Year 12.328 After the Founders, Autumn.

War preparations take a long time.

Gathering the necessary supplies, calling the vassals to the levy, sending couriers, negotiating, contracting mercenaries, calculating routes, deciding meeting points. All those preparations were made months before the announcement of the king, which was why many of the nobles involved in the planning were not surprised with the announcement.

Still, the theatrics that king Kniva made were necessary for propaganda purposes, so that the call for the levy would drag many more freemen willingly and launch the kingdom in a war fervor, rousing both the low nobility and the peasantry who knew nothing until now.

The war spirit from those below would influence those above and force them to join in the levy gathering, otherwise these high nobles would risk losing face before their subjects.

Even so, It still took nearly 2 weeks for the king and the main army to march out of the capital, with a bit more than 8.000 men. out of which half were made of the king’s personal elite retinue, 500 were the palace royal guards, a 100 court mages, and 1.500 mercenaries contracted previously, the rest were made of nobles and their personal bodyguards(the nobles would bring their armies later on).

This was but the vanguard of a larger army that would later merge at an agreed meeting point, the capital of the duchy of Baeliris, the fortress city of Calavria, an old fortress that grew to an important trade point due to it’s security and closeness to the fertile region of Catalunia.

Many merchants would pass by Calavria in order to buy the wool from Catalunia, bringing much wealth to the duchy through Inns and open booths. This was the main reason why the Duke of Baeleris, despite not being on friendly terms with the king, agreed to help and even muster an army to join the campaign.

Kniva hoped he could come up with at least 20.000 troops at the end of the muster.

In the meantime, while it’s king was out on a campaign, the kingdom would be ruled by Cassandra, who had full trust of her husband. She was tasked not only with the administration of the nation but also to ensure that the lords did not cause any surprises while he was away.

The march toward the meeting point would take from 10 days to 2 weeks, from there they would take small castles and towns in order to find a suitable location to winter in, awaiting for spring next year in order to take their main target, the Catalunia castle, named after the region and located in a strategic point from where it connected all the main roads and passageways.

Until then the 2 princes were acting as their father’s ward and doing minor public appearances to show the faces of the royal princes and boost morale. The two were shown most of the camp and the people in it.

The scene at the military camp was the most varied, there were more than just soldiers and warriors there. You could see officials, clerics, nobles, knights, man-at-arms, mages, some poor peasants, prostitutes, merchants, mercenaries, and some other children all mingled

together interacting with each other regardless of social class. It was a completely different sign from how stratified things usually were, which was one of the reasons why many loved war in this continent, at least when they were on the offensive and winning. It also meant business, after all how do you keep thousands of men fed, well equipped and entertained? The camp just grew more and more.

In the mix of all of this, the two royal princes were always seen together. When they were having their duties as royal, studies or even just socializing and resting, Diaz and Teia were glued to each other, much to the happiness of the king and the discomfort of Diaz.

The fourth prince did not dislike his older brother, but they interacted little before this and the old emperor was an introvert so he prefered to spend his rest time by himself. Still, Diaz couldn't find the will to send his brother away, the look on Teia’s eyes showed that he truly wanted to stay beside him. Diaz did not know for what purpose though, for they did not chat much and there was no order from his father to do this, maybe if he had an older brother in his previous life he would understand.

During the fifth day of march they were ordered by their father to go to their grandfather, Totitla’s camp, in order to learn from his knights the basics of knighthood. When told that, Teia had a funny expression on his face and strangely Kniva as well.

When they got close to their Grandfather place he was there to personally welcome them.

“HELLO MY CUTE LITTLE FELLAS!!!” roared their grandfather.

Immediately Teia’ shivered and stood fully alert.

“COME, COME NO NEED TO BE SHY COME AND GIVE THIS OLD MAN A HUG!” roared the man once again.

“let’s go Diaz… it’s worse if we dont…”

“O-ok..” Diaz wondered what was in store for him.

When they came closer, immediately Diaz had to look up in order to have a look in his grandfather's face.

A hulk of man, large shoulders, backs and stout legs, towering over 2 meters in height with short dark hair and a ducktail beard, he looked more beast than human.

But what most surprised Diaz wasn't his appearance, that indeed was imposing, but he heard his grandfather was over 60, almost 70, but he looked more like in his early 30s, with no white hair at all.

When Diaz first looked at his grandfather in the feast he could not see clearly, but now looking closely, it confirmed one thing to him: people in this world seemed to age much slower. At that moment, the fourth prince remembered a casual conversation of some servants saying that Matilda, who now was at the capital attending his new siblings, had been the nanny not only to Diaz’s brothers but also to his father and grandfather, and even then she already was quite aged. The young prince at first thought the remark about Matilda was just a kind joke, but now he wondered if it was all true.

While Diaz lost in thought he felt a strong pressure in his whole body and an overwhelming heat all over his body. His grandfather was strongly hugging both princes.

“By the Valorous! you guys have grown!” said the hulking man.

“Y-yess grandfafter, youss istiuu shtron..” said Teia while suffocating.

Finally Totila freed his grandchildren from his grasp and gave them a big smile.

“Of course! I am not even 100 years old yet, I can still be more than a match to any younglings!”

‘Sounds more like he could tear them in half’ Thought Diaz to himself while gasping for air.

“Anyway, I don't know if your father told you, but since you guys will be going together with the army it is a good opportunity for you all to learn what you can in here. So I suggested to him that after your duties as royal were over that he send you guys to learn a bit about knighthood and soldiery here!”

Enthusiastically, Totila then grabbed them again and placed them on his shoulders, showing the 2 princes their new duties, much to the reluctance of both of them.

“Of course when I say soldiery and knighthood I mean TRAINING! ”

‘I knew it’ Diaz heard a whisper.

“Well since young Teia already knows some of the ropes, you will show your little bro how to be a big bro eh!?”

“Really grandad!? I will be in charge of Diaz?”

At that moment Teia responded more happily than Diaz.

“Hmmm? Sure! that was my intent from the beginning, of course you will as the elder will be-”

“Yeah! thank you grandpa!” Responded Teia before Totila could finish.

“Well, well aren't you full of energy ? How about we start right away then?”

“OK!”

Unfazed by constant interruption from the third prince Totila simply continued his journey to the center of his encampment. There, both boys saw a large number of men, each busy with their own business. Wrestling, sparring, polishing armor, maintaining equipment, exercising, practicing with all sorts of weapons and overall drilling, it was truly a “hot” place.

“You guys will be doing everything you see here, it won't be for long but it will help build some meat on that skinny body of yours, HAHAHA! HEY FELLA’S SAY HI TO MY GRANDKIDS!”

Placing both princes on the ground, immediately all those around them gave a simple bow and a loud salute.

““WELCOME, YOUNG MASTERS!!””

It was indeed a very hot welcoming, but more than that one thing became clear to Diaz:

‘These are men all seem strong’

Indeed, not only most of the men here had strong bodies but also high spirits.

Seeing how feudal armies worked, this was very surprising. Since the levy system implemented in the kingdom dictated that every man, with freeman status or above, had the obligation to serve in the military once their lord called them. This meant that most armies were, in general, a mix of militia, some core elite retinue called man-at-arms and mercenaries. While many aristocrats tried to use the greatest amount of high quality troops, they usually lacked the funds to actually finance many good soldiers, so they supplemented their numbers with militia, who made the bulk of many armies.

The camp of Totila, despite following the same rule mentioned, seemed to have an unusually high morale and quality.

“Many of these men accompanied me all the way from my pals' time, your father’s father, so be at ease, my men are a reliable bunch of many battles.”

Totila continued to brag about his army.

“These men are veterans, participated in many marches, defeated many enemies and accumulated much wealth and experience, many were just newbies once, but today they are my arms and legs, so you two do not look down on them just because most are not nobles, you have much to learn from them.”

Both boys nodded at their grandfather's wise words.

“Anyway! Recimir!”

A strong man among Totila’s men came forth, with a physique second only to his Lord.

“Yes my lord!"

“You will take care of the young, protect them with your life but treat them as any apprentice and teach them how to be soldiers.”

“My orders, received!” energetically saluted Recimir.

“Now boys, unfortunately i have some meetings to do with some boring old man but worry not! I will return to see you guys progress and play with you often, ok?”

“Yes…” Responded Teia with a bit of a weak voice, which gave a bad feeling to Diaz.

“See yeah!” And off he went, with stomps that seemed to shake the ground.

And so started the war training of both young princes, from which they would get first hand experience in a real war, and also experience how tragic it could be.