Fading Peace II

The rest of the morning went by slowly for Kies. Nina left straight after she told him about the news. Kies spent the next hour or so laying on his bed trying to go back to sleep but was unable to do so. Kies gave up on it and got up from his bed and went to wash his face.

Taking into consideration that Nina's mother was still sick and still sleeping during this time, Kies crept halls carefully, making sure to make as little noise as possible on his way downstairs so that he wouldn't wake her. After washing his face, Kies went outside and sat down at the steps of the mansion, thinking about what to do next. After careful consideration of either practicing magic at the back or going to town to see what was happening for himself, he chose the latter.

When he arrived, he saw that the streets were lined with people on the sides who were watching the soldiers walk by. The soldiers all looked weary with many dragging their feet as they walked. There were some soldiers on horses, presumably the higher-ranked soldiers, and they all had bags under their eyes and lines on their faces. Though the rest of the soldiers' faces weren't visible since they had helmets on, Kies could tell that they also wore the same faces under their helmets.

Kies approached a person in the crowd that was watching from further in the back and tapped his arm.

"Hmm?" The man turned around and looked at Kies. He was shorter than Kies and looked like he was in his fifties or sixties, a very rare age to get to considering that all men are sent to fight once they are of age. Since he was this old, it meant that he survived various battles and had already served his years in the army.

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but may I ask what is going on here," Kies asked the man in a polite tone.

The old man let out a sad huff before opening his mouth. "I do not know what exactly happened either since I only just here myself. Just a few minutes ago, the gates opened and wave after waves of soldiers came in, all looking exhausted. It seems like the war is not going favorably for us. There is word going around that the Otanian army is right outside our walls right now."

"Have you seen them yourself?"

"No, the soldiers are refusing to let people outside and there is no way for us to get a clear look over these tall walls, but judging from how grim the soldiers' faces are, it is likely true." The old man left out another huff before saying something else. "Young man, you need to be careful. I have nothing to worry about because I am already old and crippled. You, on the other hand, will likely be forced into the army. It is very unfortunate, but it is how it is. If that happens, I pray that you watch out for yourself and that you won't die."

Kies set his eyes back on the soldiers that were marching back into the city. The old man was right. From the way that things are going, the king is likely to send the verdict for all healthy men to join the war.

***

"Are you out of your mind!? You want women and children to join the war too? This is unbelievable!" Rene stormed out of the meeting room and out of the Silver Halls. He found a bench next to a small pond and sat there.

He was furious. They had lost a little more than three-quarters of their army and the council wanted to replace them all with able men and slaves, taking away the majority of the kingdom's workforce. To keep up production and maintenance, the council decided to have women and children fill up those positions.

"Mr. Trevan!" A man with a sharp face and dressed in all black called out as he ran up to Rene.

Rene turned to see who it was. "Oh, it's only you Mr. Syrole."

Je Syrole was another member of the council and the only other one that shared the same sense of justice and ideals as him. However, they were very different in the way that they displayed it. Syrole was always respectful to others, even if they didn't treat him with any respect at all. He would always politely state his position and disagree in a way that wouldn't shut down the other side's opinion. Rene, on the other hand, was the opposite and almost always openly showed his disapproval with decisions, especially since the nobles were always being unfair and only chose to do things that benefited them.

"I know you're upset with the decision, but you can't just leave like that," said Syrole.

"The council can go burn in h*ell."

Syrole was shocked by Rene's choice of words but calmly told him, "Mr. Trevan, I agree with you that what the council is doing is a bit extreme, but you cannot say things like that."

"Those pigs dressed in fancy clothes that call themselves nobles do nothing but sit on top of their wealth, only doing things that would benefit themselves!" Rene sighed, taking a moment to calm down before saying, "It's because of them that this kingdom is going to ruins. The king is no better. He has the power to direct this kingdom towards the right path but chooses to follow along with what those nobles say."

Syrole sat down beside Rene and said nothing. The reason why the war was still going on despite the Otanian empire making proposals for a truce not once, but several times was because the nobles declined them. The war was helping them with their businesses and they didn't care about anything else.

Rene looked at the pond, watching the fish swim around with no purpose. They were trapped in that tiny place with nowhere to go, just as how Silverfield is trapped with no way to get out of their situation. "It's too late to take up their offer of truce now. Their army has us surrounded and they won't listen to us. If only the first prince had taken up the throne already. He is a competent leader unlike our king, but the nobles wouldn't let him take the throne, fearing that they would lose their puppet."

Syrole sat quietly, listening to Rene's harsh words while staring blankly at the fish in the pond. There was nothing to say. The kingdom was indeed on its way to ruins and there was nothing they could do about it.

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