Kingdom and glory - Royal campaign 2-1 (Patreon)
Content
When the young demigod king who conquered the world died, his kingdom was fractured by his own men who fought each other to take his place. King Mithrid's father was the archon of Galath, and remained there guarding his land while the others fought. At the same time, the roxan barbarians came from the north and conquered the gulf committing genocide against all the males. Without the demigod king, and threatened by the enemies all around, the archon of Galath did not come back to free the gulf from the roxans, who then crowned their own king. When the archon died, his son Mithrid became king of Galath, defeated the enemies who threatened the land and expanded Galath in the peninsula. Only now, after 5 decades since the roxans invaded the gulf, Galath is going to reclaim it. Without king Ezra or his heirs, the roxan generals fell into chaos and fought each other to take command instead of properly preparing, thus the siege of the capital was even shorter than expected, just like it happened when the demigod king conquered it the first time.
A few roxan men died on the city walls, allowing the battering ram to break down the gate in a few hours. King Mithrid and his royal guard, the charging bulls, fought on the front line to raise the troop's morale. The champion Eirenas and his apprentice led the infantry across the gates, at which point, king Mithrid gave you an order. "General Nikolaos!", "My king!", you answer. "Take the road that follows the western walls, all their men are focused here but their general fled to the royal palace...". You already know the reason why, "...you have to stop him! Take a cavalry patrol, they can't reach the palace in time!". "It will be done, my king!", you and about twenty heavy knights detach from the rest of the army and follow the roxan general. The streets are empty, the doors of every house broken down, and you can see some dead civilians already. The roxans killed their women when they realized they were losing this battle, and now they'll do the same with king Ezra's daughter, princesss Gemet. One of your knights calls to you, "General Nikolaos!". He points his spear ahead making you spot the roxan general running on foot with a few men, "Up there!". You grab your bow, nock the arrow, take aim, exhale, and after that you shoot the arrow.
The women have been gathered in the royal palace by force to be slaughtered by the roxan soldiers. The champion Eirenas reaches you with his apprentice Stelios at the palace, "General Nikolaos! Sir!", he calls you, "Bull! These barbarians have been killing women and children, they're hiding in their palace slaughtering them! They don't want them to fall into our hands, we have to stop them!". "We'll deal with it, general Nikolaos!", he nods, then calls back his apprentice and runs inside the palace. After a few minutes, king Mithrid walks in. The royal guard divides and spreads across the palace to stop the roxans before they kill any more women. While the king looks all saddened at the poor victims you protected in the throne room, "We lost more than we have gained in this battle." he says. "Don't worry, you're safe now! The men from Galath won't do you any harm, you have my word", says the king to the small crowd, but then you call him. "King Mithrid", "Nikolaos?" "Our men killed all the roxans but there's still many rooms locked, this place is not safe yet, I suggest your majesty to gather the royal guard and bring all these people in the plaza until we find princess Gemet". "General Kallikrates will bring these women outside but i am not going to leave until the palace is safe!". "Yes, my king" you nod.
You and your men easily kill the roxan soldiers who were guarding the indoor garden's doors and then you break in, only to see that it is just a neglected, old, green place. "Princess Gemet is not here... keep searching, men", "Yes sir!" they obey. You look around you, noting that nature took possession of the whole place, looking more like an actual forest than a garden. Only now you notice that you are completely covered in blood, hence you slowly take your helmet off and sigh. You unfasten the shoulder straps and let them fall on the grass with the whole armor before you also take off your arm guard and walk into the fountain. You take your cloth off but bring your sword into the cold water, still streaming from the top of the fountain, surprisingly not left rotting like the rest of the things there. The whole water turns red in a minute, then you sit, close your eyes, and wait for the water to fall and clear itself again. A young male voice breaks the silence, scaring you off, "Who are you?"
You stand up, naked, holding your sword while trying to see if there's anyone around. You thought it was your imagination but someone just spoke to you. "Who's there?", "W-who..." he stutters again, making you turn. "I asked you first!" he says, trying to sound menacing. "Who are you?!", "I'm general Nikolaos from Galath, I serve king Mithrid..." you answer. "...My men and I came to save the hostages and find the princess". "You..." he whispers, interrupting himself, "Where are you?". You ask "Who... are you?", "I'm... I...", he stutters again. "My name is Paidì", "Paidì?" you giggle, then order him "What... who... where are you? Show yourself!". "You promise you are not going to hurt me?", you don't answer, he doesn't sound menacing, and if he wanted to attack you, he could've done that already, yet you would be a fool to lower your guard. You step out of the fountain and walk ahead, picking your shield up from the ground. "You did not attack me... good. We are not here to harm anyone. We're here to save you people", "You... you killed the guards at the door...". "I did, they were roxans, did they try to kill you too?" you ask, trying to make him talk to hear where his voice comes from. "They... king Ezra did not want them to hurt me... I'm...". You spot him and he lowers his voice, "...his pet ...he" he stops, then you step on a chain, noticing it's tied on a wall. "He keeps you imprisoned". He doesn't answer, just whispers "Please... don't... hurt me".
It might be a trick, or maybe he's just another prisoner. You decide to...