Mack was strolling through the castle in Cardiff quite leisurely, a dozen armed knights behind him and Charlotte at his side. He was heading directly toward the throne room, where the last of Gruffydd's defences were. He planned to capture the king of Wales and hand him over to the knights to do with as they please, the only limitation being that if he dies, it must be in front of the people of Cardiff. Mack planned to show the people of Cardiff that resistance was futile, and the best way to do that was to get rid of the man that would cause the resistance in the first place.
Mack reached the throne room, it only being guarded by two Welsh knights, the green dragon emblazoned on their chest pieces. "Surrender now or be cut down like dogs" was all Mack said. The Welshmen looked at the intimidating amount of knights and immediately dropped their drawn swords to the ground. Mack nodded and two of his knights immediately detained them. "Open the doors" Mack commanded his knights.
The second the door was opened, two militiamen ran directly at Mack, only for one to be grabbed by a knight and the other stabbed in the stomach by Mack. "Savage." Mack stormed into the room, his face a picture of pure rage, several men attempted to rush at him but were only cut down ruthlessly by Mack. This display was shocking for everyone present, including Charlotte and Mack's own knights, 'if he can do that then why do we need to be here?' one of the knights thought to themselves. Gruffydd was sat on his throne, not even attempting to mask the pure terror on his face. "Y-you can't be human! That speed and strength was unrealistic!" Gruffydd exclaimed in shock, not believing the 'man' in front of him was human. "It is hardly unrealistic, you are just too pathetic to compare", was Mack's cold reply.
"Are you going to surrender or am I going to have to kill you?" Mack asked, clearly not caring which the former King chose. "I-I surrender." Gruffydd said this with such dejection and helplessness, it was clear he had given up all hope of ever reclaiming his throne.
"Tomorrow, we march onto Winchester, tonight, however, we rest." was the last thing Mack said to anyone before finding his father, giving his report and then heading to bed in one of the castle's rooms.
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"Sack the city, take anything that can be of use. Take ten thousand men to guard it, we will come back through on our way back to Bamburgh after our capture of Winchester. We will send a messenger with daily reports, if a messenger doesn't come, assume us dead and notify Lord Vere. He will lead the country." Mack gave his orders clearly and precisely to his room full of captains, Charlotte sitting in the corner listening to the plan. "Very well sir, but if you plan on annexing Wales, is sacking Cardiff such a good idea? the people may revolt." One of Mack's captains warned him. "It doesn't matter, I will subjugate any rebels upon my return. Make sure these orders are carried out precisely." With this said, Mack turned and left the room, Charlotte quickly getting up and following behind him.
"You there, prepare my horse. And tell my father we ride in an hour." Mack called to the soldier closest to him. "Can you prepare mine as well, please?" Charlotte asked, surprisingly timidly for a girl with her power. The man simply nodded in response.
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Mack mounted his horse and immediately began to ride forward in the direction of Winchester, his Father and Charlotte beside him and an army of thirty thousand men behind him. Mack looked behind him, staring at the flames that began rising from Cardiff. Several soldiers looked where Mack was looking out of curiosity, only to see the flames and begin to panic. Murmurs began spreading throughout the army, mostly of people trying to find out what was happening, a few accusing the prince of being a heartless man who ordered the complete destruction of Cardiff. Mack ignored these murmurs, not particularly caring what the few people spreading these rumours thought of him.
"Mack, why did you order the troops to sack Cardiff?" Charlotte asked from his right side, causing the King to look over in curiosity as well. "If I had left the city with a garrison of ten thousand men whilst we conquer Winchester, then the population of nearly 28,000 would have rioted and rebelled. This way, the people cannot rebel as they have no farm tools to use as weapons. It also helps us to control the population of the city." Charlotte thought on this and then said "could you not have ordered the troops to have taken the farm and kitchen tools instead of sacking the city?" Mack never even paused to consider this, just instantly saying "no matter what I did, the people of Cardiff would be furious with me, however, the sacking of a city is seen as a standard procedure in a time of war, but if I stole their farming tools and kitchen necessities then I would be accused of trying to starve an entire city. That is extreme, even for war." After Mack meticulously explained his actions, it was clear to everyone that had heard that he had thoroughly thought this through and in Elric's opinion, this showed him Mack was ready to lead.