The last kings and queens of Aesis

Inside the palace were all the kings and leaders of the independent nations and kingdoms. From the nation of Sparv came the younger sister of Queen Sasha, who had usurped power.

The Haraldrar were being led by Athelred the black, the strongest and current high king of all the Haraldrar. He had defeated all the other claimants to the shipwreck throne and was known to have defeated a massive divine polar bear in the northern Wastefell sea. He stood over two meters tall and was about the same size as an average grey skin.

Raymond Guicard was the current king of the Guiscards. This old man had traveled to a Phoenician world in his youth and was employed as a mercenary. He came back with vast wealth and ousted his uncle to become the king. Though he is already almost ninety and has a grey beard that reaches the ground, he still is extremely feared by his enemies and friends alike.

These mighty kings, lesser rulers, dukes, and princes from other nations were all present at the palace.

"Bahahahahaaaa," Athelred the black laughed and walked pompously to Rufus.

"Is this puny little king supposed to be Rufus? The same Rufus Farifax who supposedly ousted the Jacob family, defeated queen Sasha and even Berig Phokas of the Heian empire. He is around the same size as my youngest son!"

Athelred was the tallest man Rufus had ever seen. He wore black chainmail with large battleaxes on his belt. He wore bear fur like a cape with wolf pelts made into boots.

"I think you brute should sit down before I make you!"

Raymond Guiscard said and got up from his chair with a sword working as his cane.

"Old man, leave this war council to us whom this war concerns. You will die before we enter the first battle," Athelred the black said.

Raymond Guicard tapped his sword on the ground, and all the Guiscard warriors took out their weapons.

"I will have my dogs feast on your tongue for such bad manners," Raymond said.

"Like the same way you did to your eldest son when he tried to oust you," Athelred said back with a smile.

The Haraldrar husclars also prepared their swords and axes.

Before the two kings could fight against each other, an ice wall formed between them and sealed them inside.

"I think it is better if the old frog and the big idiot shouldn't be allowed to talk. If they are too stupid or senile to understand, we shouldn't fight each other," Queen Alexia, the new queen of the nation of Sparv, said to Rufus.

Athelred and Raymond broke the ice fairly quickly. Athelred with pure animal-like strength, Raymond cut the ice in two with his sword.

"These are the so-called kings and queens of Aesis, Rufus?"

Satifa entered the courtroom. Her witches were around her, along with the Saracen clan leaders. The room went silent fast, except for Athelred the black," Look at that. You are pretty."

The Haraldrar warlord walked toward the beautiful queen and stared at her cleavage while licking his lips.

"You know, as I have become the high king of all the Haraldrar, I have a magnificent building filled with women, but none are as high caliber as you. If you would join in, it could make it even grander," Athelred the black said.

"Is that so? I also know of a place where in Kairouan, my city, where you could join. It's a goats den, but to be honest, I would feel bad for that goats to force them to live with a lesser being than themselves," Queen Satfia said.

The remark got everyone laughing, along with Athelred's husclar warriors. In anger, Athelred raised his hand to strike at the queen.

Before the Haraldrar warlord could attack her, hundreds of locusts appeared, crashing through the window, mushed together, and forming a fist. The locust hit the warlord so hard that it sent him flying against the wall.

Locusts started to crawl from every hole with people accidentally stepping on them. When someone stepped on a single locust, it turned to sand but instantly reformed back into a locust. The air became heavy as the divine aura of the queen, felt like it sapped the air. She walked to the kings and queens of the alliance.

"Let me be clear. I am here to help you, not to serve you. You Aesians need us, the Saracens, so I would show the needed respect and courtesy towards my people and me," the queen said and threatened the lords.

Everyone felt great pain, as the tremendous divine pressure of the queen made it feel like the air was being dragged out of everyone's lungs. Rufus then walked beside the queen and placed his hand on the queen's shoulder.

"Please, queen Satifa. Forgive them, for they do not know what they do," Rufus said.

Queen pulled her divine aura in and gave everyone a breather. All the kings and queens saw that Rufus was not harmed or affected by the queen's divinity. It was clear that Rufus was almost or already on the same level as the queen in terms of power.

With both Rufus and the queen on their side, many now thought they finally had a chance.

~~

A massive map of the Aesis world was on the ground. On it was labeled the different places that were already taken by the empire or had sworn fealty to him. The nation of Brahm had already without a fight, turned to the side of the emperor and swore fealty to him. There was an estimated 250 000 soldiers, with around 50 000 allied troops on the opposing side.

"How many soldiers do we have in total?" Rufus asked.

"Maybe 150 000 at best," Doreen explained.

The stats were not positive. The room was quiet until a large giant knight came through the door.

"That's a lot of soldiers," Athelred said.

"It's a surprise the idiot can count. But the big idiot is right to fear. What are the chances of winning? I haven't lived this long of doing something stupid," Raymond said back.

"Then why are you here?" queen Alexia asked in a disgruntled tone.

"To see my odds of course. I am a mercenary and I never took part in wars where I thought the odds were not heavily in my favor," Raymond laughed.

"I do not care about the numbers they have. We will fight against them, with or without you!" the giant knight said.

"Who is that?" Rufus whispered to Doreen.

"I am Bertrand du Guesclin, leader of the titan knights of the kingdom of Cassia. After the emperor slew our king, we have been fleeing from the men of the empire. We heard that a final alliance was forming and we wish to join in," the titan knight said.

"And what do you expect your puny force of knights may accomplish?" Raymond questioned him.

"I rather die trying than fail in my duty to the Cassian royal lineage. We will not rest until a Geoffroi Cassian is back on the throne," Bertrand said.

"Where then is this Geoffroi king?" Raymond laughed.

Then the tall titan knight pointed at his leg. Behind it was a shy young boy, barely even four years old.

"That little twerp is to be the next king of Cassia?!" Raymond laughed in turn.

"For one so small, I would keep my mouth shut!" Bertrand said and looked down at the old king.

"Bertrand...Calm down," a knight said wearing wooden armor that looked like it had been burnt.

This knight was a golden oaken knight, or a disgraced one, then better known as a deadwood knight.

"And who might you be?!" Raymond asked this knight.

"I am Jacques of the nation of Elva. After our defeat, the emperor demanded the golden oaks submit to him, but they refused, so he ordered them all to be burnt down. My niece, the last king of the nation of Elva, protested, but for this, he was hanged by prince Segeric from a burning golden oak. I am the last one to have a claim on the Elvan throne, and I tend to take what is rightly mine," Jacques informed.

These two knights had lost their homes when the empire invaded their countries. These were the last remnants of resistance against the emperor and his soldiers. They had traveled far across the ocean or the horrid Wastefell sea.

"I see people who now have a better chance of fighting against the empire, than us when we did. Both of us, the Cassians, and the Elvans didn't cooperate. Here I see many great warriors, soldiers, and kings, arguing and hesitating about what they should do, but for me, it's simple. If I had had these odds when fighting the emperor, I would have been more than happy to have taken the plunge," Bertrand explained.

"We took it with worse odds," Jacques explained.