113 Unseeing Eye

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Two days later :

Ralf Kaliker lets out a silent sigh as he continues to wait on his knees beneath Cromwell's throne. The False Familiars attack had not only resulted in the destruction of most of Cendri, which was responsible for a good portion of the capital's food production, but also the death of Earl Tatiana, someone who while not completely invested in Cromwell's rule, supported it nevertheless.

Her death had weakened his position, as despite the united front the Reconquista liked to present, it was just as or maybe more so unstable than the Albion that was led by its royalty.

Which how Ralf ended up here, literally on his knees awaiting his punishment... Unjustly in his opinion. There wasn't all that much he could do against such an opponent as the False Familiar. The former-slaves abilities were as nonsensical as they were effective, wandless, powerful magic with insanely short chants and unexpected effects... Teleportation was supposed to be a top-tier Square Mage spell, used only by those who had almost mastered control of all four elements.

Ralf highly doubted that such a person existed in the Reconquista, perhaps Old Osmond of Tristain who's leading the magical academy could, but that was just speculation on his part... Additionally, his battle against the False Familiar had revealed a huge weakness in not only his unit, but many others comprising the Reconquista military.

Dragon knights were regarded as the strongest and most elite units, especially if those that rode the dragons were mages... Ralf had been rid of this impression however as soon as they ran into a foe who could teleport and easily kill riders without harming the dragons.

Usually in battle, the knight dies with his mount after both take grievous wounds, but with just the knights dying and the dragons still being unharmed, it left the others in the unit to deal with the rampaging beast... Dragons were captured beasts that are turned into familiars for the knights, it takes months or maybe even years for them to bound enough to make them reliable fighters who could work together.

Since most of Reconquista's forces were Dragon knights, Ralf wondered if such a weakness could so easily be exploited o the battlefield... He doubted it, in enemy land, berserk dragons would cause chaos amongst the enemies ranks, so perhaps he was over-worrying a bit...

"Commander Kaliker." Cromwell finally speaks from his throne, sounding distinctly angry and disappointed. "Tell me, what excuses have you come up with to save your pathetic life? How is it that a whole unit of dragon knights was unable to capture a young boy and an elf? And how is it that an entire town was destroyed, not by the boy's hands, but by your own units!?" he asks, tapping the armrest of his throne impatiently.

Ralf keeps his eyes to the ground and head still, "I will make up no such excuses my lord! The boy as you describe was a far more difficult combatant than we'd been informed, and used tactics that completely countered my forces. The results could have been far worse if we decided to ignore the civilians in the town and instead chased the False Familiar... I realise this resulted in Earl Tatiana's death, but I pledged myself to Albion's people, and that is where my loyalties lie." he firmly states, knowing that he'd probably get executed for such words... Some might even call them treasonous.

Cromwell seethes and glances to the guards at the side of the room, "Commander Kaliker, did you not see how important the capture of the False Familiar was?"

Ralf shakes his head, "I do not see how his capture is above the lives of Albion's citizens." he states with determination.

Cromwell smirks, "Then, perhaps your eyes are defective. Guards, remove one of this man's eyes from his skull. Perhaps he just needs a new perspective on things?" he says, causing Ralf's body to stiffen. He doesn't move however, instead simply waiting and letting the men do what they must.

"GGRRRRAAAAAARARRRRRRGGHH!" Ralf screams as Cromwell watches with amusement, fingering his ring as he thinks about recent events... The war was essentially over now, he and his men had found Prince Wales and the enemy hadn't stood a chance.

He'd used his Ring to take control over all of Prince Wales men, and had them arrest the royal before he could do anything... He was somewhat disappointed that his ring failed to control the prince, but he supposed that Brimir's purest lineage had some advantages that others did not.

A couple minutes later, the guards throw Ralf's body at the base of Cromwell's throne, blood streaming from an empty eye socket. He simply kneels against however, not saying a word.

Cromwell smiles, "Do you see now, Commander Kaliker?"

...

Ralf grits his teeth, he was a man of his word, a knight. And that meant he refused to lie, even despite the pain shooting through his body at the loss of an eye. This man wanted him to forsake the people to try and capture a slave who they tortured incessantly for their amusement... What kind of justice is that? What kind of rule would the people be subjected to?...

He looks up and glares with his single eye, but somehow manages to stifle the stream of insults threatening to spill from his mouth. "I see, Lord Cromwell."

Cromwell nods, "And you recognise your pathetic failure for what it is? Both unsightly and dishonourable?"

"I do... Lord Cromwell." he says, doing his best to hide the venom in his tone.

Cromwell nods, inwardly trying to decide on whether or not he should mind-controlling the commander to preempt any foolish attempts to get revenge. In the end, though he decides not to, as it's simply too much fun to play with this 'chivalrous personality'. He wondered what it would take to make the man forsake his vows... He grins, "Then, as soon as your men have recovered from this recent incident, I want you to dismantle any remaining loyalists. With prejudice. Do you understand?"

Ralf nods one final time, "I do my lord."

"Good. Now be on your way, I have no more time to attend to one such as you." Cromwell says while casually waving him off, not realising that such an action infuriated Ralf far more than the loss of his eye.