Iolas left the room, and Simon finished up the easier parts of his dressing, such as putting on his gloves and adjusting his gauntlets.
The clash of metal against metal brought him over to the window, where he looked down upon meticulously assembled troops. There was Iolas, exiting the front of the castle and going to check his already saddled horse, which was tied and waiting for him beside Chester. The graceful white stallion a sharp contrast to the shorter, but in turn much stronger and sturdier brown donkey.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Simon had only charged off for battle once before, and even that had only gone as far as to land him in an icy river.
He had never killed before, and the thought of it was not a comfortable one, and though wished more than anything to just crawl back into bed and escape this all like a bad dream, he trudged down the staircase, his heart as weighted as his armour.
Chester greeted him with a happy snort, before raising his front lip in that oh so typical donkey fashion.
Instinctively his eyes went to check his shoes, because for the first time in the decade since he had owned the animal, he had been shod by someone else.
The nails driven into his hooves were even, and not too shallow or too deep, satisfied, he gave the donkey a quick pat before climbing on.
As Simon led the animal to the ranks, Chester threw him back what he thought was a dirty look, undoubtedly the new, added weight of his armor.
He apologised to the donkey, promising him many carrots throughout this day. Iolas sighed as he trotted his horse in front of the troops. He worried for the safety of his animal, praying silently that he would not loose him to a stray arrow, or sword.
Simon had contemplated leaving Chester and taking another horse, but he knew that no other animal would look out for him the way his faithful brown donkey did.
Upon his own horse, Iolas approached the head of the combined troops. The blue and gold uniforms of his islander troops contrasting sharply against the orange and black of the fighters of Aelford.
Here was the part, he realized, where he had to muster up a speech in order to motivate the men into rushing towards almost certain death, and though he had long ago prepared for a day like this, now having come so close to death himself had changed him. “Fighters!” he shouted, the soldiers instantly falling silent and turning their attention Iolas’ way.
“Today, we will hide behind these walls no longer.” he began in a booming voice.
“Soildeirs of Aelford. Do not let the men and women captured and killed by these gruesome barbarians escape your mind for a moment today. Do not forget your families, forced to run from their homes in terror, for today we will exact justice upon these beasts of men, rescue the queen, and take back what is rightfully both hers and yours!”
The Aelford soldiers cheered.
"Fellow Islanders. I know this is not your fight. You were shipped here to help a king most of you have never met, punish a criminal prince you wish you'd never heard of. I know I am the shame of our homeland, and I have lost the right to order you to risk your lives for my sake. Instead I ask it of you for the sake of not only these people, whom I know many of you already have the bonds of brotherhood with, but for our own people; because if we do not stop them today, we can be certain whose door these barbarians will soon come knocking at!
Let us all put an end to these savages, let today be the last day anyone is raped, killed or enslaved!"
Relief filled him when supportive cheers rose from the silver and blue ranks of his warriors.
"I may not have been the best prince, but we all know that Adelaide is a good, honorable Queen, and she did all she could to protect her people, our people and even someone as undeserving as me, your criminal prince. I say we owe her nothing less than a heroic rescue. Who is with me!?"
With that, they embarked upon the perilous journey through the snow and towards the citadel, full of energy and gusto. The two countries’ emblems side by side in a powerful statement of unity.
Iolas felt the thrill of leading his people, and he finally understood everything his father and his siblings had been telling them since he was old enough to understand. Nothing quite compared to the feeling of knowing an army of men trusted you to lead them, and were willing to lay down their lives and face their gods of death.
It wasn’t a corrupt or misguided sense of power Iolas felt. On the contrary, it was a bond; he felt tied to these men in a new way.
The army was headed to a small cove East of the bay where Iolas and his men had hidden their ships.
“You told me it would take your captors three days to reach Giliah,”
Simon shouted to Iolas as they rode.
“If that’s the case, how do you expect us to arrive before Adelaide is married when we've lost nearly 2 days?” Iolas shook his head as best he could with his horse plundering through the snow.
“It will take those buffoons three days,” he shouted back with a grin.
“Their ships are clunky, and designed for ranged combat. My ships are lightweight and cut through the water and the ice, they’re much faster. I’d be willing to bet we may even arrive before them.”
They were lucky enough to be avoiding the palace as a whole, meaning that they were likely be to able to avoid combat before it was necessary.
Simon wondered to himself exactly how many ships Iolas had brought, and if they really were as marvellous as he claimed. After what ended up being a fairly miserable ride, due to the adrenaline wearing off quite a lot faster than anyone had expected, Simon, Iolas and their army arrived at the chilly cove miraculously undetected.
Simon gazed up in awe.
The Lornaldi warships were smooth and sharp, and low to the water.
They were clearly designed for optimum speed and evasive action through the seas, and each glorious ship had a flag atop the highest mast, a silver ship against a sea blue background, so bright and stunning that it suited the well-disciplined men of the Lornaldi Isles to a tee.
“Now,” said Iolas, clasping his frozen gloved hands as the men began to load onto the ships.
“I’d wager that if we sail through the night we can be at Giliah tomorrow. No, actually, I don’t wager. I guarantee it!”
He promised hopefully, smiling genuinely.
But it didnt last long, Iolas wiped the smile off his face and replaced it once again with focus,
“Well have to leave the horses hidden here, let’s load onto the flagship with the rest of the men.” Simon followed Iolas onto the biggest of the ships, a grand number complete with ornate finishes and a wooden mermaid with her arms gently folded on the front of the ship.
All of a sudden and without a sound, a group of barbarians burst out of the nearby forest and charged, bellowing out a collective warcry.
The last of the men to board the ship were overcome by the unexpected enemy and Iolas wasted no time in running down and off the ramp, charging towards his men.
Simon swore under his breath.
The party was large, but not an army, perhaps only a hundred warriors, slave scouts still searching the countryside for Aelford citizens to trap and enslave, so there were enough men still off board the ships to handle the group. Simon spotted one of the scourge with a torch in one had and an axe in the other, barreling towards the ship, undoubtedly planning to try and set it ablaze.
Drawing his own sword, he lept over the side of the ship, his feet hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
The culprit looked up at him and snarled, using his enemies momentary suprise, he lashed out with his weapon,
The heavy blade hit the barbarian in the chest, and with no body armor, it sliced through his torso like butter.
As if corporally separated from his own body, Simon watched in an adrenaline filled shock as the other man, gagged on his own blood, before he crumbled to the floor, staining the icy cavern floor with soon to be frozen blood.
The sword began to shake in his hands, as the newly appointed Lord realized he had just taken his first life.
"Its over for now Simon..."
Prince Iolas's voice suddenly snapped him from a daze of uncertain length, and he felt the sword being gently pulled from his grip.
He took in a deep gasp, snapping back into reality. Looking over he saw that the short lived battle was over, dead barbarians lay strewn about cavern, and that the princes tunic had been splattered in blood; but when he looked upon his face, he saw nothing but kindness and concern. Such a strange sight when projected from the eyes of a natural born snake.
"Come on, let's get onto the ship."
Iolas spoke calmly again, before guiding him on board.
"Are you alright?"
Iolas Asked after the shipped had been pushed away from the cove, the bigger mans bloody sword still in his hand.
"Im..." gulped Simon, his eyes once again falling down onto the body of the man that he had just killed, his first kill, as it grew more distant.
"I'll be fine I guess, I've just never had too..."
"I know. Your a good man, not a killer. You did what you must." Reassured Iolas, wiping the blade down on a nearby cloth before returning it.
Simon took the blade from him, almost weary of it.
Iolas realised that he hadn’t felt anything when he had cut down those men, and it had been so many years since his first kill that he was almost numb to battle.
“Simon?” Asked Iolas in a quiet voice. Simon raised an eyebrow, looking at the prince, as the manner of which his name had been called did not seem the type to be followed by a light conversation.
“What is it?” He asked in return.
This truce between them had calmed some of the hatred and anger in his heart over Iolas. Maybe he had changed, maybe he was a better person now. Simon didn’t know, but he did know he would find out soon.
“What did you feel, when you killed? Was there sadness? Anger? Do you wish you could take it back?”
Simon frowned, reflecting on the events of the small battle.
"I am not fighter, never have been. though all of this..."
Simon motioned up and down his large, muscular frame,
"... might suggest otherwise."
He sighed.
“While, I don’t feel guilty, or angry and I will do it again, I would gladly cut down a million men to keep Adelaide safe..."
He promised, turning his attention to the horizon as if looking for her.
"...but I do feel, unclean. Like what I did was wrong, not in general, because I know it is right, and just, but I feel as if it is wrong for me, as if I have wronged my own nature."
Iolas was humbled by the good heartedness of this man, and as every moment passed by, he knew he was finding less and less he could hate about him.
________________________
A/N: Hey Guys!
I'm a little saddened as it seems ever since the the consummation chapter of Adelaide and Iolas, it seems each time I post a new chapter I'm getting steadily 100 less readers than before. Did I go wrong somewhere? Any thoughts?
-QueenOfGeeks