Of the defectors was Eugio Hig. He was an admiral in the army, but he was angered by the fact he was reduced to mining for jewels. He was the main conspirator of the event which led around two thousand men to leave in the middle of the night. He was given a bounty, but he didn't care. There was a chance another battle didn't take place in his lifetime.
Eugio led the defectors to the Charming Castle. The draw bridge was raised at the sight of them, as the archers thought they were there to attack. But none of them had any weapons, but their clothes boar the marks of the Stix family crest.
Bidi was alerted to come to the gate at once.
It was the middle of the night, a few hours past midnight. And she lazily got out of bed, but the urgency picked up once she was told what was happening. She felt threatened, but she wasn't in danger. She frantically made her way to the gate to see two thousand Stix soldiers standing at the gate, but they didn't have any weapons.
"Speak your game!" Bidi shouted from the balcony.
Eugio, who was adopted as the leader of the defectors, spoke loudly, "we have come to pledge loyalty to the Charming Army."
"Why?" Bidi asked with a bit of suspicion.
"We have many reasons," Eugio vaguely stated.
Bidi thought it was a trap. Why would two thousand men defect to her army? She thought the moment she let them in, they would unveil weapons and kill everyone in the castle. She didn't trust them, and the paranoia was something that could've kept her alive. "That isn't the answer I'm looking for."
"It is a long story," Eugio stated firmly, "but I can tell it if you wish."
"I'm feeling skeptical," Bidi said.
"King Stix has been using us to mine in Tortu. We did not sign up to work in mines. We are being greatly misused and mistreated. If you have access to the approval ratings, you will realize the current king has the second lowest rating in the history of the measuring system. The system dates back thousands of years. Only one king was thought worse than King Jax Stix. We were stationed in Tortu to ensure King Vran never returned for the riches of Tortu. King Stix ordered us to kill everyone under King Katara's rule, and we did. Katara fled, but we believe he is somewhere in Gerak. We rounded up the survivors of Tortu and forced them into slavery. The conditions were so bad they revolted; they were all killed. Then the king made us mine under the conditions not even good enough for slaves. Every last one of us is well aware of the risk of defecting, but we come to serve you. We wish to help you win the war which has been affecting all of the regions. A lot of us were forced into the army. We faced a choice between death and servitude. Please do not judge us for choosing life. What say you?"
"Why did you come to me? You could have just fled and all disappeared," Bidi posed.
"I'm sure many of us have different answers, and some of us did leave the group when we arrived in Gerak, but most of us want to help you restore balance to our homeland. Personally, I wish to return to Frithe after the war, but I will not do it while anyone in that bloodline rules. Albi may be the only decent human of all of the heirs, but he isn't in the immediate line of succession. It would take many kings to die to restore Albi to the throne. We believe you have a better plan for the world. We wish to follow you. Please let us help you in the war. Most of us aren't well trained. Many of us will require more training, but some of us are proven warriors who could train the rest. We do not ask for much. All we need is food and barracks."
"Food is limited because of Jax's blockade," Bidi shared.
"Then we will spend some of our time foraging for food. We are not here to create issues. I assure you that."
Chapter 10- Enslave
Start from the beginning
