Chapter Two
"Preparation"
"An alliance formed. Hatred started. All leading to the impending war, yet the power of one stalls it."- Doma
The war officially started when Zemeckis took over Almekia but since then no one has attacked another country. People said it was just the "calm before the storm." All of the countries were preparing for war. Creatures were being summoned, knights were being hired, and strategies were being set. Any available knights in the countries were sent to the borders immediately. The tension in the air was rising, and people were beginning to get worried about their homes and families. They all knew that soon the fighting and bloodshed would begin, and they knew they would have to be prepared for the worst.
Cai, the lord of Caerleon, saw how his people were fearful, and decided to try to protect him a little more than he was at the time. He made a bold move and traveled to New Almekia alone. Upon reaching the castle, he was greeted warmly. He was instantly granted an audience with Lance.
"Sir Lance, our countries have been at peace for many years." Cai began to say.
"Yes that's true." Lance replied.
"And I was hoping we could continue the peace throughout this war."
"As in…an alliance?"
"Exactly"
"Why of course!" Lance said, "You have indeed been a great friend to us and I wish to keep you on our side."
"Wonderful, your kind words will be taken to heart. I wish you luck in this war, and let victory be ours to share."
"Same to you good friend. You have no threat of being attacked by us."
"Your still as honorable as ever. Well I should get going. Fighting could break out at any second."
"I agree, and with that rogue knight going around it can only make matters worse."
"Rogue?"
"Yes a rogue has been reported in many countries already. He is said to do no real harm to the people of the country, but instead he seems to target knight's monsters, killing them off then retreating, doing no harm to the knight."
"Making the country replace them….. It seems he's trying to stall the start of the fighting."
"Exactly what I thought. A great idea but let us hope he does not come here anytime soon."
"We can only hope. If he truly is that strong then we should be careful. I should be going now, there is still much to be done."
"Farewell and let all your fights end in victory."
Cai then left New Almekia with the peace of mind that his country would not be attacked from that direction. He also gained the knowledge about the rogue knight, which he felt that information would help during the war.
Meanwhile to the north, in Norgard, Vaynard was thinking about an alliance of his own. He knew his country had many places to defend so he at least wanted to get rid of one threat. He traveled to the east of the capital to the border of Norgard and Leonia. He sent a messenger to Lyonesse asking for an audience at the city at the border. She was requested to go alone. Her guards tried reasoning with her, to talk her out of it, but she went and audienced alone.
"Hello your highness." Vaynard said as respectful as possible.
"Hello, may I ask you to get right to the point?" Lyonesse asked, respectfully but impatiently.
"Yes, yes, very well. I suspect you are aware of Forsena's current situation."
"Yes."
"And you are also aware that your country borders our country?"
"Yes"
"I came her to propose an alliance between my country and yours, in hopes that we could work together in order to put an end to this war."
"I respect your request but my country would not agree with such an alliance, so I am sorry but we cannot ally with you."
"Then you leave me with no other choice. I declare war with your country."
"Do you have to resort to that? Could we not be at neutrality?"
"If you are not with us then you are against us. I have no other choice than to take over your country."
Vaynard stormed off back to his country. Lyonesse was shocked at the hostility. She hurried back to the capital. Her people comforted her and agreed with her decision. Yet, she could not help but wonder if she did the right thing.
Time passed and still countries were preparing. People started wondering if the war would ever really start. Some of the lords were wondering if the fighting would ever start. Many blamed it on the rogue knight, saying he was stalling the fighting. Some of the countries have yet seen this so-called rogue so they assumed it was just a rumor. People got sick of waiting for the impending war so they just continued with their lives normally like the war would never happen.
