...Re-Estize...
'Supreme King' Philip was on top of his courtesan, she lay under him as, stretched out as a languorous beauty, she was smiling winsomely up at him. He smirked, she was under him...where she belonged...where the whole world belonged. "Go ahead...supreme king Philip, have your prize of victory." She said in her seductive voice as she reached out and cupped his face in her hands. "Do it...take me...longing eats at me!" She said passionately as he fumbled over her, pawing at her, excitement thrilling through him.
Privately she thought...'How could anyone be so...stupid? I'm barely acting at all and he hasn't even noticed...not that he's noticed anything else either...well it won't be long before I can retire, and at least he won't be dragging some peasant girl to him and pretending he was doing her a favor.' She couldn't help herself, she snorted in contempt, but quickly covered the slip with a phony moan, he was already finished.
"Oh Supreme King Philip...you are like no other man I've ever been with..." She said...truthfully, and she wrapped her arms around him, and whispered duskily into his ear, "Tell me how you're going to take that stupid little castle, you know how excited I get when you show me your brilliance and bravery...conquest...its just so...exciting! Isn't it, my conquering Supreme King?" She stroked over his scrawny frame as if he were the most powerful of figures.
Philip lay back and enjoyed the attention he was due, after all, why shouldn't he? He smirked again, he loved the title 'Supreme King' that his courtesan had called him once, and he loved it so well that as they ate up ground, he had all his followers call him that.
"Of course my dear, of course..." He said, "I'm going to attack over the western wall after sunrise..."
"Oh are you going to lead the charge, my supreme king?" she asked as she caressed him.
"HA!" he laughed, "Of course not, a king shouldn't put himself in a position like that, that is what peasants and other subordinates are for, I'll give the orders, they'll do the work!"
"Of course oh supreme king, truly nobody commands an army quite like you...but why during the time after sunrise my lord?" She asked, "Forgive me...I do not understand..." She said, giving her voice an almost little girl lilt and an air of innocence.
Philip patted her head softly, "Of course you don't, what would a woman like you know of war...that is what men do...you have another place..." He whispered in what he thought was a deep masculine voice, but came out as more of a nasal whine as he moved over her again, "But if you must know...I want to eat breakfast while I watch the fighting, and I don't want to wake up early, being a Supreme King requires a good night's rest." He said, and lowered his face to her ample bosom.
She sighed, more with annoyance than anything else, and wrapped her arms around him, barely keeping the contempt from her voice as she said, "Yes my supreme king..." while she committed everything she'd learned to memory, if the pattern held, they'd be withdrawing their soldiers from the western wall and pulling everyone out via the south gate, leaving only a few 'abandoned defenses' as obstacles to slow them down.
When the time came, she resolved that she was going to offer to give up a quarter of her reward for the chance to kill this worthless little fuck.
...Re-Estize Palace...
Renner was in her room with her brother and Brain Unglaus, they were alone, that much she was sure of.
"Our contact has given us more information than we ever could have dreamed, brother when the time comes, please see that she gets a bonus. We know where they're going to attack, we know when, right down to the hour, we should start pulling people away from the area by nightfall." Renner said sweetly. She set down her tea and looked at King Zanac.
"You have something on your mind, don't you dear brother?" She asked him.
"I do...several things actually." He said with some annoyance.
"What would that be?" She asked.
"Well the first annoyance is that this plan is making me look like the most incompetent buffoon ever to rule the Kingdom, these rebels are so inept in every conceivable way that we could have defeated them entirely with our own efforts in a fortnight." Zanac said as he poured himself a cup of wine.
Brain sat with his arms crossed and one hand on the hilt of his sword. "I've wondered that myself Princess, I came back because you asked me to on Climb's behalf, if you'd given me a handful of good soldiers I could have ensured the insurrection was stomped into the ground in no time...so...whats the real deal?" He asked.
"Such lovely tea." She said sweetly and poured another for herself, "Its simple, the real power behind the insurrection is the Slane Theocracy, if the rebels began to have serious trouble, then the Theocracy would commit a scripture or more to supporting them just to gain access to our vast population and open up another front against the Sorcerer King. That would require the Sorcerer King to intervene in the middle of the whole thing, and our whole country would become a battlefield."
"OK, I see that, but why does he care about that?" Brain asked.
"He thinks ahead, far ahead, much farther than I could even dream." Renner said, awe tinting her voice, "Perhaps it is his immortal nature, he doesn't think in terms of ten months or ten years...why one of his subordinates told me that he has a ten THOUSAND year plan for his rule. Can you even imagine thinking one hundred years ahead?" She asked the two men near her, both shook their heads slowly in disbelief.
"This way the Theocracy will commit their scriptures elsewhere, since the local rebels can 'handle us' on their own with minimal effort but funding. Meanwhile we preserve our nation's wealth and all our houses and troops, and all the kidnapped heirs remain perfectly safe. The Sorcerer King...right after the invasion of his country begins, will have our royal faction's kidnapped relatives all rescued, and he will back our counter invasion with an additional sixty thousand soldiers from the Empire stationed in E-Rantel, and his army in the Mountains will attack from the east into the North and West, since the rebels have stationed only other incompetents in charge of various cities and kept the bulk of their army in one place, we'll wipe them out in one go, have all the cities back in our possession in less than a month, have destroyed all of our enemies in one go, and then we will uphold OUR end of the bargain and send soldiers to invade the Slane Theocracy after we publicize accounts of their backing of our civil war. We all become heroes, you brother, regain the crown, and our nation can be restored to prosperity and unity." She said simply, counting off the various points on her hands.
Brain sat there, stunned. "The Sorcerer King told you all this...?" He asked.
"Not all, no, bits and pieces, the rest I had to figure out, and his prime minister Albedo, helped me work out a few parts, most of it fell into place when Lord Demiurge informed me of his ten thousand year plan's existence." Renner said, "I really wish they'd just discuss and reveal these things, but the Sorcerer King seems to expect his closest agents to understand his will, well enough to execute it without his personally wasting time explaining himself." She sighed, "I'll admit it is frustrating...his plans are so layered and nuanced, and everything he does seems to have three, five, or ten meanings, some of which I don't even see until months or years later." Renner shook her head.
"And...what did you want from me?" Brain asked.
"Its simple, you're the best surviving swordsman in the kingdom, and the Slane Theocracy is going to try to have me killed, probably my brother too, but definitely me, shortly after we withdraw from the capitol. I'd like it very much if you could keep us both alive, can you do that?" She asked with a sweet smile on her face.
Brain looked surprised, as did King Zanac.
"How do you know this?" King Zanac asked with surprise, "Have you been talking to one of their agents as well?!" He asked in agitation.
She shook her head, "No brother, its just a logical conclusion, once the rebels have 'won' there is no gain to controlling us anymore, so they'll kill the hostages, send assassins to kill any noble house that might be a threat, and then the rest of our army will either melt away or go join the other side. Neat little cleanup from their perspective, and they'll essentially have turned our country into a puppet and can throw our people at E-Rantel with the same contempt that we do the dust under our feet."
"I...see...yes..." Zanac stroked his chin thoughtfully, regretting his unwarrior like form at the present.
"Well, I'll take control of your safety majesties." Brain said, "I owe that much to Gazef & Climb, just make sure you follow my instructions when it comes to matters of security, and I can handle anything the Theocracy throws at us."
"I know you can." Renner said with a smile, and dropped a sugar cube into her tea, she drew it to her lips and drank, and concealed the mad smile behind her cup.
...Kasaga...
Skana was happy to see the five thousand members of Black Justice enter the city walls, she had them escorted to the military grounds where Braunin died, and she'd called together the influential members of the city to join her for their arrival. She gave them comfortable seats on either side of where she stood, rigid and watchful for anything less than a disciplined entry.
They filed in, moving smoothly according to how they had drilled, and within half an hour there stood rank upon rank of soldiers armed and armored and presenting a very intimidating sight to the city's rulers. Best...Skana thought, that their first emotional response to the idea of rebellion...but fear.
The commander stepped forward and approached Skana at the center, he rendered a prompt salute, fist over heart, and gave a half a bow to her. She returned the gesture, and then they dropped the posture.
"Commander Hazamoth, I hand the city over to you, expect heavy opposition to come your way from without...but from within..." she gestured to the former governor and other important citizens, "these men and women have kept to the peace, I trust you will uphold discipline among our own men, and entrust them to continue to enforce the law without needless interference. Hold to the Draconic Accords, I have of course granted permission for them to write to myself or Neia Baraja should any harsh disputes occur or should mistreatment be tolerated. Do you require anything of me?" She asked.
"No, I have what I need, with me now." He said, and gestured behind him to the thousands of soldiers. "I'll leave the rest of the fight to you, good luck out there!" He said, and stuck out his hand. Skana shook it firmly and they parted ways. Skana had already had her soldiers ready to exit the city as soon as the last of Hazamoth's men entered, and when the last one entered, the first of hers exited. She went and joined them promptly.
They were waiting for her, and she stood up in the stirrups of her undead mount, "Soldiers, you have won much for the god of justice, and now...its time to go win some more!"
Cheers were the answer she received, and it was the only answer she needed. They swiftly set out, intelligence reports showed a large number of soldiers from Hoburns marching to seize villages. Skana had a predatory smile on her face...those poor...poor fools, they had no idea with whom they were tangling.
...Nazarick...
When the meeting ended, Neia was about to return when Zaryusu approached her. He touched her shoulder and she turned to meet his gaze. "Hello Neia." He said politely.
She smiled in return and put her hand out, and shook his when it came to meet her. "Hello Zaryusu." She said, "Good to see you again."
"It is...but...may I speak plainly to you?" He asked.
"Of course." Neia replied.
"Thank you, I...don't always read humans well, but I could not help but feel like you had some hostility directed at me before. It did not seem likely, but if ever I have offended you, I think it best to deal with it up front, lest it become a problem later." He said formally.
Neia looked down and shook her head. "No its...how do I say this?" She thought for a moment..."We trained together for a year, we studied side by side, we learned things alongside one another, and I DO count you a valued comrade...but it is difficult to forget that you were once acting in opposition to the Sorcerer King. I realize that is in the past, that you are truly loyal, so it shames me that I feel as I do...its simply that my devotion to my god is...well it sometimes seems hard for me to think of anyone who was his enemy, as ceasing to be his enemy. I know this is no fault of your own, and I strive to remember that I have no right to judge the path of your past...but feelings are difficult to fend off, even when I know better." She gave him a crooked smile and covered their handshake with her other hand in a friendly gesture.
"Please forgive me for any offense my uncontrolled emotional reaction might have given." Neia said, and bowed her head in apology.
"No need for that." Zaryusu said, "We are comrades, and we can resolve our misunderstandings by trusted discourse. After all, if you had to hide your thoughts, your feelings, your fears from me...well how little must we trust one another to be each other's shield." He bowed his own head in return, and they parted ways at ease.
Neia quietly cursed herself, since Wenmark she'd seen more enemies and insults than actually existed. She touched her head, glad that she had not created a rift with Zaryusu, and imagined a traitor into being where none existed. She shook her head again and stood erect, then walked to the gate prepared for her and passed through it to return to her duties in Prart, with CZ following quickly behind her.
When she'd returned, after a brief conversation with her tight lipped sticker loving companion, she ventured to a leather worker's shop and said, "I need to commission a saddle for myself, and...it needs to have about these dimensions." She said, and held out a slip of paper. The burly worker set his materials aside and looked them over and laughed. "My dear Pope, I think there must be some mistake here...why if you had a saddle with these dimensions, you'd never fit it on anything smaller than a full grown dragon."
Neia did not laugh. She nodded. "Exactly. How soon can I have it?"
He stopped laughing, she took off her visor and met his gaze, he realized she was not joking.
"Pope Neia...I will not ask the reason...I think I want to see it...promise me I can stand at the fore when the time comes to see what has never been seen before...and I will pay my competitors to assist me, I will work without rest, and I will have it ready in three days time." He said with awe in his eyes and barely retaining breath after the hushed whispering of his disbelieving words.
"The promise is made." Neia said, "You will stand at the front." She answered.
The leather worker immediately rushed and she saw him dash into another shop, she heard shouting and disbelieving words, even crashing, but as she walked away she saw in a shining reflection, two leather workers visit another shop and the whole process began all over again. It would be a marvelous saddle.
...Gustav's army...
Gustav rode like a man fleeing a demon, he had taken the role of 'bait' to a Slane Theocracy formation, and they had given chase when he lead a small skirmish against a portion of their line and withdrew. They pursued, in an orderly fashion, but that was fine as far as he was concerned. No sooner than he'd passed around a tree line than he saw the signal flag rise up, and drop down, they were ready. He rode fifty more feet beyond it, then circled round by another dozen or so yards to a where a small white rock had been placed, and he turned around to face them, along with his handful of skirmishing survivors..
The formation of pursuers out numbered him six to one, he only wished it had been eight or ten to one.
"Come and get me you god humping shitstains!" He shouted, provoking them even further by holding up a cloth banner of theirs, and casting it into the mud, and moving his horse back and forth over it several times, trampling it into the much. This was to much, they charged, promising they'd stain it with his blood. He lifted his sword as if to signal a charge...and then watched as the ground fell out from under them and they fell into the pit. Then the fire arrow launched, and landed in the pit, now one arrow would not have been a problem...but when there is an abundance of oil and pitch down there...well at least it could be said that they burned quick enough that they did not scream for long. He then darted into the forest where much of the remainder of his army was hidden.
Over the next few days he launched raids on supplies, damaged roads by dragging fallen trees in front of them, digging pit traps, and whenever they found a wagon, well it supplied his army, not the Slane Theocracy.
...Astraka's army...
Astraka was miserable, he was miserable and unhappy and more miserable and more unhappy. The constant raids, the shrieking, the undead...gods...with the thrice damned runic bows and undead horses, their archers were able to shoot at his army several times before the first arrow even hit, then turn and run farther and faster than their pursuers could, and that was if they hadn't prepared a counter ambush instead and killed the pursuers. The plan for seizing back Kasaga in a week had slowed to a crawl, his soldiers were tired, few got much sleep...ever. And the mages had started to use their mana to in earnest to keep people healed and to put out fires that Black Justice tried to start.
He'd lost two thousand men...not counting the five thousand he'd already dispatched to secure villages...and he hadn't even fought a battle yet!
He reached for a bottle of wine, that was the only way he was going to get any sleep at all.
...Slane Theocracy Prison...
Zesshi had come to see him a lot lately, probably because she was expecting to leave him soon, he'd come to think she actually rather liked him, kind of like how 'Blue Rose' did, like he was a kid brother or something, well but considered utterly hopeless and occasionally maddening. Their weeks had become a pleasant routine, she'd come in, teach him something, kick his ass, heal him, they would talk, they would drink, she would give him something else to learn, and then it would happen again.
Their time together was actually...enjoyable, though it helped knowing he was keeping his princess safe, and though he had come to trust Zesshi, he was not willing to reveal that he had an easy way out or was still seeing the princess...or all the other things he'd learned.
This evening was like most others, and when she'd helped him to his feet and to get seated in a chair, she'd slid him the healing potion and in a few moments he was good as new. He broke out the wine and poured her a full cup and himself a half of one.
"Can I ask you something?" Climb asked.
"Please." She said, waving her cup in front of her invitingly.
"Why do you do it?" He asked her.
"Do what?" She asked in turn.
"Why do you want to be 'humanity's defender' and all that?" He asked.
"Why do you defend the princess?" She asked him.
"She's the world to me, she saved my life, nursed me back to health, she's given me everything. Of course I will offer everything in return." He answered incredulously.
"What makes you think it's not the same for me?" She asked. "Father is an elf king, he made me by an act of rape, kidnapping and abusing my mother, the Theocracy rescued her, she bore me, birthed me, raised me, and they trained me and gave ME everything." She said. "You know all these things already...so why are you asking now?" She asked curiously.
"Seems to me that they're just using you." He said. He looked away a moment and said, "I've got a window up here, I can see down there, I've seen how when you walk by, people don't look at you, or if they do, its only to avoid you, how they stop and talk when you have moved on, nobody seems to ask you anything about yourself, I've seen camaraderie, I've had camaraderie...its just...who are your comrades?" He asked in confusion.
Zesshi was shocked into silence and thought about it for a time.
"If you have to think about it..." he began.
"Who are yours!" She snapped at him.
"First there was Gazef Stronoff, but there is also Brain Unglaus and all of Blue Rose." He said unhesitatingly.
"Oh...well...Raymond and I are very close." She said.
"Does he ever propose a change to the religion, you know, one that says elves are people too, so you're not considered halfway inferior?" Climb asked.
"Well no...but he is a cardinal." She said.
"Comrades...true comrades...wouldn't hate half of who their friends are, you can't have half a person, you get all of who they are...or none of them. Didn't you say something like that to me once? I can understand why you'd say it, but you were talking bout your...sort of your...whole country. So...why don't you go ask Raymond about that, ask him directly how he sees you and your elven heritage? Wouldn't you want to know if he really is a comrade or not?" He asked.
Zesshi didn't answer, she looked down at her cup and quietly topped it off.
"You said once that you didn't know if you were truly brave or not, since you always won every fight you were going into and you knew before it happened that it was inevitable that you would win. So...here's a different kind of fight, test your courage there." Climb said simply.
"Alright..." She said softly, and left without another word.
...Border with the Slane Theocracy...
General Enri walked through her camp, for the last few days since the meeting her army had been steadily making straw figures, then painting a metal shaded paint over the surface of them to give them the appearance of wearing armor, it had been a considerable effort, but with almost seventy five thousand people, it didn't take that long to have forty thousand made. Then the affixed wooden poles and painted the tops of them to appear like spears, and secured them into the straw hands. After that, she purchased thousands of horses, and each straw man was secured to it as if riding. It wouldn't fool anyone up close...but a distant scout, oh absolutely, and since these were soldiers of straw, it was easy for the horses to carry. After that, it only took a little effort to camoflauge poles in such a way that they would not be seen from a distance, and afix each one to a horses breast similar to a plow's design, only each pulled the horse along from the front. It only took a handful of volunteers to lead such a false army.
And it was this army that set out, and marched around the city over the border, giving the appearance that it was circumnavigating the city to instead strike at Kami Miyako itself.
Her own camp had similarly been protected against in depth observation, but she let it be seen that her numbers were few and that they who remained were simply guarding supplie and that the true army had departed.
All in all, that day ended with Enri feeling...very good.
AN: Well another double release down...you slave drivers. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy it all so far, neither chapter is longer than the longest one yesterday...but all total the overall length is...I think a bit greater. There will be another double release tomorrow, so enjoy that of course, and please feel free to leave reviews. :) Also, I know I have two things to correct in yesterday's release, just to tired today, will do it tomorrow. Long day today, good day, but long day.
And of course...if you want to join my server, well here is its discord id: hJrfday