The Union

"Fool!" he kicked Luther. He then grabbed Luther"s hair and forced the fool to look at him in the eye "Do you have any idea what you did!?"

Luther"s face twitched a bit. He forced a reply "I"m sorry Uncle"

Sigurd slapped him "You lost half of the Whistlers! Half, Luther. Half!" he shouted to his face "And worst of all, you allowed them to escape!"

Sigurd let go of Luther"s hair. He wanted to bury his sword into the fool"s stomach, but he stopped himself. Luther was still his nephew. He stood up and went to the table and poured himself some wine.

Luther crawled towards him and hugged his foot. "I"m really sorry Uncle. I accept responsibility for this disaster. I promise to restore the honor of the Whistlers next time"

Sigurd looked disdainfully at this Nephew. "What makes you think that you will keep your command" he scoffed "You don"t deserve the position of prefect"

"No Uncle!" he pleaded "I will be ruined if you strip me of my command. Our entire family will be ruined. Let me keep my position so that I can restore my honor"

Luther"s pleas angered Sigurd. He splashed his wine to Sigurd"s face. "You can"t!" He then grabbed him by the collar "You know why? Because you"re a fool. You got tricked, not once, not twice, but four times! You have no talent. You shouldn"t dream of restoring your honor because you can"t!" he let go of him.

Luther was silent for a very long time. Sigurd thought that his words had broken the fool"s spirit. But Luther suddenly said something. Sigurd failed to catch what Luther said, but he"s certain that the fool said something.

"What?" he creased his brows

"You need me Uncle" Luther said silently. Sigurd"s anger blazed. How dare he. The fool actually said that he needed him. Sigurd raised his foot to stomp on Luther"s chest. He needs to teach him a lesson.

"Let me explain!" Luther begged before Sigurd could kick him "I have a reason!"

Sigurd stopped and lowered his foot. He was a little curious of what Luther has to say. "You have one sentence to convince me"

"I may not have a talent, but I"m loyal"

Sigurd already knew that his nephew was loyal to him. This was the reason why he chose Luther to replace Romel as Prefect of the Whistlers. But he was wrong. Luther was a fool. The destruction of half of the Whistlers was the effect of that mistake. Nevertheless, he was intrigued by Luther"s answer.

"Go on"

"The Whistlers have always lacked loyalty. Prefect Romel was able to keep them in line for a while, but now Prefect Romel is dead. I"m afraid that the loss of half of the Whistlers would make them desert, or worse defect to the Castonians." Luther explained.

"Desert? What are you talking about? Why would they desert?"

"Because they"re afraid of the Castonians Uncle" Luther was shaking. "In fact, I am too. They are devils. They"re strong and smart. I can still feel the horrifying feeling of hundreds of arrows whizzing out of nowhere. I know the Whistlers feel the same. After the battle I saw them trembling from fear. They would rather flee rather than fight the Castonians again."

That actually makes sense, Sigurd thought. In fact, he was aware of the tendency of the Whistlers to desert. He had seen them after the battle and he was not pleased with their condition. Some still had arrows lodge in them while others were trembling from fear. Sigurd was so angry at Luther that time that he paid no mind to it. But now, he thinks this will be a potential problem. If the Whistlers did desert, then morale of the entire army would be greatly affected. It was tolerable if the only problem was not being able to use the Whistlers. But it would be a big problem if their desertion causes a huge drop on morale. He can"t have that.

"And I should keep you as the Prefect of the Whistlers because you are loyal?"

"Exactly Uncle. I will not lead the Whistlers in battle. You can"t use them anyway with the state they are in right now. I will just prevent them from deserting" Luther promised. Sigurd believed him. His nephew might be stupid, but he really was loyal. Luther would not lie to him.

"And how would that benefit you, dear nephew?" Sigurd tested him "You will be a prefect in name only. Your political career was over the moment you lost the battle"

"Failures can be forgotten Uncle. If you will be able to kill the Castonian Prince, then the loss of five hundred Whistlers would become old news."

Sigurd nodded. That was correct. His nephew just lost 500 good men, but that was nothing if they were able to kill Timothy Castonia.

"And you are certain that you can control the Whistlers?"

"Yes, uncle. Many of the Centurions died so there were few who will be able to challenge my command. On top of that" Luther looked at him with a pained expression "I will promise them fifty gold coins each"

Sigurd frowned. Fifty gold coins was a great amount. A normal soldier"s salary was a gold coin each month. Luther was actually willing to spend most of his fortune just to keep his command. He was impressed by Luther"s willingness so his anger dissipated.

"You are willing to pay that much?"

"My career is more important Uncle" Luther answered

"Fine" Sigurd agreed "But I want you to understand that the Whistlers would not take part in future battles. Promise me Luther"

"I promise Uncle" Luther saluted to him and bowed

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Luther left his uncle"s tent with a smile. Even though his body hurts from the physical abuse he experienced, he was still happy. His uncle agreed to his request.

Luther actually lied. He had no plans to stay idle. He needed to take revenge on the enemy commander who defeated him. His heart still aches whenever he thinks of the defeat. Losing was actually alright. But losing half of his command without a single casualty on the enemy"s side was so painful. It broke him. He wanted to find the enemy commander and personally gut the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. His hand was still shaking from fear and anger.

This was the first time he lied to his Uncle. He was so afraid of his Uncle in the past that he never lied to him. But anger drowns fear. He will find the enemy commander and defeat him. His uncle may punish him for that, but it will be worth it as long as he had his revenge. He will also spend a huge fortune to bribe the Whistlers into accepting him as their leader. They may be broken for now, but nothing fixes a broken man better than gold coins. He needed to sell a huge portion of the fief his father left him.

This may result to his destruction, but he can"t just sit idly. He really, absolutely, truly needs to satisfy his anger. He clenched his fist.

"Luther" a voice called to him. He turned and saw Centurion Stan "I am glad you came back alive from the General"s tent" he mocked

"That"s Prefect Luther for you Centurion. You Knights always forget how to address your superiors." he reprimanded Stan.

Centurion Stand made a complicated expression "You" he pointed at him "You were not demoted?"

"Of course not Centurion" he slowly pushed Stan"s finger down. He then went closer and whispered to his ears "I did nothing wrong"

"Nothing wrong!" Stan roared "I lost twenty of my brothers because of you. I told you to wait for the rest of the cavalry but you did not listen!"

"Don"t blame me for the death of your Knights" Luther shrugged

"I will blame you for all eternity. You don"t deserve the position of Prefect. You are a fool! And look!" he pointed at the burning forest "You allowed the Castonians to cover their retreat"

Luther looked at the burning forest. The fire was so large that it turned the night into day. Thankfully, the Carnack River isolated the fire to the other side of the forest.

"Once my Uncle kills the Prince, then my failure would be forgotten"

"I will not forget Prefect" Centurion Stan warned "I will never forget. You will always be a failure to me and to my men."

"I don"t care" Luther laughed. "Your opinion doesn"t concern me Centurion. And why don"t you fix your own cohort before judging me? Your last Prefect was a traitor"

"Shut your mouth!" Luther saw Stan ball his fist. "Prefect Henry is not a traitor. He just followed his conscience. It was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d Romel who crossed the line"

"By following the General"s orders?" Luther raised his brows "Centurion, you don"t have traitorous tendencies, do you? Henry is a traitor. He killed Romel and he betrayed Tulosa. That is a fact, Centurion. Don"t say otherwise because some people might think you are on the traitor"s side." Luther gave Stan a smile.

The Centurion did not answer. He just lowered his head and balled his fist. Luther could see that he"s very angry, but Luther"s statement was correct. Romel was just following orders and Henry killed him. That was a betrayal.

"Well Centurion, I think you understand. You are a smart man. My Uncle does not tolerate any form of betrayal so be careful" He walked away and left Centurion Stan.