Medrith; The Origin Of House Wollstone (PREVIEW)

chapter XIII; prepare

King Grian grumbled, childishly flicking the wolf carved markers across the table. His wooden seat scuffed the floor as he pushed himself up from examining the map laid out before him, "It's fucking useless!" Grian's giant padded palms slammed onto the war table, nearly tumbling every marker onto the ground.

One of the uniformed guards stumbled back, re-footing himself besides the door. He slowly turned his head to send a horrified look to the second guard on the other side of the door. They shared wide eyes and pursed lips. 

Captain Lee remained seated, rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "Sire, may I suggest you calm down first." Lee propped his elbows onto the sides of his chair, intertwining his fingers as he slumped back into his seat. 

Grian chuckles, sauntering over to the window over looking the woods. His nose twitches, "Calm." He sneered. "How can I be calm when there's a war plotted against us?" He harshly implied before spinning around, facing Lee with beady eyes. "How do you know they are plotting war on us?" Lee slowly rolled his eyes to meet the King's gaze. 

"How- how do I know?" Grian gritted his teeth, "They have been slaughtering our people one after another!" He shouted, pushing a chair onto the ground. 

Lee sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. "You're right." He gave up, "Besides the point that anger results to massive outbreaks in your temper and actions." He calmly said, reaching over to tip over the castle representing the Mendwell Kingdom.

The King pondered on the thought before soon realizing that the Captain was right. "Fine. We train this whole week, no exceptions!" He stormed off, bursting through the doors. The two guards exchanged exhausted sighs and weary eyes.

"Right then." Lee muttered. He pushed himself out of the seat, following shortly behind the King. "You heard him." He patted the first guard on the shoulder, his ring clinked loudly against the steel pauldron. Lee sent the two young men a sly smirk before spinning on his heels out of the archway. 

"Let's get going, boys!" He shouted down the hall. 

The boys stuttered, wide eyed. "R- right now, Ser?" The Guard within the war room raised a limp finger, pointing at himself. "Yes, right now!" Lee shouted down the hallway. The boys gulped, setting down their spears against the brick wall. They waddled their way down the stairwell behind Lee. 

"We're going to die before we even get on the battlefield." One of the boys muttered to the other. Agreeing, the other boy held tightly to his chest as his heart beat through his armor. His palms began to sweat as they inched closer to the armory. The smell of sweat and dirt swirled into their nostrils, making the heat underneath the plate worsen. 

Lee sighed, waving over the other Guards. "Get undressed and meet me in the courtyard." He announced, covering his nose with a handkerchief. "Hurry up!" He shouted, making the men shuffle hastily around the room. He forcefully pushed open the door with his left hand, his feet kicking away the helmets lying in his path. 

The boys began to undress, one who appeared to be Creak. The short and stubby boy hyperventilated as he took off his tunic. A more slender boy with jet black hair turned over to Creak with a disgusted look. "Why are you getting naked?" He asked curiously as his nose wrinkled. 

Confused, Creak's eyes scanned the others who seemed to have their clothes still on. His milky brown eyes twitched. "He- he said t- to undress-" Creak was interrupted as the sea of men roared into laughter, an older man slapped a coarse hand onto Creak's bare back. "Poor lad." The man chuckled, throwing over a fresh tunic over the boys sweat covered mange of hair. 

"Oh." He gulped, pulling his trousers back up, along with the tunic. Before Creak could finish tying his laces, the door swung open as the room of men and boys poured out into the courtyard. "Oh gods." He whimpered, scratching his arms nervously. 

"Line up!" Lee shouted from outside, Creak slowly waddled out of the armory and into the line of men. 

"Prepare for war." Lee said sternly, throwing a sword to the boy. 

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A/N

This Chapter has been edited, so the comments might not add up or make sense as for they were referring to the old version of the story!