Back to the Capital Pt.2

Lenard Geldstein, Month 11, Day 16, Year A.F 652. Rosalia, Kingdom of Rosalia.

I try to drown out the shouts and screams as my men try to defend against the radicalizing and the only thing I could do was hold my head and shake at the utter disappointment.

"It's fine, My Prince, you werent aware that such a kind action would devolve the masses into such debauchery." Mirs spoke beside me, giving me a comforting smile.

"That may be so, but as a future king, I should have had the foresight to see it." I reply with frustration.

I shake my head away from the dreary thought before looking up, seeing the view before me. At least the noble district seems to be untouched.

The rows of mansions filled with countless servants was a relieving sight though with the current situation, one that does not bode well for the future.

I continue to ride forward, the servants of the mansions watching us through the windows, unaware of the growing chaos outside.

It's fine, the moment this war ends I'll put the kingdom back into order.

The castle was in fine condition, it seems the battle didn't have enough of an impact to destroy its outer structure, hopefully there's not much damage on the inside.

We rode closer to see the gate once more opened. The palace seemed untouched, the garden still shockingly maintained, as if no one ever left.

I walk through it as the door opens to reveal the halls within it, being in the same pristine condition I left it in. Though the hall that I was supposed to be married at was cleaned as If nothing ever happened.

I shake the thought away, this isn't the time for anger, all I have left is to brief my allies on what our next move should be, though with Arthen's weird movement that has turned into a problem.

As walked through the hallways, I realized an important fact. Father remained within this castle the moment we escaped.

I ran to one of the maids working and shouted, "Do you know where King Avares resides?"

The maid looks to me in fear as she hurriedly nodded, "Yes, Your Highness."

"Bring me to him!" I shout to her as she immediately ran. Her frantic expression more than apparent as she ran through the halls.

Through all of this, I screamed at myself, screamed at my failure as a son and the seemingly endless suffering my father must have gotten through our enemy hands.

A few minutes pass and the maid stops in her tracks. She frantically looked around before stopping at the door, the door to father's bedroom.

I take a deep breath before pushing it forward, revealing a horror I never thought I'd ever see. It was father, on the brink of death.

His eyes were hollow and his expression despondent. The once golden hair turned white as his chest barely rose up and down.

He looked like he aged decades.

I ran to his side, my expression saddened at his current condition. I look to the maid and shouted, "What happened to him? How did he become like this?"

The maid shivers from my glare, she lower her head to me as she replied, "We weren't allowed anywhere near his highness, the only ones that even got near him were the Duke's personal maids.

"Anyone that were seen entering the King's chamber without his permission were either exiled or executed." She quickly spoke, hoping to avoid my wrath.

I grit my teeth in anger as I shout, "GET OUT! GET OUT!"

The maid scurried away, fearing for her life as she ran out of the room.

"S-son, is that you?" A broken voice spoke to me.

I look down to see father's hollow eyes look back, with that realization, I immediately knelt to his side and held his hand as tears blur my vision, "It's me, father, it's me."

"I'm sorry, father, I'm sorry." I said to him, begging for his forgiveness.

But it all came up empty, he reaches his hand to my cheek and with a smile he spoke, "I am so glad that I could see you again. Please be better."

His breathing stills and in that moment, all the grievance, all the hurt and weariness bore itself out and I screamed, screamed in utter agony as my heart seemingly beats without end and the tears fell like rainfall.

The rain fell as I lower my head as I watch my father's body be buried. I made sure it was buried right next to where my mother was buried, Im sure he would've enjoyed the thought. The death of my father happened in an instant. There was no funeral, no guests, since we were at war.

I clench my fist in utter anger, the relentless bloodshed I had to go through now seemingly meaningless.

NO! I know who to blame and I know who to kill.

With father's death it showed that there was no longer a chance of forgiveness and reconciliation, this battle will end with one of us dead.

And I'll make sure Athan is the one who dies.

"

With the burial finished I continued to prepare for battle, there's no time for grieving, the only thing I could do now was push forward. with Lord Mirs, Belford and Ivid all following me towards the command room. An office containing the map of the country.

Lord Mirs follows right behind me, "My Prince, we have taken the capital. Yet, it seems to have turned up empty, something we couldn't have predicted."

"Yes, the problem we have to face now is the twenty thousand men directed at our location." Belford spoke as he rubs his chin in thought.

"But should we even stay here?" said Ivid as he looked back with our curious expression.

He replies with a stutter, "S-since, the capital isn't of any use to us, why should we even bother protecting it."

Belford taps his chin in thought considering Ivid's words, "There is truth to that, we came here cause we believe that we could use the population within the city to at least bolster our forces or leverage their work to supply our armies. Now that we arrived, we've seen that there's nothing here of value."

I tap my chin before looking back up, "I understand your concerns but we need to resupply ourselves, the small skirmish decimated our supplies and even when we forcefully bought some in the sorrounding villages, the supply remained critically low."

"Then should we raid them for supplies?" Lord Mirs supplied to us.

I shake my head, "Heading out now is dangerous, their twenty thousand men, isnt something we can fight in detail. All we have to do is wait for the reinforcement to arrive along with their supplies."

Lenard Geldstein, Month 11, Day 19, Year A.F 652. Rosalia, Kingdom of Rosalia.

The two days we spent within this walls werent used lazily. The troops were marshalled to forage for their supplies and the scouts were sent to look out for enemy vanguards.

Though with our current the situation the supply coming from Ivern all the way from the Iridian Principalities are barely enough to get us by.

Certainly not enough to feed the ever dwindling peasant population within the city. And even though the riots were quelled, the violence only served for more of the population to leave.

Now leaving at an alarming rate and one factor has been passing through rumors. It seems that carriages have arrived and left, carrying with them the city's citizen.

Despite my suspicions on his actions, I simply cannot move against him. His seemingly endless wealth has expanded to such a degree that mercenary companies would gladly take his gold.

Perhaps I shouldn't have taken his deal. No, if I did that, he would have merely found someone else to follow and for all I know that someone could have been Athan.

It doesnt matter, once I unite the kingdom, I can take care of him.

Such thoughts though were interrupted by a messenger barging into my room.

"Your Highness, news from Alton." A messenger shouts as he exits the door.

I gesture for him to lower it into my table and I give a small smile, I gave Eribeth the control over the city, trusting that she would know what to do.

Though a letter from Alton is sure to at least lighten my mood.

I read it out, taking in each and every letter and a sudden weight drops over me. I read it out loud once more to make sure I was correct.

"The City of Alton has hosted an army of forty thousand men. All of which were forces sent by the Kingdom of Arasel. This army has spread into two groups, a ten thousand army that seeks to establish control over the rest of the north. While the thirty thousand men were sent to fight the armies over at Aster."

I take in my words and with a shout, "Bring me everyone! Summon all the Lords!"