"While Lucius was known for his eccentricity, it was his Railius son who I found extraordinary."
"Even as a boy, he was calm and collected on the battlefield, able to make accurate judgements."
"It almost seemed that he was not a child but instead a cunning grown adult like his father."
"Though his relaxed and lazy attitude to life was so alike that one cannot help mistaking one for the other."
"It was as if he was the reincarnation of Lucius himself."
Aldorus Belerion, The First Commander of The Pelican Guard.
….
"You really overdid it general."
Aldorus said with a sigh, feeling over half of his magical power get drained, healing his old friend, referring to Leon in the way he was most familiar with as since Brunag Aldorus was the large man's second in command and most loyal subordinate who did not hesitate to join the Pelican Guards when Leon initially founded it, but since his expulsion from the military the Pelican Guard commander interactions with his old vice general have been few and far between which is why he has maintained his old habits.
"You try fighting off 3 master-level fighters and 500 imperial guards while defending a 10-year-old boy without getting injured."
Leon complained to his friend, who was stunned for a second after hearing what the grandmaster had said, not knowing that Leon had slain 2 other master-level fighters before he arrived for Aldorus was under the impression he was only dealing with Scorpius for he knew just how hard such a feat was. Even he, a master fighter now himself, could only lay down and die when faced with such opponents.
"How are you not dead?"
Aldorus said out loud in confusion before coming to the only answer that was feasibly possible, still shocked and needing confirmation from his old general.
"Don't tell me general you are now…."
"Yes, Aldorus, I am a grandmaster now and have been for the last 6 years."
"So that's why the Marquess allowed you to look after the young lord."
"Well, it was not without a fight…."
Leon said, remembering the brief fight he had with the small fiery Marquess who reluctantly parted with her dear son, knowing that Railius had a better chance of survival under the protection of a grandmaster than with her.
Even Aldorus could envision Leon trying his hardest not to hurt his lord's wife while beating her soundly enough for her to have no room for complaint.
"I saw the flair. How bad is it?"
Aldorus asked. He had long seen the emergency flair and immediately gathered the Pelican Guards under him to head towards the prearranged escape route, quickly finding and following the tracks of Leon's smaller group familiar with the emergency escape plan where they split up if being pursued by too many people.
"Declared traitors by the emperor himself, we are to head south to south-east while the Marquess heads northeast towards her home country, The Kingdom of Norbohr."
"Our lord is one of the most loyal men in the empire, even managing to stay neutral and loyal to the emperor in the power struggle between the princes, which most men with his power are unable to do."
"How in Lithandril's name did he become a bloody traitor?"
Aldorus asked in a loud, angry voice as Lucius, alongside Drusus and the Minster of War, had given so much to the empire. When Drusus died barely two years after the unification wars, Lucius even did a stellar job of taking the grandmaster strategist's place, helping to keep the military strong and loyal to the imperial family.
"It's simple! Victarion died, and he was a convenient and necessary scapegoat."
A lazy, relaxed young voice said confidently, surprising the two men who looked at the 10-year-old boy who spoke to them calmly and confidently, ignoring the thousands of corpses on the battlefield that should have had a sizeable mental toil on the young spoiled noble.
One thousand black armoured corpses belonging to the Chavarian Imperial Guard littered the battlefield while the dead troops of various other noble families were mixed in with them. The corpses' blue, green and even purple tabards created an explosion of colour that would look artistic if not for the grim atmosphere the bodies made.
"He really is Lucius' son."
Aldorus commented as the young boy's mannerisms matched so well with his father's lazy and relaxed style of living, which annoyed so many people. Even the emperor, when the lord of House Aurellion was at court, could not do anything about Lucius' mannerisms, eventually giving up. It was as if nothing bothered them and that they had somehow planned for and expected everything that happened to them in the future.
"Yeah, he is also a master of escaping training! It seems for some reason he has some sort of aversion to strenuous exercise like his father, not that I can relate."
Leon said with a sigh, sending a devil-like gaze at Railius, who felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and a chill run down his spine at the mention of the word training."
'You damn old man!' You would be scared of training, too, if you had a demon-like old man chasing you around a courtyard, firing arrows at you!'
Railius complained in his own mind, remembering the pain from the grandmasters 'training session.' Even now, his muscles still ached because he was whisked away in a carriage shortly after as Leon suddenly sneezed, his body seeming to sense his young lord's complaints.
"Complaining about me again, young master? If you're going to complain, at least do it out in the open!"
Leon said as it only took one look at the child's face for the old butler who had been looking after Railius for his entire life to know when his young master complained about him. It mainly happened during his training sessions, which constantly pushed the young man to his physical limits in an attempt to build muscle and strengthen the boy's body from a young age.
Unfortunately for Leon, his success in this regard was limited due to his young master's lazy attitude.
"How is our lord?"
Aldorus asked, making Leon's expression darken as he had to give his old loyal subordinate the bad news.
"Dead, he died before any of this happened. I doubt anyone would risk declaring us traitors if he were alive as he had the loyalty of 100,000 men in the imperial army alongside his own domain where he could raise at least 10,000 men, including our elite Pelican Guard."
Leon said with a depressed sigh. He has had to keep strong and calm for the sake of the young master, but the death of his best friend Lucius had a tremendous effect on the large man as it was his raging anger at his best friends that had made him so deadly after the Pelican Guard had broke through the imperial guard to protect Lucius in his stead allowing him to go all out and kill the three master fighters sent to deal with them.
"Are the Imperial family not worried that they might disappoint the drive away loyal subjects?"
"Who would want to serve an empire that throws loyal men and their families to the guillotine like this when they have done nothing wrong?"
Aldorus asked, as losing the faith of nobles and powerful men loyal to your state and dynasty is a surefire way to begin a nation and dynasty down the road of decline.
"I mean, if Lucius were not a benevolent lord who puts the needs of his people and subordinates before his own so much, then we would not be protecting his line with such dogged determination.
Aldorus stated as a matter of fact, but to the surprise of both men, it was the young Ralius who spoke up, giving the two men who were not proficient in political affairs the answer they sought.
"The emperor likely did not have much choice as a ruler so skilled would be able to see the outcomes of his decisions. Abandoning House Aurellion like this is likely the best course of action for his dynasty and their rule of the Chavarian Empire as it washes his new crown prince's hands of any wrongdoing."
Railius said in the same relaxed manner, making his two loyal subordinates' jaws drop for a second.
"Is he really only 10 years old? How can the little rascal ignore the smell of death and decay on the battlefield and give us an explanation like this?"
Aldorus asked again, as he was not familiar with the young lord due to having to go from one battle to another due to being House Aurellion's first port of call for military-based solutions. Whether it was fighting bandits or joining their lord on a military expedition, he was usually the person they turned to for these sorts of problems, meaning that his interactions with the noble houses' young lord and heir were minimal.
"I am a human being as well! Stop treating me like a child!"
Railius shouted in youthful anger. His emotions, which were as unstable as a child should be, finally came out and cracked the young player who tried hard to stay calm and collected.
"But you are a child…."
Aldorus commented, slightly confused about how he could not treat his 10-year-old young lord as a child when he clearly was one. Though, the first commander found it admirable that the boy was not being clingy to Leon and wanting the protection of someone trustworthy and powerful to have a sense of safety in these violent, chaotic times.
The war veteran then turned serious, knowing that for House Aurellion, time was of the essence for the once powerful noble house.
"We better get going, as we have a few long weeks of riding and fighting ahead of us."
Aldorus said, knowing just how bleak their situation was as now that the Pelican Guard had stayed loyal to House Aurellion, they and their families were now also on the Chavarian empire's chopping block.
While the loyalists of House Aurellion rode off, continuing their journey, leaving the dead behind to the vultures, an eagles squark sounded from above them, and a crimson and gold feathered eagle landed affectionately on Aldorus' shoulder, rubbing its face against the Pelican Guard commander.
A small rolled-up scroll was tied on its foot, which Aldorus took after the bird offered its leg to him. The intelligent animal, which was used to send messages between detachments of Pelican Guards over long distances, was well-trained quickly, knowing its duties and performing them admirably as Aldorus looked at the scroll while feeding his flying companion a piece of gamy meat.
After glancing over the scroll's content, he promptly handed it to Leon.
"Seems Darius has gathered the rest of the Pelican Guards and contacted their families."
Leon said after reading the message that was written on the scroll, as a veteran of many wars, the grandmaster understood how vital information and communication were to war and survival, and so, as a result, he set up a system of using birds to send messages between the Pelican Guards allowing them to co-ordinate over long distances even if over the last 10 years they only had 10 or so birds.
After many years of searching, Leon had finally found a rare red and gold feathered eagle that so well matched the colours on the banners of House Aurellion. It was called the Sitharian Eagle and were intelligent, loyal animals, however, these extraordinary birds were also unruly and hard to train while being physically strong, agile and near the top of the food chain for flying creatures, meaning that they were hard to hunt with other animals like hawks but also making it extremely difficult to catch and train.
This was one of the reasons why there were so few in the service of House Aurellion, who, even with the wealth of a marquisate, could only train 10 of them in 10 years, as it took a particularly strong or cunning hunter to be able to catch the wily bird.
"Yes general, as per the plan, I was stationed nearby to help escort the young lord while Darius is at our lord's territory, ready to start evacuating people there if the order is given while also providing security to our lord's territory."
"So he just needs a destination, then?"
Leon asked while thinking where a safe place that they could retreat into exile was.
"Yes general, he will stay in the shadows as he is easily recognisable while the other Pelican Guards and their families slowly migrate to our new location as we have destroyed any documents that detail the Pelican Guards members, it should be impossible for anyone to confirm who is in it."
Aldorus said as the flair system that they had set up was far faster than any bird, which should have given Darius more time to organise things before any lords or imperial envoys came to confiscate House Aurellion's territory.
But unlike Aldorus, Leon was not so confident, for the Grandmaster of Loyalty knew the Chavarian Empire, and the world was far more terrifying and susceptible to betrayal than a loyal man like Aldorus could imagine.
"Tell Darius to head to Nathia, but be careful now that we are declared traitors, so many people will be after us. Who knows, maybe one of our former subjects will even betray us for wealth or power, and there may be one person loyal to Chavaria who has knowledge if only limited of our number and whom constitutes it."
Leon said in a dark tone, having met this terrifying man in person who had tremendous power over the Chavarian court that rivals even the king and oldest founding noble houses of the old Kingdom of Chavaria.
"General, you mean….?"
Aldorus asked, knowing who his old general and friend was talking about. His expression darkened in an instant as he knew just how terrifying of an opponent the person Leon was talking about was.
"Yes, him. The omnipotent man said to be the emperor's close friend and right-hand man."
"The grand architect behind the Chavarian long-term strategy during the Chavarian war of unification who made the conquest plans alongside Great General Drusus Dardinus back in the day and the main pillar of power today for the emperor."
"The hidden dragon and genius grandmaster of many arts, both marital and civil."
"The Chavarian Minister for War Amulius Lunaris."