This was the day that I had been waiting for the entirety of my life, it was a day that I knew...
The Royal Conquest
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Prologue
- Location
- The Shrine of the Muse
- Pronouns
- She/They
This was the day that I had been waiting for the entirety of my life, it was a day that I knew was coming, it was the day that I ascended to the throne, there was a grand feast thrown, wine flowed like water and bread and meat was available on nearly every table. I actually did make sure to taste some of the wine and some of the bread. Special coins were being given out to commemorate the occasion, though what I could do without was the fact that Uncle had deemed his face to be on the gold coin.
I walked through the street at the head of my procession, behind me, the Royal Guard (all twelve of them) all clad in ceremonial steel armour with golden trimmings, the large red plumage of their helmets was the definition of 'gaudy' and I had to see about getting those removed. Behind them were my family (My sister, Scarlet, two years my younger, content with her position, didn't want the Throne. My Uncle, Mansfield, two decades older than me, hated my guts, always wanted the throne) walked as well as my favoured servants (of which I had none, servants were to serve, not to be friends).
My red cloak billowed behind me as I walked, robes pulling taunt as I was rushing forward in order to get to the cathedral first, when I entered, it was filled with courtiers and other nobles, though I knew that most of them were unlanded, such was the sad state of affairs the kingdom was in. The cathedral itself was well decorated, the pillars were solid marble, the white stone reflecting the light of the sun, my procession was moving a top a deep purple carpet that was worth more than an entire street, if there were any doubts about the power of the Nameless One, this cathedral put them to rest. In front of the alter, the Court Chaplain, a rather portly man named Francis, he was lowborn if memory served. Per tradition, I kneeled in front of the Court Chaplain as he held the crown over my head.
"Today is the day that Prince Ross the First, comes of age and ascends to the throne." He announced his voice ringing throughout the silent cathedral. "Do you swear to uphold the laws of the Kingdom of Starford?"
"I swear it." I answered, my voice solemn
"Do you swear that you will act with the Kingdom's best intentions at heart?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to protect the people of the Kingdom from harm?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to defend the kingdom from all harm and strike down our enemies?"
"In the Honor of the Nameless One, I swear it." I answered solemnly, the kingdom was weak, torn apart by the greedy, led by the craven and on the defensive. This had to change.
"Then, by the power invested in me by the Nameless One, I crown you King Ross the First of Starford." He put the crown upon my head, it had felt like my head was finally complete. Standing up, I turned towards the crowd of nobles and drew my long sword, holding it to the air, "Long Live the Kingdom!" I cried, my voice echoing throughout the cathedral.
"Long Live the King!" My sister shouted, we did make a show of being rivals in public, but we were good friends.
"Long Live the King!" A noble from inside one of the crowds shouted, a loyalist then, good, I'd need those.
"Long Live the King!" My uncle shouted, even though I knew his words were as hollow as an empty barrel, they did fill me with a brief hope that he approved of me. More voices were added to the chorus and eventually the entire cathedral was shouting it, with varying degrees of convincingness, it felt good to be king…
I walked through the street at the head of my procession, behind me, the Royal Guard (all twelve of them) all clad in ceremonial steel armour with golden trimmings, the large red plumage of their helmets was the definition of 'gaudy' and I had to see about getting those removed. Behind them were my family (My sister, Scarlet, two years my younger, content with her position, didn't want the Throne. My Uncle, Mansfield, two decades older than me, hated my guts, always wanted the throne) walked as well as my favoured servants (of which I had none, servants were to serve, not to be friends).
My red cloak billowed behind me as I walked, robes pulling taunt as I was rushing forward in order to get to the cathedral first, when I entered, it was filled with courtiers and other nobles, though I knew that most of them were unlanded, such was the sad state of affairs the kingdom was in. The cathedral itself was well decorated, the pillars were solid marble, the white stone reflecting the light of the sun, my procession was moving a top a deep purple carpet that was worth more than an entire street, if there were any doubts about the power of the Nameless One, this cathedral put them to rest. In front of the alter, the Court Chaplain, a rather portly man named Francis, he was lowborn if memory served. Per tradition, I kneeled in front of the Court Chaplain as he held the crown over my head.
"Today is the day that Prince Ross the First, comes of age and ascends to the throne." He announced his voice ringing throughout the silent cathedral. "Do you swear to uphold the laws of the Kingdom of Starford?"
"I swear it." I answered, my voice solemn
"Do you swear that you will act with the Kingdom's best intentions at heart?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to protect the people of the Kingdom from harm?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to defend the kingdom from all harm and strike down our enemies?"
"In the Honor of the Nameless One, I swear it." I answered solemnly, the kingdom was weak, torn apart by the greedy, led by the craven and on the defensive. This had to change.
"Then, by the power invested in me by the Nameless One, I crown you King Ross the First of Starford." He put the crown upon my head, it had felt like my head was finally complete. Standing up, I turned towards the crowd of nobles and drew my long sword, holding it to the air, "Long Live the Kingdom!" I cried, my voice echoing throughout the cathedral.
"Long Live the King!" My sister shouted, we did make a show of being rivals in public, but we were good friends.
"Long Live the King!" A noble from inside one of the crowds shouted, a loyalist then, good, I'd need those.
"Long Live the King!" My uncle shouted, even though I knew his words were as hollow as an empty barrel, they did fill me with a brief hope that he approved of me. More voices were added to the chorus and eventually the entire cathedral was shouting it, with varying degrees of convincingness, it felt good to be king…
I take it back, being the king is one of the worst things that happened to me. While my Uncle was Regent, he had pushed through a bunch of reforms that gave the Council more power while cutting me out of the picture, I was little more than a figurehead, it was tantamount to treason, really, hadn't helped that during Uncle's brief exposure to power, he had utterly failed at defending the Kingdom, the tribes to the North had been overwhelming us and conquering land, to the South, several border counties had gained independence and joined the League of Free Cities. To our Western border, a Gaian rebellion had created a small dukedom out of our land.
The League of Free Cities was an elective monarchy, well they called their King a 'Hierarch', though it didn't matter, a king who was elected was not a king worth following, following him was blasphemy in and of itself.
The Northern Tribes had succeeded against our armies due to their overwhelming numbers, it didn't help that their religion pretty much led to good bonds between the soldiers which meant that you had a large number of people who wouldn't fight each other but had no problem fighting an outside foe.
The Gaian Revolt was a lot more awkward because of the religion, it preached some shit about the environment and worshiped the earth as like some goddess, their revolt was surprising and more importantly, well-timed, it was sprung while we were dealing with the North Tribes, so they were able to kill some fleeing soldiers and ended up besieging some cities.
I sat upon my throne, I knew I looked like I was brooding but I didn't care, the Kingdom of Starford was a shadow of its former self, I realised what I needed to do. The Council needed to be stripped of their newfound power, then there was the matter of conquering the league that bordered us. There were many ways to power and most of them were bloody, I knew that some members of the council were not nearly as smart as they thought they were.
My Marshal, for example for all his grandeur was a man who travelled with very little guards for a man of his station and the roads are dangerous who knows when bandits might strike… especially when, sufficiently motivated.
The Court Mage was ultimately incompetent and thought he was some sort of supreme warlock, to be honest, it's a miracle that he hasn't killed himself. The Steward was a known drunkard, if one was to poison his wine then it would likely kill him.
I would always need replacements and I would need ones who were willing to back me up on anything, the Kingdom of Starford was on the path of Civil War and I was leading her into such a path. The things I do for the Kingdom.
The Inevitable Civil War and Conclusion
- Location
- The Shrine of the Muse
- Pronouns
- She/They
There's a strange feeling in the air, the feeling before a battle, I stood with my officer's camp, there were a few captains, but it was mostly my commanders, there was my marshal, Jesper of House Jadebanner, an alright commander who was very loyal to me, my host of 2,000 soldiers stood ready to help me reclaim my kingdom from the traitor council, and replace them with a council of loyalists.
We were at the Valley of Clefugh, a rather grassy valley near the capital city of Starford, I had expected the other loyalists to arrive with their militia and retinue to attach to my host, though where the rest of the loyalist are being a mystery.
My host was made up of my small retinue of archers, my levy infantry, some spears but not enough to break a cavalry charge. Some loyalist levy, mostly light infantry and archers and a band of Gaian Mercenaries who made up the bulk of my heavy infantry, how the mighty have fallen, the Gaians have better infantry than us, something had to be done about that, something drastic. Our main advantage was our artillery, trebuchets and a ballista, I could only pray that they would be enough to turn the tide.
On the other side of the valley, stood the traitor forces, numbering some 3,000 men, the army itself a lot more balanced, it didn't have Gaian mercenaries, it was very standard during the regency, a bulk of light infantry surrounding a core of tightly packed heavy infantry with spearmen in front. It was archer and artillery low. Neither side had any cavalry worth mentioning, Starford wasn't known for its horse population.
"My lord, what are your orders?" My marshal asked, he was eager, good, I'd need that.
"Jesper, you are to take command of the right flank." I ordered, I really hoped this would work out. "Sister, you take command of the left flank" I really hoped this was a good idea, I then turned to the Captain of the Gaian Mercenaries, the Band of the Oak (if I was remembering correctly), Captain Annabella, "Captain, you take command of your men in the centre of the formation." I said, my tone was a lot sterner with her, we didn't like each-other and it showed, we both had semi-permanent scowls on our faces when we were near. "Those are your orders, carry them out." I finished. I really hoped I had made the right call. But I would see soon enough, if I failed, then the Kingdom might as well be destroyed.
I stood at the front of my retinue and set the signal to begin bombardment of the traitor army. The trebuchets started to sing as I silently hoped my uncle would be killed in the bombardment, a man of house Ashbridge was meant to die in battle or in a duel, not executed like a common criminal. With that solemn reminder of what I was doing I watched as the stones fall into the mass of heavy infantry or around the light infantry, funny thing really, you'd think watching an enemy army being destroyed by an artillery bombardment would keep you riveted, but it was strangely boring. There was something of a science to it, W number of stones thrown into X number of men at Y density should inflict Z casualties. The traitor commanders and ordered their army to advance, right into the range of my ballista, there was a grim satisfaction of watching a ballista bolt nail a traitor levy in the chest, it was slightly funny. But I didn't like the fact that they wasted that bolt.
The traitor host advanced faster when they realized we had more artillery. I ordered volley after volley into their mass, but they kept coming, maybe this was what it felt like to be outnumbered.
I watched my front line, the Band of the Oak, take the brunt of the charge, there was something ... satisfying about watching traitors throw themselves onto a shield wall that held, until it started to be pushed back, I was hoping that they'd stabilize until it started to move further back, I panicked I had no idea what to do, my entire strategy was based off the mercenaries holding.
I moved my light infantry and spearmen forward into the mass and ordered the mercenaries to fall back. The infantry and spearmen worked like a well-oiled machine, the spearmen sticking it into anyone that moved out form the line and the shield wall holding firm, nice to see that there was something we could do better than the Gaians.
The shield walls started to grind against each-other as I ordered my archers to fire a few volleys into the mass, the center was holding, at the left flank with my sister, she was actually winning handily though the traitors were thin on that flank, she had begun moving her infantry into the traitor's center, there was something beautiful about a Starford infantry advance, as a kingdom we prided ourselves on our infantry and it had shown, these soldiers efficiently cut through the mass of traitor infantry, their center was starting to break, but I couldn't see their commander. Then I saw it, the right flank was breaking, shit.
"Captain, send your men to the right flank, it needs to stabilize." The captain looked slightly offended as I said men but obeyed none the less, the middle of battle wasn't the best time to argue politics and I wasn't in the mood, I moved my bodyguard into the melee as I noticed that the traitors were gaining the upper hand as their heavy infantry had formed up and was cutting a swath through my light infantry. We met at the center of the shield wall, it was led by the spymaster, of all people, learn something new, there wasn't much fanfare to his death, he was distracted killing a member of my shield wall and I plunged my sword into his helmet and twisted it slightly.
The death of a commander was disheartening to the traitors and my heavy infantry made a push to press the advantage as our shield wall connected with theirs metal ground against metal as our shields met with theirs.
We exchanged blades a few came close to hitting me, one actually managed to hack a piece of the crown off my head. The offending traitor received a swift blade to neck from my long sword. As we pushed them back, their center was devolving into chaos due to the death of their commander. Their order of battle broken as our shield wall advanced and slaughtered them.
I looked towards my right flank, it seemed to be stabilizing with the help of my Gaian mercenaries. "Into their flank" I ordered simply before the shield wall began to move into their flank causing the rest of them to rout.
Before I knew it, I had realized that I won my first battle.
We were at the Valley of Clefugh, a rather grassy valley near the capital city of Starford, I had expected the other loyalists to arrive with their militia and retinue to attach to my host, though where the rest of the loyalist are being a mystery.
My host was made up of my small retinue of archers, my levy infantry, some spears but not enough to break a cavalry charge. Some loyalist levy, mostly light infantry and archers and a band of Gaian Mercenaries who made up the bulk of my heavy infantry, how the mighty have fallen, the Gaians have better infantry than us, something had to be done about that, something drastic. Our main advantage was our artillery, trebuchets and a ballista, I could only pray that they would be enough to turn the tide.
On the other side of the valley, stood the traitor forces, numbering some 3,000 men, the army itself a lot more balanced, it didn't have Gaian mercenaries, it was very standard during the regency, a bulk of light infantry surrounding a core of tightly packed heavy infantry with spearmen in front. It was archer and artillery low. Neither side had any cavalry worth mentioning, Starford wasn't known for its horse population.
"My lord, what are your orders?" My marshal asked, he was eager, good, I'd need that.
"Jesper, you are to take command of the right flank." I ordered, I really hoped this would work out. "Sister, you take command of the left flank" I really hoped this was a good idea, I then turned to the Captain of the Gaian Mercenaries, the Band of the Oak (if I was remembering correctly), Captain Annabella, "Captain, you take command of your men in the centre of the formation." I said, my tone was a lot sterner with her, we didn't like each-other and it showed, we both had semi-permanent scowls on our faces when we were near. "Those are your orders, carry them out." I finished. I really hoped I had made the right call. But I would see soon enough, if I failed, then the Kingdom might as well be destroyed.
I stood at the front of my retinue and set the signal to begin bombardment of the traitor army. The trebuchets started to sing as I silently hoped my uncle would be killed in the bombardment, a man of house Ashbridge was meant to die in battle or in a duel, not executed like a common criminal. With that solemn reminder of what I was doing I watched as the stones fall into the mass of heavy infantry or around the light infantry, funny thing really, you'd think watching an enemy army being destroyed by an artillery bombardment would keep you riveted, but it was strangely boring. There was something of a science to it, W number of stones thrown into X number of men at Y density should inflict Z casualties. The traitor commanders and ordered their army to advance, right into the range of my ballista, there was a grim satisfaction of watching a ballista bolt nail a traitor levy in the chest, it was slightly funny. But I didn't like the fact that they wasted that bolt.
The traitor host advanced faster when they realized we had more artillery. I ordered volley after volley into their mass, but they kept coming, maybe this was what it felt like to be outnumbered.
I watched my front line, the Band of the Oak, take the brunt of the charge, there was something ... satisfying about watching traitors throw themselves onto a shield wall that held, until it started to be pushed back, I was hoping that they'd stabilize until it started to move further back, I panicked I had no idea what to do, my entire strategy was based off the mercenaries holding.
I moved my light infantry and spearmen forward into the mass and ordered the mercenaries to fall back. The infantry and spearmen worked like a well-oiled machine, the spearmen sticking it into anyone that moved out form the line and the shield wall holding firm, nice to see that there was something we could do better than the Gaians.
The shield walls started to grind against each-other as I ordered my archers to fire a few volleys into the mass, the center was holding, at the left flank with my sister, she was actually winning handily though the traitors were thin on that flank, she had begun moving her infantry into the traitor's center, there was something beautiful about a Starford infantry advance, as a kingdom we prided ourselves on our infantry and it had shown, these soldiers efficiently cut through the mass of traitor infantry, their center was starting to break, but I couldn't see their commander. Then I saw it, the right flank was breaking, shit.
"Captain, send your men to the right flank, it needs to stabilize." The captain looked slightly offended as I said men but obeyed none the less, the middle of battle wasn't the best time to argue politics and I wasn't in the mood, I moved my bodyguard into the melee as I noticed that the traitors were gaining the upper hand as their heavy infantry had formed up and was cutting a swath through my light infantry. We met at the center of the shield wall, it was led by the spymaster, of all people, learn something new, there wasn't much fanfare to his death, he was distracted killing a member of my shield wall and I plunged my sword into his helmet and twisted it slightly.
The death of a commander was disheartening to the traitors and my heavy infantry made a push to press the advantage as our shield wall connected with theirs metal ground against metal as our shields met with theirs.
We exchanged blades a few came close to hitting me, one actually managed to hack a piece of the crown off my head. The offending traitor received a swift blade to neck from my long sword. As we pushed them back, their center was devolving into chaos due to the death of their commander. Their order of battle broken as our shield wall advanced and slaughtered them.
I looked towards my right flank, it seemed to be stabilizing with the help of my Gaian mercenaries. "Into their flank" I ordered simply before the shield wall began to move into their flank causing the rest of them to rout.
Before I knew it, I had realized that I won my first battle.
It was a dark and stormy day, very befitting of the atmosphere, after the council had surrendered, there were things that be put into order, I had to show the people I was in control. "Duke Mansfield, you have been charged with high treason and leading a rebellion, how do you plead?" I said to my uncle, my heart was heavy, I was disheartened when I realized that he hadn't died in battle. He was standing at the Gallows, dressed in the rags of a prisoner, his cloak was stripped off him as well as his jewelry.
"Innocent, there was no rebellion, this jumped up prince was just too big for his breeches and couldn't accept his role in the Kingdom." He replied, his voice bitter and desperate.
"You have been found guilty of all charges. The sentence is death." I sentenced forlornly, I moved past the rest of the traitor council and commanders and sentenced them all to death by hanging.
I had my uncle's blood on my hands, but I had control of the kingdom, may the Nameless One forgive me for my crimes, for I had no choice, now we could rebuild, the next few days would be filled with hangings as well, hanging criminals who broke our laws while the Kingdom was in civil war, order had to be restored, after all. Though the only thing left for the rest of the day was to talk to the Council.
There was something insufferable about my council, maybe the fact that they all blindly agreed with me was what had made me want to murder a good half of them, my sister was steward and she was competent at the job, but not great, my marshal could do with being hit on the head a few times, I'm pretty sure my court mage is an imbecile, my spymaster can barely find his hood and my chancellor had one of the worst stutters and really thought highly of himself, he also liked talking about his achievements that never happened. The less said about the Court Chaplain, the better.
By the second session I had multiple well thought out plans of how to assassinate most of them, that was when my sister told me something.
"We're broke." My sister said flatly
"What do you mean, we're broke?"
"We lost all the gold during the war, soldiers are not cheap, mercenaries especially." She supplied helpfully. "Also, the Band of the Oak, they belong to the neighboring duchy, Cappadocia." She bluntly stated. I felt my will to live drain at that statement.
"So, you're telling me, in an effort to clean up the council and purge traitorous nobles, we have plunged ourselves into debt and gave our gold to a traitor duchy." Cappadocia, the duchy that had separated from the Kingdom during the Regency and we had just funded them. Shit.
"Yes."
"Ugh…" I smashed my head onto the table. "Why…." I moaned into the table. "Do we have any nobles we can excessively tax?"
"None that won't revolt, the civil wars been costly, and everyone's been trying to rebuild." She said, her voice was still flat "I do have a plan though."
"What." I said, my posture immediately improving. "What is it?"
"Marriage."
"To…"
"You know that trading republic, the Darian Republic."
"Yes…" I said uncertainly
"They will gladly pay large amounts of gold for you to marry a daughter of one of the great trading families." She said flatly, like she was explaining something that was obvious.
"Fuck it, do it, we need the money." I said, my voice was desperate, I really wished that this civil war was less costly.
"You are aware we need to pick out a bride for you brother." My sister said, she was seemingly reveling in my misery. "I already have a list of prospective brides prepared."
"That's why you were late to this meeting." My spymaster said, ever perspective, that one, I really hoped I could find a suitable replacement.
"Yep, I was being proactive, unlike some of you." She said, her voice passive-aggressively mocking most of the council. She handed me the list, it was depressingly thick and smelt heavily of fresh ink. Desperate to move past this matter, I did the one thing I wanted, by kicking my Marshal so that he would propose the bill.
"I would like to propose to the council, a reform to reduce the council power and hand power back to the monarchy." This vote passed without molestation and I breathed a sigh of relief as the council session was over today. As I was about to get up from my throne my sister stopped me.
"You know brother, I could provide you with a shortened version of the list."
"You didn't do that beforehand?"
"No." She said, her tone was jovial. "I'd personally recommend, Agensina Albarenno, she seems to be very good with money and a good diplomat, in other words what we need, she's also a bit of a looker. I'm ready to begin to begin negotiations for the price." I was reminded that Scarlet was very scary efficient when she put her mind to it, to think I once I mocked her for being too interested in books and statistics.
Ruling a kingdom was harder than I thought it was,