The Union

The said n.o.bles were kneeling in front of Leopold. Their bloodied and muddied faces manifested defeat. Once these n.o.blemen proudly displayed defiance to his son. Now they kneel with heads hung low and hands tied behind.

The serfs watched in silence. They were a mixed lot of people with different backgrounds. Most of them were farmers. A few were household servants to their lieges. The rest were of different professions. But all of them once served the n.o.bles.

Leopold put his hands behind. He puffed his chest and acted tough despite the cold biting through his bones. The wind swayed his coat and whistled past his ears. His eyes jumped from left to right- examining and enjoying the defeated look on the n.o.bles.

"You have rebelled against the King. You have defied his might. You tested the lion and now you cower under its roar. You also abused our people. You broke Castonian laws against maltreatment of serfs" He angled his look towards the serfs "Tell me oh united people of Castonia! Do you want justice!?"

The serfs clamor blasted like a million horns sounding in unison. Raising their fists in the air they shouted as agreement.

Leopold finally saw the power Timothy was talking about. Timothy told him that the power monarchs possess are all but an illusion. It was the people who truly holds power. A populist would always bring forth drastic changes in a nation. To hold the heart of the many meant to hold the power.

The n.o.bles disregarded this fact. They thought that t.i.tles and family names would mean something. They thought that coins and lands meant they could do whatever they want. They were wrong of course. t.i.tles and coins and lands didn"t save them in the end.

"With the power vested in me by King Timothy Castonia. I, Leopold Castonia, hereby strips your families of their n.o.ble t.i.tle. The reason being the crimes of rebellion, treason, sedition and abuse of serfs. With the Omniscient above and the people of Castonia as witnesses, I bring this judgement upon you"

The n.o.bles kept their heads down. They did not move. They must be happy, Leopold thought. He was being lenient with his judgement. If he was to decide, he would have given death to these rebels.

But Timothy warned him against doing so. Executing those who surrendered would give them difficulties in the future. Their future enemies would not lay down their arms knowing that they will be executed anyway. Execution would just breed more resilient future enemies.

Leopold rolled his eyes. The n.o.bles must be smiling with their heads lower. It was frustrating. He just focused his look towards the serfs.

"And to you brave people of Castonia who rose against inequality and injustice. Now that your liege lords have been stripped of their t.i.tles, you and your families are now free from the bondage of serfdom. Lands of the n.o.bles will be distributed equally. Their properties will be sold, half of which will go to the crown and the half will go to you" Leopold held his words for a little while. The serfs started to chatter happily on the prospect of freedom and wealth. Leopold raised his palm to stop the chatters and continued "This is a gift the King has offered you. In his mercy and love he has given you this gift. He only desires one thing. Loyalty. We should all offer him our loyalty. Will you, oh good and brave people of Castonia, give King Timothy your loyalty!?"

The Castonians knelt to the direction of Nirvana and bowed. Timothy wasn"t currently in Nirvana but it was a symbol of them giving their loyalty to the crown. Seeing thousands of people kneeling in the cold snow just to show their loyalty to the King, Leopold felt warmness in his heart. His lips curved a smile

**********

The side of Vernice"s belly hurts. He opened his eyes and saw that a bandage was wrapped around his side. He remembered that he was wounded last night. Leading his serfs and the city watch personally was a little foolish. He shifted on his bed to alleviate the pain.

"You"re finally awake" It was shadow. The mysterious man was back on his old attire. The hat and the cane and the black coat were a weird combination.

"We won?"

Shadow chuckled "Of course we did. The moment we pinned the n.o.bles with our three forces it was over for them. And yet somebody was foolish enough to lead at the front despite not having training "

"I am fat too right?"

"Yeah but that actually saved your life. The spear didn"t hit any of your organs because of your fat. Let"s just hope your wound doesn"t fester"

Somebody entered the tent. The cold wind from outside blew inside. An old wrinkled person with white hair entered. Vernice knew who he was. Never would he forget the only person who believed in him all those years ago.

"Ah the hero of the hour. Waving his flag and leading at the front like the warriors of the past. What are you? Some kind of skilled swordsman? Legendary fighter?" Leopold said in a sarcastic reprimanding tone.

"I should leave and let the two of you talk alone" Shadow said and proceeded to exit the tent.

Vernice looked at Leopold "One of your officers. Henry is his name I think. He also leads the cavalry from the front I"ve heard. So maybe leading at the front is not such a bad idea after all"

"And Henry is in his prime. Tough knight with decades of training. Armored and expert in the art of puncturing holes in the bodies of his enemies. While you..." he looked at Vernice "I"ve heard you can"t even walk without your cane"

"Fine. I get it. I shouldn"t have joined last night" Vernice lowered his head

Leopold stepped towards him. A hand patted his shoulder.

"But that was gallant. Waving your flag at the front is gallant. Getting stabbed with a spear is gallant. You have my respect even though you did a foolish thing. Your people have also warmed up to you. On my way here almost everybody was talking about how you led the defenders of Anthapis last night. I think they will call you Earl of Lards no more"

"Is that so? A shame. They have called me Earl of Lards for such a long time that the name had become an endearment" Vernice grinned

"You really have a certain weirdness in you Vernice. You never changed. It is nice meeting you again" Leopold sat beside his bed "Now, I hate to do this but we still have many things to do. Especially you"

"You have set the serfs free and you want me to arrange the division of lands and wealth among them" Vernice guessed. He could smell trouble and headache for him in the horizon.

"Correct. Also the cases Ront and Straso could garner you some difficulties. The two cities need new Earls. To make matters worse, many serfs in other areas would also aspire to be free from their bondage upon hearing how I freed thousands of serfs today. You must prevent them from rebelling"

Vernice sighed. "Should you really go through with the freeing of serfs? I could manage replacing the Earls of Straso and Ront and the restoration of order but preventing a war between the serfs and the n.o.bles could be too much for me"

"Unfortunately I should. Timothy is changing Castonia. He envisions Castonia in the future not as a land of n.o.bles but as a land of the people. Old and inefficient ways he calls our system with the n.o.bles. He wants to transition but he doesn"t want to do it abruptly. Little by little he wants the serfs freed and the n.o.ble system erased. Freeing the serfs around the areas of Ront and Straso is just the start. In a few decades or so there won"t be any n.o.bles in Castonia. There would only be one King and a loyal people to follow him"

"Nationalism could not thrive while the n.o.bles reign powerful" Vernice nodded "Timothy had written to me several times of this. A convincing idea and a great dream. I shall help him achieve it. I shall grind my bones even if I have to"

"Thank you"

"Think nothing of it" Vernice smiled towards Leopold "So you are going back to Nirvana?"

"Yes. Ivan is still refusing to talk to me. I still need drag that halfwit a.s.s of him back to Nirvana"

Vernice laughed. He offered his arm to Leopold "Our reunion is short. Regretful that it has to be. Until we meet again"

Leopold grabbed Vernice arm "Recover from your injury. Pacify the east. And don"t eat too much. Until the Omniscient permits our next reunion Vernice"

**********

Holm, Vanadis

It was cold. When Timothy opened his eyes he discovered why. Lucia wasn"t by his side.

He sat on their bed and yawned.

He couldn"t tell the time of the day. The palace of Vanadis in Holm was just too large.

The door opened and a beautiful woman entered. She was his wife. She wore a thick furry coat. Her hair was hung lose on one side.

Upon entering she smiled to him. She was carrying a plate filled with steaming bread and cheese.

He felt warm and thankful inside- a little honored since it was the Queen herself that brought him breakfast. Life has been good so far.