Chapter 52

Layak had never heard of this emperor or his empire. He had heard of the Iron Rose kingdom though and it was the exact kingdom he was sent to scout. If this guy really was the king then the chances of the kingdom being taken by another force must be true.

If this was the new force that occupied it then it would be hard for Layak to do anything. They had found him first after all.

Looking at the opposing forces Layak could feel their power and fearlessness. They seemed much stronger than any of his knights and Layak had a bad feeling. Did they know why he was sent here? Did he already fail his mission before it began? Should he flee?

No! He will face these strangers and show he is unafraid and strong.

"I am Layak Kray of the Kokar Kingdom. May I ask what your highness is doing here? Also, pardon me but I do not recall a Kane as the king of the Iron Rose Kingdom."

The warrior who spoke before was about to respond when the man on horseback motioned for him to stop.

"I am Kane Hoth and I am here Mr. Layak because you and your fully armed friends have trespassed into my territory. Also, I am new to ruling the Iron Rose Kingdom so I am not surprised that you haven't heard of the change in leadership yet."

"I apologize your highness I did not know this forest was the Iron Rose Kingdoms territory. I thought it was free land."

"It is fine. I am very forgiving and it has only recently become mine. The others who had a claim on it are no longer fighting for it. Now Mr. Layak will you tell me why you are here?"

"Certainly Lord Kane. My men and I were sent to hunt a certain orc tribe. Every so often a large one forms from many smaller ones. My kingdom sent us to investigate and see if they had formed yet. We meant no disrespect to you and hope we can come to some kind of arrangement" said Layak.

He hoped that the excuse was good enough and Kane would let him and his men go. He now knew that the Kingdom had indeed been conquered and the information would be very useful to his superiors.

"What kind of arrangement Mr. Layak?"

"Please let us stay here and do reconnaissance on the orcs. We will not bother you and in fact, it will be helpful as the orcs always invade the Iron Rose Kingdom."

Layak watched as Kane smiled and motioned with his hand to something behind the Kokar camp.

Kane then said, "You mean these orcs?"

Layak was shocked to see several orcs come out from behind the trees. They looked ferocious but what really surprised him is they seemed to take orders from this new king.

Layak was beginning to get more and more uncomfortable.

"Why do you have orcs here? What is going on?" asked Layak.

"Layak I have a feeling you have not been fully truthful with me? Why are you really here?"

Layak started to sweat. Kane must have known that he had bad intentions. He had to do something.

"You are right Lord Kane. The Kokar kingdom sent us to investigate a hostile force that forcefully and unjustly took control of the Iron Rose Kingdom. We have come to arrest the fake king and you must surrender here unless you want to full force of the Kokar kingdom to come here!"

Layak hoped he could use words to make this false king surrender because if it failed he was unsure if his forces would win.

"Well, I guess that means we are officially at war. But I do not think your king will learn of it just yet as his scouting parting went missing" said Kane before throwing his lance straight into a couple of knights standing near Layak.

"Charge! Let these intruders regret invading our territory!"