'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Shocker

Monday, 12th September 1442

It's Day Five for the party of four since they had left Gracehaven for their task at hand. The toasted flatbread that been prepared the night before was eaten together with the meat stew that they had made simply by adding some mushrooms to it.

Even though it was not as delectable as the ones served in Strongbow's but with the addition of meat and the succulent fresh mushrooms at hand, having such delicacies under the starry nights was such a welcome for the meal that they were having.

The meal that they were having was considered as second to none and after their meal, and slurping down the remaining stew, the adventurers huddled in their blankets as they went to sleep beside a top-down fire that was being prepared earlier on.

Although the journey and their sleeping position they night was pretty rough, they made do and had a good night rest and woke up to a beautiful morning when the sun broke through the horizons.

From the high vantage point, there were at, they were able to see rising smoke from a nearby settlement known as Camp and decided to make some stew for breakfast before they proceed with a long march to their next destination.

After making some stew and a small pot of Berry flavoured tea, Guy took the boulder that he had removed last night and covered up the natural spring so that it would not be contaminated with other debris nearby.

Besides, the opening was large enough for some birds to come and take a drink if they wished to or drown themselves in the marshlands below. Hahaha.

"Our destination is right ahead, but with the marshlands that lie before us, we cannot walk through but have to skirt around and take another route. It would be midday before we reach to the other town. We wonder what kind of goodness and tidings await us there."

Guy remarked as they merrily made breakfast and munched on the flatbread they had prepared the night before.

If the settlement has some vegetable gardens, they hoped to grab a few carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables before leaving.

Of course, with the blessings of the town folks and not by stealing them. There would be harsh punishment for taking things not belonging to them and would be best to ask permission first before plundering the lands. Hahaha.

"It's going to be along march ahead and due to our diversion here, our trip might be longer than usual. Come on then, once we had our breakfast we can head down there. From the looks of those wisps of smoke from here, I think the town folks are really an early riser after all."

Guy suggested and everyone agreed. Even though their intended route had to be diverted due to the marshlands, at least they still would be able to take a detour and head towards their next destination.

Thankfully for the marshlands, they were able to source out the natural spring water from atop a knoll of rocks and boulders. It was such an unlikely discovery and they were thankful for it, despite having to sleep on hard ground the previous night.

Even if the route they had taken was quite perilous, but with the expert guidance of Guy up ahead, they were able to traverse out of the boulders and rocky area, skirt around the marshlands before standing on solid ground, free from water hazard all around them.

After travelling for some hours, the adventurers had managed to reach the outskirt of the village called Camp. From the outsides, the adventurers could see the prosperity of this village since the village had a windmill and that means that they were milling their own grains into flour.

Also, if there's flour, it also means there would be a bakery of some sort in that village. To call that as a village would be an understatement, as it should be called a town instead.

There were some watchtowers erected around the town and when the Adventurers neared the edge of the town, they were stopped by a group of armed guards, wielding a bow and a quiver at their sides as well as a longsword. It seemed that this town had been properly equipped just like Gracehaven a few seasons back.

"Who goes there? Friend or foe? What is your business here in Camp?!" one of the armed guards gruffly stopped the Adventurers from advancing a step further.

The guards at the top of the watchtower had readied their arrows and trained them at the Adventurers since they would not hesitate to unleash their arrows on those suspected foes.

"Friendlies...! My name is Guy MacDonough and we are a party of Adventurers and hail from Gracehaven about 5 days trek from here situated at River Ure."

"We brought with us a decree from Our Majesty, Territorial King Audemars Macleod and we wish to seek an attendance with your Lords, if possible."

Guy explained as he raised one of his arms in the air to indicate that they were friendlies and had their bows and swords exposed but not readied. Showing their weapons at their sides indicated their intention of entering the town without readying them on their hands.

"We had arrived from Broderbund and had talked to some of the town folks there and were told that there is another town close by and that where we headed after we took off last night."

Gut further explained and then was approached by the guard that had stopped the party of four. "If that's the case then, follow me to deposit your arms at the armoury and we would give you a deposit slip. Any other sharp objects that you Adventurers might be carrying such as throwing knives, darts and also your felling axe?"

"There's only a hunting knife among us that we used to carve out the meats that we hunted and there's this only felling axe that we carry. Other than that, we do not have any throwing knives or darts as you had mentioned."

"We're glad to surrender and deposit our bow and sword to the armoury. Say... You do have literate among you, is that so?"

Guy asked as they were led by the guard whose name was Gregory and handed their bows and swords to the armoury which was actually an open-air stand where a lady was manning it. She handed them four tickets which were made from some wood shavings which depict some pictures of a bow and sword.

"Literate? Do you mean people who are able to read and write stuff? Nah... We are not lucky like these nobles in the Camp. Don't be surprised though, we may be small but definitely being able to be self-sustained throughout the seasons."

"Why do you ask, Guy? Are you literate or some kind too?" Gregory the guard asked and he led the party of four towards a clearing where it supposed to be a gathering place in the centre of the town.

True enough, there were crop fields within the town and there was also a small bakery that churns out some loaves of bread per time made by a few bakers. The windmill and bakery stood next to one another and the party of four can't help but sniff at the scent of freshly toasted bread.

It was an old school type of earthen oven where fires were being made beforehand and then the ashes were cleared before loaves of bread were place inside it.

The warmth of the previously made fire would slowly bake the bread. It was an old process and there's no way the bakery would be able to support other towns with their supply of bread.

It's not unlike Gracehaven where the bakery had 20 conventional Ovens which were temperature controlled courtesy of Priestess Farah. There's no need to have firewood or coals to fire them up and it's ready to use 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

It seemed the concept of this town would be no different from GraceHaven but the arrangement of the housing and crop fields would mean a great deal if it was separated and segregated equally.

"Yeah, Gregory. My sister and I are both literate and went to an informal education system where we learn how to read and write. Also, it pays to read out the decree to those who are unable to read that had been bestowed upon us by Our Majesty, Territorial King Audemars Macleod of Gracehaven."

"You really are fortunate, Guy. Come along now, don't lose your ticket or else you would not be able to retrieve your bows and swords later on. We are going to the Lord's House here in the centre of the town square and see if they are free to have an attendance with you or not."

"Thank you so much, Gregory. Having you around would really ease our trip. By the way, is the bread readily available for the town folks or do we need to purchase them? We have flour with us but we would really love to have some spares when we are on our way out later."

"Oh... The bread is for sale, of course. Nothing is free here except for the drinking water from the well and also the fishes from the duck pond. By the way, it costs 6 pennies for a pound loaf of bread. If you fancy one, you could go and grab one each later on."

"Si...si...six pennies for a pound loaf of bread?! Are you kidding us, Gregory?" The Guinness spluttered out when they heard the price for a pound of bread that would be equivalent to half a shilling or silver coin...!

Inflation really hits hard on those smaller settlements and villages such as this one as they continued to ask the prices for meals and so on and found that it's equally expensive in the frontiers rather than back in Gracehaven...!

Fortunately, the Adventurers had exchanged a silver coin into coppers before they start on their expedition or else they would be having a hard time to survive on the current currency exchange...!

Paying for a pound load of bread outside was comparable to 50 coppers back in Gracehaven... Do they fill these bread with precious stones or what?!