Chapter 349: Aleksander Meets the Emperor

"A lot of people are leaving the city." Alfred watched with interest. "This is a good chance. Charles, Hernyk, how much food do we have?"

The two looked at one another and calculated. "Enough to last our forces a few months. But with Jaslo secured, we will be getting deliveries frequently." Alfred nodded and smiled.

"Prepare what is necessary to hand out free food to those fleeing the city. We are forcing them from their homes after all. It’s only right." Charles rolled his eyes. It was obvious that it was a publicity stunt, but didn’t question it, knowing it would be helpful in the long run.

"Your Grace." Henryk called out, "When shall we begin the siege?" Alfred sighed and looked at Tourn.

"Give the people five days to leave. Anyone who remains obviously wishes to stay in their homes. We are giving Snowid an advantage with this, but he’s already on his last legs. Five days won’t hurt." Henryk nodded and walked off with Charles to prepare Alfred’s orders. Sitting on the grass, Alfred watched with peaceful eyes. He hardly had time to rest, but now Snowid couldn’t risk doing anything and didn’t need to prepare for a battle. It was a rare moment of peace for him.

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Horace and the others finally managed to leave the city. After a whole day of standing around and waiting, they all wanted nothing more than to sleep. Some people did sleep as soon as they got out, not worrying about anything in the world. Despite that, it was strange. Most people ran close to the Empire’s camp. Hundreds of Unyeilding sorted them into neat rows and watched with hawk-like eyes, as other soldiers handed out food to the people.

"Let’s go." Horace ignored it and walked towards the main camp in the distance. He could feel the eyes of the soldiers looking at him as they served the peasants who had fled. From atop the wall, Commonwealth defenders felt they were insane, daring to approach the enemy camp.

After reaching a certain point, it was too close for comfort for the Unyielding, and some quickly ran over, pointing their weapons at Horace. Pulling his hood down, he smiled at them and took out his family’s insignia. "Horace Underwell. I wish to speak with His Majesty." One of the soldiers walked over and snatched the insignia from Horace. Giving a nod to the other, they finally dropped their weapons and led the three.

Aleksander looked at the Unyielding and felt impressed. He heard about the Amamry military. He knew it was split into three branches, and seeing the most skilled of all three, he knew they were the real deal. They moved in a way that left no opening, even without holding a weapon.

Horace saw Alfred sitting alone, staring at Torun, and sped. Halfdan quickly sheathed his dagger and walked away, not wishing to come face to face with the man, confusing Aleksander. "Ignore him," Horace said before increasing his pace and bowing behind Alfred. "I greet His Majesty the Emperor."

Alfred turned and looked at Horace, his eyes lacking the same anger he had last time they met. "Rise." Still sitting, Alfred turned to face Tourn again. Aleksander watched with interest. Despite sitting on the grass and letting his servant look down on him, Alfred still felt like a ruler, keeping everyone on edge. "Did you fail?"

Horace froze before lowering his head in shame. "Forgive me, Your Ma..." Alfred raised his hand to stop him.

"Why have you returned?" He didn’t need to hear excuses, and Horace nodded, looking at Aleksander. Walking forward, Aleksander lowered his head towards Alfred.

"I know I failed you, Your Majesty. But I have managed to eliminate Konrad, the spymaster of the Commonwealth and have taken Aleksander Laska as hostage. I have also managed to get Oskar Laska, heir to the Laska Duchy, an ally of the Empire."

"Impressive," Alfred said with genuine respect and finally stood up. Turning to face the two, he looked at Aleksander and smiled. "It is a shame we meet like this?"

"I greet the Emperor." Aleksander lowered his head and bowed. Alfred smirked and looked towards Horace.

"How can we trust that guy? Oskar."

Horace smiled with full pleasure. Alfred felt his lip twitching seeing that. Despite being a man who claimed that his work wasn’t for pleasure, he could tell Horace got it whenever he managed to make someone do something for him. he wasn’t a sadist in the sense that he liked torture, instead, the man seemed to love destroying any values someone had by bending them to his will.

"Oskar has been tasked with setting parts of Tourn on fire to prove his loyalty. If he does, he will have proven his loyalty and his usefulness. If he doesn’t, he can’t be trusted. If he attempts but fails, he is useless."

Alfred nodded and looked back at Tourn. "Do you think he will fail?"

"Maybe. But the man is interesting. He may find a way." Alfred nodded, happy with the answer.

"You are forgiven for failing your task. You did good work."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Horace placed his hand on his chest and deeply bowed. Alfred cleared his throat and looked at Aleksander again.

"Do I need to put you in chains or will you comply?"

"I will comply, Your Majesty. I am here to ensure my nephew lives. The war is lost, my family doesn’t have to join the Commonwealth." Alfred looked at him and smiled, nodding. Walking over, he patted Aleksander on the shoulder.

"I don’t dislike a man who protects his family." Alfred paused and lowered his head. "Forgive me for not allowing your brother to live."

"I understand, Your Majesty. War is war." Alfred patted his shoulder and walked off, leaving Aleksander to watch the city he had spent years living in. He could see the Palace towering above the walls surrounding it and felt a sense of loss in his heart.

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William looked ahead at the army marching towards him. His men quickly formed their defences and prepared the line as he picked up his spear, which was stabbed into the ground. His old eyes hardened, a deep chill spreading in them.

His men split into many segments, forming squares littered but close together. The spike walls they hastily prepared were raised, followed by a row of spears. William knew that it was a risk to use such a formation. It effectively allowed him and his men to be encircled. But the heavy cavalry was the main problem he had been worrying about.

He needed some way to effectively deal with it. Looking at the distance, he could see the enemy was slightly confused about what they were facing, but after a minute, they quickly reorganised. Putting his helmet on, William moved to the front row of one of the many square formations.

’All or nothing.’He had enough men not to worry about a complete encirclement, and they had been trained to quickly break and reorganise if things looked to be drastically in the enemy’s favour. From within the squares, his archers quickly drew their bows and fired a volley of arrows.

The enemy forces reacted, raising a shield wall to protect themselves with the armoured cavalry coming from the side, charging his line. Every soldier braced. It was the moment of truth. William watched as the cavalry flew past the first line and headed for the back.

His eyes watched carefully as the chessboard in his mind began to play. The cavalry carefully approached. At least 300 horses were charging. Their stampeding hooves were deafening, and as they approached the final square of men they rode past, riding into the distance.

In his mind, it felt like someone had swiped the entire chessboard, knocking every piece off. The horses rode off into the distance, their noise slowly disappearing with them. Looking at the enemy infantry that was still charging him, William grabbed his whistle and was prepared to give the order to reorganise, but stopped.

’What if it’s a trap?’The chessboard slowly reformed,’Michael will know I would see his cavalry as the most dangerous thing. So he lures me into a false sense of security. They will come back when we reorganise.’

William dropped the whistle, his men understanding the order to change formation would never come. The Commonwealth and Church forces inched closer until finally they slammed into the split Army forces. The spike wall and spears impaled some, but most avoided them, entering into a brutal melee.

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"They didn’t reorganise," August said coldly. Michael smirked but shook his head.

"It’s fine. We already threw him off balance by this. That’s all we needed. His second-guessing, wondering if the next move is a trap, and when the cavalry will return. War is a mind game as much as it is a clash of steel. We won’t win this first battle, but he will be thrown off for future battles." Michael said calmly and watched from a distance.

August smirked, "And if he doesn’t fall for your mind games."

"He has. The cavalry will be stuck in his mind. He will wonder when it returns. Leave it long enough, he will either forget about it or become paranoid." Michael drew his sword and walked forward. "My men need me. I’m sure I won’t see you on the front.

August said nothing and remained unmoving, watching from a distance, wondering what William would do next.