Meeting A King

The Battlefield was bloody and stunk of death, with corpses littering it for miles. The largest areas where the corpses littered were where the fight between the Egyptian and Hittite infantry had taken place, with at least four thousand corpses from both sides covering the ground, pilled up high as the Egyptian's gathered their own for burial but abandoned the Hittites for their own forces to resolve at a later date.

The other large area of death was the Hittites rear, where the Egyptian Cavalry had hit them hard, the ground was littered with Horses, Chariots and Men. There were clear lines where the Wedge's had charged and the body count was also in the thousands, with each member of the Cavalry killing multiple times their own, with very little loss to the Lancers that charged in them, or the Archers and Chariots that hit them from a distance.

Dom could clearly see the damage the Riverside tactics had caused, and he was excited to see what would happen when he had an army of this size of his own, let alone Tongpai Town, Riverside could conquer any of the potential enemies that came at them. The advantage to Riverside was that their units were also of a much higher calibre, with Legionaries and Hoplites as the Infantry instead of poorly equipped ancient Egyptians.

He had met up with General Tau, Abubakar, Subutai and Tomoe outside a large tent that had been erected by the arrival of the Amun contingent, they were stood with a couple of Tau's guards who had led the Infantry.

Tau and Subutai were covered in dust, but had smiles on their faces after a successful attack from their units. Abubakar, Dom and Tomoe were all stained with blood and dust and even though they smiled, it was visible that they were tired from the fight. Those that were leading the Infantry looked the worse though, covered in blood and dust and with some damages to their armour. They all had left their spears and lances with the horses, but had kept their other weapons in their hilts and sheaves as their rank allowed.

"Those were some excellent suggestions." Tau said as they walked towards the tent, all dismounting and leaving their horses with the Egyptian guards and the Riverside Cavalry. "That Cantabrian Circle is revolutionary and the Wedge has given me plenty of ideas on how to redirect our Lancer tactics.

"I'm just happy that we had a resounding win." Dom replied, "And we timed it well enough so we didn't loose as many Infantry as expected."

"The infantry are secondary in my opinion, as long as my Cavalry is intact I am relieved." Tau replied seriously, "But they did well enough launching the trap as planned. I'll have to reward my commanders."

"Yes you will." One of them commented back to him, wiping some dirt from his armour as they approached the tents entrance, "Let me command the Lancers next time."

"Omari, don't push your luck." Abubakar responded to him angrily, "I deserve the greatest rewards and I believe I have proven that the Cavalry should be mine."

"I do agree Abubakar, the Wedge formation that yourself and Lord Lazarus led were pivotal in our victory, but I am not promising you the Cavalry based on one performance." Tau replied, "I must also say that the targeting from the Riverside Archers, Commander Subutai, that was some of the finest archery I have ever seen."

"The plan worked and it was good to be able to fight on a large scale again." Subutai responded, "I have missed the big open battles against thousands of enemies."

"The key success was finding the ambush in advance." Abubakar commented, "We should prioritise scouting more in the future."

"We follow the Kings orders, he knows best." Tau responded.

They stood at the Tent flaps, which were soon pushed apart from a man dressed similar to Tau, he wore elaborate bronze armour that had jewels encrusting the shoulder straps and his sword hilt. He also wore a feathered headdress and had a serious expression on his face as he left the tent.

"General Sadiki." Tau said confused by the General's facial expression, "I thought you would wait for us inside?"

"General Tau, the King is within." Sadiki responded, "He is not best pleased."

Dom caught Subutai's eye as they heard the conversation, wondering what sort of meeting they were about to enter.

Tau entered the tent first, followed by the Egyptian leaders, whilst Dom and the Riverside group entered last. The tent was well presented inside, with an engraved table that had been placed in the centre with a map placed on the top of it. The tent had stunningly made rugs on the floor, with many different colours and patterns embroidered on them, it was a big difference to walk on compared to the rough ground outside.

At the end of the tent there was one chair, slightly raised and painted in a gold and blue stripped pattern. Sat on it was a tanned man, whose tight muscles were on display as he sat topless, with only a small golden and blue cloak covering his shoulders and his back. He wore a golden armoured skirt that was coated in jewels and golden material greaves on his legs. He had dark brown eyes and wore a Nemes, a golden and blue stripped headdress that draped down on to his shoulders. The man had a serious look on his face and had a regal air around him.

All of the Egyptians who entered the tent bowed low as they saw the man in front, where as the Riverside group stayed upright as they entered, an agreement that had been put in place by Shang Yang before they had joined the quest. The Riverside group was to keep their heads high, so pretend that they were from a much bigger force, and therefore be treated with respect rather than subordinates.

"Glory to the King!" Tau shouted, his head held low.

"Glory to the King!" The other Egyptians repeated, also with their heads held low.

"Glory to the King is it?" The Man asked angrily, "It seems all I can hear across the battlefield is Glory to General Tau?"

"My King, all I do is for you." Tau grovelled, lowering himself to the ground in a begging pose, "We have fought in your glory and under your command. Everything that has happened is your esteemed plan."

"Is that the case?" The Man responded, standing from his chair and towering over Tau, "I suppose it is, I did order you to destroy the Hittites."

"And destroy they have done." General Sadiki agreed, trying to support his colleague.

"But so fast." The Man continued, "Where is my glory? Where is the glory of King Rameses II? You didn't even wait for our arrival as planned."

"You are loved by all." Tau continued to grovel on the ground, "We won quick so as to not have to dirty your sword with these unworthy Hittites, they were weaker than expected and did not deserve your glory washing upon them."

Dom caught Subutai's eye, who was trying to keep a straight face, but Dom could tell that internally he was angry at how his new ally was being treated. General Tau was many things, but seeing him grovelling was not something they were expecting. Dom knew these were NPC's and that this was part of the script, but it still shocked him to see it.

"Very well." King Rameses II agreed, "I can accept that, and you have done well General Tau. You deserve a reward when this war has been won."

"Thank you my King." Tau responded honestly, before standing up, but keeping himself low as he took a step back.

"And who are these strangers?" King Rameses II asked, walking around the table with the map on it towards Dom, "Are these where you got the strange tactics from? If it was not for your messenger telling me of your plans, I would have suspected you were thinking of rebelling."

"I am only loyal to the King." Tau said quickly, "All I do is for your glory. These are our friends from the small kingdom of Riverside, they have come with a small force of Elites and have helped show how we can use our units to the better."

"Riverside you say?" King Rameses questioned as he appeared in front of Dom, "Do you not bow before the King?"

"It is a pleasure to meet you King Rameses II." Dom said, putting his hand out for a handshake, "I have come here as an equal as we are not part of your kingdom, but as allies that have come to help."

King Rameses II looked at Dom's outstretched hand, wondering how to deal with this strange man and not wanting to dirty himself by touching him.

"I thank you for your help, however I do not believe there is much you could have done that I would not have done myself." King Rameses II announced, continuing to keep up the appearance that he was the King of all and the most intelligent man in the world.

"I am sure you could have, however I am glad we have helped." Dom responded measuredly, "I believe without us your forces would have taken a heavy loss at this ambush site."

"We would not have." King Rameses II answered, "Unlike the rest of you, I would have foreseen this and come up with a counter plan, much better than yours I must add."

"I doubt it." Dom heard a sweet voice say from beside him. Now it has to be known that Samurai were very honourable, and they followed a strict code called Bushido that was developed from the late 12th Century through to the end of the Samurai in the 19th Century. Tomoe was from the early stages of this development, but she still followed a similar set of rules. Dom was her Daimyo, her leader, and as the battle lust hadn't fully left her yet, she couldn't take the dishonour on Dom's name.

"Who is this woman who dares speak in my command tent?" King Rameses II exclaimed angrily, looking at Tomoe and then at the Egyptian commanders who still had their heads held low.

"This woman has just decapitated over two hundred enemy warriors, as well as one of your commanders who challenged me to a duel!" Tomoe shot back angrily, before grasping the hilt of her sword, "And if you talk badly to my Lord again, I am more than happy to add your head to it!"

Dom and Subutai both face palmed at her response, clearly not expecting the sudden outburst from the heavily armoured Tomoe, who still had her two swords on her side. Dom placed his hand on hers that had grabbed the sword and was about to respond.

"I could have your head just as easily." King Rameses II argued back.

"Forgive the Concubine my King." Abubakar interrupted and begged, "She is a mighty warrior who knows not her place!"

"Abubakar was it?" King Rameses II responded, glaringly.

"Yes My King, it is an honour to know that you know my name." Abubakar bowed excitedly.

"Shut up." King Rameses ordered, before turning back to Tomoe seriously, "That is the first time in a long time someone has spoken to me in that way."

"Not a concubine....." Dom mumbled.