After a couple of days the Guiscard mercenaries arrived at Helmut Gröhl's castle, the lord of the Targavis region. He was the last powerful noble left alive as the rest of them had perished in the battle of river Ins. He was the ruler of the Targvis region which was one of the six great regions of the kingdom. The region of Targvis was at the far east of the kingdom with a long coastline.
The commander of the Guiscard mercenaries was a lord of his very own region in the kingdom of the Guiscards. He arrived at the citadel with his army with lord Helmut waiting for him at the gates of the citadel. With him were Markus and August who stood behind the lord.
The Guiscard mercenaries marched in a perfect formation all carrying a kite shield, a round helmet, spear, and a sword on their waist. Many of them had scars on their faces indicating they were veterans of numerous wars and battles.
The commander of the mercenaries was riding on a horse at the head of the army. He was wearing chainmail with a robe on top of that was dyed in blue. He wore a nasal-style helmet with a picture of a red lion on his robe on the front.
"I take it you're our client?" the commander said.
"Yes. And you are the Guiscard lord….?" lord Helmut asked.
"I am Tankred de Louperouge, the lord of the Caen region of the kingdom of the Guiscards. We were promised a vast sum of gold. I wish to see the gold."
Helmut clapped his hands. His servants came from the inside of the citadel carrying a large wooden chest. They placed it in front of Tankred who came down from his horse and kicked the lid off. The chest was full of golden coins and lavish expensive stones. He dug around the chest with his sword and seemed pleased.
"We have a deal. You have yourself an army made of the finest soldiers in our world. Who are these people?" Tankred asked and looked at August and Markus.
"Oh. This is prince Markus Jacob, the one who will inherit this kingdom once we have won. He is my king and I have promised to place him on the throne," Helmut said trying to convince, he was a loyal servant of the prince.
"Thank you, my good lord. My father would be happy that such a person is guiding me and helping me," Markus said and smiled at Helmut.
"Of course, I would. When I saw you at the gates with your attendant I was petrified. The first thing I thought was to of course help you."
Tankred coughed in a way to cut in on the conversation.
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"I am sorry to cut in on this conversation, but I would like to let my soldiers rest. Where can I place my soldiers and what would be their quarters?"
"Oh of course. Let them enter the citadel and they can rest in the courtyard. That should suffice well for your soldiers," Helmut suggested.
"That will do....Mona!"
A young girl ran from among the soldiers. She had no weapons with her and wore chainmail armor only with her robe being all tattered and broken.
"You stay outside. Do you understand?" Tankred said.
"Yes commander," the girl said and walked away while all the mercenaries entered the citadel.
~ ~
During the evening, lord Helmut held a feast for Markus and Tankred. The three of them were dining in a lavish hall in the citadel.
"So what kind of enemy are we facing?" Tankred asked.
"Oh, not anything too serious. They are just some grey skins. Bunch of savages. Basically, an army of rabid dogs," Helmut said in an obnoxious tone.
"How about their leader. I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep. I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion?"
"Oh, he is just some boy from the slums. He is more known as a symbol than of his talents. What could you expect of a person who was born from the slums?"
"Hah. That is so true. It doesn't matter if you have half of your blood is noble blood. It doesn't matter. It has to be all pure," Tankred said and took a sip of wine with menacing eyes.
Markus felt irritated. He stood up from his chair.
"I am sorry, but I believe I have drunk a bit too much. I believe I should go and get some fresh air," Markus said and left the dining room.
After the prince had left the room the lord changed his tone.
"That prince really is gullible," Helmut said and smiled sinisterly.
"What do you mean?" Tankred asked confused.
"Just remember that I was the one who paid you."
Tankred was quiet at first.
"I know who gave me my gold. He is the one who has my sword to use as he wishes."
"That is good to know. The prince is just a tool. He has always been weak. Never took interest in running the country. Always being reclusive. The only thing remarkable about him was that he was able to escape from the capital in one piece."
"Then why are you helping him so much?"
"I always was envious of duke Mihalh, the previous lord who controlled the kingdom while the king just sat on the throne. I plan to make the prince just sit on the throne himself while I rule. I would be then the most powerful person in the kingdom," Helmut explained.
"Heh. Truly diabolical person you are, but you really think you can take the country. I am being just realistic here. I just have two thousand men to fight for you for a year. It is not enough to control an entire kingdom and make him the next king."
"It doesn't matter. We just have to keep the war going. Eventually, the neighboring countries will intervene with them wanting to stabilize the country. I'm sure they are willing to install the prince if that establishes peace and they can easily manipulate him. I will ensure that I will be cooperative so they will make me run the country with the prince just being the figurehead.
"I am sure this arrangement can also benefit an experienced Guiscard warrior. A Guiscard warrior who will be so rich he will be able to purchase a gravity ship and go sail into the universe to make a name to himself," Helmut said and lifted his glass for a toast with Tankred.
"I am sure your plan would benefit indeed from an experience Guiscard warrior," Tankred said and lifted his glass for the toast with a sinister smile.