74 Chapter 7The sound of burning firewood echoed through the ears of the men who were trembling while they waited for their fate. The desert of Stonedance was freezing as usual, but maybe perhaps this night the cold had intensified. The intensification of cold was caused by fear amongst them, even Lucian himself feared for his life.
Apart from fighting for his house and years of hoping to rise House Mithandir back to his former glory, he was a husband and father. His wife, Majdah the princess of Doha was waiting for him and so did his sons Hussein and Kharun. The current news King Vaith received from his loyal lords in Santagar was Seyyid Umar bin Khalifa was on his death bed.
Unfortunately, Umar never had sons with his wife only three daughters. The laws passed in Doha forbade women from ruling, they idolized them as decorated objects only to be covered in golds and flowers and silk but not for ruling a kingdom. Hence the three daughters of Umar had been passed on, and the throne of Doha was looking to pass on to Lucian’s first son Hussein.
Instead of telling Lucian about the news of his son being in line to inherit the throne of Doha and being crowned new Seyyid. Vaith opted not to and from there in Stonedance he planned another rebellion, he was yet to win the current one but he knew this one was already lost. Also the death of his best friend Lord Aethelind brought much agony to Vaith than anyone could ever think.
He lost the morale for fighting and he was heard saying “The Mithandirs are cursed, doomed to fail and if you linger in this bleeding desert any longer, you shall be doomed with him” before he made an escape from the camp but sure words do travel fast for he hadn’t reached far when he was seized by Prince Ambrose and forced back to the camp with his hands tied up.
The tent which hosted the generals of the war grew smaller every day, now it was just General Haul, Lucian Mithandir and Prince Ambrose keeping the scattered pieces together. King Vaith was forced to kneel when he was brought in.
“Where were you going?” asked Lucian, his face in huge disappointment because he once believed in Vaith. He thought they were brothers since they resided from the same place in the far away deserts of Doha and Santagar. Although Vaith was Arab with brown skin, Lucian was a Prophisian with pale skin but that didn’t stop them from forging a bond.
Now the bond and loyalty faded. Vaith replied “I was escaping death” with so much confidence. “This cause is doomed; it was doomed from the very first time we marched into this desert. The angel of death is lurking somewhere ready to fill more graves. We don’t even bury our men anymore; we just leave them to rot in the heat and for vultures to feed”
General Haul sighed softly, then he turned to look at the traitor “It’s a war, and during wars men die. Yes we lost our men, and so did our foes. Are you going to break your oath right now and run like a little whore?”
.....
A moment of silence engulfed the tent, just four of them who swore allegiance to Lucian Mithandir since the start of the war. With sixty five thousand men remained, against the two hundred thousand of their foes it did look like a suicide mission.
However, Lucian wasn’t going down without a fight. He believed in proper strategy, and one of them was attack from within. He was to send General Haul and his twenty thousand knights through the back gates of the palace in King’s City. They shall cross the Green Mountains and make sure to sack the city before dawn.
Lucian Mithandir will be guarded with two thousand slaves and be taken to a ship which was ready and packed to cross the Silent Sea and making its way to Doha. The rest forty three thousand men will march towards their enemies and face them in the heat of Stonedance. It may sound like they are sending their own men to butchery but once General Haul sacks the city, he will ring up the bells and send ravens to Stonedance.
This will confuse Castellan and he will turn back for his wife and children, General Haul knew that much and his men will follow. The gates of the city will be barred, and from there the forty three thousand men who were supposed to face Castellan’s men on battle will race through the Green Mountains and enter the King’s City to hold it steady while General Haul prepares for pot fires and bombs.
The plan was explained in details by the general himself “I have been a general for forty years. I know where how to start a wildfire and keep our enemies off the walls. The walls of King’s City have never been breached, not even by Taelin himself when he usurped the throne. If we get inside the city, I can force their surrender and if they refuse we shall burn all of them from the outside”
“The good folks will remain unharmed?” asked Lucian, for above all he didn’t want to rule a kingdom of ashes and bones.
“I assure you Your Grace, the city will not be touched. Although I can’t say much for the spill of blood of those loyal to Castellan. However, if they shall throw down their swords then we’ll spare them”
Vaith was still down while hearing the plans, they did sound promising and mayhaps if lucky is on Lucian Mithandir he may win the war. But then he asked “You are forgetting the lions. What about them?”
“One good thing about Lions is they can’t climb” Prince Ambrose rose to the occasion “Our walls are high and my father built them so they can represent his ego as he so much liked to say. They will be barred out and not even lions can escape from the wildfire”
The plan seemed so promising, and even Lucian was hopeful for the outcomes of the plan although he was set to leave Stonedance at once. But, there was something he must take care of which was asking King Vaith again “Where were you going?” while holding the letter sent from Santagar.
“I’m also a King, you cannot treat me like a common-born” blurted out Vaith “I shouldn’t even be in shackles, after all that I did for you and your doomed cause”
“This isn’t about our doomed cause” General Haul took over, then he took the letter from Lucian and read it aloud “Umar’s health is failing him, the rumors are Hussein the princess’s son is set to take the throne of Doha. The boy is eighteen and he doesn’t know a thing about ruling a kingdom nor does he even know the size of his cock. Another rebellion must be awakened, and this time we shan’t spare any of Khalifa’s blood. They must die, all of them my King and Santagar will be the name standing and not Doha” when General Haul finished reading the letter, he threw it on Vaith’s face.
A very angry Lucian stared at Vaith “You are planning to kill my sons, their mother and every one who bears Khalifa’s blood?” he asked him.
Vaith however denied it “I was going to my friend’s funeral in Horriss”
“Lies!” General Haul screamed. “You are a traitor and a kingslayer at the same time, how could you plan to kill His Grace’s son whilst still on his camp? Being feted by his food, living under his expenses?”
A brawl erupted and Vaith started screaming too “Khalifa was no true Seyyid, and nor will his blood ever be. You above all people Lucian, you must understand how this feels, to be cheated at what’s rightfully yours. I was robbed off my inheritance and throne...”
“The throne was never yours to begin with” Lucian intervened. “I heard about your claim and your fake stories... you were never a high-born, you are a common-born and your grandmother was a whore selling cunt in the streets of Doha. It was Khalifa’s younger brother who got your grandmother with child and he did sure abandon it the first chance he got. You are a bastard Vaith”
There it was, the name Vaith had fought all his life forsaking and he even cut out tongues of those who dared to spread it further. The rage was building inside his bones and he felt the heat, he went after Lucian but the knights who swore an oath to Lucian Mithandir were stronger than him and he was quickly seized and brought to his knees while he kept struggling.
Lucian was far done with Vaith and his acts, this recent act of treason shook him and he knew he couldn’t trust Vaith in his company anymore. Hence that same night Lucian ordered for Vaith’s execution before he could collude any further and harm his son who was set to be the new Seyyid of Doha.
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