STEEL AND FLESH

LIFTED SPIRITS

"I will speak." king Lauihnio replied. Lord Garthine Polion then leaned on the balcony and motioned for one of the drill guides to step forward. he said some words to him which made him nod continuously. when he was done whispering the drill guide moved towards the soldiers.

"Halt! you bastards halt!" he bellowed "fifty men ten columns ten units at attention before your king!" the five hundred soldiers who were skirmishing held down their wooden swords and quickly arranged themselves in an orderly manner according to the instructions of the captain.

Standing at attention chest out and chin up coupled with a confident look the soldiers appeared gallant eagerly awaiting for their king to speak.

"The stage is yours my king." Lord Garthine Polion bowed and took some paces backwards to let king Lauihnio seize the moment. with all eyes on king Lauihnio he peered upon the soldiers admiring how gallant they looked on their bronze bracers and already wet subligaculum as a result of the enormous sweat that signified the grand effort they put while practicing their drills.

"Greetings brave soldiers of Bauthinia!" he bellowed. "first I must say that I am pleased at fact that you all seem to give your all hereby taking your drill sessions very seriously - I also find it comforting that you soldiers appear to be gallant even with the news of king Brothlander approaching our lands." he paused to clear his throat. "yes it is bad news, yes this is going to be the first time an army would step foot on our lands with the aim of annexing it, taking over our fertile lands and rich natural deposits, yes this is the first time in a hundred years some bastard is going to step on these lands with the aim of spitting upon our throne our symbol of authority as Bauthinians upon this lands that was given to us by the great Oridon in his wisdom and kindness, yes this is the first time in a hundred years that some bastards with smelly corks would step on these lands to take our beautiful women ravage them day by day and send our children into slavery - yes there are rumors of greed as the motivating factor for my participation in the joint campaign but I swear by Oridon's mace it was for the good of my subjects both military and civilian. now with fear and uncertainty trying to break the walls of our hearts to make us shiver and surrender to the Quanians without them raising up their swords should we let our guard down mentally - we have fought these bastards before and we beat them, we fed the flesh of their comrades to the vultures, crows and hyenas. gallant soldiers of Bauthinia let me ask you if we have done that before can't we do it again."

"YES WE CAN!" the soldiers echoed loudly.

"If we have made them abandon their homes, their wives and children for their own lives can we do that again now they wish to trouble us I our own lands!"

"YES WE CAN!"

"Then I implore you great soldiers not to be weary, they may think they have men, but the men they call warriors have no guts, they are just a bunch of weaklings with a sword and shield and with one swing of our xiphos blessed by Heykzan our god of war they will crack to pieces with fear and trembling!"

There was a loud cheer among the soldiers whose spirits were lifted up at the speech of king Lauihnio. after some time king Lauihnio motioned for the men to be calm.

"Great soldiers of Bauthinia I Implore you do not ever and I repeat do not ever make the mistake of waking up each day getting worried about the incoming weakling army of king Brothlander but I want you to get up each day eager to shed their crimson blood, eager to hold their severed heads in your hands, eager to spill their guts, pluck out their eyes, plunder their possessions, drink their blood and eat their flesh if you so desire!" the soldiers and their captains cheered loudly with extremely high spirits.

"Now there may be news of spies in our lands, but I tell you soldiers we will get them and when we get them you all would have the privilege to beat them to death with your hands, clubs and feet, keep up the good spirit my soldiers and I promise you we will successfully defend our kingdom."

The cheers continued shortly after with some of the soldiers started jamming their wooden swords on their shields. "ALL HAIL THE KING! ALL HAIL THE KING!" they echoed in joy feeling better than how they were before king Lauihnio's speech.

Lord Garthine Polion smiled satisfactorily at King Lauihnio and nodded towards him pleased at his speech that lifted the spirit of the soldiers including that of his. "follow me I need to see my uncle now." king Lauihnio moved away from the balcony with Lord Garthine Polion following him.

"What?"

"You heard me right, I am going to see my uncle?" king Lauihnio said dryly. Lord Garthine Polion chuckled. "which one?" king Lauihnio put up a grimacing look at Lord Garthine Polion. "Lord Mordian of course which other uncle do I have."

"Wait you mean you want to meet that schemer of a man that tried to take your life, that tried to take your throne." Lord Garthine Polion looked confused as they walked down the walkway of the Garrison.

"Do you think this is wise? - what do you want from him, anyway I am still surprised till this day why his head is not on a spike." the king was silent hereby ignoring Lord Garthine Polion. Lord Garthine Polion noticed king was ignoring him then he stepped in front of him halting his movement.

"My king with all due respect what do you want from this man, with how crafty he can be who knows he might have spread a trap there and with you so eager to meet him who knows he might be drawing you to him with dark magic - you have done enough today you have lifted the spirits of your men including mine, let us go back to the palace and attend to other pressing matters there and if possible rest our bodies or even find pleasure in the bossoms of our wives clearing our heads of all this for a moment."

King Lauihnio looked coldly at Lord Garthine Polion. "with the security of my people at stake I do not care about rest, I need to find all the help I can get even from a foe - I need answers from him and he may have an ambition to sit on my throne but I tell you he is a man that would certainly give his life for his country when it is required of him to do so."