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| - They proceeded through the hallway that ended with an arch (Where the coat-of-arms of the king's family was carved), that marked the entrance hall of the palace. As they passed under the arch, one of the two sword-wielding soldiers stationed at the sides of the entrance started following them. Marin now understood why none of the spies sent to assassinate Lukavia's king returned. The security of this place was amazing. Once they climbed the main stairs and reached the entrance of the audience room, the guards on both sides of the entrance slowly pushed the massive, beautifully carved mahogany double doors aside and entered in front of them. Then the guards stood by the marble columns on the sides of the room, while two other guards stood beside the man that regally sat on the tall mahogany throne. The Cherry Wood Knights, upon entering the fabulous room, quickly knelt down before his Majesty, King Hollen, the third, of Lukavia, and his wife, both surrounded by an entourage of well over a dozen golden-trimmed, iron-plated palace knights. King Hollen was already showing signs of age, but still took great care of his appearance. His short sand-coloured hair was perfectly cut. And his royal red mantle cascaded down to the floor. "Well, who do we have here?" bellowed the King, rubbing his chin--he obviously did not consider Hobenrûd so important as to remember his name and appearance. But, of course, for him, Hobenrûd was just a rebel. A rebel that could help him, but a rebel nonetheless. "I am Sir Hobenrûd, your majesty," he replied, with his head down, while the others remained silent. Marin had no idea where this conversation would go. "Ah yes!" the King recalled. "Hm, let's see, last time... you sent a messenger here. You wanted help in overthrowing the Ruivocan king, correct? And we offered to send my entire military to your aid, provided that you would afterward proclaim an oath of fealty to us. Have you arrived at a decision?" "We hope to settle for at least some of your forces, your majesty. We probably would not need your entire army, and only ask for a regiment or two. And then, provided that we succeed, we'll make a treaty." The King was not too pleased. "So. You won't accept an oath of fealty. Does that mean--?" Hobenrûd looked at him "Oh no, your majesty, we still hope to be very strong allies. It's just that it would be impossible for such a revolution to succeed on the terms you desire, as the peasants would simply overthrow us again!" "Very well." replied the king, leaning towards him a little. "You shall have three regiments, nothing more." which caused the Cherry Wood Knights to glance at the king sideways. Three!? "Of course! You're our allies, and we won't let you fail! And, of course, we will be benefited by this as much as you... but of course you don't expect to win this war with only our forces, do you? As much as we liked your idea... We can't send my people to their certain deaths." It was Marin that replied this time: "Of course not, your majesty. Actually, we already have a plan that will virtually guarantee our victory. We plan to ask direct assistance from the dragon riders of Jyptia... but the only man that can take us there is under attack by the king's forces in Pulti. So..." "So you want our men to aid you in this battle, so that you can get more support?" interjected the King, now becoming more interested. "Could work. And it would be the perfect test of your trustworthiness. We have decided." Hollen then nodded to one of his knights. "Yes, my lord," he whispered, before promptly vanishing out a back entrance on an immediate errand for the royalty. "I have done all I have been asked. Now it's time for you to comply your part of the deal. Anita will probably be in the barracks, right from the palace's entrance. It's a wide, short building. Tonight you rest, and tomorrow, you depart. I do not easily trust foreigners, don't make me regret it." Hobenrûd stood back up and bowed, as the others did the same, speaking the classic "Yes, your highness," then they all turned around and left the audience room, escorted by a pair of guards in armor entirely washed in white paint. "Hmm, I've got to get me one of 'hese!" exclaimed Hobenrûd, scrutinizing the trimmed plate mail on the guard, and imagining himself in that attire. The king took note of this, smiling. And so, as most of the Cherry Woods Knights betook some sleep, Hobenrûd went to Marin's sleeping bed, woke her up and silently gestured for her to follow him outside. "I haven't been here for some time now. Since we managed to conquer this city in the war. For three days we were stationed here. Pillaging, destroying...some of us raping. It was as if an age worth of hate was allowed to flow freely. But then the counterattack came, and we had to retreat. It's a wonder they managed to rebuild." "Oh. Can I go back to bed now?" said Marin, unimpressed. Hobenrûd frowned, before saying: "You wanted to know why I'm doing this. I guess I can tell you now." as he sat on a nearby bench. Marin was a little surprised, but that meant he was trusting her more now, and that was what she wanted. He started speaking, looking at the artificial lake in front of them. "You know that I was a soldier for the King until three months ago, right?" Marin nodded. "At first all we did was conquer foreign lands, but the king needed money to fund his wars. So he raised the taxes. This, coupled with the war stress and the already miserable conditions of most peasants, caused revolts. So we had to stop fighting the other kingdoms and start fighting our countrymen." Marin sat down beside him, looking at the lake. "And we did. To protect order, to protect the nobles, to protect the king we...we killed many countrymen. Gilbert was on my platoon, by the way. He had been a strategist for the king, but was demoted, because he said our prisoners of war needed a better treatment. I think the king wanted him to die. The man has little to no combat experience. But that was until three months ago, when we were sent to quell a revolt in a small countryside village. Daor." He paused. Marin looked at him. His voice had faltered for a second. Hesitatingly, he continued: "It was an easy 'battle' The villagers were using pitchforks, and we had longswords. The villagers were wearing ragged clothes, we had plate armour. The villagers were on foot, we had cavalry. After ten minutes, they had given up. But, still, the commander picked ten children and put them in the middle of the village. Under direct orders of the king, I have heard. He told us to kill them, as an example." "Some of us killed without hesitation, others killed after a little prodding...like Gilbert. He refused to kill the one the commander told him to. The commander took an arrow and pierced his leg with it. He screamed with pain, and, dragging himself while the commander kicked him, he killed the girl. I...I did nothing to stop them. When the commander yelled at me to kill my kid...I turned around and instead stabbed the commander... several times, with my sword." Marin glanced at him again, doing her best not to appear moved by his story, but increasingly wondering why she was trying to hold it all in. "So you saved the kid? It was him that gave you that bracelet, wasn't he?" "He looked away from her, and spoke, somewhat angrily: "That doesn't matter! You don't understand? I could've killed the commander before, I could've killed the other soldiers, I could've saved the kids and I could've not attacked the village in the first place! I could have saved the kids. But I didn't!" "Maybe you could. Maybe not. But doesn't matter anymore. It's past, you can't change it." said Marin, trying to console him and his deep guilt. Hobenrûd looked back at her. His eyes were teary. "It matters. And that's why I'm doing this. That's why I need to save all the other kids that'll die if I do nothing. Anyway... I... I just wanted you to know." He sighed, got up and went back into the barracks, now partially relieved of all the psychological stress that this had been on his mind for so many years, before waking up again ere the dawning of the first shafts of light, with one of the most fulfilling nights they had had for a long time.
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