Restoring the Kingdom (1)

Two days had gone by peacefully once the first attack was repelled.

While I had been wary of any followups from the invasion force since I was sure that I had slain the son of some major chief during that fight, I found myself blessed with quite the development I hadn't seen in the short-term of the war.

The Saxons, despite holding a large chunk of territories after months of waging wars against the former counties ruling there, had failed to secure an alliance with the impressive kingdom sited in the north.

The Kingdom of the Lothian, known to many Latin students as the Realm of the Picts, was considered the proper predecessor of Scotland.

Despite the lack of proper unity to create a full-fledged nation that could have easily swept the rest of England under its control, the country was still strong enough to poise some troubles to the invading force.

The barbarians knew this, in fact my strong suspicions of a war having erupted in the mean time was confirmed by the news coming from the eastern coast as those gave details about numerous skirmishes having broken out between the two great forces.

Very good, but also very bad as it meant that if the Saxons lost to the Lothians, I was going to deal with the fact I would have to face someone far angrier and bigger to get the coastal zones back under control.

So I was pressed on planning things quickly and without wasting too much time in unimportant activities.

With the army still intact and ready to go for other battles, I decided that the main priority was to get the free territories consolidated under the direct control of Londinium.

There was no way I was going to try my hands at subjugating beyond the petty kingdoms in the area, knowing full well that some of the other claimants were still too difficult to change right now.

Kent was dealing with the invasion as a frontline region just like Londinium, but it had some support from the Roman presence in Normandy which made an invasion from my part not only unsuccessful but also quick to backfire since 'Rome' backed them.

The Welsh countries were embroiled in as much of a civil war as was Dumnonia.

Speaking of this last country, I had heard some unpleasant news about Vortigern having gone as far as tap in dark magic. Nothing concrete but certainly worrying if he decided to harass other nations while fighting against Arthur.

Still, I didn't stay idle in those few days and I decided to start with some diplomacy.

Messengers were dispatched quickly the moment the morning of the day after the battle had struck, their objectives clear to them as they traveled all over to the various settlements located in the west of the city.

I had concluded that the biggest issue to deal would have been the pseudo-aristocracy that had taken over some of the major towns, as I knew that they would bargain for more rewards instead of completely submitting to my rule out of respect.

Yet I was keen to mind the fact that minor villages were still lacking a proper guide to follow in this chaotic period, and the victory we had achieved would spread out faster with the arrival of the messengers in these places.

My latter assumption was proven correct when the numerous young men and, surprisingly enough considering the age I was now living in, women had decided to flock at the opportunity of fresh and highly-paid jobs here in Londinium when they followed back some of the messengers.

They were coming from the nearby villages, thus the travel-time by foot ended up being a mere trip of some hours to reach the settlements and back in most of the instances.

Some of the couriers were still away from completing their works, but I was hopeful that they would end up bringing the same degree of success as the one I was assisting back there.

Many were orphans, but a large majority was made by people that wanted to be close to taste some of the glorious success that was now present within the capital of the region.

I had to be careful in properly dividing them in groups, knowing that I couldn't just conscript them all in the army and that there were plenty of positions that could be filled with the proper people.

The women ended up splitting between working as 'assistants' to the soup kitchens in the city and joining the small merchants guild in the city.

With the threat of war being an ever-present thing, many influential merchants had left the city in the last few decades, and only a handful of people had remained to make up the current guild.

When the leader was summoned to talk about this matter, he had gone ecstatic over the opportunity of expanding the group once again, but he was keen enough to listen up to my advice over teaching their new recruits instead of sending them to work already as they lacked the experience and the knowledge to do a good one.

The men ended up splitting in more groups.

Some joined the army much to Commander Marcus' delight, others found themselves attracted by the mysteriousness of the Magus Guild, and the remaining few were sent to pursue a religious career.

There was a minority that decided to try out their luck in the Builders Guild, bolstering the already-strong group with a dozen of recruits.

Speaking of building stuff, my plans didn't just settle for diplomacy and military, but also for inward expansion and some effort to address some concerning economic problems.

Bandits were still a dreadful problem that was crippling the resources coming from the nearby farms.

With some of the workers having retreated back to their old properties, something unique had happened when I listened to the most recent case of assault.

These farmers were allowed to bring with them their swords as they made return to their homes, granting them the chances of defending themselves in case of ambushes.

And it did happen as suspected.

Thieves, murderers and much worse had decided to prepare some ambushes all over the territory and render the passage either limited by a toll or outright impossible for anyone that wasn't in their group.

Fairly annoying, yet the thing that truly caught me off-guard was how some of the soldiers had decided to react.

Having been present to the briefings detailing the battleplan that had been meant to the battle while also understanding the importance of keeping an eye out for any suspicious situations, all of them managed to survive the encounters they had been subjected to, sometime even killing the troublemakers in the process.

It was this repeating case that led me to understand that the best way to counter this criminals… was by having some local soldiers actively pursuing them.

They would work outside of the standard rules of the army, their job fitting best with what modern police was as they would directly hunt down any scum tainting the land.

I was very careful to present this idea to Marcus, but the men seemed to accept the logic behind splitting this group away from the army as a whole.

It would still take some time to make sure the task force was ready to go through the long-term plan I had been styling for some time, but I was sure that something impressive could be done with patience and logical thinking.

Yet the hard-work was far from over. In fact, this was just the beginning.

Taxation had to be reworked, simplified, and focused on the idea of fixing the rates to the income of the different social classes.

The Church received an exemption as I had promised, while the rest of the people was granted relief in the form of the 'low' taxes I had applied to the set of laws I was progressively building up from scratch.

Yes, I had some ideas from various constitutions I had studied in the past few years and I did implement a mix of important rules coming from some of those, but the basis of the law all came from my mind alone.

The Magna Carta was still a far sight and I didn't need to have some nobility trying to impose their own will to veto my reforms.

The idea of a parliament floated around for some time, but I ultimately decided to postpone the creation of one because of how cumbersome things would get if I had also to reform current politics.

It was planned, but I just couldn't afford to spend too much effort into it with how many issues I still had to deal with.

The next subject was the agricultural sector as a whole.

With farmers returning home to make sure their cultivations and livestock hadn't been lost because of lack of activity at their property, I decided to give them some suggestions in making their land's productivity increase with modern means.

I explained them in a reunion I had with the farmers by the gates of Londinium how Crop rotation and selective breeding worked, and how those were going to improve the quality and quantity of their products.

Some were skeptical about my explanation, but they seemed to accept my words as true just by my important title.

It was annoying, but at least I was able to get half of the British Agricultural Revolution going several centuries early on.

Finally, the last topic for these turbulent days was the modernization of the current weaponry the army could afford to get.

Lances, swords, and pikes weren't going to be enough with the needs for any plans for a quick conquest of the British Isles and I sure knew how to bring up a proper advantage to my current military force.

I needed guns, and while I was aware that I wasn't going to get any assault rifles anytime soon, I could still start trying out some little experiments before actually surrendering this idea to a latter time.

Reaching out for a group of blacksmiths and Magi, I decided to try with something I felt incredibly unsure of replicate with what little techniques was available to them to create things from metal.

I didn't have the resources to afford the construction of cannons, this reality settling the moment I had noticed how lacking the availability of bronze and other metals that could be used to best satisfy the requirements to built a full-fledged artillery division.

Which is why, instead of lamenting the inability to have loud cannons to aid my army, I decided to shift my attention to something far crazier but surprisingly easier to accomplish with the means allowed by the world's current understanding of metal-working.

Instead of giving out the instructions of the final product, I decided to divide the squad in the completion of various tasks, each being essential for the realization of the grandiose and incredibly devious plan I had concocted.

It was more because the individual works were difficult already for the group, and I had dreaded at what kind of madness would have come out from a full explanation.

It took them a full day to get all their objectives completed and the pieces well-inserted together to create… my victory ace.

It was early in the morning of the second day that I decided to give a proper run of the little thing that was now resting by my back thanks to some rope, and I had called Marcus and some of his trusted men to assist at the presentation of the gun.

The Commander was confused as to how a stick made with iron and wood would have been able to kill anyone without something to stab people with and… I didn't answer to that.

I merely grinned, while putting on the rudimentary scope I had built for this occasion.

Some targets, empty sacks filled with dirt and mud, had been set several meters away from where we were standing, the hill I had picked being far enough from the city's ear-sight as I began the test.

Taking aim, I let my chest tense up while my lungs carefully regulated my breathing as I took the first shot.

Bang.

Then the second.

Bang.

Then the-

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang-

Ka-chink!

The cartridge properly left its former location, and I took it in my right hand as I stared at the results.

The sacks had been punctured right where I had aimed, leaving me with a happy smile while I turned back to the soldiers and… they looked back at me with a shocked look.

"What the fuck was that?!" Marcus barked in utter surprise, his tone a mix of minor panic and giddiness at the resulting effects of my test.

I stared down at the little thing that was going to be mine from now on and I nodded.

"This is the future of war, Marcus," I hummed quietly while putting the rifle back by my shoulders. "And it will be the first step of many to see a full unification."

"Y-your majesty, that was… that was absurd. What is the name of such a powerful artifact?" One of the soldiers inquired in utter awe.

I blinked, looking again at the targets as dirt continued to leave through the holes that the sacks were now sporting.

"This is a rifle," I finally answered calmly.

"This could change everything, Kingly," The leader admitted with barely-veiled interest. "If we equip this to our bowmen they will-"

"Be left without much of a thing to use considering how 'expensive' this thing is," I concluded with a sad sigh. "The current reserves of the resources needed to produce this weapon are already low as they are, and we can't yet mass-produce them with how slow-paced the blacksmiths are with some of the objects contained within it."

A frown appeared on the older man's face and then he groaned. "You mean to tell me that you got us to see you use your newest toy, Kingly? That can save some men's lives-"

"And it will," I interjected with an annoyed huff, "But it will not be through multiple of those… but rather specialists that can use the rifles in the best manner possible. Which is why I will call a competition among archers and grant ten of these guns to the winners."

His eyes glinted realization at my explanation. "You want to give those to the men that are best capable of using them… by having archers prove who is their best bunch."

I nodded and sighed. "Still, I think it will take much more to truly unify the isles," I admitted quietly. "Rifles can do so much-"

"And that is why there are swords to use, Kingly," Marcus piped in eagerly, almost grinning for some strange reason. "Why, I think that now we can anticipate today's lesson with… a little run back to the castle."

I frowned a little at his words, but then I noticed the commander giving a knowing look at his men and then back at me…

I realized far too quickly what he was talking about and I started to bolt the moment they all took a step towards me.

Legs rushing fiercely away from my chasers, I felt my lungs burn up a little at the marathon I had to go through.

All the while listening to the chuckles coming right behind me as I continued to run towards the castle's gates.

My God, I'm hating this bastard a lot!

After concluding this 'little exercise' with Marcus and returning back to my room to store the rifle and the used cartridge in one of the unused chests, I proceeded to go right to enjoy some pleasant dinner.

Reaching the large dining hall, I was greeted by several nobles that had already taken seat by the large table as I walked right up to where my chair was.

Taking a calm seat near to where Felicianus was, I started to enjoy some of the warm and delicious meal that one of the servants had prepared for me.

I was barely paying attention at the words being given by the bishop as he decided to go again with retelling how things have been going for the Church up until now, something that had become quite a habit for the leader of Christianity here in Londinium.

May it be lunch or dinner, may it be things that I was already aware about or new stuff, the man would giddily engage in quite the lengthy narration about what had happened that very day.

Altuos had given me a couple of advices to deal with this, stating that keeping a calm mind and merely ignore him would have been more than enough to avoid killing my brain with that boring instances while also dodging any unpleasant developments from replying badly to the bishop.

Yet as I paused mid-bite at about half the content of my plate, I noticed that someone was actually absent.

I turned to the unoccupied chair that was usually taken by Altuos and… blinked.

The elder would usually be there at this point, and if he had something keeping him busy he would have sent some message back to me about skipping the meal.

But no one had told me about any known delays from the head of the Magus Guild.

I blinked, perplexity bubbling deeply in my chest as I evaluated any issues that could have gotten the old man stuck with some assignments, perhaps something that made him unable to contact people for some time.

Still, how odd.

I finished lunch quietly and, once I was done with my meal, I proceeded to bid a good day to Felicianus, the Church's representative seemingly accepting my quick departure as I quickly went to see where Altuos could have been at that very moment.

I went around the quarters where the Magi lived, greeting a few of them as they calmly went through with their usual tasks while I walked right where the elder's office was.

The room was silent, there was no one inside and… that was starting to get me a little bit worried.

My search stretched all over the castle as I tried to check in all rooms where the old man could have been, wandering around mostly-aimlessly as I tried to find the elusive Magus.

About twenty minutes later, I found myself returning back on my steps, checking back for a couple more times the places I had already looked by and… I was confused.

This was the first time I had to deal with the elder disappearing so suddenly as he would usually be around in places where other people are crowding by… or at least somewhere in the castle.

I took a moment to rest for a moment, my legs still trying to recover from the unfair marathon I had to go through and I started to notice that a group of guards patrolling the castle were chuckling about something.

It wasn't the first time during my search that I saw some amused people walking around… but this situation was starting to spread around far too much with people chuckling and giggling about something.

Was I missing something or perhaps it was just a massive coincidence?

I merely shrugged to myself as I continued to look around for any clues where Altuos might have gone, finding this new situation less important considering that the elder going missing was far more important than any fun scenes.

It was about after ten more minutes of pacing in the halls that I finally heard one of the amused guards walking around mutter something.

"To think that… Lord Altuos could be so grandfatherly," The young-looking fellow said slowly to his older teammate, the second guard nodding while his lips twitched in what seemed to be an effort to keep his smile down.

I stopped and glanced at the two.

"Excuse me, you two," I mused quietly, getting both soldiers to pause and give me a proper salute the moment they noticed whom had stopped them.

"Y-Your Majesty, we didn't see you and-"

"There's no need to apologize," I interjected quickly, a serious glint filtering in my voice and drawing them to a tense posture. "You two were talking about Lord Altuos, and I wish to know where he is right now."

The two shared a strange look and then the oldest gulped nervously as the youngest continued.

"W-We can tell you where he is right now… but we feel like you should see by yourself what he's doing."

"My fellow guard is just saying that it would be 'funnier' if you checked on your own," The oldest reiterated appeasingly. "You will find him where the white-haired woman is."

I frowned at the confusing discussion, trying to make sense about what I've just heard but… I shrugged and, after saluting the guards, I marched right where Myasviel's room was.

More giggles and chuckles equaled to more confusion and suspicions about what was going on in that room and I prepared myself to brace for the worst scenario possible.

The path to reach the place was fairly short, but the tension was palpable just as I took the final steps towards the door.

There were two guards standing there as usual, but they looked fairly giddy about something as one of them was glancing inside the room with an amused look.

I blinked as I moved stealthily right to where these two were, avoiding getting caught by their sight as I positioned myself for some little fright.

"He-hem?"

The fake cough trick worked masterfully, both jumping in surprise as their panicking stares were now at me. Color drained from their faces as they saluted me stiffily.

"Y-Your Highness- We didn't mean to-"

"At ease, both of you," I interrupted with a groan. I was seriously starting to hate having to salute everyone here so formally and dully.

I was the king, yes, but that didn't mean that I had to be tortured like this so frequently!

Was this how Emperor Palpatine felt while going through that escalator scene back in that Robot Chicken's episode?

"Okay, what is going on inside there?" I inquired with an annoyed tone, both looking fairly nervous and the two merely stared at me in silence.

Like, they stopped working and for a moment I thought that I scared them to death.

Barely credible as a possibility, but it was more me being far too upset about everything to even try and get them to speak properly.

Instead of waiting for them to recover, I merely walked by the opening of the door and peeked inside.

The room was small, but modest enough to accommodate a good bed, a small chair by the bedside and some shelves by one of the walls.

I spotted Altuos sitting in the lone chair, in his lap a little book that he was reading out-loud while glancing at the young woman stuck in her bed.

The white-haired young woman had a little piece of cloth pressed by her forehead, her red eyes glancing fixedly at the old man as he continued to talk to her.

It took me a couple of seconds of listening to his words to understand that he was telling her… a fairy tale?

Pondering over his familiar description, I felt more and more drawn to the source of this tale and then I realized that he was narrating the 'Cicada and the Ant' tale, coming close to conclude the fable.

I waited patiently, listening as he went along with the last words of the tale and giving out the moral of the tale.

I was indeed confused by the sight, but I could easily deduce that it had to do with the fact that Mya looked to be fairly sick from where I was looking by.

Just as I thought how to properly enter in that simply endearing scene, my attention was caught by two red orbs now staring at me with a hint of curiosity and surprise.

"H-Hello," The soft voice of the woman emerged from the covers, getting a confused frown from the elder before I decided to reply back.

"Hello there, Myasviel," I responded calmly, this time causing Altuos to snap his sight back at me with utter surprise.

"Y-Your Majesty-"

"Don't stand up," I interrupted quietly as I took a step inside. "I suppose that's what got you busy to miss lunch."

His eyes widened even more. "D-Did I truly forget? I guess I lost my perception of time by-" He stopped, glancing at the childishly-confused look coming from the white-haired girl. "I decided to spend some time watching over Myasviel since she is currently dealing with a light fever."

Aren't fevers meant to be deadly in this period of time?

I blinked at the explanation. "I understand and… I guess that Mya is appreciating your tale-telling."

The young woman giggled at my comment and gave a solid nod through her blankets, ignoring the little red flush appearing on the man's face.

"I-I was just-"

"How about you go and get yourself a meal while I take over from here?" I inquired calmly, looking at the curiosity coming off from the white-haired magician's eyes. "I have some of my own fairy tales I can spare if needed."

Her eyes lit up at the mentioning of new stories and she gave a quick nod at my direction.

The elder frowned at my proposal, but nodded himself as he decided to trust me with this burden.

"I suppose I can get some meal prepared and-" He paused for a moment as he stood up and moved towards the entrance, stopping right in front of me. "Your Majesty, your magecraft lesson is still at the same time."

"In an hour or so, I know that," I added with a smile. "I will not miss it."

He smiled back before bidding a good day to both me and the feverish young woman, leaving me to deal with Mya.

I slowly walked inside the room, glancing at the now empty chair for some time before actually sitting on it and glance back at the magician.

The young woman was quietly humming in her warm covers, her eyes looking a little unfocused for a moment, causing me to worry a little about her conditions.

"Is everything alright, Mya?"

She blinked, focus slowly returning in her rubies as she glanced to the side where I was with a small smile.

"Just a little tired," The woman admitted quietly. "Is it… normal that it feels so hot there?"

"You need to sweat a little to get your body to react to your fever," I replied to her kindly. "But if it's too much, I can move one of the blankets away."

The white-haired girl pondered over my comment, seemingly giving some weight about my words before shaking her head negatively.

"I'm fine and..." Her smile widened. "Can you tell me a fairy tale?"

I gave her a small snort and I started to slowly narrate the story of Cinderella to her. It was novelty for her, especially since the closest thing to modern fables were the one written by Greek-Latin writers and those were meant to just teach lessons of life.

Cinderella and others were actually meant to just bring awe and relief to the listener, something that Mya much needed now that she was sick and in need of some comfort.

It was truly a strange scene for sure, but the young woman was thoroughly enjoying the narration of Snow White and also Red Riding Hood.

Yet it was as I concluded this last story that I found myself looking at her oddly, curious about what kind of secrets she was still holding from us all.

"Can I ask you something, Mya?" The question came out of a flimsy thought, having little to truly ask specifically to the young woman, but the white-haired lady blinked and nodded.

"Yes?" Her voice was frail, but she looked better than a couple of minutes earlier.

Her face was now a healthier color, or at least how it did look back when I captured her and… her eyes were now showing more energy than before.

"Are you happy?"

…

"Uhm?"

"I mean, ever since you were brought there, do you feel happy about the fact that-"

"You are nice," She interrupted quietly but with a kind voice, forcing me to silence for some moments.

"I didn't mean that-"

"Sir Altuos said that I was your prisoner," The young woman continued, ignoring my words. "But I always thought that being imprisoned was bad… yet this is nice. This isn't as bad as a couple of days ago and… that means you are nice too, right?"

That's just horrible.

I gulped down some nervousness, yet the sharp sensation coming from my chest at how distressing her words were was starting to get quite difficult to endure without showing some flinching from my part.

No one should be glad to be put in this situation. Nobody should just be happy in being keep stuck in a single room.

"Is that… so?" I poked once more, drowning a little uneasiness at the topic. "Are you truly happy?"

"I am," The young woman replied earnestly, a giggle following up. "In fact, I think being a prisoner was the best thing I could have hoped for."

This is so messed up...

"No one should be glad to be a prisoner, Mya," I retorted softly. "Bad people become prisoners and… the only reason you are here is because I think you weren't as bad to be killed."

She blinked, keeping quiet for a couple of moments and then… she smiled.

"I'm glad that you didn't hurt me then," The girl eagerly said, seemingly unaware of the horror growing on my face. "I suppose that I can be considered a 'bad person' too if it doesn't mean getting hurt."

By God, she was… so intelligent and so naive. How the fuck I'm supposed to brave through this?

I wasn't prepared to face this kind of conversation so suddenly, and yet I was.

"Mya," I pressed on with some worried tone. "You are not a bad person."

"But I'm a prisoner, right?" She poked back. "So I'm also a bad person."

I closed my eyes, taking a moment to calm down a little at that unpleasant development.

"Usually, people that are prisoners are also bad," I returned with a patient tone. "But you aren't bad."

She blinked, then she nodded.

"That's nice, I suppose."

"Nobody is going to hurt you," I continued with a calm voice, or at least I felt it being calm. Perhaps I was starting to crack a little, but I deluded myself of being fine with this circumstance.

I had dealt with many things in my life, but to face a victim of slavery and abuse? This was a novelty I wasn't sure how to move around without pressing any wrong buttons.

I think I've already messed up here and there… but I felt the need to continue.

"What they did to you was bad."

My statement got her to shuffle a little in her bed, her eyes gaining more focus onto me.

"But why was that bad?"

...What?

"It wasn't right," I replied quickly. "It wasn't fair."

"But is the world supposed to be wrong and unfair?" Mya inquired softly, almost certain of the answer.

And I was brought to a state of shocked silence.

This just wasn't the usual kind of conversations I was capable of going through without doubting about morality itself.

The world was flawed, there was no doubt about it, but I always held the belief that things couldn't just stumble so badly.

And I was proven wrong. Again.

But this time, I didn't fell on my butt. I didn't falter too much.

"Yes," I admitted with a sad tone. "But that doesn't mean that people can't try to make it right and fair."

She blinked, surprise swelling in her orbs. "Really?"

I nodded. "I want to make the world a nicer place, Mya," I continued with a smile. "That is why, when I looked at you that day… I saw a reason to brace forward."

"Brace… forward?"

"I saw hope. A desperate glint that was trying to hold against that sea of sadness," I replied calmly. "Everyone should be happy. Or at least those that wish for a peaceful life."

"I… deserve happiness too?" Something had changed in her tone, something had broken out in those words as she asked this.

"Yes. Yes, you do."

…

She closed her eyes, her smile widening even more and the young woman displayed the brightest smile possible.

"That's really nice to know," Mya stated happily. "Then I hope you will be happy yourself too."

I nodded at her, yet I didn't continue from there as I slowly stood up from my chair and… glanced at the door.

"Soon I will have my lesson with Altuos and," I glanced down at her with a sad smile. "I will see that some medic look at your sickness. I want you to recover."

The girl nodded with an eager look on her face. "Now, I want that too myself."

My smile twitched happily as I took a step towards the entrance, but then I stopped again.

"There is a nice garden here in the castle," I pointed out lightly. "I suppose you could visit it once you are healthy again."

I looked back at her and she looked at me with some awe. "Is it pretty?"

"One of the prettiest," I concluded with a genuine nod, finally moving by the door and opening it. "I hope you stay well from now on, Mya."

She giggled as I closed the door behind me, leaving the room with a saddened look.

I didn't move from the door, standing for a couple of seconds to stare distractedly away as I thought about her words and-

"Y-Your Majesty," Someone nervously called to the side and… the guards.

The two were now looking at me with some concern, clearly distressed by the posture I had assumed.

"I want one of you two to go and bring a healer to check on the girl's conditions," I ordered quietly. "She is sick and requires medical assistance."

Both tensed at the demand, but none moved at my words.

"Is- Is that prudent to-"

"I will not ask again," I interjected cooly. "She will have a healer to care for her illness."

They both nodded at the stern voice leaving my lips, and the bulkier decided to rush away as to find a free healer to bring to the room.

I walked away once he was out of my sight, my attention moving elsewhere and away from the current reality as I ended up thinking about that odd conversation.

It was the unnerving and distressing kind of odd, but also the enlightening and impressive one too.

I was confused, yet now I had some resolution over everything.

I thought about the Saxons, I thought about how many other people had to have been turned in slaves to be used in warfare or worse.

Yet I was so sure of one thing after this discussion.

Now I had a good personal reason to wage war against these bastards.