Word had spread that the king had kept a princess of the Jacob dynasty hidden from the people. The trust of the citizens that Rufus had enjoyed to this point was for the first time gotten a severe hit. For the humans of the kingdom, the rumors created distrust fearing they would end up in the same situation as they had with the previous king.

For the grey skin, they couldn't care less for them the trust towards the raja was unwavering. They never knew who the old king was and he had been like any other king before Rufus. They would never betray or waver on their faith toward Rufus despite him being a human.

~~

All the nobles of the kingdom hurried to the capital. They came from all over the kingdom including Erik and Hunyadi. They walked through the streets of the capital and all had worried and mad expressions and brushed off everyone as they got to the house of Rufus. Inside there were all the people who lived in the house. All were present.

"Where is the king?" Hunyadi asked with a slight mad tone.

"I am here," Rufus said and entered the room.

The nobles looked at him.

"I think you know why we all are here?"

Rufus came downstairs to talk with them.

"I am giving up Liana. She is innocent," Rufus said.

"She is a royal. The people do not care about is innocent or not. To them they all are to blame," a noble said.

"We cannot be seen hiding a royal of the Jacob family. She needs to be punished," another noble explained.

"I think Rufus said that we are not giving her up. Did you not understand?" Edward said looking down at the other nobles.

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There was clear friction between the nobles and Rufus's friends.

"I think we should all calm down," Hunyadi said coming between all of them.

Hunyadi stared at Rufus.

"Rufus. I hope you understand what the most devastating thing about this is. You should not have hidden her from us," Hunyadi explained calmly.

"And seeing how most of you are acting I think he did the right thing," Amala said staring at them.

"You're not helping, Amala," Rufus said.

"Whatever is the case our trust in you has been damaged. That is the truth," Hunyadi explained.

.

.

.

.

.

"WE ARE AT WAR!"

A man was yelling outside.

"THE NATION OF SPARV HAS CROSSED THE BORDER. WE ARE AT WAR!"

All of them went outside. Word had spread fast that queen Sasha of the nation of Sparv had crossed the frontier and was marching with a large army. This act was done without an official declaration and would take them around sixty days to march out of the dense Saxon forest.

"I think we can talk about this later?" Doreen said to the nobles.

"I agree, but this needs to be discussed eventually," Hunyadi said.

~ ~

Queen Sasha had crossed the border and was marching with a vast army through the Saxon forest. Around forty thousand soldiers marched toward the capital of the Fairfax kingdom.

Along with them came infantrymen armed with halberds, swords and spears. Cavalry and knights formed the elite units of the force. Engineers were also hired to construct impressive war machines to breach any walls that would oppose them. Many prominent nobles with strong divinities also had accompanied them and led the men.

This was no small raiding force, it was a large invasion army set to take land and devastate the entire kingdom.

The dense Saxon forest made the march hard and slow. Hills and bogs hindered the progress and only through sheer luck had the Fairfax kingdom been alerted of the approaching invasion. Still, the forces of Rufus could not all be mustered in time for the defense of the kingdom.

With the army was an iron cage that was being towed by four bulls. It had spikes on it and loud yells came from inside it. It shook and waved like something was violently trying to get out of it.

"Are you sure my Queen that we should bring that thing? It is still experimental," one of the nobles asked pointing at the iron carriage.

"It might be experimental, but we just have to release it in front of the enemy. Doesn't matter if we can not control it yet," Queen Sasha ensured him.

"If you say so. It was created by your grandmother and mother and has not been used yet. Please be wary when you are using it."

"No matter. I am sure that even the mighty king Rufus Fairfax cannot win against it. It is the deadliest monster in the entire Aesis world. It is my monster."