quite a lot of pounds of grains and flour with each."

Crystal continued to state the facts about the trades and I discovered that to feed a dozen settlers we need more staples. "Gwen, how much could a pelt costs when you managed to sell them?"

"5 Coppers for each pelt and 10 Coppers if I had managed to get it tanned into leather. We have some pelts here that could be traded for staples but we need to have a wagon full of it to make a substantial trade." Gwen answered as she was ashamed to mention the paltry amount of pelts on hand that was currently used for our own uses.

"I need a show of hands who would go for an expedition towards the next settlement and to usher in a travelling merchant that would volunteer to take a trip here once a month." I began to curb their interest and enthusiasm by arranging a merchant on a scheduled monthly basis.

"I would go with Frank here but I would like to leave the children under the care of the Levi's. Would it be too much of a hassle for you?" Gwen voiced out her opinion and Frank simply nodded his head in agreement.

"Don't worry, your children would definitely be able to stay around with us. Besides, we are considered a small family right now. Even though we do not any children of our own, we would definitely take care of your children just like our own." replied Kayla as she rubbed the heads of both twins.

"That's settled then. We would be moving out by first light tomorrow and we would definitely travel light. Just the 2 of us would make the travel faster and we would send word for the merchant to travel back with us. I hope the merchant agrees and would not dismiss us as one of the scoundrels." remarked Gwen as she received the coins from Jack.

"Wait, I would like to add to the pool of coins that you are carrying." after I finished saying that, I went over to my knapsack and retrieved the pouch and took 5 silvers from it and handed it over to Gwen. "There's more where this came from and I hope we would be able to entice the merchant over."

"Jack, would you like to be doing your Blacksmithing trade here? I mean... Don't you miss your old furnace, anvil and hammers?" I queried and hoping that at least Jack would be able to produce some iron or steel tools and weapons that would be beneficial for us in the future.

"Of course I would love to be doing what I do best but the problem lies in the materials. I need to work with bronze or Iron ores and a bed of coals to work as a furnace. To simply set it up would need more resources that could easily exhaust a considerable amount of coins."

"Besides, if I am to make bronze, iron or steel products, who would we be trading with? This is a small settlement after all. Unless I could be contracted to produce those, then we won't be in a financial predicament." Jack stated the truth since my suggestions seemed to be far fetched.

However, if Jack would be contracted and have his own Blacksmith workshop here in the future, the employer would be able to supply those startup for him. In these times, it would be difficult to procure a Blacksmith who would be able to produce tools and weapons as well as spare parts for the engineers.

The engineers mentioned were those who design and build water and windmills to either draw water or to grind the grains into flour. Worn out parts need to be maintained and replaced if the need arises and this requires the skill of a Blacksmith to complete the process.

"Don't worry about it. Gwen would send word to the merchant and we would wait for their return once they had completed their task. Purchase 25 pounds of grains and flour each and the rest would be used to purchase seeds that would easily germinate so that we would have a stable harvest every time."

"Kayla would be able to tell you what would be needed to purchase and you compile the list and be on your way then by first light tomorrow morning. Last but not least, please take care of yourself and be safe." I advised both Gwen and her husband before we break up the group.

"To avoid being regarded as one of the Rebel, do you think bringing Sir Blackie with you to aid as a companion during the travels would be a good idea?" I suggested and was warmly welcomed by the duo.

"Come here, Sir Blackie... You would follow Gwen and Frank tomorrow to the next settlement, alright?" hearing his name being called, it approached us with his tail wagging in the air and let out a sharp bark as if it acknowledged the message that I had just relayed to it.

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