Paulos, Honorius as the new leader of the kingdom. This new king imposed new rules being the ruler of the weakest of the Human kingdoms, unlike Hetheil and Diamonheim who did not allow armed troops of another kingdom into the palaces, Unodos now made it mandatory that all soldiers from any kingdom would have to surrender their weapons before they can enter.
Chapter 3 Part III
The Unodite soldiers then began raising the gate, they then stood in front and brought carts from the city to the gate, weapons would be placed in these carts and stored in the city’s armoury before being retrieved and passed to the departing soldiers once all have exited the city. The Hetheilian soldiers lined up, Elis at the head surrendered his sword and shield which he carried on his back, he maintained eye contact with the soldier that was waiting for him to hand over his weapons. After it seemed that Elis had given up all his weapons, the soldier stepped to the side and he could go inside, unbeknownst to the soldier, Elis was still armed, he had concealed his trusty two-handed sword in his chainmail, he never went anywhere without it and refused to hand it in, even though it was temporary. As soon as he walked through the gate, he ran onto the streets and with a gold coin he approached a drink stall. The stall owner was happy to sell him water for a gold coin. He then drank it furiously. While this was happening, Allan, the army’s advisor and a few other soldiers that were at the front were let through. Elis had left his horse outside the city without taking it to its designated stable, thus the advisor had to bring Elis’s horse, Silver along with him to where Elis was. He walked through the city streets and found Elis and another soldier talking to him. This soldier was one of Elis’s companions, a criminal in disguise. “Your horse, my prince, the pour boy is thirsty” said the advisor as he approached Elis. “Oh, it is you, bring the horse here and leave us” said Elis. “Yes, my prince” said the advisor as he brought the horse to Elis before leaving hurriedly. “Did you surrender your weapon Elis?” whispered his companion as he bent forward.
“No of course not, I am not going anywhere without a weapon and I am not surrendering my sword to these people, no way. Did you surrender your weapons?” whispered Elis angrily back to his companion. “No, no, neither did I, I am already a criminal, it wouldn’t hurt to keep my daggers and I will use them to ensure your safety” whispered his companion jokingly. “Thank you, I will do the same for you all when the time arises, now go and tell the others to disperse throughout the city and try to stay apart” whispered Elis. “Yes, will do so immediately” said his companion. Elis then turned to Copper and let him drink the remaining water in the ceramic jug. He got up and decided to bring his horse to the city’s stable. He went through the streets, noticing the Hetheilian soldiers buying, cooking and eating foods in fee spaces as dinner. He got to the stables where he saw Allan parking his horse in the stable, he continued and brought his horse in and his eyes crossed with Allan’s, they did not speak to each other, not a word. But then as soon as Elis parked copper he walked towards his brother and threw the skin full of water to the floor in front of him. Allan stared at it for some seconds and looked back at Elis and watched the now smirking Elis walk out of the stall.
The troops could roam freely about in the city that night, they could eat, sleep and rest wherever and whenever they had wished to. They could stay in the homes of the people of Maredos, sleep there and buy their own food but they would have to assemble in the city square the next morning to continue their journey south to the wall. The soldiers went door to door and eventually most of them found homes to stay for the night, those that couldn’t would have slept in the city square in their tents. Allan and Elis were invited to dine with the king of Unodos, young Honorius in his palace. Both princes humbly accepted and went to the palace that night, they were also hoping to get Honorius to support the campaign in the south with much needed resources, men preferably soldier rather than militia, money and armour. Allan was the first to arrive at the palace, he stood at the gate, the soldiers of Unodos heavily guarding the palace entrance.
Allan stuck his hands in pocket due to the cold of the night. Then the king of Unodos, Honorius emerged from the palace, a well minted and forged golden sceptre in his hand, he was also wearing a beautiful royal robe, with golden beads on it. He came to gate and said, “Ah, prince Allan of Hetheil, welcome, welcome, do come in, sorry I kept you waiting”. “It is no problem at all, king Honorius of Unodos” said Allan. “Splendid prince Allan, good soldiers let this man in” said Honorius, ordering his soldiers to open the palace gate to let Allan into the grounds. The guards did so and opened the gate and Allan walked into the palace grounds. Honorius put his arm around Allan, a friendly action and brought him into the palace himself. “Where is your brother prince Allan? The food has already been prepared I was expecting you to arrive with him alongside you” asked Honorius. Allan slowly put his hand on his head and said “Oh Elis, he should be here shortly, he was leaving the stable the last time I saw him”. “All right, right this way to the dining room” said Honorius as he led Allan to the dining room. Allan entered the room, it was breath-taking and the food was brilliantly laid out across a large circular table, meats and fruit from all over the north. “Make yourself comfortable, we shall have some beer while we wait for Elis’s intended arrival” said Honorius.
“Much appreciated King Honorius, but I am not really a fan of beer, do you have anything other than that to drink? King Honorius” asked Allan as he took a seat. “We have ale and wine, other than that nothing, Prince Allan” said Honorius. “I think I’ll have to pass on the drinks” said Allan, his hand on his head once again. “More for me then” said King Honorius, happily as he took a sip from his cup of beer. “Much has changed in Unodos, you’ve really made improvements on your capital, last I was here, your buildings were destroyed, poverty and hunger amongst your people but now I see it is doing very well” said Allan. “Why yes and I owe it to your father, we built the kingdom back up, it has changed, I didn’t have a palace until the end of the previous year, the original building was burned to the ground. I told the guards to let your brother in once he arrives, I want both of you to enjoy yourselves tonight and I am almost sure that even tomorrow you will see combat” said Honorius with a friendly smile. “Combat? We will still be in Unodos, we will not be in the land in between the wall and your kingdom, we would have just reached your southern border with it” said Allan, worry once again showing on his face. “Ah, but you see, Prince Allan” said Honorius until he was interrupted by Elis being guided in to the dining room. Honorius got out of his seat and went to welcome Allan’s brother, Elis upon his arrival to the palace. “Prince Allan, we were expecting you much sooner, the food is ready and what a fine spread it is, you may return to your post good soldier” said Honorius. “Indeed, this is a fine spread, I am really famished” said Elis who then walked to the circular table and sat far from Allan and far from where Honorius was sitting.
“Go ahead, feast, enjoy yourselves, tomorrow you will be in danger” said Honorius before grabbing a fork and digging into the food on his plate. Allan picked up his fork but then dropped it onto his plate again and asked “that’s the thing, King Honorius, we are nowhere near the wall, the problem is at the wall, isn’t it?” asked Allan. “Oh, heavens no, my sources tell me the Trolls have gone as far as my border, they are heading north fast, I fear and predict that you will clash with the Trolls on route to the wall, inside Unodos” said Honorius. “I had no idea of this, they have gone far, this will put the kingdoms, yours first in grave danger” said Allan in shock. “They are nearer that you think, Prince Allan, we must stop the Trolls and stop this” said Honorius. “Supply us with troops and supplies, we need them, contribute otherwise your kingdom will be the first to fall” said Elis fiercely. “Yes, prince Elis, I shall, this is not your war, this is our war and I will give you control of my finest troops and you shall have new and better armours for every single soldier” said Honorius. “Thank you, King H
onorius, for the food and for your help” said Allan after chewing his food. “Prince Allan it is I who should be thanking you, you too are leading an army to fight Trolls, giving you support is the least I can do” said Honorius.
Elis rolled his eyes and he took a sip of his ale, before setting the cup back down on the table. Allan noticed Elis’s reaction and was angry that he would do that in full view of the king of Unodos, Honorius. “How many troops will you give us to command?” asked Allan. “As you know the Unodite army is rather small and weak in comparison to that of your Kingdom and also of Diamonheim, we will give you a large fraction of our forces” said Honorius until he was interrupted by Elis who sternly asked “so how many then?” “I shall put in your command what I can from the troops I have in Maredos, all of our archers, a quarter of our infantry and a quarter of our cavalry which totals up to be one thousand, your ranks will swell with such an addition” said Honorius proudly. “Why not send more troops? This is for the survival of