Morgana spoke softly to herself as she crossed the threshold of the farmhouse. She whispered, "Empress Morgana
of Molossia." She paused,as she barred the door, and added, "It does have a nice ring to it."
She found the comfy chair, a flagon of hot spiced tea, and then sat down and gazed into her mirror.
"That's a lot more than 12 armed men!" she said in alarm as she stared into the glass at the ramparts of
castle wall. She gazed deeper, zooming in, and she laughed.
"Clever, they look like soldiers, but are just scarecrows in armor," she sighed in relief. Then she wondered
why the king should mount so many scarecrows. As she gazed, a real soldier tugged on a rope and the scarecrow
guardsmen lurched and moved along the parapet wall. At a distance, you would have sworn the guards were
patrolling.
Morgana broadened her gaze, and discovered the cause of Molossia's preparedness. An encampment of over 100
soldiers was settled down just a quarter mile from the castle gates. It looked like the coat of arms of Prince
Damon. She studied the attackers, and focused on hearing the whispers and rumors of the encamped men. Aha,
something caught her ear.
"Prince Desmond, I do not think that the king meant you could go conquer a kingdom for yourself when he gave
you this regiment to find his missing son," protested the captain.
"We know Prince Damon would have come this way, so they must know what happened to him. They deny that they
know anything about him. So they must be responsible for his disappearance. If I have to conquer them to get
to the truth, and I get to keep their kingship as my bounty, so be it. It is probably the only chance for me
to become King Desmond. I'm sure that Prince Damon will turn up in a week or two. I asked an oracle before
starting this journey, and she said that he was in a brothel somewhere. Molossia may be small, but I'm sure
they have a brothel."
"He's in a brothel? Then why didn't you tell the king? It's only an oracular prophecy, and his highness
doesn't believe in such things. Prince Damon told him he would be back at the appointed hour, he wasn't, so he
must be in trouble. Hence, I have a small army at my disposal."
"Yes, your highness. Uh, but we did pass two crossroads, couldn't have Prince Damon taken one of those paths?"
"Oh, he could have, but it's unlikely. The first crossroad leads to a nasty old witch's tower, and even if
Damon was questing, I don't think he has the balls to take on Morgana."
Morgana chuckled, and added, "Not anymore."
"What of the second crossroads?"
"The kingdom of Flaccia lies that way. Too depressing for Damon's tastes. Besides, if they had him, they
would have sent a ransom."
"But couldn't he have just passed through there? They do have several ports."
"Molossia first. Flaccia later, maybe. I'm tired, and tomorrow the siege begins. Good night."
Prince Desmond retired. Morgana studied her future glass. It showed possible futures, but not necessarily the
true one. In the possible future where Desmond became King of Molossia he was known as Desmond the Despot, and
he inherited Damon's kingdom when Damon did not return. She chuckled, as she saw that Desmond's quest to find
Damon would be fruitful, but Desmond was oblivious that the whore he was bedding was in fact the transformed
prince for which he searched. Good thing he didn't love Damon, thought Morgana, true love's kiss breaks most
enchantments.
She debated should she let Desmond overrun Molossia first or should she stop him and claim Molossia as her
own. Besides the scarecrows, what other clever defenses did the tiny kingdom have?
She turned her gaze back on the castle. Connie's widowed father King Constantine was younger, and more comely
than she expected. He must have been a boy when he fathered Connie, as he could not now be more than 30. Not a
single grey hair. Unlike Prince Desmond. He was not sleeping.
"Do you think he has the princess?" asked Captain Georges.
"No, but I wouldn't be surprised to find her tangled up with that missing Prince Damon somehow. She's as
danger prone as her mother Daphne was," he sighed, "No, I sized this Desmond up quickly. He's a landless
prince, and he's using his cousin's disappearance to make a land grab. Unfortunately for us, it's our land.
The scarecrows have intimidated him enough not to attack directly, but I warrant that tomorrow, we can expect
catapulted boulders or worse. So we should attack first, before dawn. They are encamped a quarter mile down
the road, will our catapults reach that far? And are they finished?"
"Seven are completed, the other five are nearly so, we are testing them by firing phosphorescent rocks in the
opposite direction of the encampment. All the fence posts have been gathered in, and are soaking in the tar
oil, as you ordered. When you command we will light them and launch them like flaming spears at our enemy."
"That order may come sooner than later. When the carpenters are done of the catapults, set them to making more
fence posts, and pickets. The children and apprentices can help too. I'm afraid no sleep for any of us
tonight."
Then to Morgana's surprise, King Constantine started to assemble arrows. She liked this bold young king. She
hadn't meant to teleport, she had only been thinking about teleporting, but she had teleported.
King Constantine stood up with his hand on his sword hilt, but he did not draw his sword.
"Who are you? How did you come here? Are you in league with Prince Desmond?"
"I am the Enchantress Morgana," she said thinking quickly. She decided to omit the part about changing Prince
Damon into a woman, and shrinking Princess Connie and putting her in a jar. So she simply added, "I came by
magic, and I am not in league with that would be king Desmond."
The king let go of his sword hilt, and smiled, "While you certainly are enchanting to look upon Morgana, you
have come visiting at an odd time. Georges, get a cup of wine for our guest. The Spanish Medoc from the bottle
not the barrel of wine. Bring the bottle, I could use a bit more wine myself," Then he pulled over a chair for
Morgana and invited her to sit. "I haven't heard of involving yourself in conflicts between kingdoms, but if
you are thinking about involving yourself now, we of Molossia could use the help."
"Indeed?"
"Georges, methinks the lady may be hungry from her journey send up some of that venison too."
"Er, I can see you are under siege, but you seem different than most royals, I have encountered. They are
always pointing their swords at me and attacking me," Morgana said pointedly.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. No one should take arms against a lady as lovely as you appear," he paused and
added, "You're not using a glamour on me?"
Morgana laughed, "No! Of course not."
He sighed in relief.
"I confess, I'm more than a bit flustered. It's not just that Desmond. It's my daughter. She disappeared the
same morning that Prince Desmond and his army showed up. I've been keeping him at bay with the threat of my
army which I claimed was out in the woods searching for my daughter. The stable boy told me he saw her
dressed in man's armor ride out early in the morning, so I know she's just off questing again. Last time she
came back with a frog, she was sure was an enchanted prince. It was just a frog, but I'm worried she might
walk right into Prince Desmond's camp. And by now, I'm sure he's figured either I don't have an army or that
they are too far a field to come to our aid." He sighed again. He poured wine from the bottle Georges had
brought into his flagon and then into Morgana's cup. The platter of venison lay between them on the table, and
two wooden plates lay in front of each of them.
"How many scarecrows do you have?"
"Over two hundred," the king answered, "We are trying to expand our farming, and have cut down lots of trees.
So we have plenty of lumber for catapults and pikes, and we had built the scarecrows to protect the seed. I
plan to put 10000 acres under cultivation. Then we will have grain to sell, and more people will come to join
Molossia. In a few years, I hope to grow our village into a town or maybe even a city. Oh, I have to show you
the new tower. It's just really a big stone silo, but the outside is complete, once we build the stairs,
floors and such inside, it will be quite nice."
"Two hundred scarecrows? Do you have that much armor?"
"Over a thousand suits of armor," he looked a bit sheepish, "You see there was a great battle here hundreds of
years ago. Ten thousand warriors fought and at least a thousand died. Most were left where they fell or
buried in mass graves. I figured the steel would make good plow blades and nails. So we gathered up all the
armor and swords and shields we could find."
"I think I may be able to help you, and you may be able to help me. I'm in need of a new home. Mine got
burned. And that tower of yours might do nicely for me."
"Whatever you need, oh, Gracious Morgana," said the king on bended knee next to her.
Morgana drank the wine unsure what to say. She felt as giddy as a school girl.