Chapter 1013: Icethorne under siege (2)

Chapter 1013: Chapter 1013: Icethorne under siege (2)

Princess Avira with her hair tied up in a high rise ponytail gazed at the men and women trailing after General Jared.

Apart from Baron Glorfile she didn’t recognise anyone else but even if she did "is that it?" she couldn’t help but ask just as Jared did.

"Afraid so Princess Avira, you’re brother Randolph refused to send any aid, punishing those who dared to do so with death. Apart from myself, the 5000 men and women sheltering in the barracks and those standing by my side right now is all we could muster." Baron Glorfile stepped forward, his heading bowing low as if admitting fault.

"He really did refuse any and all manner of aid?" Avira struggled to understand the mindset of her eldest brother, did he fear Duke Runak so much that he was willing to sacrifice Icethorne.

"Yes but despite that we’ve managed to scrounge up some supplies and at least some manpower. although it may not be to the extent you hoped for we are here nonetheless." Baron Glorfile bowed his head even lower followed by Ovaria, Anya and the B-ranks following them.

""By your will."" They all said at once, placing their lives in Princess Avira’s hands, at least those sent by the neutral nobles did. Cavalish and his ilk did not bow and chose to stand a little apart from Glorfile and the others. Avira noticed this and turned her gaze towards Cavalish who was their representative.

"You are?" She already had some idea, but she needed confirmation.

"Greeting Princess Avira, you can call me Cavalish and like those standing beside me and over half the soldiers stationed in the barracks below we serve Prince Sedrick. He vehemently disagrees with Crown prince Randolph’s position on Icethorne and has thus at great risk to himself sent a battalion to aid the Duke in his war efforts, Icethorne cannot be allowed to fall." Cavalish spoke with great gravitas stating his master’s view clearly and without personal amendment.

"Sedrick? He actually sent forces to help the Duke and I?" Avira repeatedly blinked her eyes, startled by the information. For as long as she was aware her 2nd brother was the epitome of evil, the hallmark for everything that was wrong with Northrend. Her parents always bemoaned his actions, taking him as a cautionary tale yet now in her darkest hour it was not the poster child Randolph delivering wood to her in the dead of winter but rather the dreaded black sheep....was the sky about to fall and be replaced with the earth?....nothing made sense.

"Yes, while my Master may not see eye to eye with the Duke on some things there is something that they can both agree on."

"Oh and that is?" Avira had never understood her second brother, she never wanted to but now given the current political climate perhaps she should try.

"That for the prosperity of Northrend Randolph must fall!" Cavalish’s voice boomed within the war room; there was no fear or trepidation as he announced what was basically treason.

"....." Avira silently eyed Cavalish from head to toe, weighing the depths of his words against his bearing. Randolph was the crown prince, in control of most of the Empire with nearly limitless support...he held all the cards, taking him down would be no easy task.

She had the right of the throne as dictated by their father, but most people either weren’t aware of that or wilfully ignored it, her only support was Duke Runak who just happened to find himself stuck in a war of such magnitude that it was unlikely he’d manage to survive it.

In the beginning she had hope, she travelled across the external regions and met with the diplomats and leaders of nations, tribes and enclaves but too few were willing to aid them against the liberation alliance in fact she’d count herself lucky if they simply didn’t add to their current troubles. The outlook for Icethorne and then ultimately herself was bleak to say the least.

But if Prince Sedrick was willing to align himself with her and Duke Runak at least in a temporary alliance perhaps there’d be a chance to flip the board, to even out the scales between them.

Part of her was jumping in joy, hope greeted her at the end of a long tunnel but another part of her was suspicious, Sedrick couldn’t be trusted, he was a well-known snake who was ankle deep in the Empire’s darkest machinations....it would be akin to quenching her thirst with a poisoned chalice and with a chalice that may not even be more than a thimble in size.

What were they going to do with a measly hodpodge of 5000 soldiers. This wasn’t a mere passing dispute this was a war of annihilation and conquest, 5000 even 10,000 or 20,000 would be nothing in the face of the hellscape currently breathing down their necks.

While Avira processed Cavalish’s words and their meaning the man carried on, hoping to convince the young woman that her brother was an ally....her only true ally in this fight.

"Crown Prince Randolph murdered his parents and enacted a violent coup, crimes punishable only by death. He fears the influence of my Master and the old noble families but more than them he is terrified of you Princess Avira and the great War Marshall who backs you." He broke into a well thought out and planned sermon, preaching gospel to those willing to listen.

"Duke Oscar Runak, Northrend’s mightiest soldier, the man who rules and conquers the dreaded inner regions of the Glacial mountains. A pillar of the Empire’s solidarity, a beacon, a hope....without him and without Icethorne, Northrend will crumble and become nothing more than a carcass to fill the bellies of the awaiting maws on our borders." He primarily alluded to the Khaganate of Lucresia given that it was the most powerful nation within their vicinity but the two kingdoms to their direct west and even several of the smaller merchant nations to the south, all of whom would like nothing more than to see the once mighty Empire crumble to dust.

"Hahahahahaha I’ve been put on some pedestals throughout my career but never one so high that Northrend itself would fall without my presence. Prince Sedrick certainly has a way with words." Moments after Cavalish finished his speech a loud booming voice spread throughout the war room and even the entire palace.

A large man with a massive dark sword attached to his back then walked in with two women on his flanks, one being larger than even him and another adorned in tight fitting clothes that did nothing to obscure her devilish figure.

"War Marshall!" All those of the War Ursa Battalion present in the war room bowed their heads in salute, Avira was no different, she may be a Princess but she was a powerless one thus she quickly chose to follow suit so as to avoid being nothing more than a useless burden.

Cavalish immediately tried to raise his head and greet the man he’d just been singing praises for but strangely he was unable to, an immovable pressure kept him in place, wrapping around his body and in particularly his neck.

’Duke Runak....he’s even more imposing than I expected.’ He didn’t resist the pressure instead allowed it to wash over him and pass through him. He had no intentions in fighting against the man, he was here to help and broker an alliance not fight.

"Hmph at least you’re not simply spouting nonsense, continue your speech I’d very much like to hear how integral I am to Northrend’s prosperity." Duke Runak removed the pressure he placed on Cavalish and his cohorts, took a seat and readied himself to listen to the rest of his bold claim.

The two women who entered alongside him were General Jessica and General Katrina; the latter was slightly leaning against the former for support as she limped to a nearby chair where Avira quickly moved to inspect the extent of her injury.

Her right thigh bore a scar, a wound that kept being reopened whenever it was healed, her blood bubbling and fizzing as though it was corrosive yet Katrina didn’t let out a single moan.

"I need Broga, only he can remedy a wound like this." Broga was Icethorne and the War Ursa Battalion’s eminent healer, an old bastard who’d been around since before even Katrina herself joined the military.

"I’ll fetch him right away." Said Avira, tears threatening to drip from her eyes.

"Little V take this he won’t come unless you have one of my identifiers" Duke Runak handed Avira a token with his namesake before looking back at Cavalish.

"Start talking."

And talk he did, Cavalish as if blind to everyone else in the room spoke at length of Duke Runak’s importance and loyalty to the throne while also haemorrhaging Randolph’s namesake and praising both his Master and Princess Avira. But basically what it boiled down to was.

"You are a deterrent and Icethorne is a font of trade, the moment either is lost the Empire is sure to crumble away and perhaps never recover." The other nations feared Duke Runak not just for his personal strength but his ability as a commander, no one was his match in the field of war.

What was worse this man with unlimited power was not constrained by the crown but empowered by it. During times of war the Duke of Icethorne, and the War Marshall of the War Ursa Battalion had the power to forcibly enlist every soldier in the Empire to repel invasion, alas such an invocation could only take place within Northrend’s sapient lands it did little for the Glacial mountains thus resulting in the Duchy’s current dire straits.

Without the assurance of the royal family, the rock that was the Emperor the Empire relied heavily on Duke Runak’s prestige to deter the wolves and his Duchy to ensure vibrant trade and commerce throughout the land, he was both a font of military and economic strength.

Without access to the Glacial mountains Northrend would have long since devolved into the state of an average Kingdom and without the War Ursa Battalion and Duke Runak the Khaganate of Lucresia would have long invaded.

Randolph had clearly lost his mind; it was as if he didn’t care about the Empire nor its future.