48 Opening The Gates

Then Boris turned to Feline, "notify the blacksmiths to prepare hundreds of swords and shields by the end of this week."

"By the end of this week?" Feline gasped, "all due respect sir, the blacksmiths produce a max of 27 swords in a week."

"And this is during wartime?" Boris asked, his thick lips pressing against each other to form a thin line as he turned his entire body to face her.

"Ah…" Feline stuttered, her body tensing up when she noticed the eyes of other council members on her, "I-I mean no, those were all on normal days of the week. It takes a lot of time before a sword can be made, and even on normal days"

"Then push for maximum supply and notify all the blacksmiths in the countries near us to start mass-producing swords," Boris commanded, "It may be a surprise to you but, we are in the middle of a war. Though we may not be physically there, it's still very much real and because we are on the sidelines, we need to be able to come through when they need us."

A slight smile passed on Antonia's, the second oldest council member, old face as she heard Boris talk, she exchanged a nod with Noah, a sign of acceptance. Boris continues, "I may be new here, but I have every reason to trust his majesty and put my life on the line for him so I will not be holding back when it comes to helping him," His eyes locked on Feline and darkened, "especially when we have the resources too. We might not be able to create amazing stuff but we can go for a lower standard at mass-produce at that level. We can combine that with the swords we have left in the inventory and we might have 2,000 or more by Saturday to send to the battlefields."

"2,000 or more…" a guard slipped out, then tightly shut his lips when he noticed his slip up, "sorry sir."

Boris turned to the guard and tapped his shoulder reassuringly, "no worries, I know it sounds absurd but I know we can do it," he turned his head to face Feline, "got that? I want everything ready by Saturday so it can leave with the soldiers. You are in charge of all the things we need for war so don't let me down. I will be checking on Wednesday for progress."

"Yes sir," Feline grinned. She stepped out of the line and ran down the hall to complete her task.

"And now.." Boris walked towards the large door at the mouth of the room. He wrapped his hand around the handle and pushed down, "time to go outside right?"

Boris pulled open the door and a bright light hit his face, oozing into the room. He squinted his eyes and waited for them to get used to the high sun, then stepped outside breathing in the air. The sight was one he hadn't seen before, the sight of looking out of the castle to the large expanse of a garden before him, with a stone path weaving through the flowers. The colors of the flowers seemed to be the only bright thing at the moment, standing out against the grey stones, showing beauty and delicacy that Boris had never felt before. He stepped onto the path and started walking forward, although his feet were hitting the bumpy jagged grounds, the softness of the flowers and the air surrounding him distracts him from it. The path was long but at the end, he could see the large wall ahead of him, it stood tall with intricate gold designs but a sturdy foundation, it was something he never thought he could pass through but as he neared the end of the path with fast footsteps and the council behind him, the thought didn't seem so far fetched.

"Guards," Boris declared, he hid the fact that his voice wavered a bit. The fact that he could command them to open those gates was something he could have never imagined.

The guards in front gave Boris a bow before proceeding to open the gates. The opening in the gate was relatively small compared to the size of the gate that spread completely around the humongous castle. It would take 4 hours to fully explore the whole castle and 30minutes to walk around it but yet the walls still manage to wrap around the castle while having only three entries each equally as small. It was a subtly harsh reminder of how something so large and welcoming would only accept a minority of people, filtering them out. For Boris to be one of the people to step in and out… it was something he could have never imagined and as amazing as it was, he knew it wasn't his.

The gates slid open and the world Boris was all too familiar with appeared once again before him. He turned back to the councils and examined their faces full of hesitancy, confidence, and pure disgust as the thought of stepping out of royal grounds into commoners filled their minds. This was the time he was waiting for. Even though everything he has right now was not his but his majesty's he would fight to protect it because he can't afford to lose it.