Sundown

canons

As soon as Timothee got back to the castle, word reached that three of their biggest battleships had been destroyed resulting in a loss of at least a couple thousand men and countless machinery and explosives.

As he deliberated his next move with his Council in his chamber, he could not help but be anxious about the fate of his kingdom, if this was how their losses were going to multiply. The enemy had only lost one ship till now and it had not been a major one, just a flank ship that housed supplies.

"The people are scared, Your Grace. Many of them approached the gates while you were gone and demanded protection inside the castle." Hawklin informed.

"How much space do we have left in the dungeon quarters?" Timothee enquired.

"They're thousands and we only have a few rooms left. We cannot possibly house them all."

Timothee ran his hands through his hair. How was he ever going to tackle all of it at once? He just wished he had a bit more time or experience but he had neither. Had Saoirse been here, she would have known the right questions to probe his head and get an articulate solution out of him, but her presence was not in his stars as well.

"Assign the rooms of the dead fleet men to those seeking protection and make sure we recover as many of their bodies as we can. They deserve a more than decent burial." Timothee commanded.

"That will be done, Your Grace."

--------------------------

The battle on the sea stretched for days after that and with every passing minute, Elmcaster grew more insecure.

Despite having had some major victories and fending off a few more insurgencies on land, things still were not looking up for them. The pirates had not proven to be as promising a help as Timothee's father had thought and it only added on to his frustration.

The enemy was closer to the land than ever, which was why Timothee was presently getting dressed in his chain mail and armor, trusting the intelligence he received from his spies and prepared for their arrival. They could be touching the isles any moment now and unprepared was the last thing he wanted to be.

He had sent Ansel ahead of him with some of their troops and he was counting on Hawklin's defence preparations on the coasts to last as long as they had expected. He was determined to save his kingdom and he planned on dying a King rather than a dethroned, humiliated man.

All their cannons were in place, ready to blast off the foes and their arrows had been coated in kerosene so their points could be lit on fire when they were launched from their bowstrings. Gigantic elephants awaited their turn to trample down any man who so much as even looked up at the Royal Keep and Timothee had let lose vicious snakes in the bushes at the borders, ever willing to bite men who tried sneaking through or past them.

He had done all that he could think of, constantly consulting the seasoned warriors and aged, experienced men of his kingdom and his allies. He prayed and visited the wounded and their families whenever he could. His people deserved so much better than what they were having to go through and he wanted to fight for them and provide them with a better life.

As he rode his destrier, leading his entire host behind him, knowing this could very well be the last battle he fought, he remembered Pauline's face as she kissed his forehead in a teary farewell and his mother who wrapped him in a fierce embrace, unwilling to let him go.

He had his father lead the defences at the castle, needing someone to guard his home while he was gone. Old men were no good in a battlefield anyway and he did not have it in him to completely ask his father to not fight. He knew the man wouldn't listen and this was the best compromise he could have achieved.

He thought about Saoirse and her big, sapphire eyes. If he lived, he would go back to her and apologise and explain every single thing to her. He would not ask her to take him back, she deserved better than someone who deserted her after leading her on.

He could see gigantic ships in the distance, some of their hulls burning. Men were constantly trying to get into their enemy's ships to take control of them and loot their supplies. The sun was almost down, painting the sky as crimson as all the blood that had been spilled that day.

"Should we start firing the cannons, Tim? I think they are close enough." Ansel suggested, pulling up his horse next to Timothee's.

"I need them a bit more close. We want to be precise." He replied.

He had made the mistake of firing too soon, almost as soon as he saw the enemy, in a previous battle he had fought. He had exhausted his ammunition before they could finish off the strongest part of the opposing troops and a lot of the cannonballs had hit the wrong targets.

"As you command," Ansel spoke and rode away to talk to some of the troops on his end.

Timothee saw his commander-at-arms arrange the soldiers in strategic positions and hiding some of them in the strangest of places so as to fulfill their guerrilla tactic.

Suddenly it was dead quiet all around and all he could hear was the sounds from the sea- the crashing of the waves, his fleet trying to keep up the last of their defences and the foe rapidly advancing toward them. Timothee gulped, knowing this was the moment and he lifted his hand to motion for the cannonballs to be fired.

Almost as soon as he did so, he could hear the blasts from his end going off and a fresh stream of adrenaline coursed through him as he saw several of the shots fired by them hit the enemy ships, completely sinking some of the smaller ones and badly damaging the huge ones in the middle.

He was trying to figure out which ship carried Elliot's queen, if she was even here, but every major ship seemed to look alike- huge and dark and a cacophony of raucous seamen's screams and weapons.

All of a sudden, a ball of fire exploded to his right, not far from where he stood, scattering the soldiers there, killing only the gods knew how many. He rode away from the site and wanted nothing more than to avenge every single one of their deaths but he knew he would have to keep his calm. His host derived strength from him and if he lost composure, their case was lost.

He could see the majority of his fleet drowning before his eyes along with the pirate ships. They parted the way for the warships of Elliot's queen as the sea parted for Moses and when the first of men touched the ground of Elmcaster, their soles were pierced by the spearheads Timothee's men had planted in the earth, their tips showing just enough.

Although it did slow the invaders down to some extent and caused them injury, it still was not enough to completely put them on hold.

Timothee ordered his archers to release their arrows and as a swarm of them fell down upon the foes, he saw that an unimaginable number of them started landing on the coast and charging at every scrap of land they could find.

He put his foot to his destrier's belly and the animal ran into the battlefield as Timothee slew man after man to his left and right. When he got to the eye of the violence, out of nowhere a dozen men surrounded him and it took him more than considerable strength to keep himself from falling off of his horse as their swords all came raining down on him.

One of them managed to slash at his bicep and he could feel hot blood gushing out of his arm as pain shot through him. Fortunately, a few of his soldiers reached the site at that instant and together they killed the attacking men.

Timothee's eyes went wide as he saw a part of the enemy host taking the route of the little stream that ran near the Holy Tower toward the castle.

Suddenly Ansel was at his side, swinging his battle axe to smash the head of a soldier who had been charging at Timothee from behind.

"Go after them, I've got it here!" He yelled through his visor and helm, his armor bloodstained.

And taking about a few hundred men of his host, Timothee rode toward the castle.

If the enemy succeeded in securing the Royal Keep, they won, and he was never going to let that happen till he had breath.

a/n

This was an intense one to write lmao. I hope you're liking what you read so far! Thanks for all the support and 1.5k reads!

love,

Smriti x