The Sage of Einar

 In a large stone hall, Queen Malene was frowning at the disturbing information they were reading.

"Who would say that Emperor Ludovico would be a very dangerous man and that because of the stupid Anders he would become the wolf he is today.

Please Acke, tell me that do you have information about where to find that son of a bitch, I intend to hang him by the testicles and give him to that stupid emperor with the promise that he will forget what that idiot caused."

Acke, the queen's trusted warrior and in charge of obtaining intelligence from the various merchants in the Franco empire, shook his head when he heard Malena's words.

"I'm very sorry queen but there is no news about stupid Anders. The only information we have is that he escaped after a failed ambush by the emperor's troops in a forest.

As for the emperor, things are more serious than they appear, due to the actions carried out by Anders.

The emperor hates us and has publicly declared countless times that he is going to conquer us to turn our lands into arid places of ice where no one lives.

It's basically impossible to start a peaceful conversation with him or try to do something to avoid bloodshed.

However, I believe that it is possible to initiate conversations with your children so that we can attack the north and remove pressure from their respective fiefdoms that are under attack.

That is the only solution we have found; But taking the opportunity, Queen Malene, I would like to give you a suggestion. "

Malene looked curiously at Acke and waited to see what his suggestion would be.

"We should send messengers to all the kingdoms of the north, so that they put aside their differences and support us, attacking coastal cities and towns of the Franco empire.

We can lie about riches and many places where they can settle, taking advantage of the chaos in the empire.

That would be a great way to be able to pull off a distraction powerful enough to entertain Emperor Ludovico for a while.

But that will depend on you as we also have to improve the wall of Danevirke so that it can withstand the siege weapons of the empire. "

Malene just sighed and sat on a chair before closing his eyes for a moment, Acke who was somewhat uncomfortable by the silence of the place remained standing where he was trying not to disturb the thought of Malene.

After a few minutes that seemed like hours to Acke, Malene opened her eyes.

"I will have to work a lot with the leaders of the different northern tribes, send messengers and inform them to prepare because Freyja has a message for them.

She wants all the tribes to meet at the Yule festival, to talk about a real threat from the south which seeks to exterminate us.

To do this, and as a sign of goodwill, you will tell them about the riches on the shores of the empire, that they send their young people in ships and that they become Vikings.

That way they will understand the power of the empire and all the riches they have, but more importantly, they will see first-hand that we are not lying when we say they are a threat.

I think we can get the majority of the tribes to see the danger posed by the empire, and they could commit to sending troops to defend the wall of Danevirke.

But what I fear most is whether we can really stop the fury of that Christian emperor with the support of all the tribes. "

Acke shook his head and looked as serious as he could at Queen Malene.

"I don't like being pessimistic in this situation, I hope I can assure you that we can delay their fury and the attacks with their troops as long as we can, but we would never win against them.

Because they are richer than us, they have more population and unlike us, their god has a strong presence for his church.

The only true possibility of winning is if the emperor does not die or lose the civil war, in that case, his successor will not fight with us, at least not in the short or medium term.

I just hope that with the constant Viking attacks on its coasts it can generate enough wear so that it does not recover quickly and we can continue to improve the wall. "

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the ruins of Bederkesa, Ludovico spread his hands and looked proud as the city was completely destroyed.

"My daughter, you were right again. Letting the peasants rebel against the shit that inhabited the city was the best decision we have made.

Not only did we avoid casualties and necessary but we did not have to do much to open the doors, my only regret is a large number of deaths of innocent people.

But it is a price that I am willing to pay because after this city we are going to go directly for Duke Hippolyte, I will take care of torturing him like the garbage that he is. "

Adelaide who had been listening to all her father's words only put her hand on his shoulder "Father what do you wish to do with the corpses and the property of the traitors."

Ludovico smiled evilly "Those bodies must be hanging on the walls while the properties will be distributed to the brave citizens who fought against that treacherous garbage.

But on the sole condition that they join the army, they can leave their children and wives in their new houses, but they have to fight with us to be able to finish off the traitorous duke and your brothers.

¡Who have dishonored the family with their actions! "

After hearing those words, Adelaide nodded and took her father's son to enter the city and give the order to hang the bodies of the traitors.

As Adelaide passed through the main gate in the wall, she looked with some sadness at a large number of corpses on the ground.

This is because the majority belonged to children who had been killed by the city guard, in a desperate attempt to quell the rebellion that was brewing inside.

Unfortunately for the defenders, their stupid actions only inflamed the hatred of the citizens.

Which ended up beating the defenders while opening the gates, letting the emperor's army enter the city.

After walking for a few minutes and passing what appeared to be a water hole filled with the corpses of the defenders, Adelaide reached the city docks.

Where was Guido, the former member of Emperor Charlemagne's Praetorian Guard.

Who had come out of retirement at the request of Adelaide because she wanted him to help her train in different disciplines that she did not know.

Not to mention that because of his career and a little help from Adelaide, the emperor granted him a temporary position in the army which was the foreman of executions and punishments.

So any kind of crime committed by the troops or action that had to be carried out against traitors was done by him.

Upon reaching a wooden building Adelaide entered and looked at Guido who was reviewing some military texts. When he heard the door open, he raised his head and smiled.

"Welcome back princess, I assume you have new orders from the emperor to deal with the corpses."

Adelaide nodded and stretched out her hands before walking over to Guido and sitting in front of him. "My father wants you to hang up all the bodies of traitors and make a search of all seized property.

For they must be delivered to the citizens who helped liberate the city, on the sole condition that they help in the war by joining the army. "

Guido laughed "Your father feels like he is getting crazier and crazier, but who am I to question him."

Adelaide smiled and crossed her arms "Be honest Guido, what would my grandfather have done in this case, I am very curious to know how he would have behaved if he were in this same situation."

Guido scratched his chin and rose from his chair to walk to a wooden window, which he opened to reveal some of the destruction of the harbor buildings.

"Your grandfather would have killed all the peasants because it would have become a real problem for the empire because they have rebelled against authority.

You must know that it does not matter if they did it right, they broke their pact and rebelled against their lord.

That was a real problem because they would feel what freedom is and at that moment they would begin to question the form of government or the leaders who govern them.

Start demanding more and more freedoms until they will seek what the Greeks called equality. At that moment like a flame in the wood, they would begin to create groups of rebels that could be more dangerous than your brothers.

Well, at least your brothers have the decency to want to be emperors, but those groups of rebels would only seek to assassinate the imperial family or any other that will represent a danger to them.

Your grandfather took too long to learn what I am telling you because he had to read books and translated books from ancient Greece when he was spending time with his mistress, Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire.

You must be very careful with what I'm going to tell you, but from that relationship, a girl was born who was hidden, but your grandfather called her Kassia .... "