Dukes downfall (5)

Kale jr took the carriage and departed from Zantia. He was going to get married in a week. He was unaware of his father's ambition. He fell in love with the girl and asked his father for permission to marry her. He was prepared for his father's rejection and planned to leave his family for his love.

But contrary to his expectation his father accepted as soon as he asked for his permission. He knew that his father would not do anything which would not profit him. But he knew that the hamshire city was the second weakest city it the region.

Kale jr was under the impression that his father was doing this for him. According to him there was not much to be gained by his father from this marriage. Regardless he was happy that his father accepted to the marriage.

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As the people from Zantia were moving towards hamshire they were attacked by bandits. As the Zantia soldiers were preparing to attack the bandits a volley of arrows started falling on them.

Between them bandits and the archers supporting them the soldiers of Zantia were being held back. Suddenly a boy younger than 10 years of age passed through the soldiers and reached kale jr.

He said " drop you weapons or I will kill him"

The soldiers reluctantly followed his order. As the soldiers dropped the weapons the bandits tied them up.

The boy said " Tell the Duke of Hamshire of he wants the hostage he has to send 10000 gold coins. If he is not willing to pay then I will send him the dead body within a week."

Kale jr was scared. He had not learnt to fight because his father wanted him to be good at managing the city rather than being a soldier for the Kingdom. He had practiced some self defence but the kid was too fast and too strong for him to be able to oppose him.

When he heard of the ransom he was shocked. Even in the city of Zantia it was not possible to arrange 10000 gold coins. The Duke was paid given less than 5000 gold every year. Even including the businesses his father had he could not earn more than 8000 gold per year.

The expenses of soldiers and equipment and such would save his father less than 1000 gold by the end of the year. Not to mention the ransom was getting asked to the Duke of Hamshire. Hamshire was poorer than Zantia. He didn't think it was possible for the Duke to be able to pay for the ransom.

As soon as the ransom was announced to the soldiers the bandits left with Kale jr. Just like Kale jr the soldiers also knew that it was almost impossible to get that amount of money even for the Duke. Not to mention it was almost the end of the year.

As the bandits left the soldiers didn't know what they were supposed to do. They were tied up and there was no way for them to escape without help. Just then a bandit returned and threw a blunt knife near one of the soldiers and left.

All the soldiers equipment was stolen by the bandits. So the blunt knife was the only way for the soldiers. A soldier took the knife and started cutting his ropes. As it was very blunt it took him more than 30 minutes to finally cut through it.

He removed the restraints of other soldiers. The person in-charge told one of the soldiers to return back to Zantia and report to the king about the issue. While he and the remaining soldiers made their way to the city of Hamshire.

The soldiers knew that after the Duke's of the two cities found out about the situation y there was going to be a big commotion. If Kale jr ends up dying then it could end up in a civil war between the two cities.

They quickly made their way to hamshire city. The soldiers knew that once Kale finds it about the situation he was going to be very mad. Kale jr was the only son he had.

As the soldiers reached hamshire the captain of the soldiers went to the Duke to report him about what happened on their way.

As the Duke heard the details his complexion turned white. He knew the temper of Kale. If he investigated he would easily find out about the bandit problem that was going on in the area.

He might blame him for not controlling the bandits and even end his career as the governor. It was hardly possible for him to justify himself. If the king found about this situation he might even lose his nobility status. Especially as the one kidnapped was the kings nephew.

The Duke immediately called his deputy.

"What happened to the bandits we hired to take care of the new group?"

"I thought they succeeded as there had been no attacks on the carts for the past 2 weeks. But it is strange that they didn't come to recieve their reward.

Hearing this the Duke thought that the bandits might have attacked them and scared them from attacking the carts. They might have hidden themselves to take revenge on him by kidnapping his future son-in-law.

He was sure the bandits would be and to take care of them once they were found out.

The Duke said "Find the bandits and ask them to find out about my son-in-law. If they bring him back I will give them triple the price we initially offered them.

The deputy accepted the order and went to send a signal to the bandits to arrange a meeting.