CHAPTER SIX- MY PORTION OF FLESH

Luckily, the 10,000 soldiers that were sent from the first instant to defend against Parah and his brother were still actively on patrol. In split seconds, silent crept in everywhere the king was laid, the ladies on the scene were crying bitterly after noticing the king is dead. Pash himself was a victim of emotion riddance, but soon after time he was able to get himself to a good position, then begin to arrange his troop in defensive battle order, three battalions from the king's quarter assembled in 3 lines as the knights thrust forward to lead, Pash was at the center of his own flanked quarter of his barons on the left, looking ready to take any charge. In that moment, a soldier draws near and informed all the generals present they should retreat to the wall gate where they could defend more properly against Parah's marauding men.

"Everyone retreat" One of the ministers screamed to the prepared barons.

An utter feeling of ridicule with a mix of defeat smears in, especially on Pash face who was disbelieved with the nature of invasion. However, he choose to fight but was discouraged with the numbers of men left at his back to fight, it later dawn on him, majority of his men are on a windmill assignment in other villages. He was helped by one of the minister who pleaded him to think twice, if not for his sake but for the men who are going to suffer great affliction in an unmatched confrontation.

If it was left to Pash alone, he is ready to go through chivalrous attempt to protect his conquered lands, because they mean a lot to him in his quest to become king of Leuz. However, he blazed back and yell on his men to retreat. The ministers as old as they were, coupled with the generals present at the scene helped to lift the corpse on General Iroh's back as they march to the wall gate.

A hint of victory gashes through Parah's obscene sight of the dead strewn bodies everywhere on the field and the retreating men to the wall gate, so he yelled "Victory is ours!"

Soon the cry of victory filled the soldier's lips with uncommon happiness as they raised their swords and chanted 'Ahuhua victory atlas'. Parah's first stage of taking over Leuz has been accomplished even after confirming the king is dead when he saw General Iroh carried the corpse on his back on their way to the wall gate.

Later that evening when the ashes settles and everyone begins to count their losses, they are inexhaustible numbers told at length. In that moment, a strange man beckons, Parah soldiers immediately sense he is not one of them, so he pleaded immediately.

"I have not come to fight but to carry a letter to give to the son of Govin" The man pleaded while holding his hands out- entreating for mercy.

Quickly, they summoned Parah's attention to the shade where the man was taken to.

"And what message do you have for me?" Parah asked in strange vile manners.

"Your brother Pash sent me to issue a truce for the benefit of all" the stranger sounded in a friendly but threatening manner. Unknown to him Parah is under great suffering to have a portion of flesh. So he replied.

"A truce you say" Parah answered back with a dangerous smile, he look back for a second and watch his men hold the stranger tightly as he draws his sword in fury and cut one of his hands off and tramples it in the mud. Then he continued while beholding his head on his two hands.

"Tell my brother these hands has sought for the service of destruction, it remains for the agent of death to reap from his harvest" he replied.

One of Parah's soldiers draws near with a smirk on his face.

"What do you have us do with him" he asked like a trustworthy slayer.

"My messages are clear, leave him, let him go, I'm desperate to watch him bleed his way to the fort where these coward men enclosed themselves" Parah laughed and retreated back into his chambers for the next important stage of his plan to usurp the king.

Following the turn of events, Parah searched and searched for the mythical staff of authority in Pash chambers, to his knowledge, his efforts proved futile. Then in fury, he screamed and his anger intensified.

Meanwhile, it was resolved by the council of the ministers and the elder to send more troops with the already deployed 10,000 men to the wall gate to defend it more properly as they prepare for the king's burial the next day.

At some point- at the fall of the sun, they began to call for the bravest of the villagers to come and join the battle, they recruited both old and young men in the process, and they amount to about 50,000 men stationed on the frontiers to persevere in battle.

It was the next day for the burial, Pash together with General Iroh coupled with some other random men gathered to lift the king to the burial ground. On reaching there, men and women were already gathered with flowers on their hands as loud sound of weeping filled the square, especially the queen who was seen on appointment with the corpse. She wept so dearly beside the late king, General Iroh lean forward and persuaded her to cry her emotions out.

"Cry my dear lady, if it will do you any good of forgetting old troubles, he was like a brother to me also, but remember the deed has already been done, we should move on from the past" He said with deep emotions as his face was without a smile.

After a few minute, the maids standing next to the ministers beckons to pacify the queen as they gently moved her away to begin the functioning of the burial more proper. Yet again, General Iroh was the first to describe the king's good virtues concerning his reign as king over the kingdom of Leuz.

"What a time you have been- a loving father, a brother and an uncle to us, although we might have our differences in the past growing together, even though I might be older, they remind me of our argument who would be the best king of this kingdom (this time he was able to call on a weak smile as he continues) but you diligently and wisely handle every situation to avert any incoming hassle from my pitch. Our enemies has taken a lot from us and we shall stand and fight for the pride of this land, good bye little brother" he said after taking his bow and wait for the next speaker.

The ministers take turns after turn to describe the good deeds of the king concerning his reign in the great kingdom, even the queens, the kinsmen and men of nobles were not exempted, and it continued for a very long time until the minister were convinced of an appointment to steady the course of extolment by bringing Commander Pash to also speak about the late king.

At first he was reluctant, he perceived great emotions on the faces of the people present, so he does not want to ruin the moment. Hence, he made his warming speech.

"Well, I have taken so many path my whole life, and I learnt redemption is found in the most unusual places at an unusual time, and the king was helpful in making me understand there is a chance of reviving the past. First, I came here as an enemy, but the kingdom offers me love, wealth, kindness, one I have never felt in my entire life, so I owe this pleasure to be amongst you today. If fate is talking to me right now, then it is merely not a coincidence I am involved in this ceremony today, which makes me one of you, so I'm going to relish that for the rest of my life." Pash said with full commitment in his eyes.1

When it appears there was no more comments from anybody, the priest proceed with the funeral right, the king was buried in his coffin and was subdued with sarcophagi stones by the beloved audience who were gathered for the function.

Later that evening, General Iroh summoned a meeting of the elders as they convene at the palace, Pash was included along with his cohorts.

"It's sad we had to mourn the king's death after his burial today, but at this death sized hour, it's pertinent to focus on the pressing needs of this kingdom, because obviously we are at war. I am sure by now words might have reached our enemy's ears about the death of the king- and present our mettle weak in the face of war. Thereby, I strongly suggest we name a new king." He said with graceful emotions, then he continued..

"For most of my years in this palace, I was known for strong resolve and persevering servitude to the king and his subjects, I understand the history and heritage of the throne and the kingdom, so it behoves a good reason on why I should be the next king of this great kingdom, especially in the face of our enemies." General Iroh said looking unfaltering or disturbed of his bold renouncement to be the next king of Leuz.

After a minute, one of the minister that is always seen with the late king responded.

"I do not want to say you are wrong in all entirety, but there are some truth whick mask the other. I totally agree with you general, that is why we need a strong king that is capable of confronting this great problem that befalls us in this war. I am just saying… we should not ignore the king's last words or his wishes, besides, I believed at this point in battle, it's definitely called for to install Pash as our new king, not you general"

"Over my dead body" General Iroh opposed in anger, then he continued.

"Are you aware he is our enemy, not to mention the fact he is the brother of our biggest enemy we are looking at in the front. So tell me what are you insinuating senator. General Iroh reproved him and watch the next speaker speak.

"Not to be rude general, you with the king approved his installation as the commander of the frontier troop, labeling him as the 'Commander of the lost city' do you remember general. Anyways, he is going to be fighting against great odds to prove himself after his oath today, and besides he is truly a kin of the lorn great king– King Leuz, so therefore I seconded the senator's opinion for Pash to be our next king" he said looking worried about what the general would say next.

"But that was then, you all know my contribution to the status of this kingdom, I fought endless battles none of our knight could- under sleepless days and night, I encumbered a true warrior even though my command zone was in the palace, all my relentless effort to be king" he slipped his tongue in anger.

In split seconds, the ministers were on their feet, looking disappointed. Pash himself was surprised too on the place he was seated after hearing the general speak of his intentions to be king.

"What an abomination, you should be ashamed General" another minister in the meeting square reproved the general once again and continued.

"At this point, we shouldn't waste more time on who should be king and who should not. I strongly suggest the coronation should be done earnestly without any delay.

General Iroh was reticent to speak, his whole mind and soul is clouded with anger. This was increased with the misfortune mouth to ears whispering by the ministers who are looking convinced to appoint Pash as the next king. He later broke his silence with his stricken loose voice.

"I won't watch my dignity dip inside the mud and be mollified in such manner as I have already in this conference meeting. Should every one you bastards know I am also a direct descendant of Leuz" He rolled his sleeves up in fury and showed his markings to the ministers.

"Have you seen this before? He asked while showing it right and left. This is the marking of Uthar, I have every right to pursue a desire to be king.

The whole room sighed deeply down. At that moment it felt any decision over naming the next king might be very decisive and crucial. Therefore, silence swept through the room like a fierce storm. After a while, a senator broke the silence.

"Can you prove your points general, can you lay the trails with the clues?" he asked looking so serious.

"Have you ever wondered why I knew so much about this palace not to talk of the two brothers, my father used to tell me stories about this palace when I was a kid, he pleaded me not to ever forget my root. It's been four generations gone since the great king- king Leuz died. However, my great great grandmother used to be an harlot for the king, she was so sacred that no man could touch her and the king admired her so much even after his marriage to the queen of that time. Consequently, he slept with my Great great grandmother and the result was my great grandfather. To avoid tied polygamous competition from a common harlot with the queen, my great great grandmother resist the urge to inform the king of her pregnancy, hence she encouraged her son my great grandfather to work as a servant for the king, so he can at least have a father's touch. Overtime, this eventually resulted into installation by the then king on my great grandfather to be the next generalissimo, an imperator to the throne of Uthar because of his relentless service to the king. Besides the king loves him as his own even though he was unaware of the fact that he was his child, so he made him general to the palace because he never wanted him to go far away from the palace. Along the line, there was a period marred with great struggles in the kingdom following the death of Leuz, there were assault from the kingdom of Jobia, so the next king was usurped because they felt he was unequal to the task of being king like his forefathers and this resulted into exile for the supposedly next young king. It should be noted the young king had a child. However, my grandfather was next in rank after his father's demise, my great grandfather and the exiled kings were good friends, even though the king was very very young to him, so he sought for help from the then king of Spartak to protect them before he died. The young king always tells jokes of naming his child Govin to my great grandfather who had born my father by that time before he was sent on exile. I was old enough by that time also, I was about a five years old child, and he was always telling the story of naming his child Govin to my ears- that when he start growing, I can play with him and love him as a brother. Nonetheless, after the mutiny, the young king was exiled and I found out his child has grown up to become a warrior. The war brought about a situation of a new kingship generation in the land of Leuz. I was a boy of sixteen years of age when the late king Bartholomew was born to the next king who took over from the young king and send him on exile. Although, I have always wished for a brother, so we grow up together in this same palace, even at the time he was proclaimed king of this great kingdom, I gave him my full blessings. And now you see I have every right to claim the throne now that he is gone."

The elders were thrown into darkness again, after his long story, they believe any decision on crowning the next king will be very vital and crucial with their present battle. So one of the council begs for some minutes to discuss this issue among themselves. Pash was unperturbed, even as the room gets more intense, he was comfortably seated all through the hour. Then finally, the council decided to make a vote of who should be the next king. However this statement was brought to light by the minister.

"After serious thought, General Pash equally has a right to the throne, albeit, with due respect general, we have seen from your attitude and trails of clue that you are going to be an infringement to our values in this kingdom, that is because you kept all this prior to our knowledge and you had heinous plans to be king of this great kingdom". The man was still speaking when General Iroh interrupted him.2

"My intentions are clear minister". He reiterated.

"Let me finish general" the minister pleaded as he continues with his bold statement.

"However, for the good of this kingdom, the elders have resorted to conducting a vote on who should be the next king of Leuz, so therefore any result following this decision is final and we shall have the coronation done by tomorrow, is that understood general." The minister reiterated in pale voice as he continues.

"Before you men of wisdom do I entrust you to give your vote wisely without any sentiment. If you are in support for Pash to be king, kindly signify? He throws his question politely to the audience. 

Everyone went silent again for some minutes, even as the meeting went more and more gloomy. Overwhelmed by the choice of a man who was once an enemy now presenting himself as an angel, and an angel we once known to be the savior now gladly taking the shape of a demon.

Everyone were utterly confused and overwhelmed. But based on the light of experience between the two candidate, some elders believed Pash has a lead over General Iroh on the claim for the throne, that is simply because he has defeated him in the past and has great connections with the barbers that are scattered around for his glorious cause, so they believed he can fight their battle for them especially in this period of setting wars. Some thought the beckoning uproar by Parah can be easily dismissed by Pash because he has the experience and all it takes to defeat his brother, especially with the mythical staff of authority on him.

Few minutes later, they began to cast their votes, starting with the lead minister who raised his hand in support of Pash, then another man for Pash, then other follows, and it went on until the majority of the elders present voted for Pash to be the next king of Leuz. It is surely without an iota doubt Pash emerged victorious even before the audience was asked to vote for the general. In quick annoyance, the general marched out and the minister continued.

"Then it is settled, by tomorrow we shall be having a coronation for our new king Pash" he said looking so pale and devastated.

The battle line has just been drawn, Pash emerged as the next candidate to be crowned king, on one hand General Iroh is devastated with the news, all his plans went down the drain while Parah is on one side of the other wall, waiting for a time to strike.3

In that moment, one of the ministers reminded the head speaker of the conference about the late king's daughter who was on a mission in the south borders of Clak to learn the ways of men.

"Leave that to me senator, I will handle her when she gets back". The man reiterated as the men dismissed in large numbers.