Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume4 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===


The wind had changed direction – and Camus' arrival was not the only proof of that.

Around about that time, Sovereign-Prince Magrid of Atall sent messengers to both Leo and Darren. The reason behind it was to investigate the circumstances which had led Lord Leo to invade Dharam, Darren's territory.

The envoy who came to see Leo was none other than Stark Barsley. Officially, this man who served Leo's father – and who had served ''his'' father before him – was there to “hear Leo's side of the story,” but, in reality, the sovereign-prince had asked him to keep on eye on his son for a while. The idea was, essentially, to make sure that Leo didn't do anything he shouldn't again.

Stark had readily agreed to the request. The way he saw it, Leo was – ''Interesting''. He had, of course, been surprised when Leo had invaded Dharam through force of arms, and he could see why Magrid, Leo's father and sovereign, saw his son as dangerous. But at the same time, Stark had a certain presentiment:

''Lord Leo is young. And he fully embodies both the best and the worst points of youth. If there could be someone by his side who was able to hold back those worst points and encourage the best ones, the prince might well become someone whose name will go down in history.''

Even so, his feelings were, at most, that Leo was 'interesting'. He did not feel any urge for that 'someone' who would guide Leo to be him. Stark was content to remain detached from the world, and had left behind him his youth, in which he would have gone running to the scene of any excitement.

Meanwhile, Leo, the one receiving the envoy, did not believe the official reason given for Stark being sent over to him. His father talked about 'investigating the circumstances,' but the sovereign-prince couldn't care less about the truth, and while he would be fair and impartial by giving both parties a chance to explain themselves, that fairness would only extend to the hearing. The most likely outcome would be that, after a short while, he would give a light punishment to both Leo and Darren.  

''I won't let it end like that'' – Leo was determined about that, however, and Darren probably thought the same way. Leo intended instead to make use of this opportunity. With the sovereign-prince ostensibly taking action to arbitrate the dispute, not even Darren would be able to move troops while the envoys were present.

Leo and Savan met together and decided that, first of all, they would open a market five days after Stark's arrival.

The place chosen for it was the church, which was to the east of Guinbar Castle, at a distance of two days' ride along the old highway. This was the base for the Cross Faith that Leo was having Savan build. Although the road leading to it was known as the 'old highway', it had been repaired and maintained to allow the movement of people and goods which had been steadily increasing ever since the construction of the church had begun. Buildings that served both as relay inns and barracks for the highway guards had been built at several points along the road.

Nowadays, it was every bit as busy as the main roads. Thanks to that, the market there would be able to attract every kind of business, and allow the fief to replenish its dwindling funds.

During that time, Leo would be away from Guinbar. He intended to take action while Darren's movements were blocked. The future certainly didn't suddenly seem bright, but at least this was far better than constantly turning around in circles.

“I will definitely return with help at hand,” Leo promised when Savan Roux came to see him off, then rode away.

Hurrying along the Old Highway soon brought him within sight of the church.

When the building work had first begun, there had only been lodgings for the stonemasons and other skilled craftsmen, the labourers and the various other people who actually took part in the work. Now, however, swarms of merchants and prostitutes had descended on the area, intent on snatching away even only a small portion of the workers' daily wages, and there were any number of buildings where you could eat or drink, or where women beckoned to the men to join them.

When people came from the outside, inns would be built; where people gathered in large numbers, soldiers would make the rounds; and where there was a certain degree of public security, people would start settling in the area to plough fields. Cases of towns and villages appearing in that way were not rare back in those days, and Conscon Temple was another example of it.

At this point, the settlement around Guinbar Church had grown into a village that was not a small one. Since night had already fallen, Leo went straight to the monastery where he would be staying, which was attached to the chapel. However, people having realised that: “The prince is here,” they streamed out into the street and gathered by the church, carrying products from the shops, produce from the fields, or casks of wine. There were even some who killed what very little livestock they had for Leo's sake.

Since such a large crowd had come out, Lord Leo personally appeared before them to respond to their warm reception. Bishop Bosc, the representative of Guinbar Church and a central figure in the 'Church Council of Atall', which was currently being established, threw open the garden of the monastery, and allowed the crowd inside.

Fires were hastily lit to cook the ingredients that people had brought, then the food was carried to the tables that the monks had hurriedly set up. It spontaneously turned into a small banquet. The liquor served was only watered down wine, but the smile never left the face of even a single one of those gathered there, while the monks and nuns peered restlessly through the monastery windows, before retreating from sight.

The prince's reputation had been hugely damaged by the invasion of Dharam, but he could boast of being tremendously trusted and popular throughout all of Savan's domains, and especially in the area surrounding the church, which was being built on his own suggestion.

Faced with recent events, the accepted explanation in the territory was that: “The lord prince went to punish Darren, that cur, for trying to attack Lord Savan.” And because of it, there were many voices that were sympathetic towards him, and which talked about looking forward to what he would do next.

At the end of the feast, a woman who was still young led her daughter by the hand towards Leo. The child was perhaps six or seven years old. Bosc beckoned the woman, who quietly approached Leo.

“I'm sorry, Lord Prince. Even though she was already tucked up in bed, when she heard that you were here, this child begged to come and see you, even just for a little while.”

The woman was apparently from one of the neighbouring villages. When Darren had sent out marauders to snatch away the nearby quarry, her hot-blooded husband had gotten into a fight with them, and had been killed somewhere in secret. For a while, she had shut herself away in her parents' house, but when the church had started being built on Leo's suggestion, she had found comfort in the teachings of the Cross Faith, and had moved to this area with her daughter.

When the little girl with a face full of freckles walked up to Leo, she straightened her back as much as she could. She tried to say hello, but ended up mumbling and being unable to speak clearly. Just as she looked like she was about to burst into tears because of it, Leo gently patted her shoulder and gave her a smile.The child's face changed completely, going from being close to tears to beaming with joy, and the people around them also smiled at the scene.



Leo intended to leave early the next morning. After yesterday's commotion, he was afraid that if he went out when the sun was already high in the sky, it would draw a crowd again.

The people who were out and about early all stopped whatever work they were doing, and watched Leo's group ride off along the road. “Prince!” When some of them unthinkingly shouted out loud, Leo raised a finger to his smiling lips, as though to tell them to hush, and it was as though those people now shared a secret with him; they blushed with pride and bowed as he went past.

The armoured group rode on unimpeded but, when they had almost reached the edge of the settlement, Leo himself suddenly chose to dismount. The mother and daughter from the previous evening were standing discreetly by a fence. The mother bowed her head, “we aren't worthy,” written all over her face.

“We only intended to watch you leave from a distance without bothering you...”

Despite what her mother said, the daughter seemed to have decided from the very start to have an audience with the prince and, while her mother had not yet finished giving her greetings, the little girl drew up to Leo so quickly that Camus, acting as guard, caught his breath. She held up something that she was holding in her arms.

It was a doll. Although, with that said, it was really no more than rough pieces of cloth sewn together into a shape that was just barely recognisable as human. It probably wasn't something which had been brought, but rather something that the girl had made herself. On its chest, there was a decoration that seemed to be in the shape of a cross, so it looked like this had been modelled on Lord Leo Attiel himself. Threads were coming loose all over it, and the limbs looked like they would come off if it was treated roughly, so Leo handled it very carefully as he lifted it to line it up against his own face.
[[Image: Leo_Attiel_Den_v04_085.png|thumb]]
When he set off again, it was to the sight of the little girl's face, smiling fit to burst.

His group's destination was the main castle belonging to Bernard, one of the vassal-lords. Dharam, the land that Darren governed, lay in the middle of their way, so after leaving the church, and so as not to attract attention, the troop of three hundred split into several parties which entered Bernard's domain one after another, even though it meant slowing down their progress.

Leo, Camus and a few others made a detour of several days, avoiding the highway, so as to cross through the south of Dharam, after which, they joined up with a large group in one of the towns in Bernard's territory. A party of about twenty, however, deliberately crossed straight into the Dharam district, and remained there. They were disguised as merchants, and their role was to gather information while trading in the towns and villages.

Lord Leo had a difficult time travelling, but Stark Barsley, who was supposed to be visiting Guinbar to 'investigate the circumstances', had a carriage prepared for himself and was carried along the highway in grand style, following after Leo.

Since he wasn't particularly trying to hide his visit to Bernard, Leo didn't really mind but, at the same time, he had no idea what this retired, former-retainer was actually thinking. Still, given that Stark didn't look like he planned to make any special fuss or get in his way, the prince let him follow along.

He had sent a letter to Bernard beforehand, and the vassal-lord put on a show of receiving him. At that banquet, back then, he himself had invited the prince, after all.

His wife and daughter both belonged to the Cross Faith, and they rivalled the mother and daughter that Leo had met at the church in that, ever since first meeting him, they had treated him as though he was an envoy of God. Their cheeks flushed, they did everything they could to give him the warmest of welcomes.

Bernard didn't feel the slightest ill-will or dislike towards the prince, but there was no denying that right then and there, he saw him as a pest. He probably also had an inkling about what Leo's business with him was.

“Please don't be so stiff, Bernard,” the prince decided to tread carefully, and started by trying to mollify Bernard's feelings by laughing off his fears. “No matter what, I won't give you any high-handed orders like 'lend me some soldiers'. Even I'm not planning on immediately marching off to attack Olt Rose again.”

When the two of them were alone, he changed his tone.

“Darren is definitely scheming to attack Guinbar soon. Father probably won't be able to stop him.”

“Is that so?” Bernard's words were, of course, far more cautious than Leo's.

The prince nodded firmly.

“If you want proof, Darren is recruiting soldiers within his territory. Actually, he's been gathering weapons for a while now. If I hadn't moved in to attack Olt Rose back then...”

...'I would have been killed instead' was what Leo had been about to say, but he forced himself to hold it back. There had been plenty of arguments about what the truth of this matter, and Leo was aware that they had left him looking in the wrong, so what he wanted to avoid at all cost was making it seem like he had acted out on his emotions at the time.

“...Darren would have set Guinbar Castle alight. What I did has only helped postpone things.”

“It's perfectly normal for Lord Darren to be gathering soldiers,” Bernard's expression remained unyielding. “After all, Your Highness, you have only just invaded his lands. On top of that, and from what I hear, his second son, Lord Dingo, was seriously wounded. Although you no longer have the Personal Guards close at hand, it's highly possible that next time, it might be Lord Savan's soldiers which advance on Dharam... or at any rate, Lord Darren will use that kind of explanation to justify reinforcing his military strength.”

Bernard was not a coward, but it was clear that he had no wish to take part in a fight that would be of no benefit to him. If Leo had been the eldest son, promised to become the next sovereign-prince, then Bernard's attitude might have been a little different, but Leo was the second-born, and there were rumours that the current ruler, Magrid, was not best pleased with his enthusiasm for taking action.

In short, there was no advantage to joining up with this prince.

Leo saw Allion and Dytiann as two huge, slavering beasts, and believed that the only way to defend against them was to unite the entire country. The others, however, had never shared his sense of looming crisis; since life had always been relatively peaceful up until then, their vague image of the future was based on their unfounded belief that tomorrow would surely be just as tranquil as today.

He desperately wanted to denounce them in ringing words – not just Bernard, but all of the vassal-lords and other nobles. But it would be utterly stupid to make an enemy here when he had originally come looking for an ally. Leo struggled to suppress his emotions.

“I said a while back that I wasn't going to ask you to lend me any soldiers. However, I would just like you to prepare and gather them in your castle town. When Darren starts his military manoeuvres, have them raise their flags and threaten Olt Rose from the rear. That's all – you don't need to fight. I won't bring the battle to your territory. So please, Bernard...”

In the end, his words turned to pleading.

“If it's just that...” Bernard replied with obvious reluctance. “Still, I don't have enough regular soldiers – since I've only just sent them to you, my lord, for the Personal Guards. I'll give my retainers the order to call up levies in the villages. But naturally, that means that I can't say how long it will take to gather them up.”



As I mentioned earlier, when Lord Leo heard that the sovereign-prince had despatched an envoy to Darren, he anticipated that the vassal-lord would not be able to take action, and so made his own moves. He opened a market in Guinbar. He took his time to cross Dharam, then took it again to try and persuade Bernard.

Yet Leo was to regret all of it.

Darren Actica used the envoy who had been sent to him to set his own plans in motion.