From outside the castle walls, Edwin Larabee fumed as he paced back and forth inside the command tent that had been set up for him.
The challenge had been issued. Why had there still been no word from within? Did they really want to fight with him?
The force Edwin had taken to storm the castle gates was only half of what he controlled. There was no need to pull out all the stops.
He knew Cyrus would capitulate to save a few measly common serfs' lives. It was Cyrus' one weakness and quite easy to take advantage of.
He grumbled a few half-baked curse words and looked at his time piece.
It was almost noon. Whatever they were going to do, they needed to do soon.
He wanted to go home and have a decent lunch. Field rations were bland, at best.
"Count Larabee!" From outside his tent, one of his men called out.
"Come in." Edwin's eyes brightened.
Capitulation, at last.
The field commander came through the tent. In his hand was a letter that had been delivered by a runner.
"Sir, a message has been sent from the throne. Permission to read it, Sir."
"Read." Edwin smiled. Right on time for lunch.
The field commander pulled out the letter from its stiff sealed envelope. It was an actual decree, written long hand on creamy parchment by the king of Faria.
Edwin raised his eyebrows in satisfaction.
Now THIS was a King! Cedric did not do anything in half measures. Even capitulations were delivered in style and written with the kind of class that the royalty exuded through the pores of their skin.
For a moment, he felt awe, tinged with jealousy.
"To Count Edwin Larabee." The field commander began reading.
This is to inform you that you have violated the rules of the kingdom and are now considered insurgents with hostile intents against the people and Kingdom of Faria.
If you do not remove your forces from the palace walls within the hour the entire kingdom's armed militia as well as Duke Kossova's troops will respond in kind with lethal force."
The field commander looked up. "It is signed with King Cedric's stamp, Sir."
Edwin Larabee threw the entire contents of his drink at the hapless field commander.
"That damned Cedric. If he wants a fight—"
"Sir, we cannot go up against the entire force of the throne, along with Duke Kossova's troops." The field commander bowed his head. "When combined, they outnumber us 3 to 1."
Edwin growled under his breath. If it was just the throne's forces, he had a slight advantage. Kossova however was another story.
With his holdings taking up the entire eastern side of Faria, he had more men and more land than even the King's family did.
With Cecil's banishment, the kingdom's actual holding had gotten even smaller.
Damn Kossova.
He had leveraged the years that Cecil held the throne with careless ministration to acquire so much land and troops that he could legitimately challenge the throne and take on the Alpha King title.
Had Kossova gone to Edwin and combined forces with him, they could have easily overthrown King Cedric and Andre could have taken over the Alpha King position.
Edwin Larabee had made that suggestion but had never gotten a response from the Duke of Voltaire.
It was now clear that Andre had sided with the throne, which now meant Edwin was stranded on one side with too few allies.
"Sir, another letter has arrived." A second field commander entered the tent without announcing himself.
Edwin Larabee turned towards the commander.
"Speak!" He barked. This better be good.
"The letter comes from the Kingdom of Betaluse."
"Betaluse?" Edwin's insides began to churn.
"King Jero of Betaluse is suggesting a collaboration, Sir."
"King Jero, eh?" The Count rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Read the letter."
As the field commander began reading, Edwin Larabee began chuckling. By the time the commander had finished reading, Edwin was delighted.
"You." He pointed to the first field commander who was drenched in his red wine. "Go get me another glass of wine."
"You," he pointed to the second field commander. "Go tell the troops to pack up and go home. Lunch tastes better at home anyway."
"Yes Sir." The second field officer bowed.
"Today, eat and be merry. I need you all to stay alive so you can fight another day."
===========
From the castle walls, Ponzumi stood still like a statue. His overseer was watching through his eyes so he tried to keep his vision as stable as possible.
"A little more to the left, Ponzu." Lucile ordered. "I need to see what's happening on that side."
Ponzumi turned to the right.
"The other left, you dummy." Lucile sighed.
Gargoyles were not that bright but they at least made good watch dogs.
Ponzumi turned to his left.
"Hold still." Lucile took a good long look before lolling her head back agains the tub's headrest.
"Okay Ponzu. We're done here." She released her mental control of the gargoyle and reached out for her glass of wine.
Lucile took a sip and grimaced. She had spent so much time watching Count Edwin's troops that the chilled wine had gotten warm and her warm bath had gotten cold.
It was time to get out of the bathtub.
As she stepped out of the tub, she got another alert. It was Mattie yet again.
Lucile wrapped a towel around her body and put another one turban style around her head. Then she focused the reflection back on the bath water she had just exited.
No reason to waste fresh new water just to do a simple scry-visual with a newbie witch-in-training like Mathilda.
It wasn't in the best of condition since the dirty water was a bit murky and there was still some soap bubbles left around the edges, but this was just Mattie. No need for anything more fancy.
"Yes Mattie?" Lucile asked in a bored tone.
"Lulu. I just heard that Duke Kossova and King Cedric have joined forces to go up against Count Edwin."
Lucile's eyes brightened. "Is that so? How did you get such juicy details?"
"Hehe. Andre Kossova has a little pygmy monkey that he carries around on his shoulder. It's a tiny thing, but it's one of mine."
"Hmm. You have a good affinity for small animals. Want to graduate to something larger?" Lucile purred.
"Hell no." Mathilda sniffed. "Those gargoyles give me nightmares."
Lucile laughed. "That's because they're sentient and can respond to us. They're not like your little tame animals."
"I'm good with my little cats and rodents and small dogs." Mathilda waved a dismissive hand. "You can concentrate on beings of a higher level, but don't come crying to me if one day you find out that they've taken over your mind and you're their slave."
Lucile laugh.
As if that could possibly ever happen. Stupid Ponzumi could barely tell left from right. How was he ever going to do anything to someone like her?
"Oh, by the way." Mattie was saying again, right before Lucile was about to disconnect their scry-visual. "The new King of Faria just brought his mate back from the other side of the veil."
"Is that right?" Lucile raised an eyebrow. That was highly interesting.
"Yes. He also brought his nephew back."
"Viviene's child, no doubt."
"No doubt at all. The boy has the same pale blond hair and amber eyes as his uncle and mother. And King Cedric's mate…I've seen her. She looks—"
"What?"
"She looks exactly like Sib."