Lincoln and I walked into the throne room together, our footsteps echoing across the stone floor. Twelve men lined either side of the long carpet leading up to the thrones. Their gazes followed us with a mixture of curiosity and expectation as we advanced.
We stopped just short of the dais and knelt. "Your highnesses."
The looks on Enoch's and Alfonso's faces were priceless when they saw me. They recognized me behind all my aliases, but to their credit, they masked it quickly. Both gave the slightest nod before motioning for us to rise. We did, stepping to the left of the two thrones.
"Court is now in session," Enoch declared, his voice carrying across the chamber.
"The kingdom of Aldun has issued an ultimatum," he continued. "We are to join their kingdom under the Duke of Gavansi… or face annihilation once again."
The chamber erupted at once into shouts and mutterings.
"As we have said before, your highnesses, we are not surrendering to them!" a brown-haired noble with spectacles cried out. Others echoed his words, their voices blending into the chaotic uproar.
"Silence!" Alfonso thundered, slamming a hand down on the armrest of his throne. The sound snapped through the noise like a whip.
Enoch inclined his head toward me, almost imperceptibly. I gave him the faintest smile in return, and he straightened, his expression cooling into something sharp.
"Then we shall do as Count Arrack suggested," he said.
A hush fell over the nobles as he rose slightly from his seat. "The messenger will return to Aldun with our answer. We will not bow. Not now. Not ever."
The chamber erupted again, but this time in cheers and applause. Nobles clapped one another on the back as though victory was already won. Enoch's expression hardened, and the applause died almost as quickly as it had begun.
Then his gaze swung back to me. "Count Adam," he said, voice steady but measured, "you will command our army to strike the city of Karia. When the messenger departs, you will march with four thousand four hundred soldiers, four catapults, and one thousand paladins."
There was a flicker in his eyes, something between reluctance and apology, but he kept his tone formal.
I dropped to one knee. "I receive your command."
Enoch leaned back in his throne with a sigh, as though the weight of the entire world had just settled on his shoulders. "Then it is decided. We declare a state of emergency. May the divines guard our souls."
The session ended with Enoch and Alfonso sweeping out of the chamber, their violet and red togas trailing behind them. Immediately, nobles swarmed me, offering congratulations on my appointment. I smiled, nodded, exchanged pleasantries, but slipped away as soon as I could.
I found Enoch and Alfonso waiting in a side hallway, just as I'd expected. This was the place we always used when the real discussions couldn't happen in open court.
"My lord," Enoch said, dropping to one knee. Alfonso following suit.
"Rise," I said, and they did.
"The goddess has told me that, they don't have a god watching their backs," I reminded them with a thin smile.
"That makes things simple. Twenty days, maybe less, and their entire kingdom is dust."
Enoch and Alfonso exchanged a quick glance, then nodded.
"Order the soldiers into formation," I told them.
Enoch turned to a nearby guard. "Find the general. Assemble half the men and four catapults."
The guard saluted and sprinted off.
By sunset, the army camp was ready. The envoy from Aldun was dismissed with our refusal, and as his horse's hooves thundered away from the city, the first ranks of our army marched out behind him. Catapults creaked and groaned as they rolled across the fields, the sound of war made tangible.
The next day, we arrived before Karia. The city bristled at our approach, citizens fled inside, the gates groaned shut, and soldiers lined the walls.
A lone rider soon emerged, approaching cautiously.
"State your business!" I called out.
"The Count demands you abandon this madness," the messenger said stiffly. "Surrender now before the king's might descends upon you."
I smirked. "Tell your Count the king will have his day under the sun, just as he will have his fall. You'll find no surrender here."
The man blanched but bowed his head. "I shall relay your words." He wheeled his horse and galloped back through the gates.
"Catapults. Forward!" I shouted.
The massive machines rumbled into place. Crews worked with practiced precision, loading the first boulders.
"Loose!"
The sky filled with stone. The impact shook the earth as the first volley smashed into the walls. Arrows rained down from above, but the soldiers held their ground. Another volley followed, and then another, until a wide breach yawned open in the city's defenses.
"Shields!" I commanded.
An iron ripple rolled across the formation as thousands of shields lifted in unison, locking together in a turtle formation.
"Forward."
Step by step, the shield wall advanced under a storm of arrows. I slipped into formation myself, shield raised. Together, we pressed into the breach.
"Charge!"
The formation broke loose, soldiers storming through the gap with war cries. Steel clashed, arrows snapped, men screamed. Blood painted the walls.
I climbed the rubble with five hundred paladins at my side. They moved like lions among sheep, their divine shields blazing against the enemy's arrows. Citizens scattered in terror as our blades carved through the defenders.
We pushed through the streets until the castle loomed ahead. Arrows darkened the sky, but the paladins raised glowing barriers, shrugging them off.
I stepped to the front of the line.
"I am the shield of the innocent. The wall against cruelty. The hand of judgment. By my life, or by my death, no evil shall pass unpunished."
Golden light surged from my hand, forming spears and swords of divine essence. They shot forward in a storm, tearing the iron gates apart. The paladins roared as the way opened.
We stormed the palace. The last defenders broke and fell in the courtyard, their bodies strewn across the marble. The Count was dragged out, kicking and screaming, before the people. His head rolled moments later, his blood soaking into the stones.
The Aldun banner was ripped from the battlements, replaced with the flag of Elren.
But there was no looting. No slaughter of innocents. No burning of homes. The people braced themselves for cruelty, and instead found restraint. Paladins preached to the shaken citizens, while I made certain order, not chaos took root.
Within a day, Karia bent to us. Three nearby villages surrendered without a fight when they heard of the Count's death. Five days later, a second city fell, its outlying villages following in turn.
And so it came down to one final stronghold: the capital.