After the failure of the 'empty throne assembly', the feudal lords returned to their walled cities to prepare for the storm.
Kard, Elm, Oan and Tolm along with the capital of the kingdom, Urda, are the great walled cities of the kingdom of Urd.
Each of these large walled cities is ruled by a feudal lord.
Oan is ruled by 'the cunning battle fox', Keldran Meden.
Tolm is ruled by the young and impetuous Feran Kiscar.
Kard is ruled by Enolrod Bucar, 'the first to proclaim himself'.
Elm is ruled by Gendral Dural, 'the crownless king'.
With the winter coming, it would be normal for feudal lords to consider waiting for spring and take advantage of the waiting time to accumulate resources for conflict. After all, winters in the north of the continent tend to be particularly harsh.
Snow tends to cover the roads and in the worst scenarios, towns and villages to be completely cut off for long weeks. Mobilising an army at the risk of nature cutting off supply lines, would be a suicide.
However, this calm that the impending winter imposes does not even seem to be contemplated by two of the four feudal lords.
Using different methods, Oan and Kard have managed to accumulate a considerable amount of resources and soldiers in a short time.
Enolrod Bucar, Lord of Kard, resorted to forced recruitment and seizure of property.
Under a risky plan to 'attack the bear as it prepares to hibernate', Enolrod Bucar immediately marched south with his army.
The five walled cities are connected to each other by a series of roads created and designed by the previous king, 'Ezar the Sage'. This is why these roads are known as 'the royal road'.
Precisely on the royal road that connects the walled city of Kard with the walled city of Elm, four long columns of men, horsemen and wagons advanced southwards.
This was precisely the army of Enolrod Bucar, who with great greed had his eyes fixed on the city of Elm.
Kard's army consisted of about three thousand men. Although this number could be dismissed in terms of conflict between kingdoms, from the basis of its number and the time had been arranged to gather it, this was an imposing army.
Seeking to taking over another of the five walled cities of the kingdom before the onset of winter was undoubtedly a bold move. If success was achieved, then the balance would tip considerably in favor of Enolrod Bucar for the coming spring.
However, this movement was not the product of audacity or planning, it was rather a risky movement, the result of anger and impatience.
Of the four powerful feudal lords, Enolrod Bucar was the first to proclaim himself legitimate king of Urd.
In contrast, Gendral Dural was the only one of the four not to proclaim himself as king. However, he did not offer his support for the other feudal lords.
«That old fool! He thinks he's better than me just because he was King Ezar's apprentice» —inside a luxurious carriage, an obese man grumbled with hatred while nibbling on a large piece of meat.
That obese man was precisely Enolrod Bucar, Lord of Kard.
«The crown is not an object that any of us here present can simply take and place over our heads! There is an order, and if we do not respect that order, what will prevent to every man from proclaiming himself as a god? Birds belong to the sky and pigs will always remain pigs!» —in the mind of Enolrod Bucar these words resounded constantly. It was Gendral Dural's response to his self-proclamation as king of Urd.
It was at that moment that the proud Enolrod Bucar decided that his first objective as king, was to make Gendral Dural pay for having offended him.
Patience is not usually a virtue among those born between silk sheets, and Enolrod Bucar, who had taken control of Kard from an early age, was very accustomed to getting what he wanted simply by ordering his servants. Therefore, there was no audacity in his march to the south, but rather anger and impatience. Enolrod Bucar simply wished he could get revenge and in the process, obtain Elm was simply a great additional bonus, his main objective was to humiliate Gendral Dural and then cut off his head.
In order to reach its goal, Enolrod Bucar had mobilized almost ninety percent of its forces.
«Just wait a little, this king will show you a little of his greatness!» —an unpleasant laughter echoed inside the luxurious carriage.
In the mind of Enolrod Bucar and his advisors there was no place for defeat. Dural Gendral was a man attached to honor and the path of the Knight, he would never dare to resort to forced recruitment even if his life depended on it.
Without employing forced recruitment, Gendral Dural could only have its own soldiers, which were to be no more than eight hundred.
Everything seemed to indicate that it would be an unequal battle, in which the only advantage of Gendral Dural would be the walls of his city. This would be the kind of speculation of anyone who would listen to the above described, however, if the situation were observed in detail, no one would dare to assure about a possible outcome...
Anyone who looked closely at Kard's army, would soon realize the existence of a great disparity.
Of the three thousand soldiers in that army, just over two-thirds of them were poorly armed.
Wooden spears and shields, old leather armor and swords that showed traces of rust.
As one could see, it was a poorly equipped and poorly trained army.
Even if it was badly armed and had little cohesion and poor morale, for Enolrod Bucar and his advisors, this army could give them victory over Elm simply because of their great numerical superiority.
As for the only advantage of Gendral Dural, the high walls of Elm, Enolrod Bucar's advisors were completely sure that it was something they would not have to deal with.
As the army continued its advance, a group of horsemen rode hurriedly from the front to Enolrod Bucar's luxurious carriage.
«Majesty!»
Hearing that, Enolrod Bucar opened the window of his carriage to observe a bald middle-aged man.
«What is it, General?» —Enolrod Bucar continued to chew a piece of meat.
«Elm's troops are at the front, they have begun to line up for battle» —a mocking smile hung from the lips of the bald man. His name was Gehan, General of Kard's army and one of the two advisors of the self-proclaimed king Enolrod Bucar.
«That despicable old man, I want him alive!»
«Of course, Your Majesty!»
The sudden appearance of Elm's army did not turn out to be something unexpected for anyone in Kard's army.
Neither Enolrod Bucar nor his two advisors expected to have to deal with the walls of Elm, the reason was the honor of Gendral Dural.
In its advance towards Elm, Kard's army could easily have plundered villages and farms with impunity, something that Gendral Dural would never allow itself.
'The duty of a king is to subdue the nobility, the duty of the nobility is to protect the plebeians and the duty of the plebeians is to work for the good of the kingdom', this was the philosophy of the former king of Urd, 'Ezar the Sage', and as one of his two apprentices, this was an unbreakable law for Gendral Dural.
Therefore, as soon as he heard that Kard's army was marching towards Elm, Dural Gendral immediately left the city to confront Enolrod Bucar and prevent the peasants and villagers of his territory from being harmed.
Under the mocking smile of Enolrod Bucar and his subordinates, an army of about a thousand soldiers were lined up and ready for battle, the Elm's army.
Even if the number of soldiers was bit large than expected, it was not difficult to see that most of Elm's troops were regular soldiers. Probably Gendral Dural had left in Elm a part of his own soldiers, while he had employed mercenaries to increased his small army.
As Kard's large army lined up for the impending battle, at the front of Elm's army, a gray-haired man watched his enemies with a look of disappointment. This was Gendral Dural, the man to which the plebeians called 'the crownless king' even when King Casmer was still alive.
Gendral Dural was a just and honorable man who was not only admired by the inhabitants of his territory, his name was admired by every plebeian of the kingdom and even of the neighboring kingdoms.
He was the only nobleman who came to openly oppose the many military campaigns undertaken by King Casmer. Instead of accompanying his king on the battlefield, Gendral Dural had stayed behind to help the plebeians deal with the consequences of constant wars.
It was this that had earned him the nickname of 'the crownless king' on the part of the commoners.
Therefore it was not difficult to understand that the disappointment of this man, was a product of the methods that Enolrod Bucar had used to conform that numerous army.
«If the nobles go mad, the people must help their king subdue them. If the king goes mad, the nobles must help the people subdue him. If the people go mad, then the king and the nobles must submit, the people are the kingdom!» —Gendral Dural gave a deep breath and then murmured those words to himself.
Those were some of the words that Gendral had engraved on his heart and that made him who he was. Those were the teachings of who for Dural Gendral was the greatest king who had occupied the throne of Urd, Ezar Urdricht, 'the sage king'.
There were emotions found within the mind of Dural Gendral. He knew that the present state of the kingdom was inevitable, without the figure of the king to subdue them, the nobles went mad.
However, in spite of the great suffering that the madness of the nobles would cause to the plebeians, the honor of Gendral prevented him from accepting as king someone who did not possess the blood of Urdritch Bleeding Hands.
For Gendral, in this world there was an order that ruled over all that existed under the sky. Nobility in blood is only obtained through heroic acts, and the blood of kings is only obtained through transcendental heroic acts.
Nobles and kings were born such thanks to the acts of their ancestors.
If any man desired nobility, then he must perform a heroic act to obtain it. Although it was extremely difficult, it was not impossible.
On the other hand, obtaining the blood of kings was an impossible act. It had been more than a hundred years since the heavens had given the world a single individual capable of performing transcendental acts, a 'hero'.
If the heavens had allowed the blood of kings to be extinguished from the realm of Urd, it was because that is how it should be.
To go against the heavens and disturb the order was as absurd as an insect defying a dragon. The only possible result was the wrath of the heavens upon men.
«Majesty» —Gendral looked up at the sky with the image of King Ezar in his mind. «May the heavens curse us for forcing your people to bleed themselves to death, and if there is any divine will upon or under the heavens, may they purge until the last drop of the noble blood of our kingdom as punishment for the lives we will sacrifice for the sake of our own pride.»
After those words, Gendral drew his imposing two-handed sword. His bones cracked and his muscles shook.
What had once been the image of a calm middle-aged man, suddenly changed to an imposing warrior. It was as if he himself were the edge of that sword that had just been drawn.
«Men, our goal is not victory, but to avoid defeat!» —the imposing voice of the Gendral Dural made the souls of his soldiers tremble.
«Oh!!!» —even though they were outnumbered 1 to 3, Elm's soldiers roared with determination in response to their lord.
The eyes of Enolrod Bucar and every man in his army were completely opened. In an unexpected act that could only be described as absurd, Elm's army began a full frontal charge.
Elm's army would not give them a chance to line up for battle! Where was the honor in that?