The Union

Timothy looked at the three with a stern expression. He actually got this facial expression from his time at Knightsend. Whenever he had crucial orders for the soldiers, he would give them this expression to let them know that he was serious. It worked on the men of Knightsend and it seems to work on the Vanadians and the Wismarine. The three of them refused to even glance at Timothy.

Timothy looked at the Wismarine. His hands and feet were tied. His face was full of dirt and dried blood. General Bourgis must have already tortured him a little.

"Speak!" Timothy commanded.

The Wismarine was startled. He opened his mouth but no words came out. "I..I"m so..sorry your highness!" he lowered his head. Timothy could see his body trembling.

"Erik" Timothy turned his head towards Erik who was standing behind him "I didn"t asked for an apology, did I? I commanded him to speak. I asked him to do one thing, and he did another. He must think that I"m a fool right?"

"Perhaps" Erik replied

"No!" The Wismarine shouted on top of his lungs "I..I didn"t mean to disrespect you your highness! I apologize" he bowed so low that Timothy was afraid he will break his neck "I will talk now! We killed the messenger"

"Now we"re getting something." Timothy looked at the two Vanadians. They were more composed compared to the Wismarine but Timothy could still see them trembling "Does the two of you confirm his statement as a fact?"

"Yes, Your Highness" one of the said. But the man still refused to look at him "There were five witnesses to his crime including our captain"

"I also confirm this Your Highness! I saw him slit the throat of the messenger. He had an accomplice but the captain already killed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d" said the other Vanadian. Timothy recognized him. He was indeed part of Lucia"s retinue.

"Since none of the messengers reached Thespelae and the killer himself confessed to the crime, then we can put this as a fact. Fact number one, you killed the messengers" Timothy pointed at the Wismarine. "Now for the next question, why?"

" To prevent them from sending the message Your Highness" the Wismarine revealed

"Oh no Erik" Timothy again turned to Erik "He did it again. I asked a question and he answered another. He really thinks I"m stupid, doesn"t he?"

"He"s wasting our time on purpose"

"Well we have about thirty minutes to talk to him. If thirty minutes had already pa.s.sed and I"m still not satisfied with the information I got, then we have no choice but to resort to a more…violent method" Timothy gave the Wismarine a smile

"No! Your Highness I"m not wasting your time on purpose! Please. I answered your question truthfully. Ask me anything. Yes, I"ll answer all your questions!" the Wismarine shouted.

To be fair, he really did answer Timothy"s question truthfully. Why did he kill the messengers? To prevent them from sending the message. Timothy just wanted to mess with the Wismarine. He wanted the man to fear him. Fear loosens one"s tongue and makes the person speak truthfully. From the looks of it, he succeeded in scaring the man.

"So let me ask you again" He gave the Wismarine a piercing gaze "Why?" his voice was cold.

"Because..ah..because the prince ordered us to kill him. Prince Skall Wismar! He wants you dead to break the alliance with Vanadis. To kill the messengers was King Leopold"s plan." The Wismarine voice was trembling.

"And how did you know that my father was behind all of this? Don"t tell me that you"re just speculating. If you feed me wrong information, I"ll"

"I was there your highness! I swear I was there!" the Wismarine interrupted him

Timothy smiled. Now we"re getting a first-hand account.

"Go on" he commanded

"I was there when the King and Prince Skall made a pact. I was his guard at that time. I heard everything your highness. King Leopold planned it all. He can"t have you killed by an a.s.sa.s.sin because the people would lose confidence on the royal family if that happened. So he wanted the Tulosans to kill you in battle. Since I already heard about their conversation, the Prince chose me and the other guards to act as a.s.sa.s.sins. He paired me with Krul to kill the a.s.sa.s.sins going to Thespelae"

"Why did he hire you? You"re not an a.s.sa.s.sin. Wasn"t it better to hire professional a.s.sa.s.sins instead?" Erik asked.

"He did your.." the Wismarine struggled to find the correct t.i.tle for Erik. Erik waved his hand as a sign that the Wismarine should just continue. "Like what I said, he did try to hire professional a.s.sa.s.sins. He went to the merchants and asked around but the merchants failed to find a professional a.s.sa.s.sin on such short notice"

Timothy frowned. This somehow gives weight to Lucia"s words. Timothy remembered a sentence from Lucia"s letter. "I came with this conclusion after hearing some rumors from the merchants." She must have heard that Skall Wismar met with the King and that the Prince tried to hire some a.s.sa.s.sins. If it was him, he would have the same conclusion as Lucia. Timothy felt guilty. What if Lucia was telling the truth? She had been protecting him and he repaid her with doubts.

"Get him out of here" Timothy commanded "We will punish him later". Timothy"s guards dragged the Wismarine out of his tent. Timothy then turned to the two Vanadians.

"The letter" he started "It"s from Lucia?"

"Yes your highness. Before we set off to find the messenger, she gave the letter to the captain. She instructed that if her suspicions were proven true, we must deliver the letter to you." The Vanadian explained

Timothy nodded to his explanation. "Tell me exactly what you saw"

"We saw the two Wismarines chasing the messenger. They were able to do that without arousing suspiscions because the village was slightly abandoned"

"An abandoned village?" Timothy raised his eyebrows "Where did they set the ambush exactly?"

"We don"t know the name of the place Your Highness. But a lake was nearby. And it was the only part of the road that doesn"t have paved roads"

Baron Braun"s fief. There was only one place along the road from Nirvana to Thespelae that doesn"t have paved roads. It"s Baron Braun"s fief. Furthermore, there was a lake near the abandoned village. This piece of information also increased the weight of Lucia"s words. It would make sense if Baron Braun was involved in all of this. Timothy knew the Baron"s personality. He"s a good man actually, but he loves Castonia so much that he"s always willing to get his hands dirty for the sake of the Kingdom. Timothy admits that his death and the dissolution of the Vanadian alliance will benefit Castonia. Wismar is strong. But he doesn"t want to die.

"Thank you for doing your duty" Timothy thanked the royal guards "I will send you back to Nirvana. Protect Lucia at all cost. I also need you to bring her a letter from me."

"We will deliver the letter your highness" the royal guard hesitated "But wouldn"t it be better if you come with us? If you go to Knightsend with your army, then there"s a chance that you will be killed. I do not doubt your abilities. But it will be safer if you abandon your army. This fiasco is not your fault anyway."

"I had actually thought of that. But I won"t abandon these people. I was the one who recruited them and it"s my responsibility to take care of them." Timothy answered. There was another reason though. If what Lucia said was true, then the King would be his opponent. To at least survive, he needs to save the soldiers. He needs their support. In short, he needs power so that the King won"t dare scheme against him or Lucia again.

The royal guards nodded indicating that they understood Timothy. The two of them then saluted. Timothy immediately wrote a letter and gave it to the royal guards.

The Vanadians left just as the army was preparing to move. It didn"t take a long time to disa.s.semble the camp. The veterans were experienced so the whole process took less than an hour. Since the soldiers from Thespelae were exhausted, they were put at the front. They will dictate the pace of the march. Timothy also ordered the soldiers to leave their supply trains behind. The supply trains will bug them down and they threw most of their things into the river. They only carried food that will be good for ten days. But Timothy knew that this was not enough. They still need to use the terrain to outmarch the Tulosans.

The army marched across the bridge and then burned it. Timothy turned and looked at the burning bridge one last time. Beyond the bridge lies the way to Nirvana. Beyond it, lies home. They were going the opposite way. They were going to Knightsend where they will probably stay and starve for a few months. And before they could enter the castle, they still need to defeat the besieging force. Hard days were ahead.