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Anton grinned mischievously; “Well, it’s not my place to tell a king what to do, it’s his to tell me. So what’s the plan?”

Lawrence patted his shoulder; “How about we gather everyone first? That way, I only have to explain things once.”

With a nod of approval, the King of Ruscovic and the Commander of the Ruscovic Mage Division set off. It didn’t take long for them to gather just under five-hundred soldiers willing to ‘go for a ride as personal escorts’. It was an obvious ruse, but it left the senate’s hands tied.

Lawrence had read about an ancient king that had done something similar. His goal was to get his countrymen involved, but Lawrence’s was much simpler: just rescue his wife. He was no great warrior like his that ancient king or Tidas, and he wasn’t a genius like his Marco, but Lawrence was clever..

Sneaking out of the palace was a favored pastime of his when he was a teenager, so sneaking in would be simple. Once they were in, Lawrence knew about a few secret passageways that even Marco knew nothing about, and one led into the dungeons. It was risky, and a few would most likely die, but it was a doable mission with the right men.

Lawrence was elated when every one of his first choices agreed to accompany him and Anton to Alcon. They didn’t know the exact details yet, but both men had made it very clear that there was a very high chance of capture, torture, and/or death for those willing to go. All four-hundred and seventy-four still agreed.

They had also asked around twenty or so Shamans to join, in case a soldier, or Shasta, needed healing. A few Lawrence selected had declined, but most did accepted his request. Once his roster was filled, the large group began preparations.

Lawrence was frazzled as he belayed orders for enough food for everyone to be packed, and munitions for himself to be gathered. Since he wasn’t a mage, Lawrence needed a quick and simple way to defend himself if attacked, and he’d been brushing up on both his swordsmanship, and his aim with a rifle before the last time he’d visited Alcon.

.....

Memories of Shasta teaching him grappling techniques rushed to the forefront of his mind, making him pause in the middle of their preparations. General Anton had watched his eyes cloud over, and his features sink. He’d instantly known what his King was thinking of, and got to rushing about his men; making a scene.

Thoughts of his love being starved and tortured crossed his mind, which made Lawrence’s anger rise and fall. He’d get angry at the thought of her being abused in any way, then despair over how he felt powerless due to his distance and senate’s ruling. The torturous expression all over his face might’ve hurt morale, had anyone been paying attention.

Despite his obvious internal debate, only Anton had noticed their King in his moment of despair. Which Lawrence was grateful for once he’d snapped back. The ruckus had not only distracted the troops, but brought Lawrence out of his self-loathing state of mind..

‘Now isn’t the time to wallow in past happy memories if I want the chance to make new ones..’

After making sure that the preparations wouldn’t take much longer, Lawrence headed off to get his armor on. Once he’d finished getting ready, the king returned to his men, then they saddled up. It was early in the evening, and darkness was already overtaking the skies above them by the time they had finally departed.

Despite the icy and snowy weather, the majority of the Senators had still gathered outside of the palace. They had heard of the king’s planned departure almost immediately after he’d started to order servants about, and were there to try and convince him to stay. A few were genuinely concerned for his safety, but a select few barely raised an eyebrow at him over it.

Lawrence wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but they couldn’t stop him regardless. His official story was that he was going for a ride, and was going to camp out for a day or two. It wasn’t all that unusual for the king to go camping, but it was odd for him to do it in the middle of winter.

Senator Kolesnyk hadn’t said a single word up until the King’s party was riding away; “I pray you stay safe, Your Majesty!”

It was an usual farewell, but the smirk he’d had on his face while saying it sent warning bells off in Lawrence’s head. Still, he pushed them away.. ‘Nothing is going to stop me from getting to Shasta.. I WILL save her..’

All turmoil had vanished from their King’s demeanor as he kicked his horse into high speeds. Traveling with his children made the way to Alcon much, much longer. But since Lawrence was with mages, it would take around two weeks for him to reach Alcon..

‘If my calculations are correct, then we should be in the capital right around Yuletide..’

The thought made Lawrence sad for a moment, since he’d be so far from his children around the holidays. This would also be the first Yuletide that his father would be completely absent for, but that thought made his blood begin to boil. He was devastated by the loss of his father, but as a king; Lawrence knew that his mourning would have to wait.

Not only was his wife’s life on the line, but the future of his kingdom depended upon their mission being a success or failure. Rather than let his grief and pressure of his responsibilities crush him, Lawrence focused on his brother’s heinous acts for the duration of their ride to Alcon. Slowly letting his hatred and resentment towards his brother evolve into a sense of righteous justice; his will becoming steadfast in the process.

Lawrence was still focusing on it when they closed in on the craggy pass that led to the beginning of Alcon’s forest. To avoid anyone seeing them, the rather large group had traveled along the mountains that make up the Highlands. The mountain range ran nearly the entire length of the continent in the northernmost part, so if one wanted; they could go from one coastline to the next just by following the mountains.

It didn’t reach all the way to the ocean on the west coast, however, due to Ruscovic’s capital. The palace itself has been carved from the rock face of the mountains, and to this day, the stones were used for construction all over the kingdom. The sea wall was the best example of why it was used, since it had been standing for over three-hundred years.

Ruscos had been carving stairways and roadways into the mountains as well, to make quarrying better materials easier. But Lawrence had the roadways extended when he’d first became king. It made not only commerce between the two kingdoms easier, but traveling to Alcon for him personally.

Lawrence had lost count on how many times he had traveled that roadway, and knew the placement of almost every tree and stone between his kingdom, and his father’s. So when they came to the clearing that usually turned into forest, Lawrence nearly fell off his horse in shock. At first, he thought that he might’ve made a wrong turn somewhere, but even that wouldn’t have explained the sight that laid before him..

The forest was gone.

Not a single tree, bush, or even a meek wee shrub poked up through the thick snow that coated the ground. It was barren for as far as the eye could see, all the way to the Boarder Town that the RMC used to use to stop Highlander raids. He couldn’t see the actual town due to distance, but the smoke from it was clearly visible when it never used to be.

Lawrence walks over to one of the bulges in the snow, and kicked enough snow away to reveal a charred stump. It was the remnants of a tree that he and his wife had carved their initials into on their way home to Ruscovic for the very first time. As he lamented it’s loss, Lawrence’s fury spiked, and he aggressively mounted his horse, and they rode on towards the town.

As they came closer, Lawrence was floored to realize that at least the entire northern part of the forest had been cut down.. ‘ For how many miles is it like this?! Why would Marco cutdown the forest? Does it have to do with the Highlanders?’

As his mind was flooded with questions, General Anton interrupted him by nervously asking; “Your Majesty! We need to hold back! I don’t think that’s Just a town up there!”

As soon as Lawrence focused ahead, he immediately stopped his group, but it was too late. Whatever army was ahead of them had long-since spotted them. They just couldn’t tell that they were heading their way until they had stopped. For some reason or another, the soldiers were marching very slowly..

Lawrence rallied his troops into their defensive formations, then waited for whomever to come..

“They could be be Highlanders,” General Anton commented.

“It is possible, but I doubt it. Murdoc isn’t foolish enough to leave his men out in the open like this. No, this is....something else,” Lawrence replied while staring off at the approaching army.

“What do you mean?” inquired Anton further.

Lawrence stared ahead intensely; “That’s not all Alconian armor. I don’t even recognize some of it..”

“Mercenaries?” Anton suggested as he stared off in the same direction as his king.

As the soldiers came closer and closer, Lawrence could start to see details, but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Rotting corpses in armor were walking towards them, carrying everything from swords, to axes, to hammers and the like. There were even a few that only had one arm, and were still moving towards them, much to the soldiers’ horror.

‘What the Fuck and I even seeing here?!” the General exclaimed as he tried to keep his horse under control.

The wind had shifted for a moment, and their horses got a whiff of what was coming their way. Every single one started to prance and whinnied in fear, knowing that literal death was marching towards them. About three Shamans followed their horses’ lead, and took off once the soldiers were close enough for all to see them.

The rest of the mages stood their ground and calmed their beasts, despite being terrified themselves. Lawrence wasn’t sure what was happening, but his determination had wavered.. Not until Doctor Stein, Benzo, and Norvis stepped forward from the horde.

“Good day to you, King Lawrence! What brings you inside Alcon’s boarders today?” Doctor Stein asked in a sickeningly polite voice.

Not missing a beat, Lawrence replied; “I’ve come to speak with my brother about returning my wife to me.”

The doctor clicked his tongue several times before speaking candidly; “You mean our Vice Commander? Why, she’s here of her own choice. As I’m sure you’re aware, your Father’s death was not a natural one. Even though you fled-sorry, left before anything official could be announced..”

“Anyways, she’s here to protect the kingdom during this torrent time. There seems to be many that do not wish our revered King to be in his rightful place, and VC Shasta has dedicated herself to making sure that our King is safe-”

“Bullshit, Stein,” Lawrence snapped; “I know you’re holding Shasta against her will. Now release my wife, or I will bring war to my brother’s doorstep!”

“Oh really?” Stein commented with a partial laugh; “Then why have we not received any demands from your senate? I know how your kingdom’s politics works, Lawrence-”

“That’s KING Lawrence to you, creep,” General Anton shouted.

Doctor Stein’s demeanor completely changed as he replied; “Not MY King..”

“Alright, enough of the bullshit,” Benzo stated at he walked towards the Ruscos; “You have two options right now, Law. Either come with us peacefully and join our King, or we kill all your men here in the most brutal way possible, then drag you to him as a gift. Either way, you Will bend your knee..”