Merendinoemiliano: I would hardly compare my chapters to something as complex as game of thrones, but thank you for the compliment. I'm also glad I could make a bit clearer picture for you regarding Hengist's situation.
/*-*/
Richard Ironwood was a man. He had to accept that death would find him, one way or another. All men must die, and no amount of eating right or exercise can prevent the inevitable.
Yet as he walked through the manor, the sight of dying men made his soul shudder. Chests were pierced with spears, cut by swords, punctured by arrows, or a combination of the three. Heads were worse off, with crushed skulls from where axes had autographed their place, and slashed where swords had cut throats.
His father stood by his side, Montgomery's hand on his shoulder. Montgomery didn't need to see the carnage, as the smell of blood masked any flower or perfume. The sound of cloths being wringed in soapy water, before being applied to the groans of dying men.
A shout was heard from one of the beds, "THEY BARB THEIR ARROW, WHAT ASSHOLE DOES THAT."
He then screamed as the sound of blood dripping on the floor made itself known.
Richard could hear a few nurses whispering to each other.
"I pull out the arrows, but that only makes the bleeding worse." One said.
"I've seen accident and skirmish wounds, but this is more torture than battle." The other said, as she tried to twist the arrow to go out the entry wound. She pulled and a second slash mark was opened as the hooks on the side of the arrow burst out of the skin, earning another scream.
Richard could also see limp bodies being dragged out to a cart.
Montgomery spoke, "We have brought this on ourselves. Our decadence and ignorance towards our conscience drew the Saxons to our gates, and now we will pay for our crimes against morality."
Richard heard another horrify sound in the form of another cart of wounded approached.
Then a fresh sound, as an independent horse rode up to the manor.
The rider spoke, "King Archibald the third, ruler of the Kingdom of Mantle, Thalassocrat of the Atlassian Sea, the Mantle Sea, and Oceanian strait, summons Montgomery Ironwood to the castle."
Montgomery stumbled forward, "I am Montgomery Ironwood."
"His highness, requests you come to the palace immediately." The rider said before rearing his horse and riding off.
Montgomery sighed.
Richard looked at his father nervously, " Father, do you think-"
Montgomery interrupted, "I might not return, you know I leave my possessions to you."
Montgomery summoned his slave, and prepared to leave.
As the slave wheeled a cart around, Montgomery turned to his only son, "I love you my son, you have made these last few years of suffering a wonderful gift."
Montgomery was helped onto the cart, and spoke to his slave, "Take me to Mantle."
Thus began the cart ride toward the capital.
/*-*/
Hengist's hand slipped on the pink stone, causing his pup to yelp.
Hengist took this moment to look down, gazing at what could be a very long drop.
I should really try not to slip Hengist thought, turning his eyes back to the heavens as he climbed the stone mountain.
He found a nice solid ledge to rest on as he pulled out some dried meat for himself and his hound.
Hengist couldn't help but imagine what was at the top. Was it an army of Warriors ready to die for the king, or was it a small group of intimate fighters who belied in the Saxon crown? Would the training be hands on, or would it be instructional?
Hengist mind then turned to Horsa. What had happened to his brother, was he safe, or was even in danger to begin with.
Hengist's mind began to wander toward the worst of thoughts, so he decided it was time to climb once again.
His hands were on a rock when Hengist turned to his side. He saw a path, rocky, but still a path. Hengist walked towards it, and continued to walk as it spiraled upward.
As he got to the top, Hengist saw 30 men standing in a line. The men had no armor on, and stood in attention. A man was seen at the entrance of a cave, this one possessed armor. He wore a dragon scale mail with a masked helmet, topped with a wolf hood.
The man immediately noticed Hengist and spoke, "Fall in line, if you are here for the training, otherwise, get off my mountain."
Hengist ran up to the line and Stood with the bare men.
The trainer, Hengist assumed, paced back and forth in front of the men. He spoke, "You all are here because you think you are special, that compared to the average Saxon warrior, you stand out. You're incredibly stupid if you actually believe that. It doesn't matter if your blood comes from a king or a Geoguth, here, you are all beneath the dirt. Any questions?"
Hengist had to be certain, "Are you really-"
Suddenly the officer's fist collided with Hengist's stomach, causing him to stumble backward, until he was at the ledge.
The officer spoke again, "Enjoy the climb back up, bitch."
Hengist replied, "Wha-"
Suddenly the ledge gave out and Hengist tumbled down the mountain.
/*-*/
Montgomery heard the cart come to a stop.
He could smell the sea air, telling Montgomery that they had arrived at Mantle.
The sound of metal from guards moving filled his ears.
The guards lifted Montgomery out of the carriage and set him on the ground.
One of the guards spoke "Right this way sir."
Montgomery just stood their and waited, hearing the other guard start to chuckle.
"Sir?" The guard said again.
The other guard roared, "He's blind you moron!"
The sound of the guard stumbling back tickled Montgomery, if only for a moment.
The guard placed his hand on Montgomery's shoulder, and lightly tugged him in a direction.
The guards continued to guide Montgomery through the castle until he felt the warm temperature of the throne room.
Montgomery remained silent as the guards moved away.
Montgomery heard a voice speak to him as a cold metal blade was pressed to the back of his neck, "We need to make you presentable to the most powerful king in the world."
The Blade cut his hair until it felt much lighter. It was likely shorter, similar a centurion's cut.
Scented perfume was then poured on his head and shoulders.
The guards then opened a door to an exclamation from the king of Mantle, "There he is!"
Montgomery braced for what was coming. Yet a blow didn't even come.
Instead Montgomery heard, "Come on sit down, we are having this meeting to discuss the next leader of Dangaul, Inibar and the villages of those areas."
Montgomery had so many questions, "M-my lord?"
Archibald gave an "ah" before explaining, "I figured I should reward you for warning me about the Saxon threat. I confess I thought you were mad, until Imponius here told me about how a group calling themselves Saxons killed Tulio DIviteus and raided his fort."
Montgomery was shocked, after all Diviteus had so many resources available to hi, and he still couldn't beat the Saxons.
Archibald continued, "I figured that since you had told me about this threat, I should reward you. I might even give you Diviteus's lands to tend to, if you can help me of course."
Montgomery was curious, "How may I be of service?"
"Tell me how to get rid of these Saxons, make them history, or better yet, disappear." He said, the glee in voice was tangible.
Montgomery thought for a moment, "You can't."
"I'm sorry, what?" The king's voice had an irritation in it.
"I have had many visions, seen many actions taken against the Saxons. All military actions do is delay the destruction of Mantle. The kingdom of Mantle has always been on borrowed time. A kingdom is like a man, and all men must die eventually." Montgomery stated sadly.
Archibald voice dripped with venom, "Give this man his wealth and get him-"
Montgomery interrupted, "These is one vision where we last the longest."
Archibald was silent for a minute before inquiring, "Tell me more."
Montgomery continued, "What are they after? They are here for wealth and religious fervor. The fervor will eventually be too great to overcome. Their lust for wealth, on the other hand, can be sated without blood."
"What are you saying?" The king of Mantle asked, his voice dripping with threat.
"I'm saying we pay them for peace." Montgomery stated plainly.
A silence hung in the air.
The king appeared to be in deep thought, "Why would they honor a paid peace that they could supposedly take by force."
"Because the Giant still sleeps. The full wrath hasn't been seen, which means this is likely a rogue officer simple looking for wealth." Montgomery proposed, "They are men of honor, or at least that's what the visions say. Hopefully, we can buy enough time to build an army large enough to save the kingdom."
The king continued to be in deep thought.
Montgomery decide a proposition, "If I am given the land of Diviteus, I will do my best to pay a portion of what ever expensed are incurred in the name of peace."
The king spoke in agreement, "Very well, you shall be given control of the lands previously owned by Tulio Diviteus."
Flavius spoke, "This is outrageous, I am the one who marched to defend the land. It should go to me."
The king spoke, "You did little more than alert them to coming aid, if there wasn't a crisis going, I would have your head for treason!"
Flavius gulped, remembering the power of the king.
The king spoke once again, "Send out cavalry to negotiate a time."
And with that they were dismissed.
Richard seemed overjoyed at the fact that he would be stationed at his father's theme. Yet the cost would be great, as something disturbed the Saxons to cause the change from village raiding to convoy raids.
The time was torturous, as every day more men showed up to have their wounds treated.
Eventually, an agreement was reached that negotiation would take place at the fields of Inibar.
As Montgomery approached the negotiation camp, there was an air of fear that could be felt for miles.
They were about to meet an army that had cause many soldiers to go to the next life. Many of the men's armors shook with fear.
Yet over all the armors shaking, a sound over took the field. Metal armor, marching in unified formation towards the camp.
The king was the first to speak, "I said come with only a few retainers."
A deep Nordic voice spoke, "I don't trust you."
Archibald laughed nervously, "Well, lets negotiate, I am offering 40,000 gold pieces in exchange for you to stop plundering our lands."
Montgomery whispered to a soldier, "How big are they?"
The soldier whispered back, "He's a good foot (1/3 meter) taller than his majesty."
The sound of a chair being pushed back was heard and the leader said, "Negotiating will get us nowhere."
"Wait wait wait." King Archibald said, "Name an acceptable price."
The sound of shuffling was heard and a metal *clunk* filled the air.
It was gold, that much was certain, but it was heavy.
"I need a payment worth 600,000 of these." The leader said.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TRY TO BANKRUPT US?" An aristocrat shouted.
"Me? I am Gewis, the man who is raiding your land. I am not unreasonable; I accept gemstone and a hundred time the number in silver."
"We can't come close to affording that." The king said.
"I raided villages for 400,000 gold pieces, I think you can muster 600,000 from your cities alone." Gewis replied.
"We couldn't justify-" Archibald started.
"THAT IS MY PRICE FOR PEACE!" Gewis shouted.
No one dared speak after the outburst.
Montgomery spoke, "We will pay for this peace, it will take us a month to amass the wealth, is that acceptable?"
Gewis seemed to lighten up, "Very well, one month. My raids shall continue until the money is paid." Gewis said, standing up.
"What? You can-" King Archibald started.
Gewis cut him off, "Do not tell me what I can and can not do. You don't want to be raided, pay the tribute early."
They left the meeting, feeling a sense of dread from the wealth they would need to amass.
/*-*/
Gewis found the wagons of gold and gems to be rather light, yet they checked out.
Gewis turned away, having his men cart the gold back to the long ships.
After about an hour of loading they went back to New Saxony.
Olaf, Gewis's retainer, spoke, "Why did you sign a peace that would give them time to prepare."
Gewis smirked under his mask, "Let them build, let them amass their greatest armies, let them band together as a league of nations. When they fail, their tears will be the sweetest nectar I taste."
/*-*/
She watched the boat from her Seer Grim, her hands on her cheek.
"What a beautiful people, so violent and merciless. They will begin in my era far better than any attend I could have planned for." She said, her rubbing her white skin with her palms.
/*-*/
So I chose roman culture for Mantle because it was supposedly the most technologically advanced and wealthiest kingdom in RWBY. I figured that suited the romans pretty well.