Well good day there folks!
This is my first foray to the world of fanfictions!
Mwahahaha!
Anyways, please do excuse my grammar, English is not my native language.
If you find any mistakes, please feel free to point it out!
And no flames okay? Critics are very welcome, but flames will get me nowhere.
On with the fic!
Destruction.
There was only ransacked stalls and houses in what used to be a marketplace.
There was only turned tables and broken potteries in what used to be a tavern.
There was only screams of agony and sadness in what used to be a lively city.
There was only a wounded woman nailed to the floor by her hands in what used to be the regal castle in Cez.
"My King!"
A large man dressed in a heavy plate armor with a crowned great helm approached the Griffon knight who called him.
He looked down on the object that had caused the knight's distress, he looked down at the nailed woman.
She wore a regal plate armor that had retained it's beauty despite the blood and missing parts that exposed the snake bite wounds on the woman's skin.
"It's Lady Alyssa m'Liege! She's alive!"
The king removed his helmet, revealing a haggard face framed by his own beard and long red hair, a shocked expression adorning the battle hardened man.
"By the gods... Someone get the surgeons in here! No, get An- Head Physician Ansen in here, now!"
"You really think this is not my fault Gundarr?" The king spoke from his seat in his tent.
"Many good citizens of Cez lies dead, and Alyssa was tortured and violated, tell me if that's not my fault!" He said almost angrily.
"No brother." Said the one in front of him, the one Lord Gundarr Iceheart.
"It is not your fault, we marched here as fast as we could."
The king stood up and paced around his seat, his bloodshot eyes looking at anything but Gundarr, "Yes we did, but i was the one who placed her in Cez despite of her origin! I could always grant her some of my own villages, not some city that would be the end of her!"
"Bodvar, she fought alongside you since the very beginning, she deserved a major fief, and between the two choices, Cez would better suit her than in Valonbray."
"Yes i know, it would risk a discord within the Order of The Dawn, but still..."
"I don't remember Kaeteli marrying a weak man, she married the hearty Unificator of Pendor.
You attained the name Stoneheart for a reason, live up to it!"
Bodvar finally smiled, "Mm-hmm, Stoneheart is still better than No-heart, right?"
"Judging by the way you hacked your way through those vile Anaconda Knights, i can safely say that No-heart suits you better." the ex-jarl of Fierdsvain laughed before raising a tankard of ale, "To Lady Alyssa's health, and to you!" He grinned at his brother in law.
"May the gods bless our country!" The king also raised his tankard, then downed it alongside his brother.
Right after they finished their ale, a Falcon lady-knight rushed into the tent, "My Lords! Lady Alyssa is awake! She requested an audience with the king!"
Bodvar stood straight and put his formal mask once more.
"Thank you Lady Anita. Well then Brother, please excuse me."
Gundarr gave his brother a Pendorian salute, then watched him went out with the lady knight.
"I guess a full blown war with the Snake Cult is inevitable." He pondered as he took another swig of his ale.
"A true battle for peace, now that i can live with..."
Bodvar walked briskly alongside Lady Anita across the camp. His expression hard, his steps strong, his doubts quenched.
Whatever happens next, he shall face it bravely. He is the king of all Pendor, he must do it for the sake of his people, of his subjects, and of his friends and families.
Her tent was guarded by Lord Roland the Grandmaster of The Dawn himself and his loyal knights, proof of how valuable she was to the people of Pendor.
His bravado however, was instantly destroyed the moment went inside Alyssa's tent.
Ansen squeezed his shoulder before going out of the tent with Lady Anita.
She lay there on the bed, battered and bandaged. Her bloody armor hung on the stand, a reminder of the gruesome fate she had to come through.
The thing that chilled him the most was that she looked so peaceful, almost serene, dismiss the bruise and bandages and she would look like a sleeping woman.
Her looks reminded him of his past, back from the time when he was just an impoverished young noble lad.
Back from the time when the last of his family died.
From when his aunt died.
She had that same peaceful look.
'No, Alyssa's not dead!'
He took a seat beside her bed and looked at her serene face.
Time had been kind to her. The runaway serpent priestess that had trouble wiping off her old snakey habit was gone, replaced by a regal noble lady, good-natured and just.
He still remembered the reservations he had towards her during the first few months of her joining.
He still remembered her struggles to gain his trust.
Despite the barriers and challenges he presented to her, she succeeded.
And he still remembered the heavy feeling he got when she chose Cez over Valonbray, saying that she was better suited than anyone else in his court to face the Snake Cult due to her knowledge.
Now he could relate to her in many ways; she was one of his first companions, she could poke fun where others couldn't, she was a funny person beneath her formal mask, and she was the one shedding blood alongside him for the longest time.
She was like a little sister he never had, a little bit younger than him, turning only 32 next month.
He was so deep in thought he didn't realize that Alyssa had opened her eyes and stared at him for about a minute now.
"My King? Are you alright?"
Bodvar snapped off his thoughts and stared at his subject.
"Good evening Alyssa, how are you feeling?" He asked as a smile graced his haggard features.
She smiled back at him, "I'm alright my lord."
Lies.
He glanced at her arms and saw that despite her smiling face, they were still quivering.
"It's okay Alyssa, don't hold it in..."
It only took a second for her mask to shatter, for all formalities to step aside, giving way to her real feeling to come out.
At that moment, she was not Lady Alyssa of Cez, she was not the Lady that had fought the snake invaders bravely, she was just a little girl clinging to him for her dear life.
She wailed and wailed to his chest, pouring all her anguish and agony to the man she had come to consider as her own brother.
She might be an ex-priestess of the Snake Cult.
She might be a ferocious warrior on the field.
She might be the strong willed woman that ruled Cez.
But in the end, she is still a woman.
As she remembered the massacre of her subjects and the rape by the cultists, she clung to him tighter, trying to find any kind of protection from her own tainted memory.
"So it was indeed Maltise..." Bodvar finally broke the silence of her tent.
Alyssa nodded, her eyes still red from all the tears she had just shed.
"I let her go and this is how she repays me... Of all the warlords that i let live, she is the only one to make me regret my decision."
The ex-priestess looked up, and saw something she had not seen for a long time.
She saw his anger from his cold and bloodshot eyes, she saw the very reason why her King had been dubbed Stoneheart by his enemies.
"She will die a slow death."
He stood up and was about to walk away from the tent when Alyssa grabbed his hand.
"Bodvar, do not start the war without me..."
He stared at her eyes, her teary but determined eyes.
"I won't, i promise. Now go get some sleep, get well soon, we got a war to plan!"
Relief finally settled on him as he saw her grin.
"For the people of Cez, and for you, we shall make her pay! By the way, Lord Ulric was worried to death about you."
He grinned as she sputtered incoherent words, blushing.
"I heard that you're awak- Oh, my King!" Lord Ulric, the ex-king of Sarleon gave his King a salute after nearly ran him over.
He turned towards the intruder, and the king's grin became even wider.
"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then."
As Ulric fussed over his love interest, he walked out of the tent.
He peeked his head back into the tent, intruding the kiss of the two lovers.
"Oh, Ulric, don't do anything funny just yet, she's still injured."
He walked out of the tent laughing with the sound of the coughing Ulric and Alyssa behind him.
The sun peeked over the mountains, a new day had dawned.
It marked the beginning of a new war.
The one that will bring destruction upon the Snake Cult.
The one that will bring peace for his beloved country.
And by the end of it, Maltise shall fear death.
He thought of his loyal men; standing straight, happy, and ready to fight with him.
He thought of his officers; grim yet friendly, loyalties unquestioned, ready to lead their men to descend upon his enemies.
He thought of his auxiliaries, the Veccavians, the Barclay honored troops, the Noldors, even the independent warlords; ready to stood beside him as payback for his good deeds towards them.
Yes, by the end of the war, Maltise shall fear death.
By the end of the war, her death shall be his gift for Alyssa and Ulric's marriage.
By the chalice of the old Pendorian Kings, he swears it.
'May Astraea guide us.'