Chapter 147:

Clausonne was a marvel of a city, far larger than anything Anton had seen so far. Even larger than Porswea and by a large margin. However, it too suffered from squalor and overcrowding. The central castle city was extremely large but a large wooden city had sprung around it, twice or even three times larger than Porswea with many wooden walls, some of which were in the process of being upgraded to stone. Unfortunately, they had no such time to marvel at the city.

The walls fluttered with flags, emblems of The Church of The Holy Father flying proudly against the wind. Thousands of white robbed soldiers, and militia, stood behind the safety of the wooden wall, ready to fight them back.

Leo had sent another wave of Knights after the retreating Church forces, thoroughly aware that the Knights operated most effectively in the open plains rather than dense and cluttered cities. They caught a small force, their intentions unknown, but suffered a significant mauling. Over half the enemy forces were wiped out but a number were able to slink back to Clausonne, along with all the Stitch Soldiers. Several Knights returned without their horses’; the Stitch Soldiers threw large javelins and skewered their horses but instead of fighting the downed Knights they quickly retreated after creating some space. They still needed upgrades to make them on par with Caiden.

“Can we actually win this?” Belinda softly asked Alfred.

“Yes.” Alfred turned back to their army.

With the addition of the Royal Army forces, their army had swollen even larger from the nearby towns and cities. Most were militia calibre but they had heart and bravery, and that counted for something.

Anton stood near the front, alongside the leaders of King Leo’s army. Verona, Kal and Cetina stood just behind, Cetina’s attention clearly focused on those behind. Belinda and Alfred stood with them too.

“That’s a relief.” Belinda’s posture relaxed. “For a moment I was worried.”

“That’s a lot of faith you have in your butler.” Verona sniggered.

Belinda looked at Verona with a blank face. “He has never let me down. Even when he should have, I have no reason to doubt him now.”

“They’re starting!” Bernard yelled. He and the other Knights sat on top of their heavily armoured horses, their bright and gaudy colours shone brightly in the early morning sun. Bernard’s armour had been repaired though he ordered the fresh metal to not be repainted black.

The outermost wall of Clausonne shimmered blue. A great wall of magic, hundreds of strange lines and swirls, seemingly based on random and nonsensical mathematical expressions, covered the entire city upwards of a hundred meters. It wasn’t a dome, so anyone could simply fly in, but Anton wasn’t planning on that; the Chirok’s weren’t ready and he definitely wasn’t ready to fall to his death from a Principle Mage landing a lucky strike. Anton quickly enhanced his vision; where the shield glowed brightest, the lines and symbols the most intense, he spied a Principle Mage, middle to late aged men gripped a large staff hard, muttering some sort of chant to maintain the shield, each mage speaking in near perfect unison.

“Now I know how they were able to summon the bigger creatures.” Anton murmured.

“This is what we need you for.” Leo turned to Anton. “Though I remember it being larger.”

Alfred bowed his head. “I do not believe my men were able to neutralise all the enemy mages, by bribery, threat or violence. But it should still be considerably weaker.”

“About half,” Bernard grumbled. “At least. Good start.”

“Doesn’t mean anything if we can’t get through,” Marcus added.

The Principle Mages were guarded by many well-armed soldiers, these had the most armour and best weapons, all training their ranged weapons on the backs of the Mages.

“How long can they keep this up?” Anton asked. “Unless there’s some sort of magical artefact powering this shield. Don’t tell me there was something like that.”

“Qaiviel does not possess such a thing.” Leo frowned lightly. “At least I think so. Who knows what the Church has managed to scrounge up, they have travelled to the lands beyond Qaiviel before…The mages should be able to keep this up until sometime tonight.”

“So we should just wait then,” Anton said. “Let them exhaust themselves and then move in…Unless there’s another reason why you are so desperate to reach the throne first.”

Leo clicked his tongue. “She won’t get to the throne before me. Besides, when I’m on the throne I will the legitimate King of Qaiviel, and no king would dare lose so much territory to his sister.”

Still no luck mellowing you out. I wonder what sort of person Lila is.

“Let us first get you onto the throne.” Anton began. “I can’t reach them from here, even with my strongest magic. I need to get closer. A lot closer. And that means we’ll be in range of their arrows and magic."

“I’d like to see my home again.” Verona chuckled.

“We’ll begin constructing the siege weapons.” Marcus waved to Castor who disseminated the order. “Arrow shields and siege towers. They should be ready by…Mid-day. We already have the framework. And a lot of our new soldiers are woodcutters. Catapults and Trebuchets won’t be ready for a few more days. It’s up to you if we attack today or later. Losses will be much higher if we don’t prepare properly.”

Leo slowly nodded. There was no sign of a messenger or rider from Clausonne. Harold had no interest in negotiation or even dialogue. His path had been chosen, and now he simply had to follow it through.

Local commanders began ordering their men forward to dig trenches and construct small defensive works. The likelihood of a counter-attack wasn’t small. Anton looked to the girls and shrugged lightly. They would have to remain with the leaders until the fighting started. Perhaps they could catch up on some sleep, or Anton could speak with some of the Principle Mages. They had been very interested in Anton’s Marble Spear, though Anton wasn’t going to let them poke and prod him, but he wasn’t able to get a question in edgewise. Cetina had to rescue him from their near unlimited energy when they discovered something new.

A scout rode in rapidly through the lines of soldiers and pushed his way through to the Leaders. Anton found a small trail of dust coming from the north; the grass was rather dry.

“My Lord Marcus.” The scout was part of a Knight Order but not one Anton knew by name. His armour was grey, but not from steel or iron. “A large Church force is approaching rapidly from the north. It appears to be nearly as large as the force that retreated from Poisier.”

“That’ll make things all the more difficult,” Marcus grumbled. He turned to Bernard and Leo. “I want half of the Knights to come with me. As well as Anton and his…companions. The rest will stay here to fend off any counter attacks. Are there any horses?”

“No, my Lord. B-”

“This battle will be easy then. Any Stitch Soldiers?”

“Not that I could see but there was another force in pursuit.”

Everyone stopped and focused on the scout. He appeared quite nervous, unable to look Leo in the face.

“I saw five different Knight Orders and a large infantry force behind.” The scout looked to Marcus and Bernard. “The Red Salamanders were leading the attack.”

“They’re…” Marcus shook his head. “They’re right next to the Centaurs…How did they get this far?”

“They’d have to have ridden hard to get here,” Bernard added. “The Red Salamanders use heavy armour and infantry. Marching will have drained so much of their strength.”

“Who leads them?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t know. I was too far away.”

“Let’s find out what they’re up to.”

---[]---

By the time Anton and the Knight Orders skirted around Clausonne to reach the Church forces they were already dead. The open grasslands were slick with blood and bodies, Knights running down the few survivors and infantry sifting through the corpses, finishing off those that weren’t trampled to death.

“They’ve done well.” Marcus chuckled. “Now, are they going to attack us or not?”

Someone raised the alarm and the Knights attention was drawn to their army. Though they had brought a little less than half of their Knights, and none of their infantry, they easily outnumbered the Knights before them. However, the scout's report hadn’t given the infantry credit. It was indeed a large number, perhaps half of theirs, but everyone wielded a bow with a decent set of light armour, a small sword hanging from their side. This would be a very tough force to destroy.

“Definitely the Red Salamanders.” Castor raised his hand to his brow. “I see the commander too. Well…”

“I wonder if Fabrice survived.” Marcus laughed.

Bernard let out a rare smile. “Tough bastard. I’d like to hear how he managed to escape.”

A small group of Red Salamanders parted from the main force and rode towards them. The lead Red Salamander laughed as he reached them.

“Marcus! Glad to see you got out of that mess in one piece!”

“Luckily.” Marcus brought his horse forward and shook the man’s hand, bringing him into a hug. “Castor and Bernard managed to get out as well.”

The Red Salamander’s head bobbed about. “What about Leo? I heard he managed to escape.”

“He’s back with the others,” Bernard said. “With the main force.”

“You’re just as grumpy as ever, Bernard.”

“You talk too much, Fabrice.”

Fabrice laughed. “Perhaps. But the last few days have been interesting. Especially with our new leader.”

“Queen Lila?” Bernard asked.

Fabrice’s face fell. “Terill said that you weren’t happy with that.”

“I think that’s more the King,” Marcus grumbled, shaking his head. “But that’s something for another day. Is she with you?”

“Not in that way.” Fabrice laughed. “But she is with the main force. Did…Did he end up reading the letter.”

Marcus gently shook his head.

“Shame. She spent a long time on that. Asked everyone for help...” Fabrice’s eyes fell upon Anton and the girls. “You have some strange company. Who are they? Terill mentioned some people that looked like them. To have an audience with Leo…”

Marcus glanced back. “A long story. Is there any chance that Lila and Leo could meet? Actually speaking face to face might sort some things out.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Fabrice looked back to the army. “Hopefully we won’t end up fighting. I don’t know who’s going to win that one.”

“No one.” Marcus’s face darkened. “No one.”

---[]---

Lila, Queen Lila, sat across from Leo. While Leo held his arms folded tight Lila sat more like Anton expected a member of royalty. She was very beautiful; short curled blonde hair reached her shoulders, a simple brown dress that had been reinforced for light combat while maintaining its beauty. It was no wonder that Marcus once joked that he might want to try and seduce her.

“How did you get an army?” Leo asked.

Lila smiled. “It is good to see you too, brother.”

Leo inhaled deeply. His first words to his sister were very poorly chosen. “Forgive me, sister, but it has been a very stressful time.”

“Indeed.” Lila ran a hand through her hair. “I’m sure staying in a castle, fed, clothed and bedding pretty maids was very hard for you. I, on the other hand, had to flee through the wilderness. With no food and the one person I despised for company.”

“Terill?”

Lila nodded. “He has proven to be very loyal and effective. Right now he’s commanding the forces in preparation for the siege of Clausonne.”

“Well…” Leo sighed lightly again. “I received your letter-”

“Letters.” Lila’s face softened. “Did you not read it?”

Noah, the young page in golden clothes, stepped forward and presented Leo with both letters. Leo immediately reached for the map but Noah moved it out of his reach. Leo said nothing and gently took the letter. Lila looked disappointed that it was lightly crumpled while the map was flat and pristine.

Verona bumped Anton’s side. “Not a happy family.”

“No,” Anton whispered back. “But that’s the problem with the eldest inheriting everything. It can create lots of animosity…That’s something I’m actually worried about. Since it’s usually the eldest boy…”

“First we need to make something like a Kingdom for him to inherit.” Verona winked.

Leo finished reading the letter and gently laid it upon the table. It hadn’t taken him long, there was no way he could have read everything. Even Lila knew this but still played the part.

“Knowing that my brother…And our mother, are in there, doing who knows what…Have you seen the Stitch Soldiers?”

“I have. Only a few, though. They are extremely strong and resilient. At least that’s how Fabrice describes them.”

“Do you still agree to this division?” Leo tapped the map. “I…Have been speaking with my advisors-”

More like told. Repeatedly.

“-And Qaiviel cannot endure another civil war. There won’t be anything left. And…” Leo looked to Fabrice. “I’ve been told the Centaurs are preparing for another attack.”

“They are.” Fabrice folded his arms. “After the winter, probably.”

There’s our next interaction with Qaiviel.

“And it’ll be huge this time. If we’re fighting each other they’ll take over half the Kingdom and kill everyone. Neither of you will have much to rule over.”

“Exactly.” Lila smiled warmly. “So I agree to this division. I will also handle the Centaurs, though I may need your help.”

Leo nodded. “Very well.”

An oppressive silence filled the air.

“Is that all you have to say, brother?” Lila was on the verge of tears. “After all this, very well?”

Leo closed his eyes. “I do not know what to say. I just want this to be over. Honestly…I’d prefer for things to return to how they were.”

“As do I, brother.” Lila clasped her hands tight. “Terill has already had men infiltrate Clausonne. The gates will open for our soldiers. However, I do not know if they can take both…”

“We were already planning to attack once the siege weapons were built.” Leo folded his arms. “We have brought in some special mercenaries for just such an occasion.”

Lila glanced at Anton. “Terill mentioned them. Are you the ones that my mother spoke of?”

“Do not worry.” Leo raised his hand, cutting Anton off from any potential response. “They are more than prepared for the task.”

Lila gently nodded. “I understand.” She stared directly at Anton. “If…If you survive this battle I would like to speak with you.”

Anton returned a curt nod. Leo glanced back but Anton kept his face flat. He didn’t want to entertain or even give the slightest hint that he had some secret dealings with Lila.

Leo rose up from his chair. “We will meet before the castle, or King Harold’s throne…Do you have any idea what happened to Giles’s body? Was it burned or just dumped in some pit?”

Lila had no idea, no one present knew either.

“Shame. Though he was involved in all of this mess…He should be treated with some respect. As for Harold and Mother…”

Lila grimly nodded and stood up. They stared at one another, Lila took the first step and hugged her brother. Leo eventually broke and returned the hold.

“Let’s not fight when this is over,” Lila said softly. “I only have one person from my family left…And I don’t want to fight what’s left.”

Leo nodded. “I don’t either.” He gently pried her loose. “Fighting family is not what I intend after this war.”

Lila gave a final nod. She stopped as Fabrice held open the tent flap. “We will launch our assault the moment you do. I shall see you soon, brother.”

Please don’t let this start another war. Qaiviel surely can’t withstand another Civil war…Especially with so many forces mustered and with winter just around the corner…

Leo waited until they were well gone before speaking a word.

“Bernard, Marcus. Tell the men to halt building the catapults and trebuchets. Have them focus all of their effort on siege towers and arrow shields.” Leo turned to Anton. “How much magic can you use? I hope it’s more than you used to fight Caiden.”

“Indeed.” Anton smiled. “A lot more magic. I couldn’t use some of the larger types because there were so many friendly forces but now…I have enough Mana vials for my limit…Just give the word and we’ll attack.”

If I put nearly everything into a line of Tethered Lighting Rings that should be enough, especially if Alfred’s men can kill the mages…I hope I can bring down that shield. Otherwise, we’re going to be in a world of pain.