39 Chapter 39 The Western Kingdom (1/2)

Joseph had just been informed that they were approaching the border between his home kingdom and the western kingdom, so he didn't think anything of his carriage stopping. But when it didn't start back up again after a few moments, he went to see what was going on.

”I'm sorry, but the king has declared all of the borders be closed.” The guard did look very apologetic.

”Surely my pa.s.s will work to let me through. It's a very expensive pa.s.s to acquire.” William looked annoyed as he showed the guard an unrolled scroll.

”Let me get the head of the guards, please. I'm not authorized to let anyone through for any reason.” The guard didn't even look at the scroll as he backed away from him and turned to holler for the head of the guard.

An older, more grizzled man showed up shortly looking annoyed at being called here.

”What is the problem? You know that when it's from the king it doesn't matter who is asking, the gates stay shut.”

”Yes, sir, but I thought you might like to look over his pa.s.s? I can't do it myself.”

”Yes, yes, we all know you can't read. Well, let me see the blasted thing.”

William showed him the scroll, and the grizzled guard stared at it for a good five minutes, reading each bit carefully. Joseph almost wondered if the head guard could read.

”I'm afraid you'll have to return to your carriage while I arrange some people together to discuss the validity of this pa.s.s.”

”Like h.e.l.l I'm leaving it with you. I'll bring it with me when you have these people together. That thing cost a pretty penny and there's no way I'm parting with it.” William's tone made the guards eyes scrunch up in annoyance, but he handed back the scroll and marched off.

William turned to him and they walked back towards his father's carriage.

”None of them can read. This just gives me an opportunity to meet with him in private to discuss pa.s.sage for my caravan.” William kept his voice very soft so that anyone who might be listening in wouldn't hear what he was saying.

”Has this happened before?” asked Joseph, curiously. He would have to deal with things like this in the future, with his own kingdom.

”No, but I foresaw it happening at some point, and took the necessary precautions to raise the guard's opinions of me in the past. Their gruff att.i.tudes are just for show because there are other people who were wanting to get through the gates too.”

Joseph looked around and saw that there were other merchants who wanted to go through the gates, as well as some normal people, who probably lived around here.

As they got to his carriage, he paused and looked around for a moment, before turning to Joseph.

'It may be a good idea if you stay in your carriage while I work on the details. I would hate for anything to happen while we are exposed like this.”

Joseph nodded, knowing that he was referring to the a.s.sa.s.sination attempts that had happened so far. He motioned for his guards to follow him, and they became even more alert, if that was possible. They were normally really good at spotting possible dangers and taking care of them quickly, but the fact he felt a need to interact with them, meant he was letting them know the area was dangerous at the moment.

It took two days for his dad to smooth talk and bribe the guards to let them through. Anxiety ran high throughout all of the slaves as they started moving the carriages through the gates. A slave had told Stella that an a.s.sa.s.sin had tried to kill the prince, and had fled in this direction. The king had responded by sending hawks to have all the borders closed so he couldn't escape.

If they had let them through when they had first arrived, there would have been no way that a.s.sa.s.sin could have reached this border faster than a hawk, but because they had waited two days, he could now be hiding in one of the carriages. So, they insisted on doing a thorough search of each carriage, to ensure the a.s.sa.s.sin wasn't present before letting them go through.

The other merchants who had also been waiting, were furious that his dad had managed to get through. They kept shooting evil glares at the carriages as they went by.

About half way through, when all of the senior people and William had made it to the other side, the gates came cras.h.i.+ng down again, cutting the caravan in half. Joseph had Stella and his guards, and half of his father's caravan on the wrong side of the wall. All of the strongest guards had been around his father, because they had antic.i.p.ated an attack, but now those left on the wrong side, found themselves under protected.

Suspecting an ambush or a trap, Joseph called all the slaves together, and organized them to stay active all night. It would be during the dead part of the night that some of the other merchants may try something, when everyone was asleep and dark. Because there were so many children, who could be awake at all times of the night, this wasn't that hard. There was always someone up and about, making noise, cooking, fetching things, and basically keeping an eye out for trouble. He made sure that the few guards there were, had enough rest before nightfall to be able to stay alert the whole time.