"I was kinda...deserting", this sentence annoyed Mack more than what he thought possible. "You do realise desertion is a crime punishable by death, right?" Mack asked, hoping to scare the man into staying. "I-I know, but I'm just as likely to die here then if I desert, so what's the point in staying here?" Mack was even more annoyed by this statement. "It was just as likely, now it is certain that if you desert, you will be killed." Mack said this with emphasis on was, trying to make the threat clear to the impressionable young man.
The man looked at Mack with fear in his eyes, he had clearly heard about Mack's formidable sword skills. "I'll go back to my regiment." The man stated this with such sadness and dejection that Mack felt bad for him. "Wait, what's your name?" Mack's question was so out of the blue that he surprised himself with it. "It's Charlie, sir." This was the last thing the man said before he began his walk back to the camp.
After he left, Mack sat down against the tree, a long sigh escaping his lips. "It was nice of you not to kill him", a voice said out of nowhere. Mack looked around, only to fail in finding the voice. "Up here, dummy", the voice said. Mack looked up to see Charlotte sitting in the tree above him, looking down at him like he was an idiot. "What are you doing up there?" Mack immediately realised there was no point in asking that so he said, "never mind, it doesn't matter". Charlotte, sensing Mack's bad mood, stayed silent, Mack did the same. For the next few hours, they would only sit there, in complete silence, until both eventually fell asleep.
-----
"Charge!" Mack shouted to his army, kicking his horse in a sprint. "For Northumbria! For the King!" was shouted among the infantry as they marched onward, the cavalry, led by Mack, ahead of them, leading the charge. The cavalry smashed into the Welsh skirmishers, forcing them to retreat. Mack kicked his horse again, charging toward the fleeing Frederick, Prince of Wales. Just as Mack was about to chop at Frederick with his sword, a javelin came barrelling toward his face, only to be flung away abruptly mid-air. Mack looked behind him at the approaching figure of Charlotte, who had her arm raised high, "thanks" he shouted over his shoulder as he resumed his pursuit. Charlotte simply smiled, reddening a bit in the face, unbeknownst to the prince.
"Frederick, give up! Your force is decimated, your horse tired and you are injured. If you surrender now, I can personally guarantee you will be treated as a guest of honour in our ranks!" Mack shouted this to the retreating figure of Frederick, which was becoming more and more clear the closer he got. "Go to hell, savage!" Was the only response he received. 'very well, death it is.'
-----
Just as Mack pulled his sword out of Frederick's corpse, Charlotte had approached him on her horse. "We are about to resume our advance on Cardiff", she told him, seeming to have already forgotten about saving his life. "Charlotte." Was all Mack said, making Charlotte a little uncomfortable with anticipation for his next sentence, "yes?" She replied, "thank you, really, for saving me back there." Charlotte's face was flooded with understanding, "oh, that. Don't worry about it, it was in our deal, I help you, you protect me from the people." For some indescribable reason, Mack couldn't help but be a little disappointed with that answer, hoping for something a little more. "Come on, we better catch up with the main force before they leave without us." Mack stayed silent for a moment before he said "you're right, lets go." With that, they rode off in the direction of their camp, not even sparing a second glance at the battlefield, where several thousands now lay dead.
-----(The siege of Cardiff)
It took half a month to march all the way to Cardiff, and it took a day and a half to set up the siege equipment. Once they had prepared the siege, it was agreed that both Mack and King Elric would stay at the camp as it was too dangerous for them to fight personally. Instead, they would give a speech and then return to the camp to spectate the battle.
Mack had started his walk to the front of the formation, expecting he would once again be giving the speech as he was the one leading the campaign, however, by the time he had reached the podium, he saw his father was already there, preparing to address the troops. "Father, what are you doing? Should I not be the one to address them?" Mack asked in a hushed whisper, trying to hide the fact that the royal family was squabbling in front of the army. "Mack, considering your last speech caused a war, I thought I would handle this one, okay." Elric stated this so calmly it was almost like it wasn't meant to be an insult. "Fine" was all Mack said before he stood to the side to watch his father's speech.
"Soldiers and nobles alike, today, we stand here, ready to obliterate all those who stand against the might of the Kingdom of Northumbria. We shall always be ready to seek out and destroy enemies of our great kingdom, wherever we may find them, and today, we have found them in Cardiff. Good people of Northumbria, I ask you, are you prepared to lay down your lives so that the people of tomorrow, our children and our children's children, will not have to. The outcome of this battle will forever change the history of England, and you will be the ones who decide whether or not it will change for the good... or the bad. Today, you fight not only for the good of Northumbria, but for the good of mankind!" Elric's speech was met with cheering so loud, soldiers were seen looking over the walls of Cardiff to see what was going on. "Long Live The King! Long Live Northumbria!" Was chanted around as Mack and Elric were escorted back to there camp. As they were leaving, Mack looked behind him to see the troops running toward the wall, ladders being put against it. As expected, his soldiers were faced with fierce Welsh resistance, an onslaught of arrows killing hundreds of his men as they bravely tried to climb the walls to open the gate and let the army in.
After hours of fighting, Mack's soldiers were finally able to capture the walls of the city and they quickly opened the gates, letting in the rest of the army. The Welsh soldiers that continued fighting retreated to the castle in hopes of being able to rest, even if only for a moment. The Northumbrian soldiers destroyed the door with a battering ram much earlier than expected and they filed into the castle with copious amounts of soldiers. The Welsh defenders quickly surrendered, not seeing any point in fighting.