Christopher was standing on the White Eagle, the deck of the largest flagship of the combined Aerlish-Rumasilian fleet, overseeing the battle that was happening. He had been given command of the allied fleet despite his young age, which caused a little friction with the senior officers of the Rumasilian navy, though they didn't say much considering he was the crown prince of Aerland.

Surprisingly, the naval officers of the Kingdom of Aerland had a look of respect for their prince, something that transcended their obligations and loyalty to their monarch. At the end of the day, Christopher managed to gain the minimum amount of cooperation from the Rumasilians by invoking the name of his mentor, Johanes Sianakranu, the late admiral of the Rumasilian navy.

Christopher had a calm expression as he witnessed the dozens of sinking Provarian ships. He was slightly disappointed as well. The Provarians didn't put up much of a fight, being taken by surprise by the allied fleet. He had formed a large firing line which decimated the Provarian home fleet which consisted mainly of armed merchant vessels.

He led out a sigh as he closed his telescope and put it back into his pocket.

"The Gissario fleet is disappointing." Christopher said before he turned to the officer beside him "I'm going to be taking a nap. I'm sure you'll be able to handle the rest, admiral. There are only a couple of galleons left on their side and from what I can see, one of our shots managed to blow off the head of their commanding officer."

"What do we do with the surrendered ships?" The admiral asked

"Have some of our men board them and capture them. God-willing, Aerland will have its use of them." Christopher answered "If the Rumasilians managed to capture their own ships, let them. This is merely part of the spoils of war."

"What of the crew?"

"Kill the commanding officers and then take their heads and throw their bodies to the ocean, but not before searching them for any valuables." Christopher said coldly but then his expression softened "Put the regular crewmen and soldiers in the brig. It is not our jurisdiction to try them. After all of this is done, hand them over to King Esteban. He'll decide their fates."

The admiral merely nodded as Christopher made his way off the deck. Christopher let out a yawn as he rubbed his regular eye. Though he looked calm, in his mind he was reviewing the battle that was nearing its end. Though it had mostly been decided since the beginning, some Gissario ships managed to severely damage the Aerlish ones but not to the point of incapacitating them. He was devising ways to minimise the threats for his next battle with whomever it may be.

It was a skill passed down to him by his late piano mentor who was coincidentally also Rumasil's feared "Tiger Shark", one of Terra's most feared admirals. He was also a piano protege from a young age. He was originally only meant to teach the crown prince piano lessons, but ended up mentoring him on the ways of naval warfare as well.

Christopher had entered one of the rooms of the flagship which contained a grand piano in it. He pulled up a chair and opened the piano case and began playing it oh so skillfully. The guards in the room faintly smiled as well when they saw this. They always loved to hear the prince play. It calmed their hearts and soothed them.

Christopher let his mind fly as he played the piano. It was during these times where he would come up with strategies and plans. The music had always helped him find inspiration. He began reminiscing to the days of when he was still being mentored by the Tiger Shark.

When Christopher was still but a toddler, he already showed great affinity with music, as when he was only three, he had already figured out the basics of the piano scale all by his self and had an understanding of the base cords, though his little fingers had a bit of trouble reaching them.

Seeing her child's genius, Queen Valasya had ordered for an instructor to be found for her child. She soon found someone who met the criteria and had him tutor the child. However, she found out that after only two years of tutoring the young prince, Christopher had already eclipsed his first tutor. This pleased the queen greatly, and she decided to take her son under her own tutelage as she herself was a protege. But she was frightened that she couldn't even remain teaching her son for even a year before he overtook her skills.

Finally, for the sake of her son, she wrote out a request to her older brother the King of Rumasil to allow her old tutor - the retired Admiral of the Rumasilian navy, the Tiger Shark Johanes Sianakranu - to travel to Aerland and become her son's piano mentor. To the surprise of everyone, the King of Rumasil agreed and so he let the Tiger Shark take his family along with him to Aerland.

The Tiger Shark mentored Christopher in the piano, drilling him every day until the fingers of the young boy began to develop blisters. At first, the King of Aerland wasn't too keen on seeing his boy get tortured like this, especially on a skill like piano playing which he thought was a detriment to his other educations, but the Queen persisted on letting her old mentor do so.

Everyday the boy was sent to play piano on board of the Tiger Shark's personal galleon which he brought from Rumasil. After the piano lessons, Johanes would take Christopher out sailing whilst showing him the ropes of sailing and the daily needs of the ship's crew as well.

Eventually, the piano lessons became secondary to Christopher's mentoring in favour of the ins and outs of sea activity and Naval warfare. This culminated when on one day, after the piano drills, Johanes took the eleven year old prince on a week-long pirate hunt where they participated in the legendary destruction of a small pirate fleet with only the single galleon.

However, when they returned, his parents weren't too pleased at the actions of the old admiral in putting their child in danger chasing pirates. King John was of a mind to banish Johanes from the Aerlish court for this act, but to his surprise, the eleven year old child stood up for his mentor and talked with wisdom beyond his years to convince his parents that having the legendary admiral mentor him was to the advantage of the Aerlish kingdom as the future of Aerland rests upon their powerful navy.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

King John was flabbergasted by his son's speech and he finally decided to keep Johanes to mentor Christopher. Soon enough, Christopher started showing great talent in the art of naval warfare as Johanes entrusted him on many assignments on sea, from guarding merchant fleets to hunting down some pesky pirates. Christopher was then given a gift by his father in the form of his own flagship, the 'White Eagle'.

However, soon came a letter from Rumasil ordering that the Tiger Shark return from his mentoring after being away for almost a decade. After exchanging hard farewells with his student, the Tiger Shark left on his galleon for Rumasil.

Sadly, tragedy soon struck. A large fleet of about two dozen ships ambushed the Tiger Shark on his way home far off the coasts of Maeser. The Great Admiral Johanes Sianakranu died alongside his family on the oceans as his galleon was captured by the pirates.

News of the event spread quickly throughout Terra, most importantly, it reached Christopher's ears who was at the time only thirteen years old. He was furious. It was soon found out that the fleet was comprised of privateers under the employ of rich merchant companies who profited from the many pirate raids on merchants.

This illegal profiteering had been going on under the noses of the royal officials for too long, yet the presence of the Tiger Shark with the backing of the Aerlish Crown put a halt in many of those activities. Thus when they heard of the Tiger Shark being recalled to his home country, they made their move.

At that time, Christopher was enveloped in fury. He boarded the White Eagle along with the most skilled crew he could find as well as a couple of other ships. He tracked down the pirate lair with a total of five ships, his galleon and four other smaller yet fully armed vessels.

When they finally reached the lair, it was there where Christopher's skills truly lie in his ruthless tactics. He had previously captured one of the rich merchants by threatening his family and got information that the privateers were holding a celebration. Christopher changed the flags of his ships into that of the merchant's trade company and safely sailed to the lair.

When the pirates were in a drunk stupor, celebrating the death of the Tiger Shark, Christopher had his ships open fire at the moored vessels. Soon, the famous battle at Blood Bay began. With only five ships, Christopher managed to sink a fleet of nearly two dozen. Soon, the pirates surrendered as the assault on the bay also threatened their families there. They surrendered on the condition that their families be pardoned.

Christopher only looked at them and told his men to stand down. The pirates then surrendered as they were captured and forced to kneel. When they were all in an orderly line, Christopher had his men shoot them down. After the death of the pirates, he ordered his men to burn down the entire bay along with the inhabitants in it.

Some of his men were shocked by the command, but they could do nothing but obey their prince's orders. And so it was on that day, the Crown Prince oversaw the massacre soon to be known as 'the Burning of Blood Bay'. Almost a thousand non-combatant members of the pirate's family died that day. Not a single man, woman, or child on the pirate's side survived that day.

Christopher steeled his heart by saying, 'they're only vermins... pirate scum...' But after the fact, after seeing all the wailing and the tormented screams of the womenfolk and children, Christopher fell to his knees and prayed.

Now, as he was playing the piano, tears began falling down from his eyes. He was playing an old Rumasilian hymn, 'Ingkon Jesus do Donganku' which was one of his mentor's favourite hymns. The tears fell faster as he eventually stopped playing altogether and sobbed with his face on his arms.

This was a common scene for the soldiers guarding the piano room. Everytime, the Prince played that song, he would always end up crying. Perhaps all that baggage was too much burden on a young sixteen year old boy.

Soon, an officer of the ship came inside the room. Seeing this, Christopher quickly regained his composure.

"I'm sorry to intrude, your highness." The officer said as he bowed towards Christopher

"It doesn't matter." Christopher waved nonchalantly as he was already recomposed "What is it you have need of me for?"

"Your Highness, there was what looked like a medium-sized merchant vessel sailing towards our ship a few moments before. They flew a white flag and the crew wished to speak to you saying it's an important matter. My lord Admiral has allowed them on board and put them under heavy watch. We await further instructions from Your Highness."

Christopher sighed out a breath of air as he closed the piano case and stood up. He nodded at the officer and made his way to the main deck of the ship. When he arrived, he saw a man and a young woman standing there under the watch of his crewmen.

"Greetings honorable lord." The man said as he bowed followed by the young woman behind him

Christopher returned the courtesy though he was still guarded to the presence of the two on his ship. He said, "State your business and identities, if you may. I strongly doubt a normal merchant vessel would have any business with us."

"Of course not, milord..." the man said courteously

"That is your highness to you." The admiral barked "You are standing in the presence of His Higness, Christopher John York-Caster, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Aerland and Maeser."

"Oh, forgive me for my lack of tact, your highness." The man fixed his tone and posture

"It is of no matter." Christopher answered back "Now I ask again. What business do you have with our fleet?"

"Your Highness, Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bernardo de Gissario son of Gonzalo de Gissario."

The crew unsurprisingly tensed up as they heard the man introducing himself as a Gissario, as their enemy. Some of the crew drew their weapons and some even pointed their arquebuses ready to shoot.

"What would a Gissario want with me?" Christopher's tone grew a little harsh as he couldn't believed they had allowed someone who could be an enemy board his ship on what could be a suicide mission

"I haven't finished introducing myself." Bernardo said in a calming tone "I come here not as a noble of the Gissario, but as a knight to milady behind me."

This time, the woman behind Bernardo stepped forward and bowed deeply to the Aerlish Prince. Christopher was slightly unnerved at the girl's graceful and beautiful looks, but he didn't let it show on his face.

"And who might you be?" Christopher asked

"I am Leonia de la Valamen, daughter of Lord Eduardo de la Valamen." The girl said as she bowed

Christopher was even more confused when he heard this. He was sure that Esteban said all the Valamen in the capital had been summarily executed. Yet here was one standing before him, accompanied by a Gissario no less. How could he possibly be sure of her identity?

As if responding to his thoughts, the girl replied, "I may not have the proper papers and identification of nobility as they were destroyed along with my family and home, but I am certain if you take me to my lord-cousin, King Esteban, he would ascertain my identity!"

"I, on the other hand, did bring my identification papers." Bernardo said as he handed over a document to one of the ship's officers. After reading it, the officer nodded, acknowledging Bernardo's identity.

Bernardo and Leonia then recounted their story to Christopher, from the moment of their meeting at the brothel to their escape from the capital harbor. They had asked for the merchant vessel to be let go as they had nothing to do with the Gissario. Christopher agreed and the order was sent to his men to let the ship go safely.

After all that was done, Bernardo and Leonia bowed again to show their gratitude.

"Now, can you take us to see His Majesty King Esteban?" Bernardo asked to get to the point of their meeting.

Christopher merely scratched his chin and made a wry smile.

"Well, I would be glad to do that, but I don't think it would be possible for the time being." Christopher said

"Why not?" Leonia asked perplexed

"That is because his majesty is along with the rest of the fleet on the other edge of the island. They had broken away from us to disembark the main Rumasilian army. This was about a week ago..."

Bernardo's eyes widened as he realised the implications this meant.

"That means... currently..." Bernardo said

Christopher nodded, "Currently the main army will have arrived near Valencei with near to forty thousand soldiers..."

Bernardo finally understood what the Gissario had done in provoking the wrath of Rumasil...

Utter Destruction.