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I have ordered the king's brother and two ealdormans to be brought to my place.

- Your King ... he did not keep his word, although we fulfilled the contract, you even bathed one of us in the river.

- My brother...

- Your brother sacrificed you. If he thinks that the city walls and the castle will save him from my wrath, he is a fool ... instead of gold and silver he sent us empty chests ... we will send them back full.

- Let go of me ... I'll convince my brother ... without me you'll lose the edge. What will be left for you after that ... you won't conquer the city and the castle !!!

I pointed my hand at the ballistae that were being prepared.

- I always have this.

I took out the hatchet and made the sign of the cross on his forehead. I called some of my people.

- Chop them up into small pieces, starting at the feet, then load their carcasses into chests, along with the heads of the soldiers ... The king supplied us with a lot of horse meat, and we will provide him with a different kind of fresh meat.

The crates were loaded onto a wagon and sent towards the castle... a few hours later I ordered to gather people and prepare a march to the castle, there were only injuries left in the camp and a dozen or so people to guard the slaves.

We took two ballistae with us, there was no use of them in the battle, but they would be perfect for destroying the city gate.

The city and castle was prepared for our arrival, the gate was closed, guards and archers on the walls.

We placed both ballistae at a distance of 250 meters from the gate, beyond the reach of the enemy's arrows. We loaded two arrows with lines attached to them to be used as a harpoon.

- Fire it.

The thirty-kilo harpoons rushed towards the gate with great speed, we heard only the sound of cracking wood, but the arrows did not stop at the gate, pierced it and, despite losing speed, flew on ... My men quickly grabbed the ropes and began to pull them, we were in a hurry to let none of the guards cut them.

Just in case, I had the ballistae reloaded and adjusted. It took a few minutes and two more harpoons were ready to fire.

- Fire it.

This time, apart from the sound of cracking wood, we also heard screams of people, probably they were trying to either cut off the previous harpoons or somehow strengthen the gate ... after entering the city we will see a few skewers.

Another group of my people grabbed the ropes and started to pull them ... several minutes later the gate gave way. I wished I had taken a few slaves with me to make them a scout cannon fodder ... but in those days you were not so popular traps installed in the gates.

- Attack, the King and his family are to be caught alive, the rest you can kill.

The gate was easy to open, but it could prove to be expensive to obtain ... I sent my crossbowmen under cover of infantry shields to clear the passages. The archers on the walls tried to prevent it, but without much success ... two volleys of crossbows and the passage was almost cleared, the rest would be completed by the infantry.

Two hours later I got information that the castle is a city and the castle was captured, and the king and his family were captured.

When I entered the city, I smelled blood and burned flesh ... the bodies of my people, the king's soldiers and the city's inhabitants lay on the ground... bodies of my people were not many. In some places I saw groups of vikings surrounding a woman ... and each of them waited their turn ... if she was pretty. The less attractive ones enjoyed less interest.

One-Eyed Arne organized a shooting competition. They set the target on the man's head, drank beer after each hit, and then fired on ... whoever hit the man had to drink a whole barrel of beer for punishment.

I went to the castle, in the throne room King Aelle, his wife, two of his children and a few people from the court were waiting for me. I sat on his throne, put on his crown ... signaled my people to bring me the king's son. The boy was scared, he tried to resist, but he was too weak for that.

- Prince, I just want to talk to you, consult you without fear ... When someone gives a word and then breaks it ... does someone like that have honor?

- (gasp) no ...

- SPEAK UP BOY !!!

- NO

- Okay, is there a law or punishment in this kingdom for such persons?

- (gasp) cut ...

- Louder, no one can hear you, the future king must have a strong voice!

- CUT OFF THE TONGUE!!!

I looked at the king

- Your Majesty, your heir will be a righteous king, without hesitating, he said that you have no honor and that you must have your tongue cut off ... justice for everyone.

I grabbed the knife and put it to the boy's neck. The Queen broke away with my people, ran to the throne, fell to her knees, and begged me not to hurt her son.

- Don't hurt him ... I'll do whatever you want ...

- Are you offering me your body?

-... if that's what you want then... yes ...

- Beautiful Lady, why are you offering me something that is mine anyway? If I want to go to bed with you, no one will stop me.

I was in a dilemma about what to do with them, King Aelle hated me and killing me was perfectly logical, but without him, King Ecbert can grow stronger faster. Having a strong ally - rival in the north, he was more careful in his actions ... they were separated only by Mercia and they both felt like conquering this kingdom. The difference was that King Aelle was less greedy and less cunning.