Arnold- The beginning

Eehhya !!!

Horses neighing in hallways of any castle can never be a good thing.

more so for the people if it was the King's castle.

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What should have been the sun's position, the west now was eclipsing the sun through black smoke.

In the periphery of royal palace soldiers were killing and dying.

Maids once enjoying work in safest environment in the kingdoms were being butchered without any resistance.

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Inside the throne room.

"The Queen has left to afterlife your majesty! You must retreat at once for We will stay here to greet that sunnovabitc- "

"Language Creta !" the man beside alden king roared as he stuck out icicles from his shoulder.

"Sir Gerald I was just-"

She was once again cut mid speaking but now but voice now contained kindness instead of loyalty the previous prevailed.

The gentlest voice of the king sighed as he saw his ancestors' lifework to an end

"My knights,

You may stop now,

I have foreseen,

And accepted,

This moment to be my end."

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The King was greeted with a hurried remark

"Your majesty,!

"Your majesty, let us be your shield this last time,

Let us escort you outside the royal palace at once, we can only turn the situation around with your life safe, anywhere not he.e "

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"Let me speak my will Gerald "

Gerald retreated as he observed no anguish or agitation in the voice of the King

"I was said to be lousy prince

became a wise crown prince

then the youngest king of aldia,

crowned with the title of knight king of Aldia

and even a womanizer king.

*sigh*

I had loving dad,

some nice and some blood thirsty mothers

king elder sisters and bratty younger ones

cute and kind daughters, ambitious sons

and even 2 grandsons..

.

I have achieved more than most people living on this land we call Velliria and now when the eternal rest awaits me, I king of aldia ask for you to let me run rampant one last time."

silence echoed at the chaotic bloodbath in the palace.

"We have taken the oath to give up our lives for your majesty, we can't-

"I am asking to give your lives up to me Gerald!

I am giving you royal decree to leave the place this instant"

"Your majesty-

"NOW"

The King's voice was by no means loud, but it resonated clearly in the throne room.

"we will be evacuating, creta lead the path to the emergency escape I will follow in the end"

perplexed the soldier accepted the order

" Yes sir "

the reply had been filled with emotions of all sort of of emotions but rebellious thoughts were now replaced by respect and nothing else.

All the knights started leaving, holding their heads low.

When just the King and Gerald were present for who knows what was awaiting for them in the next moment, the king proceeded to hold conversation.

"Gerald you may take care of my grandson,

for if he became an orphan because of me,

I will really come and kill you

You must understand Igraine, that child is a foolish one, God knows what she may do to him, for me you are parent to both of them."

A big explosive sound followed up

The gate to the Throne room burst open and tens of soldiers rushed to capture the mighty king.

The King nearly forcefully pushed back the Royal knight captain.

Gerald retired as he held the last glimpse of the old king ,admiration and anguish were present as the sword of the king fled from the castle backdoors, biting his lip.

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In the throne room,

The King let aura flow from his body to his sword.

He cut, he killed , killed and moved forward.

Forward and stabbed

Stabbed and posed where he stopped.

He looked in the eyes of his kin, his son Zeffrey was there.

smiling, held a sword backed up by 20 or so mages

.

"Father , today I will be ending relationships to protect my rights as the sole inheritor of eternal alden kingdom, and then I will pave the path to make our k- , no MY KINGDOM an EMPIRE. "

so please die for me-

"Why do this Airen?"

The king payed no heed to the words of his son for he was sure that the instigator was not him

"Do I need not out words for you brother?

*sigh*

The King asked what he knew was a useless question

"Who and How?"

.

.

"You know people just do not want the best they need better. So gathering support could never been easier against someone controlling the throne for this long.

As for battle prowess I have my means."

Not knowing what this meant for him Zeffrey continued

"HaHa father you should have entrusted the throne sooner , to me instead of that sick brother, you could have just retired to some country and enjoyed your last moments resting and not bathed in blood!"

"Foolish child of mine, you do not understand what is happening!"

.

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Behind the palace the knights had evacuated and Geralt had been riding towards his quarters intending to return home, ignoring the slight pain and inflammation from his shoulder.

There had been no pursuers behind him

But flames will reach to his town now or then.

Many people were crying in his path but Geralt had to, no chose to ignore them to protect not what was all but what was his.

After about half an hour he reached the gate of town Rolt, he knocked fiercely on the door.

He knocked again, but it was of no avail. Fearing the worst, he burst opened the gate and inside a situation he could not imagined had taken place.

He was perplexed with the scene in front of his eyes.

.

/.

He saw his wife hanging to top with rope braided by his neighbor granny

Surely she was dead as there was no resistance to be observed.

.

He searched and saw

bubbles coming out under her where a big tub was placed.

"No No No NO NO NO NO!!!!!"

He carried away what was submerged in underwater

wrapped in towels,

performed what was told in his military days as first aid for drowned personnel.

"Arnold breathe son , breathe

and repeated the process

"Son breathe for me, breathe for God's sake BREATHE!

The man who had not cried for as long as he had been given birth on Velliria, was weeping and praying for one flow of air to seep into his son's lungs.

He repeated the whole process again and again, each time delicately but perfectly.

"SOn pLeAsE BreAThE "

.

Hck ! hak ! akh !

Gerald listened to coughing which sounded as beautiful as a melody

"Yes ! Yes ! "

Bubbles formed on the child's nose, but he was unknowingly saved from his first ordeal.

Suddenly due to his heightened senses,

Geralt listened noise of soldiers on horses coming from a distance.

He quickly covered Arnold with dry towels and tugged him beside his chest.

Then only did he observed a piece of paper at the side of the table.

.

''' Dear love,

I am sorry I had to take this step but-

.

Geralt tore down the paper to its last bits

"That fxking bitch" He proceeded unhinged as he prioritized what was in front of him than what was not.

He picked up his old sword and raced out on his horse in the direction of North.

He ignored any and everything happening around him, even ignoring his mind's plea to warn his neighbors for what may entail for them with him fleeing.

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The horse was gasping but was not allowed to rest for even a second.

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The horse was sprinting nonstop till snow was on horizon.

After sprinting for about 7 hours the horse died due to stress accumulation.

"Should not have used light magic repeatedly on her,".

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Geralt now continued on foot.

Temperature continued to pave his way towards the forest.

The adrenaline had wore out about 6 hours earlier so each step was painful.

Now he noticed the wound on his shoulder was not recovering even with the use of light healing magic.

He glanced at Arnold who was sleeping the whole time.

His mood lightened with the sleeping smile of his son after the whole ordeal.

No other thought except his safety was on the father's mind

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After running for about half an hour, Snow was observed as the temperature continued to drop and pine trees were now in sight of father and son duo.

Arnold had woken up by now.

Indifferent face of the boy did not surprised father, rather was well accepted as indicator of everything being right.

Geralt stopped and carried out his body to the face of a shallow cave confirming nothing lethal was present he sighed.

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After the whole ordeal he had finally crossed the kingdom's border and reached the northern forest in the territory of empire.

Placing Arnold safely on his lap he tried putting Arnold to sleep but fatigue came all at once as he dropped dead unnoticeably....