Elias had never stepped onto a battlefield before—granted, this wasn’t much of a battle. Sólstaður’s plan was simple and, barring any major setbacks, they could be on their own by summer. That prediction might change if Kuro sent soldiers to reinforce whatever people were left, but it wouldn’t be hard to turn them back again.
He didn’t even know if he fought to actually remove Kuro; honestly, life was just getting dull. The winter months were boring, and even more so when he had to listen to the men argue for hours. At least they were able to manage productive conversation and get this done.
It was still too cold to spend a lot of time outside, so the Sólstaðuric fighters who volunteered came and went in groups. All they were doing—by Andreas’s request—was threatening the Kuro soldiers and following them to the next down closest to the sea. Elias imagined it looked similar to herding wild animals; Kuro ran and they pursued, but Sólstaður only fought back if Kuro drew arms.
Elias followed the Kuro soldiers farther than most of the others. He found it fascinating on how much indifference it must take to be completely accepting of being pushed out—a few of the more enthusiastic rebels spoke up every now and then to remind the Kuro soldiers that they were being removed. The only thing they seemed to care about was keeping their lives intact; the Kuro princess once mentioned that her nation only held on to Sólstaður so they could claim they were something of an empire, and not because there was anything of value to them.
Four hours were spent getting from Byen Roken to the sea. A few hundred Kuro soldiers and citizens waited—the only ones allowed to stay were those that had assimilated to Sólstaðuric life, again by Andreas’s request.
Elias stood among the crowd, men on either side of him preparing to repeat his news so all of the Kuro forces could hear. He spoke in the two nations’ shared tongue.
“You are fortunate,” he began firmly, “That there are people among us who do not wish all of you dead—if it were my own choice, I would have greeted you with the same bloodshed that began this occupation. Each one of you is to return to your home nation, and tell your new king: you will no longer be allowed here unless you live by our rules. Sólstaður will no longer be occupied by the black kingdom, and anyone who attempts to do so will face the consequences as soon as they enter our seas.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Other people in the Sólstaðuric force echoed the order, and a written copy of it was sent along with the first ship to leave. All of the Kuro soldiers had gone aboard ships and started their trip back to Kuro within the hour; whether or not there were enough supplies to suitably last them the trip, Elias did not know nor care.
He took a step forward, and looked around to the gathered Sólstaðuric people. Never in his life had he seen such a large group without a single Kuro rat among them—he found it pleasing to know that he had helped that come to pass. Perhaps Sólstaður really was made to fight.
Elias spoke in Sólstaður’s native language when he addressed the crowd. “For now, we are free of the black kingdom’s influence! It shouldn’t be another month before we see them again, if they ever return. Everyone’s contributions were vital to this effort, and it led to this being easier than anticipated.”
He turned to the person somewhere to his left—one of the younger chiefs, who had volunteered to do a specific task. “You,” Elias said. The boy nodded, and Elias continued. “Go do your job—prepare to send out letters to all black kingdom citizens still living in Sólstaður. If they agree to live here by Sólstaður’s terms and not by means of occupation, they may stay by Andreas Rokensen’s explicit request; if they still wish to identify themselves with the black kingdom’s occupation, however, send them on their way here and they will be shown out.”
The boy nodded again, murmured his agreement, and left with a few others following him to help him in his task. With that, then, Elias’s job was done.
Many of Sólstaður’s fighters returned home, although most of them still complained about it not being particularly bloody. Elias could agree, in some sense, but he didn’t like the image of Andreas getting mad at him for petty things like revenge or mercy—Elias still needed an heir, after all, and his deeds would do nothing here if there was no one willing to carry on his work when he stepped away.
Elias stayed in one of the port villages for another day, just to see if anyone would bother to thank him for staying away. No one did, of course—no one mentioned it at all—but he did have the satisfaction of making sure the Kuro princess would fit with their own qualifications. Andreas wasn’t fond of the whole situation, but…there was something fulfilling in hearing a princess from another nation agree to live by Sólstaður’s standards, even if it meant losing most of her old tradition and embracing a different culture.
If she had been from anywhere else, Elias might have thought that Andreas actually made a good choice in marrying her.