The Union

Two thousand horses were trotting fast towards the direction of Greenwater. It was still early but Timothy and his men were already travelling. For the past days, they only stopped a couple of times to rest for a few hours.

He looked beside him and saw that Lucia was holding tightly on the reins of her mount. She closes her eyes every now and then, a clear indication that she was tired. Timothy felt sorry that he had to put her into this ordeal. He wanted to let her stay in Solon but he needed her for this. Other than taking two thousand men to reinforce Greenwater, they also asked for the help of the Vanadian navy to defend Greenwater. The Vanadian navy will not listen to him without Lucia. So although his heart aches whenever he looks at her deplorable state, he had no choice but to endure.

Lucia must have noticed Timothy because she also looked at him and smiled.

"I"m fine" she said "Don"t worry about me."

"That actually makes me more worried about you."

Lucia laughed. Her hair was swaying with the morning wind. "I told you, I"m fine. We will be there by tomorrow anyway."

"Okay" Timothy nodded. "But tomorrow you must stay in the back lines. I"ll leave a hundred of my men with you. If the battle is lost, flee and don"t look back."

"I prefer if both of us stay at the back. You are a King now. You can"t join battles anymore."

Timothy didn"t reply because she was right. The Calgarians will surely rush towards him in the battlefield. But aside from him, n.o.body could lead the soldiers. Well Henry could, but the Castonians wouldn"t listen to the commands of a foreigner.

"Your Majesty, a scout just returned. He said that he needs to report to you immediately" the large man behind him informed.

Timothy turned his head towards Abraham. "Bring him here"

After a while, the scout approached Timothy on horseback. After seeing the man, Timothy smiled. So it"s him, he thought.

"Centurion John." Timtohy greeted. "I"m surprised to see a Centurion on scouting duty. Well you can tell me your reasons later. Tell me of the situation."

John saluted. "It"s bad Your Majesty. We saw the battle yesterday. The defenders were able to survive but at a great cost. One more a.s.sault and the Calgarians will break them."

Timothy"s heart sank. He was too late. If the Calgarians attack today, then according to Centurion John"s report, Greenwater will fall. They were still nearly a hundred miles away from Greenwater and the journey will still take them a day or two.

He turned towards Henry. "Any suggestions?"

Henry thought for a while but then he shook his head. "The horses are tired King Timothy. This is as fast as we can go" he then lowered his head. "I"m sorry. If I just told you a little bit sooner we could have…"

"It"s alright. Don"t think about what had already happened. We can"t change the past anyway. Just do your job as my cavalry trainer" Timothy interrupted. He was not in the mood to hear another apology from Henry.

He then turned back to Centurion John. "I hope you"re wrong Centurion. I hope Greenwater could survive another day. Because if they can"t.." Timothy looked towards the direction of the city.

"I don"t even want to imagine how dark our situation will be"

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Greenwater

Prefect Ryon was watching the Calgarian fleet from the top of the southern wall. He had already counted the number of galleys several times. Each time, he got the same number.

Eighty-seven. What a great fleet he thought. Seventeen thousand men, enough to destroy his tiny army many times over. It was a miracle that they survived yesterday. It would take more than a miracle for them to survive the a.s.sault today.

"Ugly flags, don"t you think" an old woman"s voice sounded from behind. "The colors.. they don"t complement each other. Whoever designed their flag should be hanged."

Ryon didn"t turn towards her and continued watching the Calgarians. "What are you doing here Lady Maria? You should stay in your house."

"You are gloomy again today Prefect." She chuckled. "Normally your gloomy face irritates me but I can make an exception just for today"

Ryon leaned forward against the merlon of the wall. "Don"t you find it sad, Lady Maria? Sometimes even if we do our best, things just don"t go our way. Most of my men will fight until their last breaths but what will that change? In the end their sacrifices will be forgotten, not even a dot in history."

Lady Maria joined him. She put her cane down and also leaned against the wall.

"I think the future historians will write about me Ryon. The Lady of Greenwater who chose an honorable suicide over getting captured by the Calgarians. My story will surely draw tears from the future generations" Lady Maria said laughingly. "But do you think I really want that Ryon? Do you think that"s my dream?"

Lady Maria shook her head. "No. I don"t care whether the future generations will remember about me or not. All I want is to spend my days peacefully with Benedict and Erik. I want to see Erik marry a woman who loves him and will care for him. I want to see my grandchildren, Ryon. I would gladly trade my page in history for that. Not everybody wants to be remembered Ryon. Sure, it will be great. But the essence of one"s life is not in the future, it"s at the present. The soldiers who will die today will be forgotten. But if they"re happy and contented, then how is that sad?"

Ryon sighed. It was a bad idea to discuss philosophy with her. "You"re right Lady Maria. It"s not a sad thing." He looked towards the ocean. Its blue hue was calming despite the distressing sight of the Calgarian ships. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze.

"But it"s not happy either" he silently mumbled.

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The Basilisk, Flagship of the Calgarian Fleet

The captains of the other galleys were all giving their speeches to their men. This will be their final a.s.sault and great speeches will give the soldiers the courage and the strength to win.

But Morgan didn"t bother giving a speech to the crew of The Basilisk. His flagship will not join the battle anyway. Also, he was not that kind of leader. Giving speeches was not his forte.

"Won"t you go to your squadron?" he asked Commodore Charles.

Charles stretched his limbs and yawned. "What squadron? I left my squadron of war galleys in Calgari." He pointed towards a group of transport galleys. "But if you mean these ugly things, then my answer is no. My Captains can manage by themselves. It"s not like were fighting a naval battle anyway."

"Stay here then. Let"s watch the fall of Greenwater together." Morgan said.

"Well I"m not disrespectful enough to refuse an Admiral"s offer." The Commodore went to Morgan"s side. "I"m surprised though. You are not a bit nervous. Our scouts say that King Timothy is on his way. Shouldn"t you be afraid?

"Afraid of what? A lion cub?" Morgan sneered. "He"s too late anyway. He can"t reinforce Greenwater in time. I told you, I have already imagined the outcome of this campaign. I may have made a slight miscalculation yesterday but that"s because the Castonians exhibited uncanny stubbornness. Greenwater will fall today, I a.s.sure you."

"Then let"s begin. I"m tired of staying in this cramped ship. No offense, your flagship is great. But I hadn"t had a bath since we left Calgari."

Morgan laughed. "Fine, let"s begin. I"m also tired of waiting. I think the Captains had already said their flowery words."

Morgan was about to give the order to advance when the First Mate came running to him. He was in a hurry and almost tumbled at one point. He was panting when he finally faced Morgan.

"What is it First Mate? I"m about to give the order to advance." Morgan said in an unfriendly tone. Being interrupted is one of the things he hated the most.

"Admiral, I think…"

"I told you First Mate, it"s either you know or you don"t. It is bad manners to forget the advice of your superior. Now, repeat.."

"Admiral we don"t have time for this!" The First Mate raised his voice. Morgan almost lost his temper but he calmed himself.

"Fine! Report."

"The scouting ships signaled that they saw a fleet approaching our direction. The fleet is close Admiral. It seems they sailed nonstop through the night."

Morgan"s face twisted. He started to become anxious. The appearance of another fleet was beyond his expectations.

"What flag?" he gnashed his teeth.

"I don"t want to jump to conclusions Admiral. The reports of the scouting vessels were still hazy."

He grabbed the First Mate"s naval uniform. "What flag!?"

The First Mate looked at Morgan. "A pelican spreading its wings around a ship. It"s the Vanadian Navy"

Morgan"s hands started to shake. He let go of the First Mate"s uniform. He realized the imminent disaster that will befall his fleet.

"Retreat" he mumbled. n.o.body heard it. He tried to repeat his order to retreat but his voice was lost. Morgan was in shock. He was afraid.

Commodore Charles had also realized the danger. He was less shocked compared to Morgan so he gave the order. "Retreat! Order the entire fleet to retreat! Faster!" the Commodore shouted. In just a few moments, the entire fleet was stirred like a disturbed beehive. The Captains were issuing orders and the crew were running around.

Meanwhile, none of the ruckus reached Morgan"s senses. He was still in shock. He could imagine his fleet being devastated by the Vanadians. One saying kept repeating on his head. Every sailor in the world knew about this phrase.

"When you see the pelican on land, you can laugh. But when you meet the Pelican at sea, you bow your filthy head and show respect."