The whole army that consisted of newly grafted soldiers and war heroes who had fought with King Philip marched out to the battlefields with their squires, maids, and a few helpful hands. Both squires and extra hands helped to build tents. Words had reached the Camelorn army that the Amires had set the northern villages on fire, killing, raping, stealing, and destroying. Octavius had hastened Gustoff with the weapons, getting more than 3000 swords, shields, and clubs, the trained archers had been supplied with new quivers, arrows, and new bows all with Ashterah's emblem, the foot soldiers marched in front with boxes of fire powder, horse archers and captains held their horses and led them to the makeshift stable the squires built while battalion leaders assembled to supervise. Octavius, Garius, Festus, and two more generals; Calors and Inobus supervised the all-around activities. Octavius walked slowly in the direction the maids went carrying woods for fire, pots, and pans to cook with, he noticed a few of the maids carrying blankets into some of the men's tents. They had marched all morning and had arrived at the army camp 50 yards away from the enemy camp and most of the men who hardly stayed away from women had already purchased the services of some maids for the night. He caught sight of Angus walking around the camp in his plain brown tunic and sandals, he was with a dagger and was approaching one of the maids skinning rabbits. He smiled.
He will never understand his brother's randy character. He was quite content with the one woman in his life. Emilia. He smiled at the thought of her and slipped his hand into the pocket of his tunic removing the letter he had received from her two days ago.
Her parents had given their consent, thanks to the fates, and had started making preparations to come to Camelorn until they had heard about the war with the Amires. King Festus Ing Avia had wished them good luck and the blessings of all gods of Camelorn and Intavia, plans were made to start the wedding feast the moment the war ended and Octavius swore to Emilia that he would return whole. She had written about her hope for a future with him, one of many children; boys and girls, running around their home with laughter and mud all over their arms and legs, he smiled at the image. He couldn't wait till it became a reality.
Suddenly he felt the heat behind his neck, the breath on his neck, something that had become a constant since he visited Ashterah. Her constant presence was menacing and though she was still to show herself to him in person she made her presence known when the feel of her moved to certain parts of his body, she appeared around him without being seen when he trained and whispered seductive words into his ear, moved her unseen hands around him until he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out loud in frustration. And she laughed and mocked him, her voice echoing in his ears and every time she came he felt guilty and foolish, felt like he was failing Emilia over and over.
This time her presence was swift and he felt her smile, thankful he couldn't see her face and the smugness on it. He felt her close by his ear and just as quickly she was gone.
As he sought to get his bearings he felt a sharp poke on his right shoulder down, he was startled and realized Garius had been standing in front of him the whole time.
"Your Highness?" Garius's brow was furrowed in concern.
"Garius," he replied almost stumbling over the name.
"You look a million miles away from your men. I have told you, Octavius, a king does not concern himself with thoughts of frivolities when at war."
He laughed and tilted his head towards the men who were discreetly following after the maids who had entered their tents "What about them?"
"They are not leaders. You are the one they are all looking up to, Your Highness. This is the first time you are leading your men into battle and while I know that your years of sword training will pay off I can tell that something troubles you. What it is, Octavius?"
He considered telling him about Ashterah's sudden obsession with him but decided not to after all because everyone, male or female, considered themselves favored if the gods took a liking to them. People sought to be claimed by the gods but he didn't, not when his heart belonged to another. Garius and every other man would laugh if he told them he disliked the war goddess's interest in him. They would think him foolish to not want to be claimed by her.
"Nothing troubles me, Garius. I am just worried for our men."
Garius patted his shoulder "You should not worry about them Your Highness, you should rest tonight so that we will be ready when the enemy wave the signal. Come, my prince, and rest, you need your strength." He started to lead Octavius to his tent that was set up in the center of the camp when a young foot soldier who was no more than eighteen ran up to them breathing heavily.
"Your Highness, the enemy has raised the signal," he panted pointing in the direction of the base where the Amires had set up their camp which wasn't very far from the village they had destroyed.
Octavius, Garius, and a couple of other soldiers ran to look, and there from the camp rose thick black smoke and the red, white, and green flag of the Amires. Octavius turned to Garius.
"Are the spies in place?" he whispered.
Garius nodded discreetly. Early that morning Festus and Garius and sent spies to the Amire camp ahead of them and so far none had returned dead which was a good sign. They had a bit of advantage even though it was without doubt that some spies had also been sent to the Camelorn camp. Octavius with the helpful, albeit grudging guidance of Ashterah, had trained intelligent Scavaer, assassins, to discreetly pick out the traitors in their army and so far more than ten men had been silently killed and dumped in the desert on their march to the camp. There were more traitors but he was confident that the scavaers would fish them out.
Octavius turned on his heels and marched to the center of the camp and spoke. "Men of Camelorn!" he yelled.
He waited until the soldiers moving around stopped what they were doing, all of the archers, shield bearers, human battle absorbers, the horse soldiers and their captains, and all of the others paused and turned their attention to him.
Garius and Festus stood at his left side while Angus who had finally found strength as the captain of archers stood by this right. Men who had entered their tents with maids came out strapping their tunics, hooking their daggers in place.
Satisfied Octavius began. "Men of Camelorn, the enemy has given their signal. Unlike other times we have had only a short time to prepare ourselves. We have rejected an alliance with Amire for the sake of our kingdom, for the love we have for our kingdom. Tomorrow you prove how much you love your kingdom by fighting for her, tomorrow we march into battle so I advise you men of Camelorn to rest well tonight for the morrow will be tortuous with the heat of battle. Men of Camelorn fight for your nation but fight with an eye out for your brother, watch your brother's back and the gods will give us victory!"
The men hailed and yelled chanting his name and calling on the gods. Festus nodded slightly at Octavius, Garius nodded and Angus clapped his back.
"You are a good leader, brother"
Octavius nodded but knew that the war would prove it.
The blast of the horn echoed throughout the camp and horse soldiers came out dressed in their armor, holding shields, foot soldiers carried spears with their shields, archers led by their captain Angus dressed in dark red cloaks held their bows in their hands tested the taut bowstring and adjusted the arrows in their quivers, captains ran through the camp hurrying squires about their duties. The squires carried swords and shields to their master, carrying also the bridle for their horses. Octavius stood before his armor rack and ran his hand over the same armor his father had used before in many battles, although some additional protection had been added over time, it was beautiful and strong. He began to remove the pieces off the rack and put them on with the help of a squire when he caught sight of an image on the breastplate of the armor. The red tunic of a voluptuous woman was vivid and as she came forward his heart dropped. It was Ashterah. She sensed his discom
The battle raged on and on for months, new soldiers joined the army as more men dropped dead, and with every passing Camelornian victory Octavius hungered for more. It was a feeling he could not explain, he wanted to shed more blood, wanted to see more of the enemy bleed to death. He sliced through the belly of a heavily armored Amires soldier with his sword, he reveled at the sight of him bleeding to death. He used his shield to push another soldier off his horse and watched as he dropped to the floor, the soldier's helmet came off revealing a heavily bleeding head. Octavius watched the blood drip and licked at his lips. Something was wrong with him and he couldn't put a finger on it, all he knew was he was suddenly a battle machine tearing through the enemy army, killing and hungering for more death. Garius, Angus, Festus, and the rest of the captains fought just as hard behind him. With unrelenting strength they fought as hard as the Amires, dealing a heavy blow to their
More days passed, more months, and then a year before the Amires surrendered to the Camelornians and then a half year later the Camelornian army packed up, counted their dead and buried them, put their loots together, and broke camp. Weary but victorious the men marched all the way home. Octavius, now twenty, sported a shadow of a beard, his once young, teenage, inexperienced body was a form of hard muscles, and his skin was darkened by the hot desert heat. Angus, now 17 was taller, he grew his hair so long it was past his shoulders and he held it back with a twine, his shoulders were broader, and though he still had his laughing, twinkling eyes his face no longer held youthful innocence. As the men approached the kingdom Garius moved his horse to walk beside his crown prince. He studied him with both worry and pride. Octavius had performed his duties beyond his expectation, had been in battles, and seen young princes fall behind their soldiers for fear for their liv
The feasts for the return of the soldiers continued for days and even on to the wedding feasts of Octavius and his bride. Noblemen and women of Intavia came to honor the princess as she was joined to her hero. Octavius in his newly decorated robe stood waiting at the temple, the men; priests, nobles, and royalties, waited for Emilia and the women were to accompany her. All the people of the kingdom were gathered, singing and dancing, eating and drinking. It was an opportunity for the beggars to fill their bellies with the finest food and an avenue for thieves to satisfy their hands. Precious pieces of jewelry disappeared from noble hands into the pockets of thieves. The women who had been preparing Emilia emerged and began a long procession to the steps of the temple. Ilena walked beside her princess with smiles on her face. Emilia had a wreath of white flowers resting on her head and her long blonde hair was blew gently in the light wind. At the sight of the beautif
14 years later… "Call my son, I want to speak with him," the king said in a low croaky tone. "Which of them, my king?" the priest asked as he bowed low. "Octavius." The priest bowed and left King Philip's presence. He stepped into the passage where Octavius stood with his wife Emilia by this side, beside them was Angus in his red cloak, the official archery uniform, the king's court stood with them at the passage with heads bowed down. At the sight of the priest, Octavius gently uncurled Emilia's fingers from around his arm and approached the old man. "How is he?" he asked the priest in a low voice. "He wants to see you, my prince," the priest responded. At the look of hesitation on Octavius' face he added "It's alright, my lord, the king is not contagious." Octavius nodded and let the priest lead him to the room. The room was darkened, the heavy curtains were drawn close, the atmosphere in the room was heavy also very heavy as
He hurried into his chambers, walked briskly to his trunk by the window, and threw the lid open forcefully. He rummaged through it and pulled out the old black cloak he was looking for, he dusted it and laid it on the bed before taking off his robe and putting it on. Suddenly a knock came at the door and before he could respond a maid walked in with her head bowed slightly. She approached him cautiously. "What do you want?" Octavius demanded. "My lord, the queen has sent me to keep you company and to see to it that I provide you with anything you may need" "I don't need your company. Go" "She is worried you might put yourself in danger." "Go!" The maid raised her head and with a raise of her brows and a coy smile moved closer undeterred by the murderous look Octavius had on his face. Angus and some other lecherous guards were the cause of this sort of boldness from the palace maids. They always did things like this when they th
Ashterah dropped him back in his chambers at least this time she dropped him carefully on his feet, a pleasant change from the way she had dropped him the first time she had taken him to her temple on Mount Kpamos. He went quickly to the washroom to look for the dead body and found it empty save from the towels he had used to cover it and even they no longer had blood on them, in place of the blood was Ashterah’s emblem. He sighed and hung the towels back and couldn’t help but wonder again what he did to warrant the unwanted attraction of an obsessed goddess. There were sudden voices in the hall and he quickly closed the washroom door, entered the main chamber, and donned his purple robe over his cloak just as soon as a quiet knock sounded on the door.
The alarm sounded throughout the castle early the next morning and the rushing sound of feet echoed down the hall. Emilia stirred softly beside Octavius. She had slipped into his room during the night after he stormed off the dining room. She had quietly entered the room, slipped off her tunic, and slid under the covers with him with hopes of comforting however way she could but Octavius couldn’t even bring himself to touch her especially not with the hands he had used to cradle Ashterah’s neck as he drank from her. Of course the conniving bitch had enjoyed it and had seized the opportunity to explore his body until she decided he had had enough. Even when Emilia had wrapped her arms around him and his body responded he held himself still.