Herald of Steel

The betrayal of the Margraves had Lord Parker up in arms with pitchforks and torches.

So much so that the man was ready to go on a witch hunt the minute he learned that Achillas had been taken away in a Margrave's flagship.

And that was considered more than enough evidence for him. Thus refusing to listen to anything more, he immediately ordered all those Margraves officers involved to be immediately seized and then await imminent execution.

And the directive was so encompassing that not only did it include the injured Lord Bernard and others similarly wounded in battle, but even his wife Miss Linda, as well as her sister and Achillas's wife Lady Adele were implicated.

The pair had been nonchalantly chatting about nothing in particular when out of the blue they found themselves being yanked out of their tents in the most rude manner possible and being escorted to a remote part of the camp under the presence of a very heavy guard.

Lord Parker had grown so enraged about the loss that he implicated even these periphery members who seemingly had nothing to do anything.

Of course that was not how Lord Parker saw things.

Within his twisted mind, he grossly blamed Miss Linda for recommending Lord Bernard, finding her to be as much responsible for this whole predicament as any of the other men.

Some might even say that Lord Parker blamed her the most among all the captives because the man was of the mind that without his wife's whispering, he would have certainly chosen a much more competent and trusted man from his own formation, one would have never let none of this happen,

Of course, while coming to this conclusion it never occurred to the man that ultimately it was who he had the final say in all of it.

So he was just as guilty as those he had put away.

But saying such rhetoric out aloud was unimaginable and thus his beautiful wife languished in that cramped, cold, damp camp for now, folding her arms and legs inward as best as she could to try and fight the cold.

Given it was the middle of winter and she was thrown under the great open sky with nothing but a thin shawl that she had managed to desperately grab before being dragged away, her lips, finger, and bare feet had almost turned blue by now.

And as she breathed into her cupped hand to try and warm herself, the pretty, lady seemed to slowly wake up to the fact that she might have overestimated the effects her charm had on her husband a little too much.

The man was still 'loyal' to his lover Achillas above anything else and she regretted trying to shoehorn an inexperienced man like Lord Bernard into her scheme.

"Let's go meet the Margraves now! They are our hosts!"

Upon learning of Lord Parker's insane decision, Lord Macht did not bother to childe the man, as he understood by now that his lord was not functioning properly right now.

Rather, fighting an incoming headache, he instantly chose to exit the tent, aiming to find the captured men and free them as soon as possible

That was his top priority because what Lord Parker had done was not only an immense breach of almost every noble etiquette known to mankind, but it was also something that obviously threatened to tear the alliance between the two families into shreds.

Lord Macht's heart painfully groaned at the thought of that eventuality as he rapidly paced across the stone roads running along the camp, covering the short distance with large, wide, powerful steps since he wished to reach his destination as soon as possible.

The veteran commander had remained totally oblivious to this immense disaster about to unfold right his nose because when the Margraves officers were called into Lord Parker's tent, he was outside, guarding the entrance.

This was very usual and followed the military custom- bodyguards were rarely allowed to stay inside the tent since many official matters were discussed there that were not suitable any other ear.

However today, that sound strategy has produced this tragedy.

Lord Macht did not notice any large shouts or virulent curses coming from inside when Lord Parker was meeting the Margraves officers and thus had reasonably assumed all was fine.

Little could he imagine the muted silence represented not peace and harmony but extreme rage and fury, all bubbling and boiling under the surface

Lord Parker had simply listened to the Margrave's report and right then and there had decided to kill them.

And since he saw no point in arguing with dead men, the man had not broken off into a tirade as he had done with his own men but simply had them escorted out with a group of armed men, one that looked more like a polite send off rather than an arrest.

This was why Lord Macht could not imagine that they were being actually taken to prison.

And the same reason applied to the surrounding Margraves troops here too.

Tired, hungry, and enraged at their treatment, they were too distracted by all these to have the time to inquire about the whereabouts of those few officers who were deployed today. They simply thought they were still presenting their report to Lord Parker.

Otherwise, things would certainly not have been so calm in camp.

Of course, the argument between the men from the two families was still ongoing and soon it would break into a brawl.

However, at least it would not turn into a bloodbath as otherwise expected.

That was indeed a small source of consolation for Lord Macht

Lord Macht was able to find the place where the Margraves officers were being held relatively easily.

Guided by sentries, he found them to be kept in a large penned structure in one of the most distant corners of the camp, where light and warmth existed in the form of a bare flicker.

His appearance, along with the entourage that was following him, consisting of all those officers who had been in the tent with him, worked to produce an almost blinding light for the apprehended men and women, whose attention was instantly grabbed by the numerous bright burning torches, thus superimposing it onto that group.

However, if the man was expecting a cheerful welcome, he was to be sorely disappointed.

Because towards the arrival of this new group, the present Margraves officers' eyes only flickered with a chilly light.

Given how they had been treated till now, they certainly view the group as any kind of savior.

But rather assumed the other side had come to mock them or worse bury them in even more accusations before executing them in cold blood.

Thinking it was their last few moments on earth, one of the Margrave's officers, who was also the most hot headed of the bunch, thus cursed under his breath,

"Heh! You faithless dogs. You dare to finally decide to show yourself in front of father. By the gods! Kill me and face the wrath of the ten thousand!"

It was quite telling how the man did not plead or try to defend himself but simply invoked the curse of the gods. This made it very clear that he believed himself to be innocent.

Lord Macht neither sided nor rebuked this man, only treating it like innocuous air. Given how many he had been doing this, the veteran man had learned to filter out all these irrelevant mutterings almost subconsciously.

"Get them out of here! Put them in warm clothes and serve them hot food!"

Instead, seeing the state of things, he turned to imperiously give this order to the captain guarding the site, swinging his robust arms around to emphasize the point.

"We only take orders from…."

The imposing figure of Lord Macht and the extremely didactic way the command was made had the guard in charge quickly swallow all the words he thought of saying, as the man felt like he was dipped into an icy lake the moment he gazed upon the man.

The man thus quickly sent a plea for help towards the nearby Lord Parker but received no aid, save for a curt nod.

The men immediately complied with Lord Macht to the tee after that.

Under Lord Macht's supervision, the Margraves officers were moved to a hastily prepared nearby tent and given hot clothes and a roaring fire, the half conscious and still groaning in pain Lord Bernard was sent to the nearby clinic while lastly the two noble ladies were escorted to their private quarters.

Towards the last two, Lord Macht even showed a rare moment of skilled diplomacy as he swore to them that the Heeat family as a whole absolutely condemned what had been done to them and then promised them that he would be sure to bring this matter up with the Duke, seeking proper compensation as an amendment.

And as he did this, Lord Macht cursed Lord Parker, finding it incredulous that his to-be lord would do something so stupid.

Lord Parker was of course not like that always, however his overreaction this time was still enough to put a great stain on this warrior's heart regarding him as Lord Macht judged him to be lacking in perseverance.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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