In those first few years I saw a world quite unlike that of the Forest, where its inhabitants had two main preoccupations; finding food to eat and making sure that they weren’t food for some other animal. The King and his Chamberlain were very concerned in the security of the kingdom; he had only come to the Throne recently and his father had left a land that needed to be able to bring it’s disparate parts together, to secure its borders and defend itself. But all this took money and that was one thing that they did not have in abundance. The first King was an impatient man more comfortable on the battlefield than in the Throne Room, the Chamberlain was an intensely loyal person who had been a captain in the old King’s army. As a look back on my time, I can now understand that these two men whilst not particularly astute when it came to money knew enough that they could not build castles without it.

“Well let’s put up the taxes across the Kingdom?” suggested the King.

“We could do My Lord; however, there are at least two provincial governors who I wouldn’t trust. They could well see them use the excuse to declare independence and set up their own fiefdom.” said the Chamberlain.

Both men were sat at a large table below me, on the table was spread a map of the kingdom with rivers, seas and mountains. The map was held down by two tankards of mead that the men were drinking from, a dagger in one corner and a stone in another. It was a bright morning early in the year, I could feel the sap rising ready for the new growth that would never now come and the wind through the high open windows had a freshness to it. The Chamberlain was dressed (as he always was) in his finest clothes, wearing his chain of office and his face was a study of concentration. The King was dressed in a more simple style, his crown lying on the map absently discarded with a toss of the wrist. They had been discussing how to raise the money for the buildings that they wanted in each province, but so far the total money for these improvements, with the cost of training new garrisons and the upkeep of the existing army meant that the Exchequer would be borrowing money. Not a situation that pleased the King or Chamberlain, as the nobles from whom they normally borrowed were not possessed of bottomless purses.

“Hmm, I agree but what else could we do? We could try and encourage local trade by building ports in the most prosperous regions, but I would trust the governors of the regions only so far as I could kick the rotting corpse of my enemy. They would either fleece me or sell out to my enemy. We could try and build up the farming in the other regions, but I am told that the money raised year on year would not match the cost of the improvements for some years. Bugger” ruminated the King. A frown of concentration was building on his forehead, as he rubbed his head with his free hand and lifted the mead to his lips with the other.

“Well, if I maybe so bold as to offer advice your Sire” began the Chamberlain only to be cut-off by a swift cutting motion of the Kings free hand.

“Look George, you above all I trust. You were a good advisor to my father and an able general. Speak man; clearly, honestly and openly.” The King said with warm affection and authority.

“Certainly Sire. We are both fighting men; I was given this position by your father, may he rest in peace, because I proved myself in many battles bringing rebels together under the crown and because I am very good at working out what a person really means when they are speaking. I wasn’t given this position because I knew about finances.” began the Chamberlain, “But I know one man, whose ability with money and numbers is as good as mine is in reading people.”

“So who is this paragon of counting?” quipped the King

“It is Hugh D’ Gascoigne, my liege” said the Chamberlain.

“That man is the least loyal of all my Governors; he’s mother was a French whore who beguiled an honest Norman.” spat the King “Give me one good reason why I should have anything to do with that snake?”

“I’ll give you more than one reason Sire. One, if he’s here he can hardly cause trouble in his province; a case of keeping your friends closer by your enemies closer still. Two, his mother was a cousin to the crown and he has contacts in to the French court that could prove useful, if he can be controlled. Three, the man is intensely loyal, but only to two things – Hugh D’ Gascoigne and money; to really be able to build his personal wealth, he must be in a position where money flows in and out – looking after the Exchequer would be a very appropriate place for him. Four, aside from his penchant with figures, Hugh also has a voracious appetite for sex and has a leaning towards young squires. It is one of the controls that I have over him that has bought his loyalty over the years. He dare not have this made public, otherwise he would lose all credibility and could well end up very much the worse.” explained the Chamberlain.

The King was stunned, a smile crept across his face and soon his body was shaking with laughter, “You old rogue, I’d swear that half the time this kingdom is kept together only by threat of violence or blackmail!”

“Only half the time Sire?” said the Chamberlain quietly “But what of the suggestion?”

The King began to compose himself and as his laughter subsided he stood and stretched. The powerful muscles of his legs and arms stretched taunt like a cat.

“Let me think on it for awhile; I know that a decision has to be made, but I need to weigh up the idea in my mind” said the King.

“Of course my liege. There are some other affairs we need to address Sire and they are delicate.” said the Chamberlain, the last part more timidly than he had spoken all morning.

“I know; a wife. The need for an heir is pressing, alliances through marriage are very useful and the company at night can be diverting blah blah blah – Look George, I know all this; but who? The French? They are arrogant and think that all of Europe is their personal property. The Danes? Upstart descendents from the Vikings, with no influence and even poorer than we are. The Italians? About as trustworthy and dependable as Judas; although I have heard that one princess Maigret is a complete knockout. The Aragonese? They have designs on our lands in the south but are less useful to use than the Danes are. The Spanish? Who have beautiful daughters who pray all night and make you insane with desire? Or a princess from the Holy Roman Empire? Have you seen the daughter that the Holy Roman Emperor has produced? You know, she was skulking around here earlier this year. Oh what’s her name? Princess Ingar!! She turned milk sour and scared the children of the court. I’d far rather sleep with a goat!”

“Sire, please think of this marriage not in terms of attraction, but of state-hood. Marriage with the right royal line, can lead to useful things and bolster our position. Anyway, Princess Ingar was not that unattractive; she had an air about her that said something I though” mused the Chamberlain.

“Damn right it did – my mother was an ogre and my father was drunk” said the King warming to his diatribe.

The Chamberlain remained quiet as the King chortled and muttered another obscenity under his breath. Soon he looked up and peered at the very quiet Chamberlain.

“George, what have you done?”

The Chamberlain shifted and squirmed in his seat “The affairs of state cannot allow the affairs of the heart or the eyes to dominate Sire”

“George, what have you done?” repeated the King.

“It is for the good of the realm Sire” as the Chamberlain spoke it was as though he was trying to disappear in to his seat to avoid the gaze and building fury of his master.

“George, what the blue blazes have you done?” said the King quietly but menacingly.

“I agreed an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor as you directed and also agreed to the marriage of Princess Ingar to the King, with a dowry of 2000 florins with the blessing of the Holy Father the Pope that the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and the crown of England may be forever forged together in peace and brotherly love” blurted the Chamberlain in one quick sentence.

The King sat and his shoulders sagged “Oh. Bugger. The Pope’s blessing you say? Bugger. Couldn’t you at least’ve tried for that dark Italian filly, damn she’s a knockout from what I’ve heard. Oh sod it. Look George I knew you were up to something, I’m not a complete fool. A marriage to the Holy Roman Empire is a good thing; it will hold France check and their women have a tendency to be able to produce sprogs every time they lift their petticoats. Old friend, I am not angry. Let’s get this marriage thing done, pop out a few heirs or two and then I can get back to other things, like hunting and feasting.”

The attitude of the King and the Chamberlain was not so far removed from that I had seen displayed by the animals in the Forest. What marriage was I didn’t know then, but the idea of having offspring was one I had seen before; where the strongest and fittest got to mate with the most fertile, here it was writ large. Kingdoms mating with kingdoms. It was the beginning of my education in statehood.