Roses for Rachel

Chapter 30.

                  

Perfect,

Words cannot begin to express how proud of you I am. I know that was hard for you, but you pulled it off with grace, beauty, and a confidence I haven't seen in you before. It suits you well, being a queen. Although you'd be a queen in my eyes even if neither of us were actually royalty. Seeing you, and hearing your sweet voice was almost more than I could bare, but I needed it so badly right in that moment. You're giving me the strength I need, and I hope you can continue to be strong for me. The attack was brutal. They came out of nowhere with such force. I lost many of my men, but thanks to your speech, there were plenty of volunteers to take their places. I know you worry, but I swear I am ok. I don't know any more what our plan is here, though. Obviously trying to reason with these barbarians will not suffice, so the fighting has become worse, more intense, if that's even possible. I don't want to scare you, but I don't want to keep you in the dark either. I have faith that we can push them down. We out number them 10 to 1, it's just a matter of who is more willing to fight.

Try not to worry over me too much, and write me soon. I keep your letters with me at all times so that whenever I have a spare moment I can take them out and read them again.

I miss you terribly.

Even your attitude.

All my love, Cal

I put my letter away with the rest of them, then rush to my next meeting. I only had enough time between my many engagements to read my latest letter. I'll have to set aside more time before I go to bed so that he gets my reply in time.

"Are you ready?" Pedro asks from across the room. I nod to him linking our arms together as he leads me into Gordo's old suite where we hold our meetings. "How is he?"

I squeezed his arm. "The same it sounds like." I said sadly. "He says the fighting is getting worse and he seems a little down about it all. He did say he was impressed with me yesterday, though." I added.

"As I told you he would." He smiled as we entered the study.

Two men and two women were already waiting for us. The each stood from their seats and bowed to me. "Hello." I greeted them warmly as Pedro pulled out the chair behind the desk for me, then took his place standing at my side. Everyone else took the seats again and got right to the point. Apparently although Calvin said many men volunteered to join him, our forces were still dwindling. I held up my hand as Master Xander suggested a draft. "A draft?" I repeated him. "Correct me if I am wrong, and I mean that honestly, but in everything I've studied about wars, don't most men tend to really resent being drafted?" I asked. "I mean, what man is really going to give his all and be willing to die for a king who forces his hand into it?" I said shaking my head. "What about our army? Or even our guards? Aren't they already all sworn to protect the king?"

Xander's face seemed a little surprised, but he nodded his head thoughtfully. "I suppose that could be true, but don't you think we need our warriors here?" He asked, stroking his long black beard.

I bit my lip and thought about it. "Well," I finally said. "We are on a lockdown, so there are no new people coming in and none of our people leaving, so I don't think we need as much force here as Calvin needs there." I said. "We could send a portion from the royal army, and then ask for more volunteers from the guards." I suggested, then turned to look up at Pedro. "What do you think?"

He smiled down at me. "I think that is a good plan for now." He said. "We need to keep a reserve here, but we also need to make sure that the king is covered, so that sounds like a good fix for now. If it comes to it, we will revisit the drafting idea then."