Chapter 4: The King of Nordencia
Ayden woke up unpleasantly to the sound of a loud banging on his door. He was sleeping on his bed, alone, but naked head to toe. His eyes took some time to adjust to the brightness of the first beam of sunlight around him, entering the chamber through the huge windows on the eastern wall. Jaron must have forgotten to draw the blinds last night, he thought to himself, cursing the young keeper. Ayden wasn't used to waking up at the first light, that too with such noise. 'So early…' he whispered to himself as he rose from his sheets. He slipped on a robe lying nearby, with his eyes still half-squinted. He then sat up, half-awake, on the bed. He simply sat there for a while, gazing at nothing, thinking of nothing in particular. But his dreaminess got broken by another loud bang on the door. And now he was annoyed up to a point of no reasoning. He found this all very much unexpected, some fool thrashing so wildly on his door? The King's door!?
He furiously pushed himself up, tightening the thin lace of his robe. "I'll have your head on a fucking spike if you don't cut it out now!" he cursed loudly as he walked towards the door.
The banging stopped as soon Ayden uttered his curse. He unlocked the door, with a mind utmost ready to slay the one standing behind the damned thing, and pulled it as vigorously as he could. He saw ser Nome Fey standing across the giant door, panting and taking in loud breaths, it was pretty evident that old man had rushed to his majesty's stay as fast as he could. Ayden was still angry, but not as much as he would have been if it were someone other than his guard-knight, ser Nome Fey. He looked at him and gave him a cold frown of anger. But as the knight looked him back in the eye, Ayden saw trouble in his eyes, trouble and panic.
"What brings you here, so loudly, and this early in the morning, ser Fey?" he asked with a raised voice.
Ser Nome Fey bowed as low as he could and said in a light, yet hasty, voice, "I apologise for the disturbance I have caused you, your majesty. But the matters I must discuss with you needed your immediate response, hence I rushed over to your stay as soon as I could."
"And what are these 'matters' that you speak of?" the king asked, gesturing to him to rise.
"If you may, we shall discuss this in privacy…" Ser Fey replied, giving a slight look to the two guards that stood on either side of the room's door.
Ayden, still standing at the doorway, didn't seem concerned enough, and he was still sour about the abrupt end that was put to his sleep. "I'm sure it could wait until I get dressed and have a bite or two of some food", he said, looking at Nome Fey with another frown, but it showed no display of anger this time, it was more of an annoyance.
Ayden Norr, son of Ludwig Norr, had ruled the kingdom of 'Nordencia' for almost four years now, but he was no man yet. He had been enthroned the king after his father's death when he was just 13. And even after taking the responsibility of the whole realm on his shoulders, he still hadn't grown out of some of his childhood habits. He slept for unusually long hours, and he would act out of place the whole day if he didn't sleep for as long as he wanted to. He still had a sweet tooth and personally instructed the cooks on how much sugar to add to his food. And he was obstinate, too stubborn to listen to what others had to say after he had made his mind.
"I would have patiently waited if it were so your majesty, but I'm afraid that these matters must be looked into as soon as possible." Ser Nome Fey replied, bowing once again, this time not as low as the previous one.
The king made a rotten face upon hearing this, clearly unhappy with having to talk about some 'urgent matters' first thing in the morning, but he agreed to hear him out nonetheless. He dismissed the two guards with a gesture of his hand and gave an odd look to ser Nome Fey. "Fine. Come in", he said to him, "but this better be worth it. old man", his voice deepened as he disregarded his formal title.
Ayden turned back into the room and ser Nome Fey followed. Since these weren't the king's working-chambers, he had to sit himself down on a chair lying beside a pure Blackwood desk meant for dining. He pulled down his robe a bit, feeling uncomfortable in the knight's presence with just a single piece of cloth on him. Ser Nome Fey noticed his majesty's uneasiness and regretted his rush over the matter. He should have at least let him dress properly, he thought to himself. But the moment for him to do so had come and gone, so he decided to proceed anyway.
"Your-" he was cut short by the king as soon as he spoke.
"Please, seat yourself before speaking, and pour us both a drink while you're at it." Ayden had interrupted. By then, he had slid his chair beneath the desk, and crossed his legs, feeling more comfortable now.
Ser Nome Fey walked and grabbed a bottle of wine lying on a smaller desk on the other side of the room, and along with it two glasses. He set one glass in front of the king, poured it gently as he bowed a bit while doing so, and then one for himself, in front of a chair right opposite to the king. He filled it with a lesser amount than that of the amount he had filled the in king's glass. He capped the bottle and sat himself on the chair.
Ayden grabbed the glass and drank a little sip, though he didn't seem very amused by the taste. "I don't like having any sort of drinks or foods before washing myself in the morning", he said to ser Nome Fey, looking him directly in the eyes. Ser Nome Fey nodded awkwardly, "I apologise, truly, your majesty", he said half-heartedly, he wasn't as apologetic as he then pretended to be.
The king let out a loud exhale from his nose and took another sip. "Drink." He said to ser Nome Fey who hadn't even touched his glass yet. He reached out for it and took a very modest sip, smaller than the king's.
"You may proceed now." The king said, putting his glass down, perhaps to show that he was ready to listen.
"As you command", ser Nome Fey started speaking, "Your majesty, a letter came to me today, from a village chief in the south, it's got to do something with our men at post there…they have been attacked by someone, and I'm afraid we've lost them all. The kingdom's southernmost border has been destroyed, and the base there has been reduced to ruins…" Sweat trickled down ser Nome Fey's forehead, his throat ached even though he had just taken a sip of wine, and the side of his left eye twitched slightly. Ayden had never seen the old knight this anxious. This certainly wasn't his first time their kingdom was facing threats from other kingdoms, they had seen multiple wars and won multiple wars, yet there was ser Nome, sweating at the name of his enemies.
"And when did this happen?" The King asked, he too grew anxious, but not as much as his guard-knight.
"Sometime yesterday, your majesty. A few nearby villagers were hunting somewhere close to the 'Cill' river, where our base camp had been relocated to sometime ago, when they suddenly heard screams and noises of swords exchanging blows. They hurried over to check it out as soon as they could, but the enemies had fled before they saw anyone. All they found were our men, killed brutally."
The king shook his head, his breaths heavy, and a hint of fury in his eyes. "Go on…" he said to ser Nome Fey.
The room wasn't hot, but ser Nome Fey felt a heat deep within him. He gulped, looked around a bit, took in a deep breath, and then continued…"The villagers were convinced that it was the work of some demonic beast, our men had been brutalized in unimaginable ways, your majesty. Their bodies had been torn apart up to a point of no recognition. The attackers even looted our supplies and weaponry. They left no sign of humanity behind, and no identifiable humans, except the chief-knight of the squadron, ser Venas Kirp. The villagers found his head impaled on a pointed spike, and a dagger piercing his right eye. The dagger was red, and on it was carved a greeting in 'Greyian' words, 'The Red King sends his regards', it read…" The room went unusually silent for a second. What had felt like heat to ser Nome Fey, turned into a coldness for the king. A shiver went down his spine, and his throat had dried almost as if he hadn't drank a thing for days.
"This was most definitely done by the Redblades, your majesty, I bear not a single doubt about it", the old knight finished.
The king tried his best not to show it, but he couldn't deny the fear that had taken hold. Yet, his rage and fury far outweighed any fear.
The sudden attack by the 'Redblades' from the 'Greymort' kingdom was the last thing the king of Nordencia had expected. The tensions between the two kingdoms were age old, but there hadn't been any wars between them for more than a century now. And just when Ayden Norr of the great Norden throne had decided to approach the Greyian folk with a peace treaty, ensuring a benefitting relation of trade and business between both the kingdoms, the mad man who sat on the Greyian throne decided for war? This fact truly enraged Ayden.
He smashed his fist down on the Blackwood desk and rose from his seat aggressively, the chair slid far behind him. "Those fucking Redblades!" he shouted, then spat on the floor.
The old knight rose after his king and looked at him expecting a solution, he was the king after all. But perhaps he was expecting too much from him. The last war that the kingdom had seen was the one at the 'Seven gates', and back then the king had been a mere toddler. The king had never seen wars, not even a single battle yet. And if ever things got tense with other nations during his reign, the king's council approached them with diplomacy and fixed them with a deal here and a deal there. The knight was anxious for sure, but he also was curious to see what solution the young king would provide, wanting to know how much he had learnt over the years, almost like a father.
"That old 'teller' from the Greyian council knew about the treaty we had drafted, didn't he? And yet he let his king do this!?" the king said to ser Nome Fey.
Ser Nome Fey doubted that the king was more concerned about his disrupted treaty plans than the lives of the men who had needlessly lost their lives. "Yes, your majesty, I believe Old Jensen from your council had been in a sustained contact with their 'teller'. I suppose he either knowingly set us up or the 'Red king' is as mad as the tales say." He replied, not letting his doubts show even for a fraction of a second, he knew better than that.
"The man who sits on the Greyian throne is no 'Red King' ser Fey, he is a mere shadow of his ancestors, the true 'Red Kings'…" the king's expressions had changed. Yes, he still seemed concerned but his voice now had a sort of confidence in it, seeming that the king had likely come up with a way to deal with all this already. "To first come into my land, and then spill my men's blood on their own soil…the Grey bastard must have lost his mind", the king added spitefully. As it turned out, ser Nome Fey's doubts were wrong, the king had not forgotten about his men. "Send a squadron back to the southern post, and give a command to all of the posts to hold their positions and be more prepared than ever. If it's a war the fool wants, then a war that we must give him!" The King finished, looking ser Nome Fey directly in his eyes.
The look ser Nome Fey saw in his king's eyes that day was very much unexpected, and extremely hard to forget. He would have been charged for treason if he ever said it out loud, but ser Nome Fey honestly did not expect the young king to be so bold in the matter. He was expecting that he would send his council to Greymort, and try to reason with the Red King, and that that would be the end of it, considering all his past endeavours at diplomacy. But the way Ayden had shown him his readiness to go to war, if it ever came to that, was surprising, to say the very least.
"Call for a council meeting two hours from now, and make sure that every captain is present there." The king commanded ser Nome Fey.
Ser Nome Fey bowed and started to walk away. As he reached the door and had just opened it, the king called him from behind, "Wait…I almost forgot, call Ser Britten of the White Knights as well. I think it's about time we had some actual use of them", he said to the leaving knight. He bowed for one last time before taking his leave and walking away.
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