A Guide to Kingdom Building

94- The Isle of Crescent Pt.2

Aturs, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 32nd day of Fall, Arenfall

"The morning was a little better than the night." Arterius answered when he was asked by Stolas about his sleep. Unfortunately, the cold nights of the Crescent Isle was bad news for his injured leg. Even with the thick blankets he brought, the stone walls of the garrison seeped in too much cold air that his room was close to freezing.

He would've preferred a proper warm room or maybe a nice hearth across the room, but he wasn't living in a castle. The garrison wasn't meant for nobles. The place was built for hardy knights, well-trained, well-disciplined, and very adept to any form of weather.

He recalled what happened that night over a hot cup of morning tea prepared by his ward. After introducing himself to the knight, the poor man fell on his knees and grovel. It was very degrading for a knight to do such action. Commander Crovar almost got the knight executed for his demeanor, but he calmed the seething Commander down and asked the knight to stand.

"Good Ser, you don't have to do that!" Arterius patted the knight's shoulder. "Stand up now and tell your Lady that I will not be coming to the castle tonight." He smiled at the knight.

The knight's face turned paler, "B-but…I-I can't do that…" The knight fumbled for words. "T-the Lady would p-punish me if I—"

"You're a man! Gods be damned! You're a knight!" Commander Crovar smacked the knight's head.

"That's enough Lord Commander." He held Commander Crovar's arm. The smack surprised Arterius, as a seasoned knight, Commander Crovar's reflexes was far too fast for him to react upon. "Good Ser—"

"P-prince…Your Majestic…Your Hiney…" The knight was obviously too nervous that even a simple title was mixed up with the term for buttocks.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL HIM THAT!" The outraged Commander pulled out his sabre but this time, Arterius was able to stop him before he could slice the poor knight in half.

"That's enough, Lord Commander." Arterius slightly bowed his head to the raging officer. "I appreciate your concern for me, but this man is just scared. It takes a lot for one to think straight when scared."

Arterius pulled out a pouch from his pocket and took a gold coin out of it, and gave it to the knight, "Good Ser, this is for your troubles tonight. Tell the Lady that I haven't arrived yet."

The knight was surprised by the gold coin. It was a month's worth of his salary but the generous prince gave it to him even though he had done nothing for him. The knight reluctantly tried to give the money back to Arterius but he insisted that the knight should take it for his troubles. The knight bowed and went his way stumbling away as he hurriedly rode his horse towards the dark path of Arenfall.

Commander Crovar cleared his throat to catch Arterius' attention. The prince looked back at the confused Commander. "Lord Commander?"

The Commander shook his head, "Why did you have to do that?"

Arterius smiled at him, "We rather make them respect us, than fear us." That was a direct quote from a philosopher way beyond their time.

Commander Crovar scratched his head, "Did you just quote Semalerius?"

Arterius nodded smugly.

The seasoned knight wanted to stifle his laughter but wasn't able to. His laughter filled the air, the only noise in the relatively quiet place. It took the Commander a while to control himself, "And they said you are the weak one?" He wiped the tears off his face. "I don't see any weakness right there!" He patted his back.

It looked like the gray wasn't the only one who gained a higher degree of respect for him. Commander Crovar commanded the knights stationed at the garrison to provide their best room for the Prince of Arteria and his ward. Afterwards, the Commander ordered his men to set a feast for Arterius. They drank until the highest level of Obscura and then went to bed.

Arterius remembered that night fully well. It was a night of songs and merry making, a perfect calm before the incoming storm ahead. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, Stolas was quick enough to open it.

Commander Crovar went inside and greeted him, "Fair morning, Prince Arterius!" There was a crack of smile on his face. "I hope you slept well."

"That question again, huh?" Arterius said to himself. He returned the smile back to the Commander and answered, "The morning was a little better than the night."

"I understand," Commander Crovar sighed. "This wasn't the best of places to house a prince, but I am glad that you have some rest at the very least."

Arterius wanted to refute on the last thing Commander Crovar said. If only the Commander knew about how miserable he was last night with the pain gnawing him through the cold. But instead of complaining he simply smiled again, "Thank the gods, I was able to."

After a quick breakfast, Commander Crovar ordered to ready the carriage and the knight escorts. The carriage was positioned in the middle of a horse-back riding xedecima. It was past the mid-level of Obura when they left for Arenfall Castle. Although the path was already paved with cobblestones, the way the carriage would bounce in between the spaces of the rocks still bothered the heck out of Arterius.

His leg throbbed in rhythm with the bumps on the road. He took a swig of the freshly refilled medicine he got from that damned physician and prayed for the arduous journey to end. Commander Corvar subtly observed him at the adjacent seat, not speaking a word to him nor to his ward. The carriage took another bump from an uneven stone in the middle of the road.

Seeing him wince in pain, Commander Crovar promptly knocked at the carriage wall, demanding them to be a bit more careful of the path their taking. He scolded his own knights at the top of his voice inside the carriage.

The Commander's loud voice wasn't helping him either, but he appreciated how the Commander Crovar was taking care of him. "Thank you, Lord Commander. You don't have to do that, I…am already...owww—" The carriage hit another bump. It looked like fate was shitting on him that day.

"Alright! That's it!" Commander Crovar halted the carriage and gave a good scolding to his men. Arterius wanted to stop the Commander but his leg was acting up on him, and he wasn't able to act as quickly as he could because of the concoction he drank earlier.

A few moments passed and the noisy Commander was no longer audible to him. The drug had already taken into effect. The last glimpse he had at that time were the knights bowing to him, their faces pale and embarrassed. After that, nothing. Just a dreamless, and peaceful sleep.

Prince Arterius woke up from Stolas shaking him by the shoulders. "Prince Arterius, Prince Arterius." He gently said. "We are almost near the castle!"

"Who…What?" Arterius looked around dazed and confused. His mind was still half asleep and all he could hear from Stolas was gibberish. He shook his head and tried to listen to him again.

"Prince Arterius, wake up! We are almost there!" He finally understood what his ward was saying.

He immediately sat up straight and pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket. He cleaned his face with it and tried to comb his hair with his hands. He noticed Commander Crovar staring blankly at the beautiful hills overlooking the plains. He seemed to be pre-occupied with something. Arterius just let him be and let him be wallowed by his thoughts. However, it looked like the Commander noticed him.

"You are awake, I see…That's good." The Commander said. It was obvious to Arterius how deep the Commander was thinking to the point that he never even noticed him awake already.

"Yes, I am Lord Commander." Arterius paused. "Is there something the matter, Lord Commander? You seemed to be…distracted." He fumbled out for the right term to describe the Commander's daydreaming, didn't want to sound disrespectful towards him.

"Ah…yes…you notice." The Commander cracked a worried smile on his face. "You're pretty observant, my dear prince."

Arterius just nodded, although it was clearly obvious how disturbed the Commander looked like at that time.

"Is there anything I should know about Lady Bieroff?" Arterius tried his best to get the gloomy energy out from the Commander somehow.

Commander Crovar sighed, "Adrena, huh…" He paused and realized that he was talking to a prince. "Ahem, Lady Adrena Bieroff is the sister of our current Senator Lucresia. She was married to the Bieroff house about 15 years ago."

Arterius just nodded. It was already information he knew awhile back. He looked at the Commander's eyes and saw longing and anguish as he tried to continue the conversation. From the looks of it, it seemed like Commander Crovar might have a shared past with the Lady of House Bieroff. He knew it would be rude to press on more questions at the seemingly anxious Commander.

"Lord Commander," Arterius looked at the window. "Would that be her standing at the gate of the castle?" He asked as he pointed to a woman wearing a black dress, her face was covered in a veil of the same color. She looked as if she was mourning, but for some reason, there's something about her that Arterius couldn't shake off.

The carriage finally stopped at the gate of the castle. Arterius noticed how Commander Crovar stared at the woman heading the entourage longingly. The prince grinned as his suspicions had just been confirmed.