> Banners march to the summer’s end
>
> Sharp swords, armour and spears now penned
>
> Such powerful grip of her delicate arms
>
> Leather cords warped and made into charms
>
> Bear witness our fierce lady of the crimson snows
>
> Words unheard escape to turn into elegant prose
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In Regia’s crimson colors we bled
>
> Legend weaved with heaven’s thread
>
> Her countenance framed in a coat of red
>
>
>
> -
>
>
>
> King Lucius Alden III
>
>
> -Red-
>
> Originally titled
>
> (Lady of the Crimson Snows)
>
> Verses on campaign
>
> (Circa 190-195 NC)
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Lucius Alden,
‘Bloody Tiger’
Lord Lucius Aldenus the third,
Praetor Maximus,
Legatus ‘Omnis Legionis’
King Lucius III
Larum in caelo
Part I
-My Lady of the crimson snows-
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
> 4thLegion*
>
> (Abbreviated | IV LEGIO, Brazen Fourth, IV-LG, RCEMR-IV)
>
> Dictum: Triumphus clades Dedecus
>
> (Triumph beats Infamy)
>
> Solem Rubrum Mons | Bronze and gold sign representing a red sun emerging behind a black peak (Comparable emblem to the City of Demames, but for the coloring)
>
> Organizational chart
>
> -Summer of 194NC to 195 NC, after Lorian Plains-
>
> Overall strength ~3907? **
>
> (Legio general staff not included)
>
> ~2800? legionnaires,
>
> ~1107? other units
>
> (400 cavalry, 250 ranger/scouts, 200 slingers, 225 engineers, 32 medics)
>
>
>
> Legatus Legionis | Nonus ‘Solid’ Sula (Demames – His father was second cousin to Duke Paulus Sula of Demames. He married Lady Martha Redmond of Sovya which elevated his status. One of the four more influential officers in Lucius Army, some would argue the most influential, but not everyone agreed. Along with Marcus Antonius the strongest militarily of the Quadrumvir with Macrinus being the richer and Trupo the more politically connected. Veteran of Lucius’ Northern and Southern campaigns, multiple times decorated, the second officer to receive the Corona Vallaris from King Lucius for inflicting severe casualties to Ligur.
>
> King Lucius famously said that ‘if you want an untenable position held whatever the cost you put Nonus in charge and sleep without worry. He’ll still be there the next morning if you check up on him or a month later if you forget all about it.’
>
> Sula ended the battle severely injured and gravely sick, his eventual survival almost miraculous. Some blame was placed on him for his very costly attack that almost got the Fourth destroyed at Islandport mainly from Duke Holt’s circles and Queen Monica. Others praised his tenacious defense against all odds inside the forest and the city. The Fourth participated in operation Seagull which made the resolute though more cautious henceforth Sula one of the few high-ranking officers that remained in the field during the summer of 194 and beyond. Legatus Merenda being the other although the latter acted ‘independently’.)
>
> Aide de Legatus, Prefect (General Staff) | Pete Dumont (Demames. The Prefect was Nonus Sula’s closest childhood friend and advisor. An excellent staff officer.)
>
> First Prefect | Harrison Jacobred (First non-Lorian senior officer, his family a cadet branch of the Redmonds’ of Kadrek, founded by the Duke’s younger second cousin Jacob. A political appointment. Injured during the siege of Islandport.)
>
> 2nd Prefect | Rufius ‘Iron’ Valens (Late Prefect Declan’s younger brother –a gold Phalera recipient in oak leaves in gold with swords posthumously- that got promoted in his place after the latter was murdered in Maiden’s Wedding. Rufius had sailed for Kadrek immediately upon receiving word from his late brother. The Baron was ‘unaware’ officially of his offspring whereabouts, the appointments revealed after Lucius entered Cartagen. The reason given –to preserve the family’s honor- the distance involved and the Fourth’s participation in a different theater in the war. Gold Phalera recipient for his spirited defense of the collapsed walls during the siege of Pascor. An exceptional commander young Rufius received the same honors as his late brother, plus the gold Armillae, a gold armband, for taking over the docks at Islandport. Hand-picked by King Lucius to lead the Fourth’s detached force during Operation Seagull.)
>
> LID officer (Centurion rank) | Hugh Bolton. (Kadrek- Late Rolo’s cousin.)
>
> LID Sergeant Rob Zerou (Yepehir)
>
> 1st Optio (of Cavalry) Ville Hunt (Halfostad)
>
> Quartermaster | Legio Master Sergeant (LMSg) Pullo Barbatus (Demames. Also Keeper of the purse)
>
> Solem Rubrum Mons Signifer | Legio Sergeant (LSg) Duc Gratian (Centurion Quintus’ second cousin)
>
>
>
> First Cohort
>
> (ICH-IVLG)
>
> (Moniker the laconic ‘Triumph’. Sula’s personal red and black Demames banner, embroidered in gold at the corners of the square.)
>
> Strength 850 legionnaires? (Under rebuild. ¾ of the unit was destroyed at Islandport. Was forced to retreat for the first time in its history after getting flanked by Scorpios whilst fighting the First Legion’s, 1st Cohort outside Islandport. The event almost losing Sula the battle. Recruits drawn from several cities like Anorum, Demames etc.)
>
> First Century
>
> (ICN-ICH-IVLG)
>
> Gold Standard of a painted red sun
>
> (Monikers ‘Them Crimson Banners’, Sula’s Guards)
>
> 400 Legionnaires (The vast majority of the century were awarded the golden Phalera after their heroics at Stad River, 2/5 of them posthumous. The unit doubled its size with the addition of Anorum’s cohort in early summer 192NC. The Century was fully rebuild in mid-194 under the new Primus Pilus Carbo after the death of Didicus.)
>
> Centurion (Primus Pilus) Opiter ‘Torque’ Carbo (Demames. Promoted and transferred from the 2nd Cohort. Gold Phalera recipient four times. The third with oak leaves in gold and the fourth turned into a gold Torque, a type of decorative neck ring. Mentioned multiple times in the dailies. Singlehandedly held the line at Islandport for two days and counterattacked to rout Betto’s force. Probably the 4th Legion’s best battlefield officer.)
>
> Decanus Silo (1st Maniple)
>
> Decanus Baro (2nd Maniple)
>
> Decanus Trebius (3rd Maniple)
>
> Decanus Avienus (4rth Maniple)
>
>
>
> Second Century
>
> (IICN-ICH-IVLG)
>
> 150 Legionnaires
>
> Centurion Badi Littera (Risen through the ranks decorated officer)
>
>
>
> Third Century
>
> (IIICN-ICH-IVLG)
>
> 150 Legionnaires
>
> Centurion Sissena Draco (Whitetiger. A distant kin to Baron Draco)
>
> Decanus Varo Bellator
>
>
>
> Fourth Century
>
> (IVCN-ICH-IVLG)
>
> 150 Legionnaires
>
> Centurion Publius Surinas
>
> Decanus Vala
>
>
>
> Second Cohort
>
> (IICH-IVLG)
>
> Gold Standard, a bronze plaque with the number of the Cohort in red.
>
> (Moniker, the ‘Solid’)
>
> Strength 650? (Under rebuild. Half the Cohort was lost at Islandport. Recruits drawn from Kas’ Military Academy. Class of 194.)
>
>
>
> First Century
>
> 200 legionnaires
>
> Centurion | Derio Papus (Demames. Risen through the ranks decorated officer. Gold Phalera recipient. Mentioned in the dailies three times.)
>
> Second Century
>
> 150 legionnaires
>
> Centurion | Glean Lale (Kas)
>
> Third Century
>
> Centurion | Bagas (Kas)
>
> Fourth Century
>
> Centurion | Dermot (Kas)
>
>
>
> Third Cohort
>
> (Halfostad, moniker the ‘Cultured’)
>
> (IIICH-IVLG)
>
> Strength 650? (Unit under rebuild)
>
>
>
> First Century
>
> Centurion | Alvin Botuflson (Halfostad)
>
> Second Century
>
> Centurion | Trod Kulkut (Halfostad)
>
> Third Century
>
> Centurion | Cornelius Cropp (Unknown, probably Halfostad)
>
> Fourth Century
>
> Centurion | Willie Page – Late Gavin’s of the 2nd Cohort twin brother (Kas).
>
>
>
> Fourth Cohort
>
> (Anorum, moniker the ‘Instructors’, highest ratio of minor officers elevated from this unit after 193NC)
>
> (IVCH-IVLG)
>
> Strength 650? (Unit under rebuild)
>
> Former training cohort of Anorum, classes of 190-192 and 193-194 NC
>
>
>
> First Century
>
> Centurion | Quintus Gratian (Anorum, the Signifer’s cousin. Gold Phalera recipient for his brilliant maneuvers and capture of the bridge during the siege of Pascor. Gold Phalera recipient three times in total. The third with oak leaves in gold after the battle of Islandport. Mentioned multiple times in the dailies.)
>
> Second Century
>
> Centurion | Sextus Mellitus (Asturia. Decorated officer.)
>
> Third Century
>
> Centurion | Mael Prisca (Asturia)
>
> Fourth Century
>
> Centurion | Tarsus Zeno (Anorum)
>
>
>
> (Initially transferred from III Legio)
>
> Legion Slingers
>
> 200 Slingers – 150 recruits (numbers vary due to high casualties, 100 well-trained slingers were added in Anorum. The unit was rebuilt in late 193 again due to appalling casualties sustained at the siege of Pascor. The unit was rebuilt again in mid 194 due to heavy casualties.)
>
> Centurion | Joe Fallon (Nord, Maza Burg)
>
> Decanus | Lucan Planta (Aldenfort)
>
>
>
> (Initially transferred from III Legio)
>
> Scouts Legio
>
> ~250 Ranger-type units (A mix of mounted archers and light warriors)
>
> +100 recruits
>
> Under Centurion | Gerard ‘Half-Ear’ Pike (Decorated officer. Three times recipient of the Gold Phalera after his heroics whilst trapped inside Islandport.)
>
> ~ 200 rangers (A mix of Nords, Lorians and Half-breeds)
>
> + 50 attached semi-autonomous Nord warriors nicknamed ‘Marlene’s Brutes’ (lightly armoured with axes and swords)
>
> Led by ‘Ugly’ Marlene Lake (only unit led by a female. A ‘named’ warrior. Mostly remnants of Gerard’s Raiders but wandering Northmen joined when the Fourth arrived in Asturia. They suffered atrocious casualties fighting next to Dirk Curd’s Krakenhall troops but their numbers increased in the months after the battles ended.)
>
>
>
> Legio Cavalry
>
> Around 400 horsemen (overwhelming majority from Sovya, mainly Halfostad)
>
> -150? Medium Cavalry (recruits) under
>
> Optio (of Cavalry) | Ville Hunt (Halfostad)
>
> Decurion Dani Turk (Halfostad)
>
> +35 Heavy Cavalry & 150 mounted Karls
>
> +100 Nord recruits from Halfostad under
>
> Sir (later Baron) Norman Gatrell (Moniker ‘Whitebark Knight’. Known Gatrell family from Yepehir. An excellent cavalry officer, knight and nobleman. Was mentioned in the Dailies despite not being in the Legion’s roster. A rare praise. Decorated for bravery. A veteran of the Eighteen Months offensive.)
>
> The famed Yepehir nobleman served as Lady (later Duchess) Martha Redmond’s honor guard initially, afore given complete command of a large cavalry contingent in the field. Probably another political appointment. An outstanding equestrian, his valor and skill highly regarded even by those not favoring the substantial Sovya presence within the ranks of the Fourth.
>
> The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
>
> * The fourth’s cavalry had suffered substantial casualties at the Lorian Plains but nowhere near those of the Third Legion’s that had been completely decimated.
>
>
>
> Legio Engineers
>
> (Isaak Boston’s Aprons)
>
> 25 engineers (The IV’s engineer unit & supply train was completely destroyed at the battle of the Lorian Plains and had to be rebuilt from scratch with volunteers from Demames and Aegium)
>
> 200 trainees (from Demames & Aegium)
>
> Centurion (of engineers) Reb Cable (Lesia)
>
> Sergeant (of engineers) Jack Harbor (Unknown)
>
> Sergeant (of engineers) Nicetius (Demames)
>
> Legio Medics
>
> Centurion surgeon | Dottore ‘Cleaver’ Borealis (credentials disputed, out of the medical academy of Novesium? An inexplicably very rich man later in life.)
>
> Medic Dorothea
>
> + 19 other nurses and medics
>
> + 11 trainees
>
> *Around eight hundred merchants, medics, carpenters and smiths, following in the supply train. The Fourth’s supply train had been all but wiped out near Framtond’s bridge. Forty Scorpios – thirty five under construction (the Sula family historically favored the deployment of war machines in large numbers and Sula rebuilt and replenished his war machines immediately), + ten Catapults under construction and a prototype ‘Deliverer’ that was left with the 3rd. The classified weapon probably a copy of the archaic pre-Reinut Issir design.
>
> The IV Legio had almost five hundred horses and various mounts usually, due to its larger than usual cavalry element, mostly drawn from Duke Redmond’s troops. While it lost most of them, gains were made after the battle as the 4th reached the rear of Ligur’s fortifications first. The IV Legio followed after the 3rd and King Lucius down the coast of Regia and briefly stopped at Aegium. With the 3rd departing after the King for Novesium, the 4th Legio turned around and returned to Aldenport.
>
> ** Numbers during the summer of 194 were greatly different. The Legion was half-strength and most of its Centuries were packed with fresh recruits.
>
> *** The fourth’s officer core was decimated after the Lorian Plains.
>
> **** Valens trained for months and then took 1250 legionnaires with him, effectively two Cohorts. The 4th under Gratian and another (named the 5th as it was a mix of soldiers from both the 4th and volunteers from the 3rd Legion)
-
> Early morning
>
> 1st of Nonus 194 NC
>
> Seagull’s Neck turn
>
> West of the Gulf of Colle
-
> The monotony of their journey got shattered suddenly.
>
> “FLEET AHOY!” The boy at watch called out from atop the main mast, several similar cries coming from the warships sailing to their west, mainly Talbot and from five hundred meters to their southeast where the flotilla’s flank soared behind them with Oak, Celinia and Seabear.
>
> “FIVE! SEVEN!” The watch kept reporting. Adding them up as they came to view. “TWELVE!”
>
> Rufius walked the soaked deck, face covered in brines and eyes smarting. Cephalus, the large Galleass rocking under his boots and waves splashing his feet to the calves.
>
> The warship’s captain named Vatia ordering the drummers to prepare to give the tempo for the oar crews underneath their feet.
>
> “Hoist the flag mister Saenus!” Valens barked for the legionnaire to communicate with Brakis. Every ship of the line relaying the orders to the next using predetermined different colored and shaped flags. “DO WE TURN?”
>
> “Master Coxswain!” Vatia bellowed climbing down the stairs from the aftcastle two at a time. “Get your rowers ready. Boy I need a proper distance! Take a fucking guess!” He added irate grabbing a spyglass from a sailor to slot it in his right eye. The line of ships visible before them with more appearing as they closed in and left behind them the morning mist.
>
> “Six hundred meters Captain!” The tensed watch replied, head and shoulders hanging upside down from his spot. “A score of warships at least sir! Smoke over their masts!”
>
> “Talbot signals to turn straight at ‘em sir!” Saenus reported and Valens grabbed Vatia’s elbow. “Talbot turned its bow starboard sir!” Saenus added rushing to the other side of their ship to signal at Celinia’s watch. The ship flanking them to the west asking for instructions as well.
>
> “Get back to the helm Captain,” he roared to be heard over the sound of the sea. “Order the weapons crews to prepare to fire on moving targets.”
>
> Valens let go of the Captain of the Cephalus with a flurry of calls ringing up and down the large warship that creaked and groaned as it started angling.
>
> “STRAIGHT AT THEM BOYS!”
>
> “A Ticu’s blooming tits!”
>
> Rufius kept his smarting eyes on the leading ships of their formation that were four hundred meters ahead of them and nearer the unknown flotilla. There could be nothing else out here but Khanate’s warships, the young officer thought and glanced at the scowled, pale face of Centurion Mellitus of the 2nd Century. The Asturia native giving him a signal with his head to stand behind the attached shields to protect himself from incoming fire.
>
> “I don’t believe the shields can keep an iron bolt out Mellitus!” Valens yelled whilst wiping his drenched face with the palm of his hand.
>
> “The men don’t know that fer sure sir!” The Centurion retorted and added raising a beefy arm west. “Birds in the sky Prefect. It’s Binra-Kot alright.”
>
> Brakis had given the order to attack. Decanus Bellus tossed him a javelin when Valens walked behind the cover of the shields that were secured at the edges of the deck as a short protective wall. Oars getting out from the port and starboard sides of the Galleass and the two large drums started giving out the tempo to the men under the deck.
>
> “Four hundred meters!” The watch roared and the sound of drums started synchronizing covering all other sounds, the yellow-red sun trying to break through the morning haze, the thick mist dissolving slowly.
>
> “Forecastle fire catapults!” Vatia ordered and the whole Khanate fleet line of warships did the same. The flaming projectiles appearing tiny on the clearing sky, leaving a black smoke trail behind them that ever expanded and arced towards them.
>
> “INCOMING!”
>
> “Too far,” Valens commented and Bellus stared at him with ogling eyes. “We know how this tastes Decanus.” Rufius reminded him and Bellus shook his helmed head.
>
> “Respectfully Prefect, we were standing behind a brick wall at Islandport,” the Decanus argued pursing his mouth and not five minutes later a fiery projectile smashed the shields six meters to their right. It ripped across the deck setting up small fires and killing three unlucky legionnaires and four screaming sailors that stood in its path.
-
image [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8D-qjf7PEYMCXTZQP50Dsrypa-Xq_-W7ousRfnZN8Pa7MgXzrlrs4YaY9lh1JBEt-4Qg-Pb1VaC4Ai4n591k-rQyiekpUG8wPb5XzIPokUHVkMAhWi7ftZcKwpjDbpaqgsZavej5v1DzB24JOZdkjEetvtDjWede1nqq0kq5wFMQxaPvqJ8hss1fvdo/s3200/Gulf%20of%20Colle.jpg]
5th of Nonus 194 NC
Elysium Fort’s west district (the castle grounds), Great Principality of Cartagen
Westernmost edge of Carta Gulf
Thirty kilometers from Mabindon’s Delta
Two kilometers from First Bridge
“My liege,” the architect Nipius Bonosus said, a blond man in his thirties with a fresh-shaven face and clear blue eyes and rushed to the entrance of the construction site to greet Lucius’ large entourage. “We have the floors finished. Just a couple of meters of tile-placing left at the east corner. You can step on it,” he added in his Cartagen accent and hopped on a leg to show them.
Lucius nodded amidst the officers’ murmurs and paused to inspect some of the work under his feet. The thick white and pink marble still unpolished but nicely cut in large square pieces with each side measuring a meter. The whole floor leveled in a giant rectangular shape to match the designs. On the west and north sides’ tall Lorian columns with carved fluting filets on their long shafts had been placed already to create a ‘barrier’ of white stone trunks standing two meters apart. The morning sun creating elongated shadows that converged on the walls of the tower looming over the construction site.
The rocky plateau near Elysium had some of the finest stone in all of Regia but a lot of the expensive marble was coming from Goldwall Peaks all the way from Aldenfort and its desert Marble Quarry.
“You’ll have the central supporting columns placed every ten meters?” Lucius asked thoughtfully.
“Yes my liege,” Bonosus replied and followed after the King. Lucius stopped after a couple of strides and stared at the structure from the inside. He tried to picture it finished in his head based on the architectural designs they had showed him. “Four rows of columns internally to help support the roof.”
“More space is needed,” Lucius murmured. “Else all people will see would be stone protrusions Bonosus. We want them to notice the stone plaques not search for them amidst the forest of columns.”
The architect gulped down. “Protrusions my Liege?”
“You’ll split the difference. Place two rows of central columns only so more space is available for people to walk on. Make them twice as thick if needed but it won’t be necessary. If the weight is distributed evenly and you raise the top of the roof whilst extending its sides, the outer columns will shoulder the whole load.”
“The gods’ temple call for narrow corridors my liege,” Bonosus argued with a grimace.
“This is a temple for the fallen and not the gods,” Lucius reminded him. “People want to be able to see, sit down and socialize in the company of friends both living and departed.”
“Yes my liege. May I enquire on the number of columns in the center?” Bonosus queried.
“Twelve,” Lucius replied evenly and turned around to walk outside so the crews could continue working. They had stopped the moment he approached the site. “Like the months.”
----------------------------------------
They all walked towards the old stone tower over the newly repaired stone road. Lucius stopped under its shade to stare at the nearby construction site and beyond the road separating the barracks and the west district’s houses of the small town from its lively small port. The ground fertile and green as one approached the great river but it turned to wild marshes after its first leg. The terrain changing from the yellow deserts of the Salt Mounts to their south, to Mabindon’s overabundance of lush green woodlands to the northeast.
The Third Legion’s large camp built near the last houses on the west side of the road coming from Novesium. Titus Nero the local mayor had offered the King his villa as personal quarters but Lucius had decided to stay in the small tower. He’d a reason for it. The commander of the guard was the late Centurion Agricola’s uncle. Aulus Agricola was well over forty now but he’d participated in the fights around the capital under Lord Drusus Sula.
“We have a meal prepared for your Grace,” the local commander’s daughter Lady Floria informed them.
“A little later my Lady,” Lucius replied politely. The smiling woman made a well-practiced curtsy before returning to the castle’s kitchen building.
“Lost her husband during the siege my lord,” Agricola said looking at her walking away and greeting the soldiers resting outside the building.
“Your family will get a Centuria of extra land near Elysium’s forest,” Lucius informed him. “One for her husband, a couple for her two kids and one for your late nephew. Four in total. You shall pick the spot and mark it as Agricola’s lands. The town will grow towards the hills so plan accordingly.”
“I appreciated my liege’s generosity,” Agricola replied bowing his head.
“Your kin fought for me when my return was far from guaranteed,” Lucius said soberly. “This is a site for every brave soul that followed his example. A place for their names to be heard and their deeds to be recalled by friends or relatives. We might fade away Aulus but they won’t.”
Lucius paused hearing noise coming from the gates. The castle’s walls weren’t anywhere near as tall as Cartagen’s and the Elysium’s grounds were expansive as it had housed the whole legion in the past but they were also flat so the sound carried.
“Was that the gate-tower’s warning bells?” Consul Veturius asked raising his head. He was discussing with Sirio and Trupo some meters away from Lucius. Sir Valgus furrowed his brows, the knight’s face well-tanned after journeying Regia’s sunny coast throughout the summer. “What’s this? Half an alarm? Gata sprint down there to sort this out!”
“Belay that order Centurion!” Lucius intervened curtly and walked near them. He could hear horse’s gallop coming from the gates. “There are more soldiers here than civilians my good Consul.”
About six riders were approaching the tower and the construction site using the newly-paved road. One of the horses, a fine white stallion, leading and the others following. Or hunting the first rider.
“As I live and breathe,” Trupo exclaimed pulling at the curved tip of his mustache in puzzlement. “That’s quite the dangerous gallop sire. Brazen lads.”
Lucius narrowed his eyes on the fast approaching figure but not a moment later his face relaxed and a wave of euphoria overcame him. Laced with anticipation that brought him a strange nervousness.
The leading rider had a polished chainmail shirt on and dark leather pants probably, but was still too far away for him to make out a face. He didn’t have to. The long red curly hair that wildly billowed behind the woman’s back as she bobbed up and down on the saddle had given the approaching Faye away. The Queen of Regia a much better rider now than what she was six years ago. Better in everything really in Lucius’ eyes.
Hey there Red, Lucius thought with a smile as Faye spotted them and turned her horse about, the mounted gate sentries that had scrabbled to follow after the northern Queen left well over fifty meters back by the time she reached the tower and Lucius’ entourage.
----------------------------------------
A flushed Faye swung a leg over the horse’s back and climbed down from the snorting nervous stallion. She glanced at the Third’s officers intently until they bowed their heads in greeting and then walked towards the slightly smirking Lucius. Wrapped her arms on his neck and kissed him fiercely, soft lips crushing the King’s and teeth clanging.
“Ouch,” Lucius murmured in her face.
“Love hurts,” Faye retorted and pressed her hot face on his, those freckles even more prominent and her usually milky skin a tad tanned.
“Queen Faye,” Lucius rustled and hugged her waist. “I was coming to Cartagen.”
“You were taking too darn long,” Faye replied.
“The boys?”
“I left them back. I had to give the palace guards the slip.”
Lucius let out a deep sigh then eyed the grinning officers and the confused local officials over the top of her head. “Nice horse,” he commented. Most hadn’t realized the Queen of Regia had just galloped inside the castle grounds.
“His name is Elzar the sixth. But the stable master’s daughter calls him the King of Wetull. His is a famous line apparently.” Faye explained and the horse neighed then shook its head in agreement.
“Would the Queen like to see the King’s quarters?” Lucius asked trying to be formal but quickly realized the query was pretty loaded. Trupo scrunched his mustache right and left. Galio droning in a calm manner next to him.
“I’ll move the meeting later milord.”
“You live in a tower?” Faye teased and glanced at the construction site. “Next to a ruin?”
“It’s to be a mausoleum,” Lucius defended the location and walked the shorter woman towards the tower’s sentries with an arm over her shoulders.
“This I’ll never understand,” Faye murmured and hugged his waist, resting that wild head on Lucius’ shoulder.
“We honor our ancestors,” Lucius explained as they walked through the narrow hall into a bigger one to enter the main hall. He waved for the guard to leave them and Sir Valgus who had marched after them stopped as well outside the door.
“Should I ask them to prepare quarters for her grace my King?” The royal knight asked.
“That won’t be necessary Valgus,” Lucius replied squarely and walked inside closing the door with his left arm.
Faye jumped on him a moment later, fit legs wrapped around his waist and her hands clasping at Lucius’ nape. A moment later she was kissing him ardently and Lucius reciprocated feeling the passion igniting their blood. Augusta Flavia who was sitting on the Hall’s throne got up seeing the couple enter, Lucius was effectively carrying Faye with relative ease and walked towards them.
“Priestess,” a drowsy Faye murmured seeing the older woman.
“Queen Faye,” Flavia replied and bowed her head low. “King Lucius.”
“You share my king’s quarters Flavia?” Faye asked teasingly and the priestess responded in a casual manner.
“Only some of his spare time and this hall’s throne. I couldn’t help it your Grace, walking the grounds was too much for me.”
“You can’t have him. It’s too late now,” Faye told her and Flavia bowed her head.
“Alas I’m well aware. Queen Faye shouldn’t worry.”
“I’m not for I’ve a sword on my horse,” Faye retorted mimicking the priestess' half-teasing manner.
“Alright that’s enough jesting ladies,” Lucius intervened. He’d lived for long enough in the North to know that friendly banter could turn into a bloody feud pretty fast.
“I shall visit the site King Lucius,” Flavia informed him and smiled at Faye. “It is good seeing the Queen again,” she added and walked slowly towards the door.
“What’s she smelling of?”
“Vanilla and orange oils. The local maids went berserk to secure her bath water.” Lucius explained keeping his voice serious and realized he was still carrying Faye. “Goodness me Red. You’ve lost weight.”
Faye stared in his eyes mirthfully and then frowned turning somber. “What do you mean?”
“I love this face when it gets angry,” Lucius admitted hoarsely and kissed the top of her well-shaped nose.
“Then you’re a fool Alden,” Faye purred and Lucius nodded in agreement whilst busy rediscovering the Queen’s familiar face.
Indeed he was.
“Love hurts?” A sweaty Lucius asked an intense half an hour later resting in bed with a warm Faye in his arms.
“A poem Monica reads,” Faye murmured on his chest, her fingers working with the hairs there.
“You are reading poems?” Lucius teased.
“I can read you know,” Faye replied and it was true since she had made an effort to improve her language skills. “And write.”
“How is it?”
“Wielding a sword is easier,” she admitted. “But nothing beats hunting in your forest.”
“How is that easy?” Lucius queried.
“Thirty hunters and fifty dogs hunting a deer or a boar? Pfft. Logan refused to take part in it. He proposed hunting the hunters instead to give more of a challenge.”
“How is the silent warrior?” Lucius asked caressing the underside of her naked heavy breast. The crude leather northern charm worn next to his gold family pendant the only pieces of jewelry Faye had on. Pregnancies had given the Northern Queen a bust that rivaled Flavia’s. The summer had in turn given the priestess an excuse to match the more daring of Aegium’s maidens clothing decisions. As Trupo had commented glumly on many occasions, ‘a blind man could see sire. It is quite inevitable.’
“With Roderick most of the times,” Faye replied huskily. “And Layton.”
“I wouldn’t have mistaken him for a family person,” Lucius said with a smile.
“They talk of swords,” Faye explained.
“Roderick is too young for that,” Lucius noticed with a frown.
“Roderick is the tiger’s son,” the Queen replied. “He needs to learn fast.”
Lucius sighed and got up from the messy bed. He found a towel and wiped some of the sweat from his body. “How is Monica?”
“Unhappy.”
“You’re projecting your mood on her,” Lucius counseled. “She’s doing what a queen should do.”
“Well, I’m not.” Faye retorted and stood up on the bed as well.
“That’s what I’m trying to say. Traveling alone was dangerous.”
“Who would move against me?” Faye taunted. “I’d like to see them try.”
I wouldn’t.
“Faye…”
“The war is over Alden. You’ve won,” she told him. “Regia has one king again.”
“Yeah,” Lucius murmured and got up to find a tunic to put on.
“A fit king,” Faye added raising a red eyebrow and jumped from the bed herself.
“A beautiful queen,” Lucius said and she laughed freely. A red color spreading down Faye’s heaving chest and flat belly feeling his eyes on her. Crimson on milky white skin for the rest of her had stayed out of the sun. Red on soft snow.
“I can’t match your tongue,” she teased and wrapped her fingers around Endariel’s handle. “But I can match you with a blade.”
“Red. You never could,” Lucius teased her back whilst being serious and she pouted.
“The sword sings.”
“What kind of song?” Lucius asked and put the tunic on.
“A paean me thinks,” Faye replied thoughtfully. “Is the war over Alden?” She asked him and it was strange Faye had gone there again. “What now?”
“It is,” Lucius assured her a little uncomfortable because a kingdom never rests on its laurels. “Come to the small balcony my lady of the crimson snows. Let me show you what I’m building here.”
-
> The Talbot’s bow crashed on the Khanate’s galleon's sides, masts toppling and deck boards snapping with a great clamor that rippled through you like winter’s chill. The enemy warship was almost cut right down the middle and people were hurled overboard with cries of terror. In the meantime Cephalus who had angled port side as it got between another two warships, had all its Scorpios on both sides emptying their lethal load in quick succession from point blank range.
>
> Everyone with a javelin or harpoon in hand hurling it at the enemy warships decks. Lined hooks flew over the men’s heads and large flat boards were used to bridge the three meters separating the Cephalus with the nearest Khanate warship. Slow to retract long oars breaking and iron bolts carving up the packed soldiers on the decks or below them. Barrels breaking and oil lamps shattering with flames starting only to be extinguished by frothy waters a moment later. Long ropes snapping and lashing right and left viciously.
>
> Rufius stepped forward when the first wave of enemy marines jumped on the deck, some of them dropping with screams in the opening between the two warships tied side by side.
>
> “Close shields!” He bellowed and hacked at the Khanate marine with his sword. The blade cut the top part of the harpoon’s shaft, the metal point clattering down. The Prefect slashed on the return and opened the man’s right arm from shoulder to elbow, blood spraying out of the gashing wound. A legionnaire went down skewered through the helm and then the forces were locked in a fierce embrace. The whole Lorian line pushed back two meters towards the main masts and Captain Vatia’s engineering crews that were firing their Scorpions on the other Khanate warship. The latter was still trying to turn about twenty meters away getting pummeled by projectiles. The Cephalus’ weapons crews on the starboard side engulfed in the defense alongside the Fourth’s legionnaires.
>
> A bolt ripped through friends and foes with a sickening sound, creating a gory corridor with some of the attackers staggering.
>
> “Forward!” Decanus Nicetius roared and Centurion Mellitus did the same from his spot in the line near Rufius. “ONE. TWO!”
>
> “OARS OUT!” Captain Vatia was heard yelling from the aftcastle. “Push them away!”
>
> Valens ducked under a spear thrust, the blade clanging on his helm and denting it, the bang bouncing off of the walls of his cranium. He faltered sideways, a harpoon piercing the armour on his shoulder and then breaking when the Centurion’s gladius came down. Rufius cursed and slashed out, his blade thudding on a Marine’s neck. Blood spurting out and another Khanate soldier crashing on him. The Prefect got his sword between them, the edge cutting on the snarling man’s face and the deck slippery under his boots.
>
> A harpoon’s blade coming over his opponent’s shoulder to strike at him. Valens snapped his head away, someone screamed behind him getting skewered in the face and scalding gore splashed the Prefect’s nape when the hidden marine yanked his long weapon back. Rufius grabbed at the retreating shaft with his left arm, the wood slippery and the blade cutting into his palm but managed to stop it. He got knifed in his exposed forearm, the blade piercing his vambrace in and out grazing at the bone.
>
> Valens groaned through his clenched teeth and used all his strength to shove back the marine stuck on him with his sword, the man’s face split diagonally now completely distorted. With his right shoulder burning from the effort and his left arm bleeding, the snarling Prefect got freed. Rufius stumbled forward, his right boot caving the grotesquely maimed marine’s face in when it came down. He slid on the greasy deck, chaos erupting everywhere he could see through blurry eyes.
>
> Ten meters away and just over the noisy Khanate warship’s masts and decks six silent smoking catapult shots were plunging down from the sky.
>
> From the angle probably coming from the direction of Oak.
>
> “INCOMING!” Both sentries up on the opposing warships lookouts yelled in unison and Valens prayed the Illirium's crews aboard the Oak didn’t miss. Even a meter could spell doom for them.
>
> He wasn’t certain if the engineers’ accuracy even mattered on targets so close together.
>
> But it did.
>
>