General Oira Raosh spoke with her usual strong voice. "My Lord, I've heard of him from a few merchants, they say that he was a street urchin once, and that he rose to prominence only because he sold his soul to some foul being."
"I've also heard that the Nobles of Kadur can't stand him," she added. "And that they don't engage in open conflict with him, for they fear his power."
"We can use that," Lord Sued said.
"Use what?" Oira asked.
Lord Sued looked at the six distinct faces in the room and said. "We could use his low born status, I'm positive that he is receiving a lot of pressure from the nobles, on his side. They must be dreaming for him to fail the invasion, and to take his head. If we manage to resist until our reinforcement arrives, he will only have two choices, full on assault or a long term siege."
"My Lord, I don't get it how him being a lowborn will help us win if we plan to wait for reinforcements?". Lord Sued's nephew asked. He was a young Orc with gray skin, brown eyes and brown hair. He was a General in training.
Generals in training served as apprentices to other Generals or powerful Lord's, which in time will rise to the rank of Field Generals, and Higher. They attend the Royal military Academy, and only the best students of a specific year can become General's in training, in short, they were well-trained and had extensive knowledge of many things. Arkin is a general in training, but more on that later.
"Aerich, what did they teach you at that stupid academy?" lord Sued asked. " I told your mother that you will learn nothing going there, but she insisted. Only the best attend the academy, she told me, what a load of crap." He looked slightly disappointed. If only he hadn't listened to his sisters pestering back then. The boy wouldn't be asking such stupid questions right now, he thought.
"What Lord Sued wishes to say is that even after the reinforcements arrive, we are not sure of victory in open combat." Mayis Vor Pani said. "But that doesn't matter because the moment, reinforcements arrive, we will force a battle of attrition upon the enemy, which will result in our victory, we just need to avoid direct combat, and the nobles of Kadur will deem Meratna's invasion on our lands a complete failure, and his army will be recalled, even if they don't recall the army and just send another General to take command, we will still win, because we will attack, the moment the transmission of power will happen, catching them off guard." His slow explanation cleared the young trainee's mind.
Mayis Vor Pani was one of the two Lesser Nobles present at the Observatory tower. Lesser Nobles are people of low birth given a noble title and lands. The House of Vor Pani was already considered by many to have the same status as normal Lords, they just lacked the formal documents signed by the king to confirm it.
The story of his House is the same as many others. In order to escape the claws of hunger tearing at his stomach, his grandfather gave his entire life to the sword, enduring hardships, and humiliation. He became one of the city guards here in Zo-Alvor, and in one of the many battles against the Kadurians, he managed to show his prowess with the sword, and earned the city Lords approval. The rest is history.
Another one of the Lesser Nobles present at the meeting was Roe Astram Orsella. She was the first generation of her House. Hers is a story of pain and sorrow, and a clear reminder that if you have determination, in time you can achieve anything.
Her mother was a whore in a village near Zo-Alvor. Her life wasn't sweet, but she never complained. When Roe was ten, one of her mother's suitors, Slyf the Meek, killed her. Looted what little possessions they had, and sold the little girl to one of the slave merchants inside Zo-Alvor. In time she killed Slyf by gouging out his eyes and feeding him to the crows, but that is another story.
"Oh! I see this is a good plan, but how do you know that the Commander of the Reinforcements will behave according to our plan," Aerich asked. "And not engage the enemy directly?".
""That's a good question, my boy, I guess they thought you something useful after all," Lord Sued said, while nodding in approval. "You will sally out and transmit our battle plan when they arrive".
"What?" Aerich asked, perplexed.
"I know it's dangerous, but it's not beyond your skills to do so." Lord Sued looked his nephew straight in the eyes when he said those words. "You're a general in training with close ties to the Aren family, and this gives you enough authority to speak on my behalf."
The onlookers understood what he meant by it. They needed to send someone with authority to represent the forces inside Zo-Alvor, and Aerich was a good candidate for the job. He was important, but not to the point of rousing the enemy to make a move on him.
Knocks on the door were heard and a soldier dressed in silver colored armor rushed in, he placed his right hand on his heart, and bowed slightly. "Forgive me high Lord, a raven brought news from Avanom".
Lord Sued approached him and took a small piece of paper from his hand. When he read what was written on that piece of paper, surprise flashed across his face.
Everyone spotted the momentous change, but only Aerich asked "what does it say uncle?". He knew that the only news they were waiting for was in regards to the arrival of reinforcements, so judging by his uncle's reaction, nothing good came.
"The High Council has tasked the fourth prince to help us," lord Sued said. "And King Sethar signed the order". He announced the surprising news in a calm voice, at least he thought he sounded calm.
"Why would they send the fourth prince?" Edadick asked. "He didn't even perform the ritual of approval. What are they thinking?" He voiced what was on everyone's mind.
"Prince Oslo would have been the ideal choice for our situation," Oira said.
"Oira, you always say that prince Oslo would be the best man for the job in any given situation," Ser Dasterian Draya said with a mocking smile. "I bet if it were for you he would have been crowned king long ago."
Ser Dasterian Draya was the only Knight Commander inside Zo-Alvor. He had a barbaric air around him, with his full beard and robust body, he could intimidate anyone. If you saw him once, you could never forget him.
Him, and Edadick laughed at his words because they knew how Oira's behavior changed in the presence of the third prince. The two Lesser Nobles and Aerich didn't find his remarks funny because they didn't know what he was talking about. Meanwhile, Lord Sued wasn't even paying attention.
"That isn't only my opinion, almost everyone knows that he will be the next king". Oira, spoke in such a way that it seemed like she was lecturing young children on how to properly hold a sword.
"He isn't even that strong, so why are you so fervent about him?". Ser Dasterian Draya asked.
Oira didn't cower when her feelings were exposed so shamelessly. "Sure, he isn't that strong compared to prince Belron, nor as good looking as the fourth prince, but we all know who will be crowned in the end". She was a battle hardened woman, so finding her way out of an embarrassing situation wasn't difficult.
"In a fight looks don't matter, but I bet that even the fourth prince, as young as he is, may be stronger than Oslo," Edadick commented, he didn't enjoy such conversations, but when it came down to who would inherit the throne, he never missed a chance to undermine everyone's opinion of Prince Oslo."
"Oh, so you are happy that a kid still wet behind his ears is coming to help us?" Oira asked.
"I don't care who comes, as long as he has enough men," retorted Edadick. These two became like cats and dogs when talking about who should inherit the throne.
The throne of Agnis is not inherited by the first born like all the other possessions and titles, that only happens when there is only one heir and he passed the Ritual of Approval.
In the case of multiple sons. Members of the high council will rally behind the candidates they deem worthy, and try to take the throne. Agnis only accepts strong Kings, both mentally and in terms of power.
It is only when they chose a new king that Ishrath their God, and Protector allows members of the Nameless Clan to kill each other, at any other time the one who kills his kin is punished by having his mana taken away from him, and in Myrth at his shrine Ishrath repeats the culprit's name for all to hear.
Having your own mana extracted from your body is a very, very painful experience, if the person who went through such an ordeal still retains his sanity, then he is one lucky bastard.
Lord Sued exhaled deeply for all to hear, and said. "The king won't send his army, he wishes for the boy to do it on his own" when he said those words silence permeated the room. And almost everyone in the room said at the same time "What?".
"I do not know what is going on, but if this is true, does that mean that we are on our own?" The Lesser Noble Mayis Vor Pani inquired.
"I don't know," the high lord responded after a brief pause. "I will write a letter to the king to understand the meaning of this. In the meantime, all of you go back to your post and reinforce the defenses," lord Sued commanded.
When everyone left, he took the jar of wine from the table, and went to the balcony.
He knew that it would take time for the fifty thousand Kadurians to enter the city, so he wasn't worried. He couldn't understand what the king was thinking. It was clear that some members of the High Council wished to get rid of the fourth prince, before the bout for the throne begins. The king is definitely aware of that, so why did he agree? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find the answer.
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