Chapter 30

Sid and his men returned to the battlefield where they had fought Holland. Hunter was camped there, directing his men in a campaign to liberate the few slaves that remained on some of the more remote farms. Most of the men injured in the earlier battle had recovered sufficiently not to require a lot of too much care. Those who were off duty were wandering around camp enjoying their free time.

Meeting up with Hunter, Sid said, “Gather your commanders. We need to make some plans for the future.”

Nodding his head, Hunter dispatched man to carry out Sid’s orders. Turning to Sid, he said, “I take it we have won.”

“Yes. All that is left is to free the rest of the slaves,” Sid said. The capture of the villain responsible for establishing the slave society was being pursued by another Hero from Earth. He hoped Kyle Alexander would be successful. With a slight feeling of unease at the direction of his thoughts, he watched Fred take care of Alice. The man had led her off to a tent, and was getting her settled in for the stay.

“That’s good. To tell the truth, I’ve been getting a little tired of all of this fighting,” Hunter said. When he had left Jones citadel, his father had told him that this campaign would make him a man. His father’s words had been too true. His father had neglected to say that it would make him feel like an old man.

“Every man around here feels the same,” Sid said. He looked over at two men sitting around their campfire repairing their clothes. It was such a common sight that it was easy to overlook.

“I noticed when you returned that there were fewer men than I expected. Did you run into trouble?” Hunter asked to fill the sudden silence.

“No. I told the men as we were returning that if they spotted an abandoned plot of land that they wanted, to go for it. A lot of the men took me up on that offer. Some even split off at crossroads looking for places of their own,” Sid answered. There were a lot of farms that had been taken over and integrated into larger places. The freed slaves had chopped them up into smaller places, but there were plenty of abandoned spots left.

Nodding his head, Hunter said, “That’s good. I was wondering what the men would do when we disbanded the army.”

“I’m not disbanding the entire army. At all of the towns with populations of over a hundred people, I’ve left two men to serve as my representatives. I’ve left twenty five men in the towns with populations over a thousand,” Sid said watching Hunter’s expression. He had a number of people whom he was going to set up as Lords over those towns.

“That’s a good idea,” Hunter said.

“There’s still the matter of what to do with the Citadels that I’ve captured.”

Hunter didn’t make a comment. He wasn’t sure where Sid was headed with this discussion. Smiling, Sid said, “I thought it would be fitting for you to take charge of Holland’s citadel. There may be a little fighting left, there, but I’m sure that you can handle it.”

“You’re giving me a citadel?” Hunter asked surprised by what Sid had said. Two years of fighting had convinced him that he was a good soldier, but it hadn’t convinced him that he was the kind of man who would make a good Lord.

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

“I guess once you swear loyalty to me, you’ll be Lord Hunter,” Sid said with a smile.

“I will gladly swear loyalty to you,” Hunter said overwhelmed.

“You’ll need to select who you want to take with you to be your guard,” Sid said.

“This is so unexpected. My dad is going to be so proud of me,” Hunter said thinking about his father back at the Jones’ Citadel.

Confused at being summoned by the General, Sneak joined Sid in front of Sid’s tent. Sid was surrounded by Sebeson, Connor, Hunter, Gregor, Fred, Derek, and Alice. He wasn’t sure that being called there when Sid was surrounded by his advisers, advisors was a good thing.

Trying to sound relaxed, he said, “You wanted me?”

“Yes, I did,” Sid answered glancing at the others seated around the camp. He took a long look at Connor and, once the man had smiled at him, he nodded his head. He turned to Fred and asked, “Is there any more tea?”

“I’ll make some,” Fred answered getting up from his seat.

Sid gestured to a seat across the fire from where he was seated and said, “Have a seat.”

“Thanks, General,” Sneak said wondering why he had been summoned. He glanced over at Hunter, but the man didn’t say a word and seemed as confused about the summons as he was.

“Are you doing okay?” Sid asked in a pleasant conversational voice.

“I’m doing fine,” Sneak answered. He had plans for the future and they were looking bright.

“I gave Hunter a citadel earlier today,” Sid said.

“I know,” Sneak said, “He told me about that.”

Fred returned to the fire with a pot of water and hung it to boil. When he had moved out of the way, Sid said, “I understand that you were thinking that you’d go there to be captain of his guard.”

“That’s the plan,” Sneak said.

Shaking his head as if disappointed, Sid said, “I wish you would change your plans a little.”

Seeing the puzzled look on Sneak’s face, Hunter looked over at Sid with a frown and then asked, “Why should he change his plans?”

Gregor covered his mouth with his hand and looked the other way. Sebeson chuckled, but controlled it after a sharp look from Sid. Fred filled the silence by saying, “The tea will be ready in five minutes.”

“Thanks, Fred.”

“Why should I change my plans?” Sneak asked. The idea of being Captain of the Guard had really appealed to him. It was one of the best jobs that a man could get.

“How are you going to run your own citadel, when you’re Captain of the Guard at another one?” Sid asked watching the expression on Sneak’s face. For a minute it looked as if someone had sucker punched him.

Once he had recovered from his shock, Sneak answered, “I can see where there would be problems with that arrangement. I’m sure that I could come up with a creative solution.”

Hunter shook his head. If he had to lose his first choice as Captain of the Guard, then this was the way it should be done. He was pleased to see that Sneak was going to have a future equally as good as his.

Derek broke out in laughter and said, “No one has ever solved the problem of having to be in two places at once.”

Sid said, “There’s a citadel two weeks ride north of here. It was held by Jameson, but he’s dead, now. and I have some men guarding it for the moment.”

“You’re giving me the Jameson Citadel?”

“I suppose that you could rename it the Sneak Citadel,” Sid said.

Sneak stared at Sid unable to believe that he had been given such a choice property. Shaking his head, he asked, “Why me?”

“Well, it seems like you were always there when big events took place. If I recall correctly, it was you who rounded up some of raiders for the battle at Hunter’s Crossing. It was you who lead the other half of the army in the campaign here,” Sid said gesturing to the field around them.

“There’s been a lot of fighting in this war. Scouts are usually right there in the thick of things,” Sneak said feeling a little uncomfortable at having been singled out for his actions.

Sid nodded his head and said, “You were also one of the original men recruited at the Citadel. Every one of you is going to end up with an estate of some sort. Most will end up ruling over cities as my representative.”

“Oh, that’s nice to know. Still you’re talking about a citadel,” Sneak said. A Citadel was more than just a city when part of a Kingdom. It was a civilian and military presence of the King. He pointed to Connor and asked, “Why didn’t you offer it to him?”

“I did. and h He didn’t want it,” Sid answered knowing that Sneak might be a little upset to learn that he was second choice.

“Oh,” Sneak said. He wondered what was wrong with the citadel that caused Connor to turn it down.

Almost as if reading his thoughts, Connor said, “I’m an old man, and ready to retire. I’m going to take a nice administrative position at River’s Crossing, and spend the majority of my time fishing.”

“The tea is ready.”

Satisfied that things were going well, Sid watched Hunter and Sneak ride off in different directions with three hundred men each. The two young men had grown a lot during the war. He was pleased with what he would be able to tell their fathers about how they had done on the campaign. Looking over at Fred, he said, “That’s another six hundred men we’ve managed to place.”

“You seem to be spending a lot of time disbanding your army. Why all of the effort to make sure that they have places or jobs?” Fred asked. At every small town, city, and empty farmstead, Sid had left men behind to start a new life with sufficient material to make a good go of it.

Smiling at Fred, Sid answered, “The end of a war usually leads to a lot of homeless men who take up less than honorable ways of making a living. The wounded men often end up begging or stealing. The healthy who can’t find work tend to take up banditry. By making sure that folks get a home and job, I’m preventing future problems.”

Fred asked, “Are there enough possibilities to take care of all of the army?”

“There’s been a lot of death over the last two years and that has to have hurt the labor pool significantly. The slavers killed a lot of businesses by eliminating regular towns. There will be inns and stores opening up all over this land. If the owner of the inn or store has lost an arm or a leg, it doesn’t matter to anyone but the owner. It matters to him, because he has a business. It is a much better life than being forced to make a living by being a beggar.”