Herald of Steel

"........and amidst the fighting, you two somehow flee on the other ship, commandeering it to the Royal harbor " It was as such that Lord Bernard finished revealing the official story he wanted to present to Lord Parker.

And the others instinctively felt their eyes twitch.

This did not at all sound like a good story to them because it clearly missed a lot of crucial details.

Such as how exactly could two mere men manage to hijack a ship when the common crew was in rebellion?

That should have been impossible. Ships of this size took tens if not hundreds of men to operate.

Not to mention there was the slight discrepancy of there being actually no mutiny on board, a phenomenon easily discoverable by even a child.

Did Lord Bernard plan to bribe everyone on board to go with his plan?

Anoon slapped his head internally as he thought about all these plotholes, spitting in disgust at the poor plan.

This was not just the devil being in the details, it was the devil being in the whole plot.

And the plot sucked.

It was apparent that Lord Bernard might be a shrewd politician but he was no gifted storyteller. And almost everyone could see his plan was likely to sink like a lead balloon at the slightest of scrutiny.

However neither he nor Ser Robert had the slightest intention of pointing that out now.

Because at the end of the day, what did it matter to them whether Lord Bernard managed to fool Lord Parker or not? Sure his success would help, but as long as they could bring Achillas to Alexander, it was not necessary.

By now the only thing the pair cared about was running and so they rapidly nodded their heads in abundance at Lord Bernard's rough draft, showing unequivocal support for the plan.

And that was how the whole thing was supposed to go until the other ship got close enough to the flagship and the sheer damage it sustained became much greatly illuminated.

It was just as Anoon had feared- the poor thing would hardly float, let alone make the 'long' journey of a few kilometers.

In fact, the fact that the ship could navigate through all the fallen debris and come and meet them midway could be said to be some sort of miracle itself.

Thus when the two ships met, the captain of the damaged ship instantly came to greet with a very relieved sigh, "Thank goodness you are here my lord. Any longer and we did not think we would have made it. Our hull's crack, the rudder's smash, we are tilting…."

In this way, the lean man then started going off on his own describing the extreme damages taken by his vessel and how lucky they were that the thing was simply standing

"....." And the man was so distracted in listing his damages that he failed to even sense the acrid mood his incessant talking was sending the lord in front of him into.

By now, Lord Bernard's cheeks had become puffed up in rage and his fair face shaded with a very gloomy undertone, as he struggled to think of a second plan.

"My lord, here!" It was then that suddenly Anoon's light voice pierced his ears, and Lord Bernard quickly turned to see the man wanting to have a word with him in private.

This is what the black man had to propose in a low, whispering voice,

"Since the other ship is damaged, then let us flip the plan, my lord. Instead of us moving over, ask the men to transfer General Achillas to this ship, saying that we have better treatment facilities here."

"And as this is being done, you can go over to that ship to address the Heeat soldiers there. Say whatever you have to say to placate them as we move their injured commander. Distract them enough so that we can make a rush to Lady Miranda without any problem."

"..." The simple yet ingenious adaptation to the plan produced a shocked and stunned expression in Lord Bernard, who turned to give Anoon an incredulous look.

They had been informed of the damages perhaps less than five minutes prior and thus found it incredible that the other side was able to come up with such a great fix this quickly.

It was only now that the man was beginning to appreciate how this once black slave was able to reach a post unattainable even by most citizens of Caira.

Of course, Anoon had not actually thought of the idea this quickly. He had been thinking about it since the moment Lord Bernard had proposed his plan to sell Achillas off, spotting the many flaws that lay in that plan.

But still, it was a great sign of Anoon's abilities, and it made it hard for Lord Bernard to not squeal out in a suppressed bout of great joy, "Okay! Great! Let's do it your way!"

However just about to run off, he turned around to inquire with a shuddering voice, "But what about Ser Ballmer and the others then? I can't go around with no protection. What should I say?."

Anoon had to resist the urge to openly purse his lips at this naive question.

"Just say that they were killed when we first took you hostage. Like you originally planned,"

Given what had happened today, Lord Bernard moving around without an escort was the least of everyone's problems.

So the adjutant at last added this with a dismissive swing of his hand.

And hearing Anoon's didactic ask, Lord Bernard did not care to question the man and worked to quickly follow it through, thus almost blurring the line between who was the lord and who was the servant.

The following turn of events occurred almost as just as Anoon predicted.

"Move! Move! Let the lord through. He is here to see the general. Make space, make space."

Lord Bernard quickly boarded the other ship, causing quite a commotion, as the overcrowded deck swelled to its fullest extent to make enough room for the man.

And when that was not enough, some men even transferred themselves over to the other ship, thus letting Lord Bernard at last have a good look at the downed general.

The poor man was right on the deck, huddled up in one of the corners, being attended to by a few Heeat soldiers.

Achillas's armor had been already discarded to make it easier for him to breathe, leaving him with only a thin shirt and a gold chain on his neck.

A roll of white bandage was wrapped around his stomach, which had a small but very clear bright red spot around his hips, thus clearly showing the origin of his injury.

And from just this the man did not seem to be in too bad a shape. The bolt had hurt but did not hit any critical spots, producing only a relatively small wound.

However, what really hurt him was the long fall. And that was very apparent from how Achillas was constantly shaking and sweating very heavily, his consciousness flitting in and out almost every other second.

He kept completely still on the deck because even moving just his finger caused the general to cry out in excruciating pain for his spine felt like it had been completely shattered.

No one dared to move him.

And upon seeing his hated rival in such a pathetic stage, Lord Bernard could not help but feel a great sense of great elation.

'Bastard, I cursed when I heard you lived even after you got shot. But now… haha, I'm glad. Seeing you suffer like that has really made my day.'

Lord Bernard had to try hard to not reveal his glee to the attending men, and quickly masked the thought with an imperious order towards them,

"Shift the general to my ship! The decks here are like a pigsty. This is no place for an esteemed man like him. Quick! Before the cold starts to get him!"

The order actually came as a great source of relief for the men there, as in addition to the cramped spaces, their ship's current state was no secret to them.

Thus Achillas was quickly put on a stretcher and quickly shifted to the much bigger and spacious ship even though the man cried his lungs out, one that undoubtedly sounded like the sweetest melody to Lord Bernard.

As this transfer was taking place, Lord Bernard quickly went to the helm of the ship and began to address the troops just as Anoon wanted, placating much of the Heeat soldiers as such.

"Men, I understand that today was difficult for many. We have lost a lot of good brothers. And to many of you, the events might appear as the gods have abandoned us!"

"But fear not! Because the destruction of the bridge was not an act of god, It was something I had already predicted. The gods are still with us! General Achillas being alive the greatest proof of that."

"Look! Anyone else falling from that height would have died. However he lived! How? Because the gods favor us! Because the gods favor the Margraves and the Heeat family…."

The distracted troop had little time to realize they had been just hoodwinked.

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

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