Preparation for War.
Marcus and his companions crossed the river and after hiding the boat they were led by Pierce into the forest. It was dark so the crew had to stay close together as the walked inside the forest protecting the single candle that they had from the strong wind at night. After they had walked for a few minutes inside the forest Pierce stopped moving and blew out the candle quickly. He told them to remain quiet. He could swear that he had heard a tree branch breaking nearby. He told the guards to surround the Prince and his two sisters and protect them with their lives no matter what.
Pierce held tightly his two handed sword as he tried to listen and discern the voices of the tree moving and any unwanted people that wanted to harm the Prince and Princesses. After a while one of the guards was hit by something that felt like a small needle and he fell down. After a while almost all the guards were laying down and only Pierce was left standing together with the Prince and Princesses. Suddenly a voice that seemed to be that of a woman was heard telling them to disarm and lay on the grounds if they did not want to share the same fate as their companions.
Pierce stood their attentive and tried to analyze the situation. He knew he was way outnumbered and he did not know where there enemies were since it was dark. After thinking for a while he suspected that he knew the identity of his attackers. He knew that no normal bandits could be able to attack them in the dark if they were not assassins. He raised his sword with one hand in the air as though he was surrendering. He then called the assassins to reveal themselves. He shouted to them that he was Pierce and that he was employed by Marquess Richard to protect his grandchildren from the royal family.
After a short while Pierce saw a small flickering light approaching them. He was able to make a face of a woman with short black hair wearing tight clothes holding a candle and a narrow tube that looked that it had been curved using wood. The woman approached them and told them that her name was Lauren and she had been assigned the task of ensuring nobody that was unwanted could enter the forest and leave. She then apologized to Marcus and the princesses and then told them that their guards had been knocked out by a drug but they would awake after a few hours. She then called out for her companions to come out of hiding and around thirty men came out of their hiding spots and carried the guards who had been knocked out.
Lauren guided them inside the forest and after around two hours of walking they could see torches burning in front of them. After a few minutes of walking they spotted a camp in front of them with some soldiers patrolling. She led them to the middle of the camp where a big tent had been set up. When the entered they saw their Mother who quickly ran had hugged them. Marcus saw his grandfather Marquess Richard and two other men who he had never seen before. He greeted his grand father and he introduced him to the other two men.
According to his grandfather the one wearing a red leather armor with black hair and a scar on his face was a Mercenary called Poter and the other man Standing upright wearing a brown steel armor was the Army commander Smith who was also his direct cousin by his mothers sister. Smith took his sword, kneeled and swore his allegiance to Prince Marcus. Marcus accepted his allegiance and told him to stand up. He then asked about the plans that they had made so far. His cousin Smith took a map of the terrain of the castle and laid it out on the table.
They currently had around 10,000 of the main army led by Smith together with around 4,000 mercenary led by potter. The main army was composed of 100 elite knights, 1000 heavy cavalry, 1500 light cavalry, 1,500 Siege workers and 5,900 infantry. The mercenary mainly specialized in naval warfare and the actual mercenary units were stationed on an Island away from the Nesus Island and would arrive when the war started. Prince Julius had the backing of the navy which had around 600 hundred ships patrolling the kingdoms waters and the 16,000 garrisoned units that were stationed in the capital.
The capital city of the Nesus kingdom was a coastal city next to the Affrate Ocean and it had a population of approximately 120,000 people. It also served as the head quarter of the Navy hence why Prince Julius had worked hard to get their backing since it meant that he would already have an army waiting for his commands inside the city. Smith planned to launch a siege in 2 days time since their supplies were low. According to the plan Smith would lead 3,900 infantry troops together with 500 and 700 heavy and light infantry and siege the eastern gate the remaining 2,400 infantry led by Sir Winston who was also the captain of the elite Knights and the siege workers had to build the siege weapons in the next two days.
The Mercenary were responsible for taking care of the navy units. Poter interrupted Smith and said that before they include them in their plans he and Marcus had to discuss the matter of compensation for their involvement in the war. Marcus asked Poter to state what he wanted as compensation. Poter thought for a moment and then looked closely at Prince Marcus and told him that he only had three demands. First he would receive 15,000 gold Nesus, second if Prince Marcus won he would allow to set up a base in the Capital for 5 years tax free and third no other Mercenaries would be allowed to set up their base their and they would be given all mercenary contracts.
Prince Marcus thought for a moment. His first demand for 15,000 Gold Nesus was absurd since that amount was equivalent to the annual revenue of the capital. Each kingdom had its own currenc determination ratio. In Nesus, 1 gold Nesus was equivalent to a 100 Silver Nesus, 1 silver Nesus was equivalent to 100 bronze Nesus, and 1 bronze was equivalent to 100 copper Nesus. The prince thought for a while and he countered Poters offer with his own. He offered Poter 11,000 Gold Nesus after the war and agreed to give him exclusive right to all future Mercenary contracts but he rejected his second demand sighting it would encourage unrest in the city. Poter agreed to the Prince proposal and finalized their deal by signing a contract.
Smith finished explaining the plans and after every one agreed with the plans they finished the meeting. Marquess Richard called Lauren inside the tent. He introduced her to Marcus as one of their houses assassins. She had been trained ever since she was young to be an assassin and she had perfected her craft over the years. She was mostly skilled in long range assassinations and torture. Her weapon of choice were darts and a Bow. Marquess Richard gifted her to the prince as her personal body guard. Marcus knew that his grandfather just wanted to spy on him. He had no other choice but to accept since he knew that it would be rude to reject.
Lauren led him to his tent and his sisters went together with his mother to their own tent. Lauren walked in front of him as she led the way to his tent that had been prepared for him. When they reached their tent he saw the men that had escorted him from the forest camped outside his tent. Lauren went first into the tent to ensure it was safe and then Marcus went inside. Lauren excused herself and told the Prince to call her in if she needed anything. Marcus looked around and decided to sleep in the middle of the tent still wearing his chain mail for safety. As he fell asleep he knew that the next two days that followed would be long since they had to prepare the siege weapons such as rams and ladders.