Chapter 222: Chapter 22

After the Royal Messengers silhouette could no longer be discerned, the amused looks on the faces of the commanders and the nobles faded as it was replaced with a serious and solemn expressions.

“Ha! That good for nothing actually became the king and we wouldn’t even know about if not for that poor man who came to inform us.” Commander Kontar grumbled as he took his sit around the table where they were previously drinking at. He reached for the jar of ale at the hands of Commander Karim which the fat man quickly pulled away and brought it to his lips and chugged down another mouthful of it.

Lines started emerging upon the forehead of Commander Kantor as his fellow commander was hugging the jar of ale like it was his most treasured possession that he must protect from him at all cost. “Why you..?” he muttered but he just snorted in displeasure when Viscount Redore handed to him a new jar of wine which a servant just brought to the table.

“So that bastard had as holed up here along the borders and suffer as he quietly ascended to the throne? Hmmm… A smart move on his part… He knows that, if my hunch is right we are all against him in succeeding the throne.” Lord Kasto turned his gaze towards those who were with him who held influence, power and authority in the kingdom and the looks on their faces pretty much confirmed his guess.

“If I was him, I’d send away all opposing parties away from the capital with a good excuse and this looming threat of war is a good excuse… Since he has the support of the Ereian Royal Army, Royal Cavalry and the Sandstorm Cavalry, he pretty much has everything under his control when it comes to security in the capital. And now that most of those who held the greatest influence are here, the biggest problem for him now would be the old men in the palace.” he continued but then he was suddenly cut off.

“And judging by the way that he does things, I doubt that there are only a few of those old men who are still alive in the capital. With the threat of death upon them, those who remained would be frightened to oppose his ascension making his path to the throne practically easy.” Commander Kantor continued then gave out a heavy sigh.

“Let’s just hope that he wasn’t so heartless to actually kill the previous king just so that he would ascend to the throne.”

…..

Commander Nassor was listening to the words of his peers while he started reading the contents of the letter which was delivered to them. His facial expressions turned graver and graver as he continued to read its contents which caught the attention of those who were around him. The changing expressions of old commander from worse to worst made everyone shut their mouth as they waited for the for the worst possible news that they would hear.

Commander Nassor finally put the letter down and stood up from his seat and all eyes were on him.

“Let’s start with the somewhat good news which is, the previous king still lives but he is suffering from an unknown illness that put him into a deep sleep. And I don’t how you will interpret the following news but these are what we are ordered to do.” the old man paused for a bit then eyed his uneasy comrades.

“We are to move out in full force and start the invasion of Alberna and we will not be receiving any reinforcements from the capital, only supplies which I doubt would actually arrive on time. And it was heavily emphasized on the letter that failure is not an option, we would bleed a lot in succeeding or all diet rying.” Commander Nassor continued as he gnash his teeth in anger.

“This is nothing short of suicide!” Commander Kantor flared up as he stood up which resulted in his seat to fall down on the ground.

“He is asking us for the impossible. No reinforcement with just our numbers alone? Screw him! We don’t even have a proper army! Most of our soldiers are conscripted peasants who only learned how to hold a weapon a few months ago. Sure they have strong bodies due to toiling in the fields for years but their minds aren’t suitable for battles.” he continued as he slumped down on his seat which a servant pick up and fixed for him, despair was written all over his face.

“As it was stated in the letter, we are to invade Alberna and the declaration of war against them was already sent by the King and not just that, he also included in his declaration that he will also declare war against those who comes to the aid of Alberna in our war. And another thing, he clearly also stated that if we ever disobey his orders then we will be branded as traitors and the first to suffer would be our families back home ” Commander Nassor continued.

“What a snobbish piece of shit! He is practically dooming the entire kingdom with this and is holding our families hostage to make sure that we follow his orders.What a bastard!”

“The other neighbouring kingdoms are no pushover and with their combined military might, there is no way for us to win. Don’t forget that the army of Alberna along with the mercenaries that they recruited are well on their way towards us, just a few days of march away. We are all done for…” Lord Kasto spoke with helplessness as massaged his temples to ease the pain from his head which was hurting due the arrogance of their new king.

“An army with a total number close to ours and with the experiences of mercenaries in battle…Well gentlemen, it seems that we are in for one suicidal struggle. May Faerush have mercy on our souls and the souls of our soldiers and may he damn the soul of the person who is sending us to the gates of death.” Commander Nassor turned around as he headed for his tent to fetch his equipment as he instructed his followers to spread his orders.

“If by chance that I will survive this madness, I promise that I’ll be the first one to crack open that skull of that bastard and see if he have brains or not.” Viscount Redore snorted as he too headed towards his tent to fetch his gear while instructing his followers to break camp and prepare to march.

It was way past noon when the army stationed at the borders began to move and headed inside the declared territory of Alberna. The commanders of the army had a solemn expressions on their faces as they lead their soldiers who had no idea that they are heading towards a clear death sentence.

*****

Baron Husani had a face full of worry as he continued to split his attention in keeping an eye out for the presence of any enemies while also watching and wondering what made the two infront of him so relaxed and acting like their is no tomorrow.

A few hours later, the feast finally ended and the two leaders of the rebellion ordered their comrades to follow them as they began their march. The baron had no qualms about them marching the rebels away from the original Ereian Camp but the direction that they were heading to was towards the north, directly north which was towards the land of their enemies. He quickly approached the two and questioned why in Faerush’s name are they heading towards where their enemies would be surely at and their answers rendered him speechless as they replied that they are going to meet up with their friends and more food to eat and water or wine drink is guaranteed if they join them.

The baron kept his mouth shut after hearing their replies but he can’t keep still as he worriedly glanced around him from time to time. He was released from his cage and was riding alongside the two but it seems that he liked it better to be inside the cage since if ever any enemy decides to attack them then the caged person would be the most least target unlike being infront of a band of soldiers and looking like their leader with his attire.

The sun finally started to begin its descent behind the mountain peaks and darkness started to spread out all over the place as night begins. Siroh and Badz still continued to move which in turn made those behind, follow closely behind them. It was a bit dark already but they could still make out what was a few meters away from them.

The fluttering white banner and the bands worn by those who are with him, puzzled the Baron on what was its purpose but he quickly answered his own question inside his head.

“It must have been their way before to distinguish their allies inside the camp…”

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