The letter fell out of Alfred's hand and slowly landed on the floor. Silence overtook the usually noisy room.

While Henry was doing his best to process his thoughts and fight back tears, Eleonora approached her husband and gave him a hug. Henry's sight was starting to get blurry as tears were welling up in his eyes, the shock and pain he felt were too overwhelming for him. All he could do now was prevent sobs from escaping outside.

After the initial blow the news caused her, Anna looked up. " My lord… I will take Henry to his room, if he is to attend the funeral, he must be prepared."

"No. Only I will attend, Eli and Henry will be excused. Aron, you will accompany me with our most skilled men, we depart in the morning." Alfred's words came as a shock to everyone present.

Eleonora was first to raise her concerns. "Al, why? At a time like this we must present a united front and show up to the funeral together. I cannot let you jump into that pit of vipers…" Her voice trailer off as she understood what the duke wanted to do.

Seeing that his wife had seen through him, Alfred decided to share his outlook on the situation. "Archduke Ritter is gone, my family is not going to the capital… not when Nicolas is not there any more to make sure safety is at the highest level."

"All the more reason to let me come with you, if it's the two of us…" Eleonora tried to reason with her husband, but to no avail.

"A decade ago, sure, but today there is no reason to go out of our way to court danger. Stay home and protect our family, I will tend to our obligations and rush home the first chance I get. Even if they try something, the most skilled knights Aron can find are more than enough to make a hole and escape quickly." As he finished his sentence Alfred had a proud look in his eyes, sadly it only lasted for a moment and soon grief once more overtook him.

Henry understood that he was the reason his parents were not going together and felt guilty but also happy that they were thinking about him and his well being.

“Shall we leave them to their work, my lord?” Anna placed her hand on Henry’s shoulder and whispered into his ear. Henry only nodded and the two excused themselves.

After Anna took the boy away to his room the people present started talking about the event that shook their world.

“This was an assassination, there is no way Nicolas just dies out of nowhere.” Alfred sat down and started thinking about the events that would follow. “We must prepare for major changes. The royal faction is probably lost, prince Alexei is in grave danger now that his uncle is out of the picture.”

“They would not go after the heir to the throne…” Eleonora was taken aback by this statement. Her fears were only confirmed by Aron, “My lady, his highness has superior supporters, but alas our forces are outside the capital, if this happened after my lord Henry started attending the Academy we would have the infrastructure in place to support him, but as things stand now…”

“Nicolas would not want any harm to come to either of the boys, but the people around Rufus are not as merciful as Nicolas, or Alexei. They will do their best to eliminate the boy, and they will make their move soon. If only the king…” Alfred was too afraid to finish his sentence. He knew full well that the king was not the same man he knew and that without his uncle’s protection Alexei was nothing more than a small boat in a huge ocean.

“Can we help him? Is there a way to move as we stand today?” Eleonora did not address that question to Alfred but rather to Aron.

“Unfortunately, my lady, as we are today we have no ability to protect the prince. Can we dispose of the people that are on Rufus's side?” Aron took a moment to contemplate before continuing, “Sure we can, but the problem is that there are many who support the second prince from the shadows. We do not have enough people in place to prevent every attack.”

“Still, something must be done, Rufus is not fit to be a baron, let alone a king. He is a child, but he is cruel and fickle.” Alfred gave his honest assessment of the prince. “Alexei is a perfect heir, too perfect if you ask me. Whoever goes against him has no love for our country.”

The room fell into an eerie silence, it was Aron who broke it by clearing his throat to draw attention, “If you have no more orders for me, I will be off to assemble your escort.”

Alfred looked into his faithful knight’s eyes, there was no fear in them, no doubt, only a strong resolution to do anything he could for the lord he serves, “Go, make sure everyone knows what we are heading into, they should spend the night with their families and return here at first light.”

After Aron left the room Eleonora hugged Alfred once more, “Al, we have time to formulate a plan. There is nothing that can be done tonight, come, let's check up on Henry and retire for the day. The journey will be long and I see little peace in the foreseeable future.”

Alfred quickly switched from a noble hatching plans to a caring father, “Yes, let’s check up on Henry. This is the first time he has had to face the death of a close person. He mustn't feel alone now.”

The two walked down the empty hallway on the way to their son. After gently opening the door they scanned the inside of the room. To their surprise several candles were burning inside, furthermore not at the bedside, but on Henry’s desk. The boy was immersed in his maps as he often was in his free time. A smile appeared on their faces as they watched him jot down something on a piece of parchment.

“Mom, dad?” Henry noticed their presence soon enough and quickly ran over to them.

“Yes, we came to check up on you. How are you feeling son?” Eleonora asked.

Henry stared into his mother’s eyes, he saw she was hiding her pain from him so he decided to do his best to make her feel better. Unfortunately words that came out were just his honest feelings as he was much too inexperienced to comfort someone, “I feel very sad, uncle Nicolas was kind and…”

“Would you like to listen to a story about the three of us, when we were younger?” Alfred quickly jumped in.

Henry could only nod, as words could not leave his mouth. His father took him up into his arms and tucked him in bed. Flanked by his parents Henry listened to many stories before finally falling asleep.

***

The next morning, just as the first rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon, a group of knights and soldiers lined up in front of the mansion. These men were battle-hardened veterans, but one could see that they were nervous. The task before them was just that complex. Still once they saw their duke and duchess their fears were washed away. The two before them knew no defeat and could not be stopped, so they had confidence that as long as they did their best, their lord and lady would lead them to victory.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

No speeches were given that morning, only a quick command from the duke to depart. No more was necessary for this group.

Eleonora, Anna and Henry saw Alfred and his men off and retired to the balcony to have breakfast. None of them had the appetite for food but ate because they did not want to worry the people present at the table.

Over the next weeks Eleonora and Anna made sure to spend all the time they had with Henry so that he does not feel alone and sad. Once more Eleonora brought her son over to her room and made sure not to let go of his hand the whole night.

The same feelings of sadness and loneliness that assailed the Sigurdsons at Ul, pressed down upon Alfred as he was riding into the capital. The magnificent city he and his men knew was painted in the colors of the Archduke, a final farewell to the mighty warrior who protected this land for many years giving his all for the king and the people.

Once he arrived before the palace, Alfred was quickly ushered into the throne room. It was empty, only the butler that led him there was present. The duke felt alarmed but that was quickly alleviated as they went to a chamber that was right next to the throne room. A place only a few people could enter.

The butler opened the door and, after entering, Alfred saw several familiar faces. The king was sitting at the head of the table, standing behind him was Alfred's old rival, commander of the royal guard, Anthony. The newcomer's gaze then moved across the room. Present in this small chamber were the mightiest men in the kingdom, the western duke Reymond Alar, Alfred’s father-in-law marquess Karloman Lothar and, finally he spotted Benjamin Elinstar whose face lit up once he saw his old friend. Alfted bowed to the king and took his seat at the table.

“I thank you all for assembling here. As you know archduke Nicolas Ritter has been assassinated.” The king began his speech. His voice was firm, the way a king should be, but his body seemed frail. “What you do not know is the reason for this. My brother… The minister of warfare discovered, through his spies, a large force of Albion sitting just outside of the northern principality of Rams. They plan to go to war, just as we suspected for a long time now.”

“Your majesty, are we certain of this? Even if they are, Rams has always been pro Alban, there are several reasons for such maneuvers.” Benjamin was the one with most to lose and also the one most knowledgeable about the situation in the north so his words had weight behind them.

“I agree, it would not be the first time they pulled such tactics to make us shift our attention from other places and raid our lands, but this time it was my brother who uncovered this information and gave his life in order to inform us.” William was adamant, to him, the words of his brother were always trustworthy.

The atmosphere changed, war was fast approaching and it was now obvious.

Suddenly and from an unexpected source a proposition of peace and diplomacy was brought forward. “We should give negotiations a chance, no nation goes to war for the fun of it. If we are to prevent war we should send people to Rams and Albion. Once we know what they want we can work from that point forward. Our initial proposition could perhaps be a cohabitation on the border once more? If we show Alba that we wish for peace and will not encroach upon their lands, they might become more agreeable.” All good faith he might have gained disappeared with that proposition.

Reymond Alar, duke of the Western territories, Alfred’s enemy since the day the two drew their first breaths, tried to harm his nemesis even in these difficult times.

Before anyone could shoot his idea down, the man who knew best how this type of cohabitation works raised a question, “And where do you propose such a settlement be constructed?” There was no malice in Alfred’s voice, only genuine wonder.

Sensing no hostility from Alfred, Reymond decided to push his idea further, “Well, not many territories come to mind. I would propose, if the council agrees, to create a town in the East. Near the border, a place where both the people of Alba, and our own can feel safe. I will personally give you two hundred of my own people for this endeavor. How does that sound to Your Majesty?”

“The last time that was attempted, I had to clean up the mess. My people paid a heavy price for the peace that never came. No… Such an abomination can be constructed in your lands if you so wish, but any Alban that comes to my land will be dispatched quickly and with no mercy.” Alfred stated his last sentence as a fact. A fact that was known to every man in this room.

“Alfred, surely you must understand that those were different times. That unfortunate incident and the way you made things even worse…” The western duke did his best to continue his plan, but was interrupted.

“Duke Alar! Alfred has spoken, if he does not wish for those people to inhabit his lands then he is within his right to do so. I personally guarantee his right and ban this idea. We will not attempt to reason with those fools, if they want war, let them come!” Unexpectedly, the usually calm and agreeable king was swift to side with Alfred, a man with whom he had many confrontations in the past years.

Taking a deep breath William collected his thoughts before continuing. “All of you except duke Alfred are to leave this place. For now the orders are simple, get ready for war.”

There was no resistance towards the king’s words. Perhaps, if his change in demeanor was not so shocking, there would be protests from those who saw Alfred’s friendship with the king as a threat, but now they feared the king who was once more looking like the man he once was.

In a matter of moments the people present bowed to the king and left the chamber. The heavy mithril door was shut and captain Anthony stood in front of it, preventing anyone from approaching.

“Alone at last.” Heaving a sigh of relief William sunk into his chair. “I can’t stand that idiot, even at a time like this he had to take a jab at you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Alfred found his tone strange, familiar but not something he was expecting after so many years.

William was not looking at Alfred, but rather at the ceiling. “Don’t mention it. I have lost a brother, I will not stand by and give that slime a chance to offend the only brother I have left.” Finally he turned to a dumbfounded Alfred and spoke, “For years I have been in the dark, guided by emotions I did not understand, almost always dancing on the edge of a sword. Forgive me brother, I should have been there for you back then…” A tear flowed down the king’s cheek as he said those words.

“No, your majesty, please! I understand what you did now, and I understood it back then. I was just angry that time, and too childish to fix what I did la…” Alfred tried to give words of comfort to William but was halted as the king raised his hand.

“Kind and noble as always, I know the truth. I failed you. Please forgive me.” Bowing his head William once more requested forgiveness.

Alfred was dumbfounded, many emotions were swirling up inside him and it took him some time to process everything. “There is nothing to forgive Your Majesty, but if it makes you feel any better then I forgive you.”

William finally raised his head, and uttered two words into his chin. “A request.”

“Your majesty?” Alfred was confused, he barely heard what the king said and was unsure what he meant by those words.

“I have a request. If you cannot stomach it I will understand.” William was downcast as he spoke.

Alfred was preparing himself for the worst. A request to recreate the madness that was Istro. ‘I cannot refuse him as he is now. Yet I cannot put my people in danger. Knights and soldiers… Yes I will populate the town with the strongest, have Aron send his best men to grow roots there. Place it near the castle White or Red castle, that way help would be near.’ All this planning was done in mere seconds but was just a pointless waste of time as the king had no desire to place such a heavy burden on his friend.

“Call me brother once more, call me Will, enough of this Your Majesty… You are the only brother I have left Al.”

Shock came over Alfred, he never expected such a request, not now, not after so many years of coldness and silence. Words were hard to find. The glib tongued Alfred was at a loss for words for the first time in ages.

William lost a bit of strength, his eyes downcast, “I see…”

“Brother Will, it has been a long time.” Alfred extended his hand with those words.

William grabbed his hand and responded cordially. “Too long brother!”

The two men hugged and tears flowed down from their red eyes. “Al, will you accompany me? Let us show Nicolas that we have reforged what I have broken so long ago?”

Alfred nodded, “Let us pay our brother a visit, together.”

The two men left the room and went towards the royal cemetery. The chamber reverted back into the silence it was so accustomed to, but the eyes that spied at this meeting were looking at the door.

‘You are much stronger than I ever thought you would be William. Enjoy your time with Alfred, it won’t be long now. He will leave you just like your brother.’