"My lord, the Count of Pinot is marching to us with an Army." a report given by a spy Mark placed on the Martel City using Melissa's contacts in the place has arrived the next day making Mark dazed.
"Huh?" Mark was still confused but his gaze went to Melissa nearby remembering that she was the second wife of the Count.
"My lord, it has nothing to do with me. My matter going to you was not known by any other parties, maybe my Sister Irene who delivered the Order of the Queen but no one in the County knew where I was the night I went here. They only knew that my last destination was the Summer House I own near our borders besides the Duchy of Chardonnay." Melissa looked scared when she saw the look Mark gave her as she felt that a sense of mistrust might grow.
She had seen a lot already and knew that her hope of being able to walk in the sun and not crave for blood lies with Mark. She remembered when Mark called Blade a daywalker and also when he said that he might be able to develop something to make her free from the curse like Blade. Thus feeling like she might lose her position she panicked and defended herself in a hurry.
"*Chuckle* don't worry, I knew you did not leave any clues but somehow the Count knew you are here. Has there been word of any actions from Neferata?" Mark has control of a lot of vampires now that he kept some as a secret to know if the scheming vampire Queen might take actions from what he did. He did let some Vampires or mostly lower ranked thralls know that the Vampires of some cities has bended the knee to him.
Melissa understood what Mark wanted so she went to the various doors connecting to other cities. She returned an hour later saying that no actions has been observed as of yet. Mark sat silently on the meeting hall thinking but his thoughts were broken after the doors opened with Francine getting in carrying a tray of freshly cooked food.
Since Mark did not yet make a move on her, they both spent time knowing each other's hobby and Francine's was cooking. Mark was intrigued by it and tried some of her dishes which are surprisingly good. Seeing her talent in coking Mark started giving her new things to try on as well as cookbooks which she could practice on a new kitchen which Mark furnished with various cooking tools but no electronics tools yet. It gave her something to do in the castle which was quite a boon as the other chefs on the castle watched her cook to learn of new dishes.
Seeing her enter made Mark look at the tray she was carrying but the contents are not yet known, somehow the smell did attract Mark as well as Melissa. But Francine just has eyes for Mark as she sent a glare at the vampire's direction. Francine has no idea yet of who Melissa is as there were no paintings of her and any instance that the two have met.
So in her mind Melissa is just an 'Assistant' that Mark said she was, she did not mind knowing that she was helping her husband in handling the affairs of the Realm which she also found to be a genius idea. Most lords have advisors but they do not handle the amount of work Melissa has as per Mark's words so she was tolerant of the women besides her husband.
But that doesn't mean she likes knowing that the assistants Mark has were mostly women and all of them were also gorgeous and mature too. This made her look at her figure and felt that maybe she should gain some volume on certain places. Thus other than cooking for Mark she also gave herself a special diet her mother taught her.
"Thank you Francine, I was just getting hungry." Mark said as he lifted the cloche to see the food inside, a tantalizing aroma greeted his senses as he looked at the beautifully made Savory salty Cake along with steam Mussels and fried potato. This was something Mark found interesting how Francine was more interested in the French cookbooks Mark gave her.
Being a country that was a combined version of France and Britain in the medieval times somehow made the tendencies of the people of Brettonia to be quite predictable. Especially when Mark also actively ordered his sailors to look for mussels in the sea, because he found out how some things were ignored by fishermen when looking for food in the sea.
It was mostly due to the fact that fishes here are really large, heck the smallest fish the boats caught was about three pounds heavy. The people here don't give the small ones attention as the sailors of the kingdom were also competent. This is why even if the nobles get the 90% in the catch of the commoners, the people still has enough food to feed their family and not starve.
Mark sat there eating while Francine feeds him herself which she likes very much as seeing the awe in Mark's face eating has become some sort of rewarding experience for her. Mark was enjoying it as he ate the mussel that was as wide as his hand. The shellfish here are also large which made Mark amazed too, like any other fishes and things found on the sea.
It was understandable as from what Mark calculated; Warhammer Fantasy world is wider than Earth in surface area. That was in comparison to the 3D map he has bought from the shop and the area he has traveled. Brettonia was wide yet compared to the other places in the map it was small, smaller compared to the other large powers.
It furthered Mark's thoughts about this being an alternate warhammer fantasy universe is that from what he had remembered, the known world is a little smaller than Earth in surface area but from what Mark could tell from the map, the known world here is larger. And for whatever mystical shit that defies physics, the whole world is a Flat Earth.
It had been said that the Known world had no ways to know what was beyond the Far Sea yet from his map it was stated really clearly that it was just a wide sea full of small islands. To the East there is a small group of islands but the largest has a name which was Lumbria. Mark has did not remember that on any of the Warhammer Fantasy games yet from lore it was like the Atlantis of this world.
It not really improbable as there are sightings of mermaids recorded, it was even in Marienberg which is the reason the flag has a mermaid on it. Mark felt that his knowledge on some things would not be that useful so he contemplated as he ate about things that he might need to watch out for. But as he was almost finished eating he remembered what he needed to do before his wife leaves.
"Francine, would it be possible for you to send word to your father that I might not be able to be present at the City. It seems the Count of Pinot has a vendetta against me as I was made aware he is leading an army to our direction." Mark said which stunned the young girl as she thought of things that might make the Count get angry at Mark but she could not think of anything.
"I understand, I'll inform the Duke about this matter my dear." the girl was blushing as she left after speaking in a gentle endearing way to Mark.
"Haha, cute." Mark found the actions of his wife to be cute and felt that maybe it was not bad having her, he'll just have to find a way for her to accept who he is in the future. It might not be apparent now but if he still stays the same even after decades then rumors might start. He felt that Francine might be shocked once she learns of this but he'll think of that for later.
"Melissa, send some scouts to learn of the forces brought by the Count. Also look out for signs of anything suspicious or unnatural, report to me if such things are discovered and make sure that those you send don't get discovered." Mark stood up as he watched at the window of the keep staring down at the Bailey where the soldiers are heavily training.
Most of them are now included in Mark's minions and even if somehow he hypnotized them into worshipping him. He did not outright take their will to think, it was just easy to make them believe that he is a god as the people here are very superstitious. They even made a statue of him on the chapel standing beside the Lady of the Lake.
He was sure that the goddess might have noticed this already as he was now called the 'The Noble of the Forest' a playful way to contrast the Lady of the Lake. Maybe he should also make his own champions like the Grail Knights, Mark smiled at that prospect. This started when they saw him practice his cultivation powers on the Skaven underground, he brought seeds of the most common weeds yet he grew them on a very fast rate to strangle and whip the scared Rats.
Speaking of Rats, his house pet the obese Rat somehow became a cocoon. He was surprised at first when the energetic asthmatic pug of his came carrying some sort of bag made of skin yet the system told him the Rat was undergoing some change. Mark was not sure what change would happen but it might have to do with what happened two days ago.
[In the Lab]
Mark was noting down the various behavior of the small culture of fungi on a petri dish under the microscope. This was the sample of the fungus found in the wild which has the DNA structure similar to the Greenskins. He was amazed and horrified thinking that the whole race of Greenskins are already pervasive to the ecology of the whole world that even if you kill every one of them, they will just grow out from the ground after some time.
This discovery made him so engrossed that he did not notice the two miscreants of the house running around the Compound V lab area. He was only taken out of his stupor when sounds of glasses breaking echoed out through the whole private lab. Mark looked back and saw the two pets of his drenched in semi-finished Compound V mixture.
Mark stared at the Fat rat then at the pug whose eyes stared at two different directions and lastly at the grumpy cat that was on the table licking his paws as some mixture got on his fur. He realized that the cat being a cat was unavoidable but to push down equipment that cost him thousands of Gold coins made Mark annoyed that an imaginary tick mark appeared on his forehead.
"YOU THREE ARE GOING INTO THE MENU TONIGHT!!!!" this made the three creatures scared as the hurriedly scattered feeling a danger to their lives.
"You!!*sigh* Damn these idiots…" Mark then went to clean the mess as he was not really mad at them, they were the first pets he got along with Arnold(The Bastiladon adult), Schwarz(The Smaller Bastiladon) and Gideon. The pug was named Bart, the Cat is Cookie and the Rat is called Repicheep. Like the one talking bipedal mice in Narnia but this one is just fat and likes to run around the house.(A/N: I liked that guy mouse, always found him to be adorable when he fought those telmarines.)
But somehow Mark can see they all have some sort of sentient form of thinking thus was closer to him than the other things in the Backyard. They were the only ones he had marked that would not be attacked by the others except for Gideon. He is always outside running around and none would attack him anyways in the backyard.
Mark rearranged the beakers as well as the ones that are not damaged, it was mostly just spilled chemicals as only a few glass tubes broke during the push of the Cat. Mark then returned in studying the Fungi of the Greenskin.
[Present]
Mark received the letter from a raven saying the Duke understands and he was also supportive in Mark to build his own force and even expand it. The duke says that the northern border of the Duchy is now in the hands of Mark. Mark and Francine read the letter and the girl also frowned seeing how shameless her father is.
"My dear, from what I have learned our forces gathered from the hamlets and the towns in our territory only amount to six hundred in total. And only about two hundred could be taken out unless be abandon some towns for themselves. Then we might be able to get about three hundred and fifty men." Francine has been also studying the situation of the Earldom Mark has thus she was aware of the amount of men available for conscription.
"We don't have to worry about that, I only need a hundred to face the Count." Mark had received news of the force of the Count which was around five hundred strong. Fifty knights, hundred mounted yeomen, three hundred spear men and fifty archers but Mark has no idea if there are others in the fray like mages of mercenaries but only 100 of his best soldiers will be brought.
This was to give the others watching this scene that he has not much soldiers, as currently he could only knight ten on the men under him as he cannot just give the position to anyone. They were mostly the family members of the former nobles that surrendered to him.
Mark had all of them indoctrinated to his views already using his tricks, even if he had a hard time hypnotizing them as they were more educated. Thus it took a little bit more time until they were able to understand why Mark had changed some things in the way the people of his territory lived.
It was mostly making them see how useless it is to be prideful against someone just because they are commoners and they were born with a silver spoon. Some did start to worship him as besides the Skaven clean-up, he occasionally went on patrols on his territory with the highborn in his domain.
It was like a winter hunt, but it was more gathering the hibernating Giant Snails which was a delicacy to the Brettonian nobles. It was then they witnessed how Mark just waved his hand and grass sprouted on the ground carrying with them the hibernating snails. Mark used his mana which was now slowly becoming something else due to the worship he was receiving.
Thus his imaged appeared as holy to the nobles of his territory, Mark did as a test too as he wanted to see if some of them act averse to his presence once he uses what he think as divine power. He was not sure as to what it is but the aura seems similar to the purification orbs he has.
Mark even made a demonstration of his cooking skills by making a feast, the snails can be easily cooked since they were in hibernation it was not needed to purge them. They were cleaned easily as well as the slime was not much due to the cold weather, Mark surprised them with escargot. It resembled the dish they usually eat too but Mark's way of making it made them stunned as they watched live how he did all the process.
Even the chefs were awed including the newly hired hobbits that looked at Mark like he was some sort of food god. Mark used some ingredients that they did not know of but the end result made them wide eyed. Mark spent some time socializing to his subjects as he knew they will be necessary to his plans in the future.
As Mark now prepared, there were some who even went to take out their own armors and prepare to march with him. It took two days until new reached that the troops of the Count were near his borders and a messenger from the opposition has arrived.
[Castle Rachard]
It was early in the morning just before dawn when the news came of the messenger of the Count's army arriving at the gates of the castle. All the knights and nobles were informed as it was customary for them to be present if a messenger of a higher ranked noble arrives or the messenger of the enemy bears the declaration from the other side. Thus they arrived shortly at the Great Hall dressed properly wearing armors or ceremonial dresses as they were preparing for battle.
*Boom*
"Hear ye! Hear ye! I come bearing news! My lord, first son of the Count of Pinot, has issued a challenge against the Lord of Castle Rachard Earl Mark son of John! For the hand of Lady Francine in marriage!!" as the doors opened a shrill discordant voice was heard as a slimy looking fellow went inside walking like the hall was his own.
*BANG!!!*
*CRASH!!!*
The hall got silent immediately as a large sword flew towards the large doors behind the messenger after he took a forth step inside the hall. The sword was inches away from the head of the messenger when it flew by and he was in a stunned state that the arrogant expression has not yet vanished on his face. The two guards on the door was unmoving as they too were stunned but for a different matter.
They had never seen Mark like this as everybody watched him slowly walking down the steps from his seat. He slowly went to the messenger as he looked like he wanted to murder the idiot, he had been thinking what was the reason of the movement from the Count of Pinot. He had come up with various people in power trying to scheme against him but to think it was all because of a hormonal teenager.
He had learned of this guy from Melissa, a child born from a servant with the Count as she did not do the deed with her former husband. She was a vampire and she could not conceive so mostly it was a series of illusion magic and drugs to make the puppet lord think he did the work with his wife.
Melissa had said that she did not care much of the boy as the servant that was his real mother was the one that raised him. But he was also raised by the subordinates of the Count which made him a typical arrogant young master. But this kid was just 15 so he did not think of him at all as mostly after having a coming of age ceremony (mostly 16 years old) does a noble become able to command the troops of his family.
As he neared the scared messenger who now has an ugly expression seeing Mark come over, he realized how intimidating the man they had declared war with. Standing about 6' 8" due to the improvements given by the omnitrix with full body armor and tall metallic boots made Mark look like a force to reckon with.
"I think I know the gist of the situation so speak no more and scurry back to your stupid lord. I'll meet him in the battle field and make him understand that it is no place for boys like him to play at." Mark then grabbed the scruff of the messenger and threw him with force that he was shot accurately to a window of his carriage making him bump face first to the walls of the transport.
"Leave, next time we meet I would not show mercy to you. In my name I promise that!" Mark just walked backed feeling frustrated that he might have over prepared for facing the enemy. He had been sleepless for the past few days drilling the men in battle during the underground cleanup.
He had also slowly applied a small dose of Compound V on the hundred men and women mostly giving them increased stamina and dexterity. He had made them into fearsome warriors that he was sure only three of them is needed to face the Grail knight he fought to a standstill. He even worked the dwarves along with him making a set of heavy armor he designed non-stop, this includes the set for the horses which he also bought.
He had to suffer a loss against the Kislevite Merchant when he bought the warhorses that were very expensive in the northern country. He even went to the forest to catch some wild Brettonian Chargers to train with his soldiers. All to face a hormonal teen that seemed interested with his wife, all that stress and time wasted made him want to choke that arrogant messenger but even here messengers must not be harmed like in earth.
Mark sat in the Great Hall as a deafening silence ensued, even the minor nobles of his domain felt insulted as they knew how brazen it is for someone to challenge a man for his wife. It was not unknown for a case like this to happen but the marriage of their Lord Mark and Lady Francine was the will of the Duke and coming here to take Francine's hand in marriage in a battle is an insult to the Duke's authority.
"My lord, it seems that the son of the Count needs a lesson to remember. Let me follow you in the battle field and prove to him his folly for challenging you!!" a young knight which was the younger brother of a former baronet said as he drew his sword and kneeled in front of Mark.
"Let me follow as well my lord! My sword shall swing to where you point it to be!" soon the knights in the household kneeled and made their vows to Mark. He too felt that his work was not wasted for the past few weeks.
"I understand what you all feel but the one that angers me the most is how they dared demand for the hand of my wife. I know the women of our kingdom has faced such blatant disregard from the nobility treating them as such but let me remind you that we are not who we are if not for our mothers that brought us into this world. To treat my wife like an item is great insult to me, she has her own mind and she has her own will yet this fledgling did not even care of her opinion on this matter at all.
That way of thinking is very flawed and that will be the downfall of men if such thinking stays within our culture. We are people of chivalry and honor, so tell me where his honor is if he acts like a tyrant?! Where his conscience is asking for a challenge when the lady herself did not even want such?! I understand if some women were forced to marry another they do not like and a man challenges the other to save the lady.
But is my wife in need of saving? You have seen my actions and heard of my words so tell me; did any of you see my wife in distress? None! So why does this whelp think he could just march here with his army and expect us to make way to his idiotic demand?! No woman of my realm shall suffer such humiliation, such insult that makes me want to scream in anger. Isn't the patron of our lands a Lady Herself? So why do these people think it is in their right to treat women as such?!
Draw your swords! Ready your shields and saddle your horses as we will ride at dawn and let us meet them on the battlefield! Show them the steel we wield is not something some mere fledgling could challenge without any consequences!! Men, prepare to depart!!" Mark gave the speech while giving out some vocal cues he had instilled as well as gestures making the audience hot blooded than ever.
Even the female nobles were flushed with excitement that it would almost seem they too want to go to battle themselves as well. Especially Francine as the young teenage girl looked like she would draw the swords in the walls and shout for war. But Mark did not influence them too much as such they just stood there cheering for the men of their lands. Being Brettonians they had grown hearing tales of epic battles and thinking that they might fight at a large odds against the enemy emboldened them more.
As the knights and guards go out in a thunderous fashion, their actions were heard by the messenger who got scared along with his entourage. They hurriedly left the place to give word to their liege that the other side did not back down, not like the messenger could relay the message when the first sentence he said was enough trigger for a fight.
Now he regretted as he could see from the window of his carriage that the soldiers of this newly appointed Earl looked like battle worn soldiers. Not like the numerous peasant their lord has recruited just as a show to scare the other side, he knew that there would be lots of casualties if the two sides fight. Unbeknownst to him Mark was on the Balcony of the Keep watching the carriage of the messenger leave.
"Why did you want to talk about Melissa?" Mark was watching his men prepare on his Solar as Melissa appeared in the corner. Due to them being a secret to most of his subordinates, the vampire still has to secretly meet Mark on his office of what she had discovered.
"My lord, thought the messenger looks normal, there are small traces of magic on him that was quite familiar to us." Melissa looked unsure as she felt that what she had discovered was very confusing.
"Magic? What kind of magic did you feel?" Mark looked curious as he did not pick up much as he got angry that he had tensed his nerves for days thinking of many things just to know that he'll be facing a teen on the battlefield.
"It's similar to the mind magic we use on our targets but this one is not like the ones we have learned, even from the records and tomes I have read there is nothing similar to that magic. It seems like a more ancient occult magic my lord." Melissa looked confused as she explained her findings. Every Lahmian was taught various knowledge of the known magic in the old world and beyond.
She spent two decades on the libraries on Silver Pinnacle and she had read the differences of magic stemming from Dwarven Runes, High Elves, Dark Elves, Humans(Nehekarans, Cathayans, Empire and Bretonian) and even the magic tomes coming from Lustria land of the lizard men. But she did not see any similarities to any of that form the small sliver of magic she felt on the messenger.
Mark was silent as he listened to the Melissa was giving, this made him realize that maybe things were not like what he had thought. It was then he realized that if the son was the one leading the army, what about the Count of Pinot? Where the hell is the Count then? He should have stopped his son if the reason he waged war for a reason not justified at all.
Nobles care for their image especially in this Kingdom where the distinction between the commoners and nobles are very vast. The Count would surely not like it if the other nobles of the Kingdom talk about him letting his son go the steal another man's wife which was approved by a Duke. Even if the Duchy of Mousillon is weak, it was a Duchy nonetheless, so no reason for the Count to risk offending a Duke for the sake of his son's idiotic reason.
Mark felt that he would not figure this out if ponders here so he dismissed Melissa as he went to get his sword and armor. It was almost the break of dawn as the light of the sun now hangs overhead the troops of Mark. All were mounted on warhorses at least about 21 hands tall each from hoof to head. (A/N: People somehow measure horses using hands so this height is like the standard size of a warhorse in warhammer, since in earth normally warhorses are abot 18-19 hands tall.)
Mark did not say anything as he felt that there was no more words needed seeing the eyes of his men, the nobles that wanted to follow Mark seemed nervous but they can see the bloodlust of the men in front of them, it reminded them of experienced knights that they once saw and now a hundred menacing men mounted silent and still made them feel excited for battle too.
The silent way Mark just trotted out of the Castle riding atop Gideon who now even looked bulkier and was menacing as a warhorse standing up to 23 hands tall. The rest followed behind as the small neighs of the horses and the clacking of their hooves sounded out. These warhorses somehow got disciplined quickly when Mark left them for Gideon to handle.
Now they see the large horse on front of them as their herd leader. They can feel it, they were bred for these moments thus the Warhorses also showed a menacing feel around them as they followed behind their leader. The nobles also followed behind that even their steeds were also silent, even though they were not part of the herd they still knew that Gideon is the one to follow.
As soon as they were out of the Gates they went on that silent pace but then the soldiers of Mark especially the knights started a marching hum. They had picked it up from Mark who seemed to hum this particular tune before they face the Skaven clans every time.
Some good eared individuals listened and remembered the tune and now all of them knew of it, they just had never known what the lyrics were but they liked it anyways. And now going to this battle not against Skaven vermin but their fellow men made them feel reluctant but they will follow Mark anyways. They had seen his actions and felt that he is indeed a god in mortal form helping them and would save them from the darkness.
As they hummed, Mark felt overwhelmed as this was just a song he always liked listening too and since they were like in the underground killing Skaven it reminded him of this song. The one from the movie "The Hobbit" as they always had adventures under mountains and tunnels, the song by Ed Sheeran "I See Fire". After five minutes of humming, they started again but this time Mark opened his lips and sang.
~Ooh misty eye of the mountain below~
~Keep careful watch of my brother's souls~
~And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke~
~Keep watching over Gilles' sons~
(A/N: I changed it since the knights would be confused who the hell is Durin so I used Gilles who was the first King of Brettonia and since most of them are then this would fit properly to their situation.)
No one knew where but Lute appeared on Mark's hand but they did not care where he got that as he started to strum the strings as he sung. The Knights kept humming but they too listened at Mark sing, they ahd never known that Mark had such a sonorous voice. Not X-factor level singing but a loud, clear and sonorous enough for everyone to hear him. So they kept humming as Mark sang, the atmosphere became solemn yet it reminded them to keep their heads up as they marched.
~If this is to end in fire~
~Then we should all burn together~
~Watch flames climb higghh~
~Into the Night~
~Calling our Father ooh~
~Stand by and we will~
~Watch the flames burn Auburn on~
~the Moutain side, heeyy~
As Mark reached this part of the song, the sun coincidentally shone upon them with an auburn hue. The nobles, knights, and soldiers marched along as the words made them feel a certain emotion.
~And if we should die tonight~
~We should all die together~
~Raise a glass of wine, for the last time~
~Calling our father oh, prepare as we will~
~Watch the flames burn auburn on, the mountain side~
~Desolation comes upon the sky~
~Now I see fire, inside the mountain~
~I see fire, burning the trees~
~And I see fire, hollowing souls~
~I see fire, blood in the breeeze~
~And I hope that you remember me~
Mark somehow was able to affect eh emotions of the soldiers behind them as they too looked serious feeling that they might not be all able to return tonight. They felt that their lord was humming this song before because he knew their cause was just yet blood will always be spilled to protect it making them sit straight on their horses.
~Oh should my people fall~
~Then surely I'll do the same~
~Confined in mountain halls~
~We got too close to the flame~
~Calling our father oh, hold fast and we will~
~Watch the flames burn auburn on, the mountain side~
~Desolation comes upon the sky~
~Now I see fire, inside the mountain~
~I see fire, burning the trees~
~And I see fire, hollowing souls~
~I see fire, blood in the breeeze~
~And I hope that you remember me~
~And if the night is burning, I will cover my eyes~
~For if the dark returns then my brothers will die~
~And as the sky is falling down~
~It crashed into this lonely town~
~And with that shadow upon the ground~
~I hear my people screaming out~
~Now I see fire, inside the mountain~
~I see fire, burning the trees~
~And I see fire, hollowing souls~
~I see fire, blood in the breeeze~
~I see fire~
~Oh you know I saw a city burning out(fire)~
~And I see fire~
~Feel the heat upon my skin, yeah(Fire)~
~And I see fire (fire)~
~And I see fire burn auburn on the mountain side~
As Mark finished he looked behind him and saw the soldiers, the knights an even the nobles look like they were facing their last moments. They felt the song was like a last promise before they went to the battle field. Even the happy go lucky ones on his men looked like they would lay their life on the line already.
This made him gratified as he knew that the constant victories has brought confidence within their psyche but he could not find a chance to break it to them that they should always face the enemy with all you have. He had noticed this particular behavior seeded on the times when they see that their enemies are mostly clan rats.
His soldiers starting to hum the song gave him an idea as he did always hum this to calm him down before the fight. The song's lyrics bring a deep message to the listeners thus made Mark sing it out loud. And it proved successful seeing the deep in contemplation made him feel gratified his work was not for naught.
And since they were marching already he started strumming the lute in a tune he remembered to when he listened on various music apps before. One perk of being in a peak human physique is that be became eidetic making him remember the tunes accurately as well as the improved body coordination thus making him appear like an expert player of the Lute.
The Army marched towards the fields that was just a few leagues away from a large town called Naizon, a part of the Duchy of Chardonnay and hearing from his scouts that the army of the Count of Pinot just marched straight through meant the Duke of Chardonnay knew their destination.
Maybe the song affected them that the marching speed was at moderate trotting speed yet the horses show no signs of fatigue at all after two hours of constant march. Maybe he should accept the Adventurer's guild on his territory seeing as the need for a Bard is tempting. Mark even considered maybe train a select few to be a band that would follow behind playing awesome BGM whilst he bathes in blood of the enemies!!
Mark calmed down from his imaginative thoughts as it was reported that the enemy army has taken camp about thirty minutes ride in front of them. He raised his hand stopping the ones behind him as he kept Gideon trot forward. He then stopped and looked at his men, then taking a deep breathe he said sonorously.
"Men, do you all want to know how to make an entrance?"
(A/N: The song is not mine as I am just a big fan of Ed Sheeran and if you have not heard of it then I don't know where the hell you've been for not knowing Ed Sheeran. And if you indeed do not know go to youtube or spotify and listen to his songs because you are missing a whole lot of good songs if you don't know Ed.)