Back to Present.

Tiberius stood on a balcony, overlooking a large courtyard in the capital. Next to him stood a young boy with the most lavish clothing one could imagine. Scarlet robes with golden embroidery. He was blonde and had blue eyes. On his head, he wore a crown. The boy was the king and Tiberius his regent. He guided the king's actions with his knowledge and wisdom.

‘The boy is so naïve…’ Tiberius chuckled to himself and looked down at the sickly Augustus Salutio, the king of Salutio. He was small, even for his age and his face was pale. He didn’t look healthy.

‘I'm so glad Uncle Tiberius takes care of these traitors… I can't even muster the strength to take a walk…’ the boy thought and sighed. He was too weak for state business and didn’t have the experience he needed for it. He rarely left the palace.

Tiberius smiled at the boy.

“Don’t worry my king. I will take care of your enemies. It might take a few more years… we should strike at the most opportune moment… I have paid a few mercenary groups and orc tribes to attack the Southern Alliance to weaken them before we attack. That way we can ensure they won’t have the power to rebel against you anymore.” The old man explained.

“Whatever you think is right. It’s very assuring to leave the matter in your hands.” He smiled at his regent.

Ever since the evil southern alliance had assassinated his father, he was terribly afraid of an assassination. Every time he thought of the Argorus and their allies he felt cold.

‘I'm so glad that Tiberius Epicrotia is protecting me… he even assigned part of his famed personal guard to me so I won’t get assassinated.’ He sighed. What a relief.

The boy truly was naïve. Or was he? Tiberius manipulated him in a way that would be most beneficial to him and hurt his enemies the most. The boy king was nothing but a pawn in his eyes. An extremely useful pawn.

‘All these years I’ve worked so hard to get where I am… and I don’t plan on stopping. The south and Antioch… will be mine for the taking before another decade passes.’ He said to himself and smiled.

In the courtyard troops fully armored in plate armor saluted to the king. They were at least 150 men. The Royal Guard is an elite battle force loyal to the crown. Each one of them was a knight in the king’s court who lived in the palace. They were the best armed and trained units in the entire kingdom. Only battle-hardened veterans from the Northwest or the Southern Borders could match their skills. Nonetheless, they had the best equipment available outside of the dwarven realms.

With his head raised high Tiberius looked down at the ranks of soldiers and nodded. The king watched on eagerly. Despite his weak figure, he revered strong soldiers. Tiberius smiled at the soldiers below him.

‘I’ve taken good care to secure the loyalties of the Royal Guard over the last 15 years…’ he smirked.

‘These soldiers will build the core of my army when the war commences. Only a few more years until we can strike until I can finally proclaim myself as king.’ He smiled.

An hour later Tiberius sat in his writing room, writing a letter to one of his earls when a messenger arrived. He kneeled.

“Milord. News from Antioch. It's an offer from a criminal organization.” Tiberius’s ears perk up.

“Antioch? What offer?” he asked and as the messenger relayed his message a frown spread on the regent’s face. Things had just gotten a lot more difficult.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the same time in Rhodusium

“A new criminal organization has formed in Antioch? How does this concern us? Why doesn’t the city council act? It’s elected for a reason after all…” Alexander of Argorus frowned at the news his messenger brought him. He received an appeal for help from the Antioch City Council. The city was governed by a senate that swore fealty to Alexander’s father, the Lord of Argorus.

“Because they’re corrupt idiots!” Lucius snorted.

“Half of them are on the payroll of the scum that calls itself underworld.” He growled.

“That may be,” Alexander sighed.

“But we cannot fight against an opponent that we can’t see.” He shook his head dejectedly.

“We have only just enacted the military build-up of the southern Earldoms… we are unable to support Antioch. We can’t even send an army there. In the past years, none of our spies have uncovered more than a few superficial branches of organized crime in the city.” He told his father.

Lucius clenched his fist.

“I hate invisible opponents. They are cowards! They have no honor!” His father ranted. He was a born warrior who prided himself in the battle he had thought. He liked straightforward approaches to problems. Lucius knew what Alexander told him just now, however, that didn’t change the fact that he hated the criminal scum.

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Lucius treated them like rats living in one’s house. One has to find them and eradicate them. He saw no difference between organized crime and vermin. Alexander had a more refined approach. He had sent spies to infiltrate the underworld and spy on them but without much success.

Criminality was so ever-present in Antioch for a simple reason. Trade.

Antioch was the biggest trade hub on the entire coastline. It was one of the biggest cities in the entire Kingdom. For a long time, it had even been independent before being conquered and subjugated by the kingdom many years ago.

The old senate had remained in place and so did the underworld. It was far from the small bands and gangs in the capital or other important cities.

These organizations had their own traditions and long histories. They knew how to hide themselves and controlled most of the city. That much was common knowledge among nobles.

Alexander sighed and shook his head.

“Tell the city council I am unable to provide any help as of now. We need to take care of the Orc Threat to the south before we can send help.”

The messenger nodded and left.

When Alexander spoke of sending help he involuntarily thought of Schenk. He was his oldest friend, most trusted subject, and a powerful warrior.

‘The issue of Antioch is only second to importance to the increasing Orc Raids. I need to solve the Orc issue within the next year or it will be troublesome.’ He thought.

“Son. There's nothing we can do. We can’t send our armies to Antioch and level the city. That would be stupid and leave us wide open for attacks from Orcs and Tiberius. Also, it would destroy the most valuable source of income we have.”

Alexander laughed.

“The thought never even crossed my mind. I like the city. Even though I’ve only been there 2 times I loved the architecture, the smell, and the art. I could never destroy such a piece of marvelous craftsmanship.”

Lucius grinned.

“You and your sense for artistry. For me, if it can’t kill or make money, it's useless.”

Alexander shook his head, he also had to smile at his father’s brutishness. Lucius wasn’t stupid and even less a rash commander. He just preferred war and fighting over intrigue and diplomacy.

To his dismay, he had found himself unable to win an offensive war against Tiberius. The forces of the two alliances were about the same size, yet while Tiberius had a stable and safe realm the dukedom of Argorus was troubled by organized crime and Orc tribes pestering them and dispersing their forces. He could only focus on dealing with these issues first.

“Schenk has sent news. He has already started training 100 recruits and will be done early next year. He says he expects most of them to survive the basic training and about 80 to be ready for duty in summer next year.” Alexander unrolled another letter and told his father.

Lucius nodded absent-mindedly.

“Schenk is truly a warrior. Sometimes I miss him. But he is simply indispensable as the Baron of Vostrim Castle. If he can take care of the Bloodhand Tribe with the surrounding Barons, then that will lift a great weight off our shoulders.”

“Indeed father. And it will create a battle-hardened fighting force at our disposal against Tiberius.” Alexander said with a smirk.

“It might prove beneficial after all if everything goes according to plan. Veteran soldiers are just so much more valuable than levies.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Vostrim Castle

Schenk stood at a table with Vitus, Lucon, and 2 more men. On the table was a map. It marked a big forest within the barony. Schenk put his finger on it.

“This will be the place of the hunt. The groups will have to track and hunt down Stray Orcs as their final test and first assignment as soldiers. I expect a 10% casualty rate. Any opinions?” he asked his advisors.

Vitus crossed his arms before his chest. “5 percent casualty rate is only plausible in the case nothing goes wrong. We should assume at least 6 to 8 percent.” Schenk nodded. Vitus had hunted Stray Orcs long before Schenk had become a baron. He trusted his council.

“Milord. It's just Stray Orcs. Those primitive beasts won’t provide proper battle experience… they won't use formations or any weapons beyond wooden spears and clubs.” Lucon complains. He wanted the soldiers to get harsher training even if it meant higher casualties.

“They will experience a true battle against Tribal Orcs soon enough. Also, you shouldn’t underestimate the deadliness of primitive weapons. An ambush by a dozen Stray Orcs is far from dangerous. Even to veterans. It will provide them with their first real battle. That’s all we need. More danger means more casualties. These soldiers are valuable. I hope that makes sense Lucon.” Vitus explained calmly. Lucon grunted softly. He knew Vitus was right. And it annoyed him.

“You’re right.” He nodded finally before looking at Schenk who looked at Vitus once more.

“Vitus. How is the training of my daughter and her guards going? Will they be ready to partake?” he asks the old teacher who smiles.

“They are. Their progress is much better than that of the other 10 groups. I made their training much harsher and they have experienced much more sparring than the others. Even more important than that is that the best asset of their group is Aquila. He is a tracker and archer. His presence alone is more valuable than several additional team members for this specific mission. All in all, they are ready.” He nods with a smile.

Schenk nods with a sigh. “Still. Not easy to let one’s daughter go on a battlefield.”

Lucon smirked. “She’s a feisty one. She’s just like you when you were younger.”

Schenk couldn’t help but smirk and shake his head. “I can’t protect her forever.”

He loved her dearly and he was worried.

‘What if she’s hurt? Well, what if she was a son, would I treat her the same? No… but she’s a girl… my little girl… even if she loves to fight… combat is something entirely different. I don’t want her to suffer the fate so many warriors do…’ he worried a lot, and it kept him awake at night.

Vitus could see the worry on his liege’s face.

“Milord. Your daughter’s group is smaller, but she has an archer and arguably the three best recruits by her side. It will be much easier for a small elite group to hunt for orcs especially since small groups of 5 or 6 won’t shy away. This means they will get the task done much faster, overall reducing the risk tremendously. They might get injured, but for their squad I think the death rate approaches 0.”

“You have explained it to me before, but I can’t help but worry. It’s my only child after all.” He sighed.

“I will give Aquila an additional briefing. I will equip them with an extra set of knives as well.” Vitus reassured him.

“Alright. I trust your judgement.” Schenk said and the other knights nodded, agreeing.

“Their squad has much higher chances of making it out unhurt. We will drop them off in a place where we know there’s typically less Stray Orcs.” Lucon added, nodding at Schenk and Vitus.

In only a few months they would send out a large hunting party and his daughter would be part of it.