King Vran heard news of the weakness of the rest of the world. His reign extended to the central areas of northern Tortu, but he would quickly expand and occupy the northwest and central areas of Tortu, which was previously controlled by Pedon and Tardash. Within the matter of a few days, these people accepted Vran as their new ruler. But Vran wouldn't stop there.
He thought very hard about his next move. He didn't want to lose his entire army and fall the way Pedon and Tardash did. The information he was given cites that Gerak had a small army made up entirely of mages, so he felt a little foolish to send any men to the well protected castle in which was the Gerak stronghold. But he knew Frithe would be left totally defenseless.
It took three days to get to Frithe from Tortu. But he didn't want to commit his entire army, and he knew the Frithe army would regenerate if he waited too long.
Vran sent one hundred of his finest soldiers to try to take over Frithe. He felt this would efficiently suffice for the weakened state of Frithe. They now only had a handful of knights protecting them in the most pathetic excuse for a castle of all the regions. He wouldn't go himself, for he had more plans with his men.
It was common knowledge that King Vran had the smallest army, so he anticipated an attack by one of the southern kings, but it never came.
The southern kings still had yet to hear the news. They didn't even know Gerak forces came to Tortu to fight a battle. But news would eventually reach them a few weeks later.
The southern kings weren't as bold as Vran. They didn't need to dominate all of the planet. But they were curious as to how this would affect them.
Each of them had about five thousand men in their army, but it was more a safety precaution than anything else. They heard false news. The story that was being told was that King Vran overtook Pedon and Tardash. They knew nothing of Frithe or Gerak. But they were a bit curious. They wondered how Vran could overpower the forces of Tardash and Pedon. They refused to be offensive, however. They would not send an attack, but they would defend their land and people.
While Vran was planning a small attack on Frithe, George managed to recruit five hundred men for his army. They had no training, so they weren't worth as much as a trained fighter, but he had men patrolling the castle now.
George closed the ports of his city, which meant nothing was entering or leaving Frithe. This crippled the economy, but that played in George's favor. The poor became poorer, which forced more to join the army for ten silver pieces. But the ship Vran sent had finally arrived.
King Vran's ship was turned away. They would not easily make port near the castle. They tried other ports, but all of the ports were blockaded. The ship housing Vran's men was not a military ship, so flags were not raised, but Vran's captain decided to make port on an abandoned beach.
They would have to walk very far, but the element of surprise was in their favor. Unlike the cruel king of Frithe, Vran didn't want his men to kill civilians. He only wanted them to kill the king, his sons, and anyone who tried to protect them.
Captain Quez Waldren marched his small militia to the capital. Vran was clever for another reason. His men did not wear his crest on their chest. No one knew they were soldiers. The only thing giving them away was the fact they were a large number of men carrying weapons.
Once they got closer to the capital, Captain Quez ordered his troops to break into groups of three and approach the castle cautiously. They did as he suggested. They were ordered to attack when the battle horn was sounded by Quez and his group.
Quez was the first into the castle. Nothing about three men entering a castle seemed suspicious, so they were easily able to make it into the castle. Dozens of knights were pacing the first floor, which told the captain the king was near.
Quez knew if he spoke to anyone for directions, he could destroy their mission. While everyone on the planet of Frithe spoke Drakesh, the accents varied by region. He didn't ask for directions, he searched the entire first floor with two fellow soldiers, then he finally found the king's throne room. It was empty.
King George was out and about training his new army. George was excellent with a blade, and he had been in many battles before he was the king. Frithe was highly sought out by those from both Tortu and Gerak, so they have had to fight many battles.
The reason Frithe was attacked more than any other region, historically, was because many dragons lived in Frithe in the mountains. People could speak with dragons, and many kings have wanted to train the dragons and recruit them for their army.
In the past, only one man had ever been wise enough to convince a dragon to fight for him, and he was indestructible. He was a one man army, and he didn't desire riches or fame, he simply wanted to kill everyone, and the dragon shared Liken's vision.
Frithe was also very rich in farm land, which meant it was easy to feed the masses. In Tortu, there were often food shortages, because most of the land was not agreeable with food. Tortu was nearly three quarters desert. The only way people could survive there was trade. The original settlers of Tortu also developed strange traits. Their skin darkened. And they were typically very thin, but with the turn of the new age, more people had been moving there for its riches. While Tortu was difficult to survive in, the environment yielded more precious stones than anywhere on Frithe.
The Vran army had their orders. They all knew not to attack anyone unarmed, and they were now dispersed all throughout the castle. There was nothing suspicious about a group of three men with swords holstered to their sides. King Vran also only selected men to go who looked like natives of Frithe. None of the soldiers on the mission had dark skin. Some of them had brown eyes, which was a recessive trait in Frithe, but they were not blatantly obvious about being foreigners. The men Vran selected all fit the profile of someone from Frithe: blonde hair, blue eyes, and very robust.
They were walking around the castle waiting for the sound of the battle horn, but Quez never sounded it. He was searching for the king, but the king was in the next village over training five hundred men to fight effectively. Quez couldn't risk the mission. The king must fall, as well as all of his sons. They also couldn't remain in the castle past sunset, for the castle doors would be shut and civilians were no longer welcomed.
Without any idea of what to do, Quez knew the mission would fail if he didn't find the king. He continued searching the castle, which was when he found a staircase. He tried to go up the staircase, but there were two knights in full armor there to stop him. He didn't say a word to them, but suspicion was raised. The knights knew all civilians knew to remain on the first floor of the castle. So the knights followed Quez.
They wanted to know why he was acting so peculiar. Then Quez sounded the horn in frustration and tried to kill the knights. The knights were fully dressed in armor, only their necks were exposed, but Quez managed to kill one of them after he parried many of the knight's advances. While Quez lived, one of his soldiers was killed.
The problem now was that everyone knew the soldiers were not from Frithe. The king would be alerted, and he would flee to his secondary castle in the woods with his security detail. The element of surprise had been lost.
The Tortu army was, however, successful in killing all of the knights, but they suffered great casualties. Quez escaped the castle, blowing the horn for the rest of the men to find him. Only twenty of his men remained, and they failed to complete the objective.
George and all his sons were escorted to the castle in the woods. And the line was still as strong as ever. Quez and the rest of Vran's army regrouped at the edge of the city. He was worried only so few remained, but Quez knew he couldn't turn back. He devised a plan to kill the king and his heirs, but he knew morale was low. All of the men had lost at least one friend to the knights, and the element of surprise folded.
Quez knew the men would all probably die. The worst part was that they didn't kill a single member of the royal family, but the last group to arrive on the horn brought something very valuable with them.
The last group didn't lose a single man, nor did they kill anyone, but they had a hostage. They had the queen. Quez smiled wickedly. He knew they would be able to get something out of her.
"Get your filthy hands off of me," Camille protested. She was unhappy, but she didn't know what exactly was happening. She was brought to Quez's feet, and she knew he was the leader. She spat at his face as he looked down on her, then she squirmed free of the men's grasp. "What do you want with me?" She asked.
"We want nothing with you," Quez smirked, "but we would like audience with your husband. Where have the knights taken him?"
"Why would I tell you?" She spat.
"This doesn't have to be painful for you. We do not wish harm to you," Quez replied in a calming manner. "You don't have to die for your husband."
"You're from Tortu," she finally picked up on the accent. "George knew he would be attacked."
"He had very little security for a man who knew he was to be attacked," he stated as he took out a knife and traced her hollow cheek bones.
Camille squirmed at the cold touch of the steel. She didn't want to be maimed for her husband. In fact, she wished him dead many times. "What do you want with George?" She asked.
"That is privy information," he replied as he put his knife back into his holster.
"Who sent you?" She ordered.
"You are in no place to ask questions," Quez laughed. "You are my prisoner."
"We can always make a deal," she smirked.
"The objective set out by my boss was to kill everyone in the bloodline and seize the throne of Frithe," he reluctantly shared.
"You want to kill my boys as well?" She asked.
"What type of mother are you?" Quez laughed.
"I will help you kill George," she bartered, "but please don't kill my sons."
"You are lucky to keep your life. You can either die a martyr or live a coward. The choice is yours."
"I love my boys," she said.
"Will you help us or not?" Quez prodded angrily.
"I... can't," she replied weakly.
Quez slapped her with the back of his palm and said, "you can have a wonderful life, and you choose to disobey me?"
"I would die for my children," she said. "Wait," she said as he went to slap her with the hand that had a gold ring on it. "I can help you kill King George."
"The entire bloodline must go down with him," Quez said.
"Please, let me talk to my boys. I will make sure none of them refuse your rule. They don't have to die. Please," she begged.
Quez knew he was going to kill her boys no matter what she did, but he entertained her to get the location of the king. He agreed, "if you can bring me George's head, I won't kill any of your boys."
"Thank you," she said as she jumped to her feet. "They would have taken George to the other castle in the forest. Security will be tight. I'm certain no one will be allowed in after this attack."
"We will travel with you, then you can bring his head to us after we part ways," Quez ordered.
"Yes," she said.
Quez pushed her lightly and said, "lead the way."
Camille led the men to the forest, then they waited at the edge as she went into the forest. She would be gone for a very long time, but she was attempting to make a plan. She knew if she didn't comply, more would come.
She made it to the castle, where the gates were opened for her immediately. George was with his advisors, and he wasn't very excited to see Camille. She was thought dead, and he almost would have preferred her that way. He lightly grinned as she took a seat next to him, but it was very fake.
That night, George had sex with her to relieve the frustration. He passed out after they had sex, then Camille got out from underneath him and searched for an axe to chop his head off with. The entire time she listened to his advisors, she couldn't pay attention to what they were saying. She wished she did, because then she could be even more helpful to the Tortu army. She went to the armory, where two guards stood watch.
She came out with an axe. They didn't question her, though, but they found it peculiar. She would be marked for treason if she went through with the plan. But this was for her boys. She had no choice.
The axe was a lot heavier than she expected. She was struggling to hold it. But she looked at George and thought of all the pain she had caused her, and she just swung the axe and cut off his head. She then wrapped his head in some cloth and left the castle before anyone could question her. It took her two hours to make it to the edge of the forest, but the Tortu army was still there.
She unveiled the king's head, and Quez said, "good, good."
"My boys are safe now, right?" She said.
"Of course," Quez lied.
"I can't go back there. They will kill me for treason," Camille said frantically.
"Would you like to come with us?" Quez asked.
"I'm a fugitive now," she worried, "the entire kingdom will want me dead. Oh, god, what have I done?"
It was starting to hit her. She acted impulsively, and now she was regretting what she'd done. But she knew it was for the best, and she thought it saved her children from death, but Quez would return with greater numbers to dismantle the bloodline.
"What are the defenses of this kingdom?" Quez asked.
"We have five hundred troops who aren't trained yet, and we also have a handful of knights left, but you have killed most of them."
Quez was going to report back to King Vran and ask him what the next order of business would be. He knew Vran would not stop until the bloodline was eliminated, but he knew they were outnumbered to the point they would all die if they tried to kill all the heirs.
"What do I do now?" Camille asked. "I will be hunted down if I stay in Frithe, and I don't have any money of my own. I need money to survive."
"Come to Tortu with us," Quez smoothly offered, "you will find money matters much less in Tortu," he said with a smile on his face.
"I need a husband," she worried.
"You will find one," he replied.
"I am past my birthing years. No man would want me," she said.
"But you are beautiful," Quez complimented.
"Beauty can only do so much," Camille replied.
"You will be fine," Quez comforted.