Author's note: Hey there, guys. Guess what? I am not dead yet. Sooooooo sorry for this long delay. But I've promised that I won't abandon this story. And I haven't. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy and it would be great if you leave a review. I love to read them.
Alright. Let's get on with the story.
Chapter 39
At the other side of the sea
The messenger knelt before the king and presented the ornate scroll to him at which the king looked with curiosity. " What news do you bring, my good man? " The king asked.
The middle aged messenger whose sun burnt skin was indicating that he was traveling out in the open for a long time without taking any long rest looked up at the king. " I bring news from king Rodor of Nemeth. "
She became straight in her chair when she heard the name. She had once met that old man. He might be a good king but he had been old and frail. She was surprised that the old codgar hadn't kicked the bucket yet..
While she was thinking about this, the king had already taken the scroll from the messenger and began to read it. His facial expression remained unchanged after reading it. And the scroll was passed to the right, towards the hand of the king. He read it silently and then, he looked at the king.
" What do you think of this, father? " He asked.
The king massaged his forehead with his palm while saying, " First say aloud what's written in it. "
The hand of the king stood up and the whole courtroom fell silent. Everyone's eyes were on him, including hers who was waiting eagerly for him to speak up.
What news had Rodor sent? She asked her mind.
Her question was soon answered when the prince spoke up.
" The king of Nemeth, Rodor Durienheim... has sent us a letter offering his friendship to us. "
' That's odd. ' She thought.
Nemeth was an ally of Camelot for a long time and the Saxons were openly hostile against Arthur's kingdom only two years ago. Did that mean Nemeth had broken ties with Camelot and were now looking for new allies?
She mentally slapped herself for thinking such an irrational thought. She knew that Rodor might be old but not fool. He would never risk his kingdom's safety by leaving the southern Alliance of Camelot. So, what was the reason? She kept thinking but failed to find any satisfying answer.
Meanwhile, the hand kept telling about how Rodor had praised the competence and wisdom of the king of Saxony.
It was getting a little boring. She was having a hard time suppressing her yawn. Then, suddenly the topic of the hand's speech changed.
" King Rodor had proposed a peace treaty with our country. "
She sat straight on her seat upon hearing this. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events. Only two years ago, Saxony and the kingdoms of South Albion were in open war. However, the Saxon force had used the shore of Nemeth as their landing ground. For this reason, majority of the Nemethian coast had been controlled by Saxon army and the general public of Nemeth had suffered much at the hands of Saxons.
But the recent war with the kingdom of Franks had diverted the Saxon king's attention towards the mainland of Europa. The battle of Metz had been a decisive victory for the Saxons.
Her counsel during the war meeting had proven invaluable. The cavalry division which had been sent to secure the hill of Metz had reached there just in time. Had they marched with the main army as planned before, the Franks would've captured the strategically important hill and gaining victory would have become very hard for the Saxon army.
Also the hand of the king had played an important role in achieving the victory. The second Frankish prince Philip had always opposed his father's warmongering behavior. He strictly prohibited the Frankish king from going to war with the Saxons.
But the crown prince Reiner supported the war efforts much to Philip's dismay.
The Saxon king's hand, Crown Prince Maxmillian had heard of this feud between the two princes with the help of Lady Iliera. It was now discovered after the war that Iliera was actually a Frank noble woman of Frankish city of Lugdunum whose family was once disgraced by the Frankish king Louis. So, she offered her service ( With a blood oath ) to the Saxon cause so that she could take revenge on the Frankish Crown.
She regularly teleported between Anor Londo and Cologne providing information to the Saxon Prince.
Max used all these information on the advantage of his country. She had heard that he used to meet Philip on regular basis proclaiming his support for the Frankish prince on his quest to win the cold war of succession he was fighting against his brother.
Although it didn't give any immediate result, Prince Max's friendship with Philip had finally yielded result in the battle of Metz.
The Frankish prince was at the command of the left flank of the Frankish host.
At the heat of the battle, prince Philip turned on his own countrymen and imprisoned his own father while the Saxon army's right flank under Prince Max devastated the Frankish right flank. Prince Reiner was also imprisoned at Saxon hand.
After the battle, Prince Philip declared himself the king of the Franks and signed a ceasefire treaty under the condition of seceding the Alscesse-Lorraine region to the kingdom of Saxony. Now Philip rules from Anor Londo as the new sovereign with the blessing of King Ludwig.
Meanwhile, the eastward expedition had been a great success. The Saxon kingdom now controlled the eastern lands all the way to the dutchy of Kiev.
Due to all these war in the mainland Europa, the king had paid least attention to the affairs in Albion. The Saxons had lost their hold over the Nemethian coast and Ludwig had no intention to reclaim it.
So it was natural for Rodor to think that Saxon king had concluded the war. But what she was thinking right now was would Ludwig accept the offer?
If that happened, then it would be most unfortunate for her.
At the last battle, she had shown impressive skill as a warrior. In return, King Ludwig bestowed her the title of the Shield Maiden of Saxony, a title that was equivalent of the second in command of the army.
Now she had become quite powerful in the court and was one of the members of the council of nine.
But despite her rising power, her influence in Saxon court is still nothing compared to the hand of the king.
The hand, the son of the king, crown Prince Maxmillian still outranked her in every aspects. And she, Morgana Pendragon , the former high priestess would be helpless to change the king's mind if the prince advised otherwise.
As if to prove her right, the king asked the prince, " What do you think we should do, Max? In my opinion, I think the campaign in Albion is a lost cause. It was our folly to think that we would be able to conquer a land at the other side of the sea. "
To Morgana's dismay, Prince Max agreed with the king.
" My thoughts exactly, father. We've lost many mercenaries along with many good soldiers in Albion. As much as it pains me to say, I have to admit that it's high time we abandoned our military expedition in the land over the sea. "
The prince sat down on his throne while rolling back the parchment. He gave it to the messenger and said, " Go and rest, my friend. My father will give reply to your king after the council. Tansai will take you to the guest chamber. "
The messenger gave the king and the prince a short bow and went out of the throne room with the assistant of Lord Theodore.
Morgana was shifting uncomfortably in her seat beside the prince all the time while Max was talking.
It appeared that the king had guessed that Morgana was trying to say something. So he asked her, " Is there something you want to tell, Lady Morgana? "
All the councilors eyes turned on Morgana and she had to gulp down to suppress her nervousness. The councilors of nine were sometimes looked very creepy. Especially she could feel an icy chill running down her spine whenever Lord warden of Cologne dungeon looked at her with his hard and unforgiving eyes.
Nonetheless, she bottled up her uneasy feeling and sat straight on her seat.
" I think it would be a bad decision to abandon the campaign in Albion. "
She said with determination in her voice.
The prince , who was sitting right beside her looked at her sharply. But his burning glare didn't unfaze her. She glared at him with equal sharpness.
" And why her ladyship thinks that abandoning Albion is a bad idea? " The prince asked in a cold voice and that was the beginning of a certain debate which would be the initiation of a series of events that would decide the fate of a certain two kings.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yes, indeed. Things had changed so much in these last few years in her life. She had undergone a drastic change.
Gone was the woman who used to wear only black dresses with no ornamemts. On her place, a new she had born.
She now wore expensive silk dresses while sitting herself at the left side of the princess of Saxony during the meeting of council of nine.
Thousands of people revered her, some even hailed her as the heroine of Metz.
Morgana Pendragon, the shield maiden whose beauty was as immense as her competence with both sword and magic. She alone had slaughtered almost one and a half hundred soldiers on that day and she had now been both feared and admired by the nobles and peasants alike.
But some things never change. Even after garnering this much attention and praise, she was still overpowered and outplayed. Previously, it had been only one person. But now another player had emerged in this game of power.
Princess Erina Nassau had turned ten few months ago and King Ludwig had created a seat for her in the council of nine as it was customary for at least one woman of Nassau royal family to attend the council.
As the queen, mother of the late prince Friedrich had died several years ago; that seat had remained vacated.
Last year , at the princess's birthday, Ludwig had told her that she was old enough to fill the empty seat of her late mother.
So now, Her royal highness had become a councilor.
Morgana scoffed at the thought.
A female child as a councilor! The thought alone was considered preposterous in Camelot. Not to mention that child had the ability to influence the decision of the highest council of the kingdom.
Morgana gritted her teeth in anger. The cool wind did nothing to dissipate it.
She was at the rooftops of the central tower of the royal palace. She came here whenever she was feeling down. And the excellent view of the city had always lifted up her spirit.
But today even the view wasn't able to calm her.
She had failed. Failed to convince the king that continuing war in Albion would be fruitful for the Saxon people in the end.
The king hadn't listened to her. Prince Maxmillian had argued that continuing eastward expansion would be much more fruitful for the kingdom.
Two of the high councilors had supported the prince while two supported her. The commander of the cavalry army, Lord Remer had remained neutral.
Then...
To everyone's surprise, the king asked Erina what she thought. And just like Morgana had predicted, she supported the prince.
In the end, the king declared that the peace treaty with Nemeth would be effective as soon as possible.
Also, he issued an order that the army would start marching towards the dutchy of Kiev next spring.
Humiliation. Complete and utter humiliation. That's what she was feeling. She still couldn't believe that the king let his children to influence his decision.
" He is teaching me politics by letting me attend the councils. "
Morgana turned her head so sharply that it clicked.
Princess Erina was standing a few yards away from her. With the silver crown atop her head, she looked as elegant as ever.
She was looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze as if she was calculating what her next move might be.
" How long have you been up here? " Morgana asked cautiously. The princess looked cheery all the time. But now she looked much different. Morgana thought Erina looked like a viper waiting to strike.
" Long enough to read your thoughts about me. "
Morgana's eyes widened in shock hearing the princess's reply.
" You too? "
Erina gave a humorless smile while playing with the red locks of her long hair.
" Surprised? Well, that's expected. Seeing how low you think of me. A petulant child unworthy to fill the seat of my mother. "
" I didn't mean it like that, my princess. " Morgana stuttered.
"Of course, you didn´t. Now I have far more better things to do. I only came here to say that my brother wants to see you. He'll be waiting for you at the tower of the hand. "
Without giving Morgana any chance to reply, princess Erina left the rooftops leaving a gobsmacked shield maiden at her wake.
' It seems I am not even allowed to think bad about Nassau royal family. ' Morgana thought morbidly letting out a deep sigh.
The Great Cologne bell began to toll signaling that the royal council had come to a conclusion.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When she entered the tower of hand, she was greeted with a sight she hadn't expected. The prince was packing up. It was clear that he was going out.
" Are you going somewhere? " Morgana asked Max.
" Yes, and you're coming with me. " Prince Max said in his usual business like voice.
It took Morgana some time to understand what the prince had said.
" What did you say? " She asked still too dazed to believe what she had just heard.
" I am going out and you are coming with me. " Max said again.
" And what gave you the idea that I will come with you? " Morgana asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because I am going to Albion. " Prince Max said looking at Morgana eye to eye.
Pindrop silence.
For a couple of seconds, Morgana couldn't speak at all.
" You're going where? " Morgana asked in a shaky voice.
Max grinned and said, " To your homeland. Want to know why? "
Morgana nodded silently.
" In Rodor's letter, he said many things that I hadn't uncovered yo the court. "
" Like? " She asked.
" Like Rodor had repealed the ban of magic on Nemeth and he wants to hold a council between his and our kingdom's mages. He has requested my presence in the council and our alliance so that magic can become strong again in Albion under our guidance. " Max looked at her for some kind of reaction.
" Impossible. The old king is trying to trick all of us. There's no way Arthur would allow any magic in his ally's kingdom. " Morgana said. Her voice filled with rage. And suddenly her heart became filled with worry.
Maybe it was a trap. Rodor wanted revenge and that's why he invited Max and the mages. He might be waiting for them with Arthur's army and would attack the Saxons as soon as they landed. Max might get hurt.
Wait.
Why was she thinking like that?
Max meant nothing to her.
Yes, that's right. Nothing. She had no feelings for him. Obviously not.
She was brought out of her jumbled thoughts by Max's voice.
" Actually Rodor said that Arthur had gone north to struck a peace deal with some ' king of magic ' . "
" And you're believing this bullshit . These are obviously lies. Just how thick headed are you? "
The prince chuckled and said, " That's why I'm going to Albion. To find out whether Rodor was telling the truth or not. "
" Alone? " Morgana asked in a worried tone but she would've denied it had anyone pointed that out.
" Not if you're coming with me. " Max said stretching out his hand towards her.
" Will you? "
Morgana Pendragon didn't know why she did it. Whether it was for her longing to return to her homeland or to see for herself if Rodor's words were true or for something else.
But in the end, she took Max´s hand and asked, " Yes, when are we leaving? "
A small smile flashed on Max's face.
" How about now? "
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
" You know what that I ask. Heal my son. " He said.
" If you want your wish, then give me mine. "
" I will . " He said and a single tear fell from his eyes.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Ludwig woke up in his bed. It had been years and still he didn't know about his true motives. He wondered when he would have to pay the price.
The sound of a thunder boomed far away.
A storm is coming and this time, Ludwig feared that he might not be able to save his kingdom from it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
So did you like it? Please tell me your thoughts. Your feedback is always appreciated. I will try to update again soon if I get enough free time. Have a good day or night.
Next chapter: News reaches in the royal court of Elmet.
Happy reading.
Adios.
- Assassin of Syria.