Rufus returned to the palace. There some grey skin tribal leaders were waiting for him. They bowed their heads out of respect and gave way to Rufus. Most of the grey skin tribal leaders had headed back north to help their tribes to move south so only a few were attending.

Also, a few nobles who had stayed to help rebuild the city were also present. Most of the nobles including the count had left to their own regions to take care of their own people.

"What is going on?" Rufus asked everyone.

"It seems the lord of the Targavis region had survived the battle of Ins. He has gathered an army and is reading for war," a noble said end explained the situation.

Rufus was blindsided by the news which was exactly what he was hoping for to never hear.

The situation was bad. The army had been disbanded and it would take a long time to reassemble an army to fight the enemy. By the time an army would be reassembled the enemy could have already done a lot of damage and the situation could snowball out of control.

"Where did he get an army? Most of his men would either be dead or would be refusing to fight for him. Most of the nobles are also dead from the Targavis region," Edward asked.

"He apparently hired Guiscard mercenaries," Doreen explained.

"Shit….."

"What are these Guiscard mercenaries?" Amala asked.

"They are a militaristic people living on the island of Guiscard. They are the most prized mercenaries of Aesis. They are disciplined and the lords of the lands sail across the world providing their skills and expertise to the highest bidder. They are all soldiers and not peasants with weapons. They do not falter and know the price of war and are happy to pay it for some gold," Doreen explained.

"We need to raise an army as soon as possible. Strike now before this situation gets any worst," Edward said to everyone.

"What army? We have barely any warriors in the capital. We can at best raise around two thousand warriors from all those who stayed behind," Amala explained.

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"Then we raise them. We have to act fast," Edward yelled back.

"It would be suicide," Doreen said and sided with Amala.

"How big is the army of the enemy?" Rufus asked.

"Probably around two thousand Guiscardian mercenaries. Don't mistake them for regular soldiers. They are trained from birth for warfare. They are not like the royal soldiers we fought at the battle of Ins river. These are motivated and disciplined soldiers. They do not panic or start running away that easily and are not forced into fighting. We should not try to fight them head-on," Doreen explained.

Rufus crossed his finger and started to think. He looked around and at his Ghersengs.

"We will raise the two thousand grey skin warriors and we will face them on an open field. End this war now as fast as possible. I don't want a long war," Rufus said and gave a command as a king would.

Edward smiled. Rufus was starting to act like a true king or Raja.

"What are we waiting for here then. Let's stop those cocksuckers once and for all," Edward said and started to leave the room.

Pema rushed out to catch up to Edward.

"I didn't ask this after the battle, but are you not worried about your sister at all?" Pema asked.

Edward at first didn't answer.

"How do you know about my sister?"

"Doreen told me about her. I saw her at the battle of Ins and fought against her and her knights."

"You didn't kill her right?"

"No. She was strong. She fled with the rest of the knights."

"So why should I worry. She is my sister and I will definitely save her also. Not from someone else but from herself. I am his big brother ain't I."

~ ~

The next day two thousand strong grey skin warriors left the city. With them, the Gherseng guards also left accompanying Rufus.

Rufus was riding on top of a black yak like a true Raja would with Gwon sitting on his lap.

"You sure you wanted to come along? You know the palace would have been a pretty cool place also," Rufus asked Gwon.

"Naaaaah. I would rather be with you. You have also been too busy recently and need some help," Gwon said smiling at Rufus.

The other ones looked at Rufus with Gwon. It was like Rufus actually saw Gwon as a regular child. It little bit freaked them about.

"I know I made fun of it that Gwon is like a little brother to Rufus, but it actually seems like that," said Edward who was really creeped out.

"What's so wrong about it? I mean Gwon is a child and he should have someone who is with him. It also seems he feels comfortable with Rufus since many still avoid him knowing he is the Seng," Haley asked.

"So you don't feel jealous or that you have competition," Doreen said with a twinkle in her eye.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. It seems that Rufus has another younger sibling now. Maybe you don't like to share Rufus that much."

"Shut up idiot....," Doreen said trying to hit Edward

"Don't try and hit me, lady. My fists are rated E for everyone and women are included in the everyone."