He needed to return to King’s City as soon as he could to stabilize the undercurrents of political unrest going on over there. The rain in the South would probably go on for several days, days he couldn’t waste with waiting over here.
“I will go back to King’s City early tomorrow morning,” Timothy opened his mouth and declared, “Except for my personal guards and the Knights from King’s City, all the other Knights and mercenaries will be handed over to you. Sir Ed Hawes, please take my place in defending the Southern Border. You must not allow the Sandpeople to even set a single foot within Graycastle’s borders.”
“You… will let me stay here?” The young Knight of the northern Hawes Family asked in surprise, “But I would like to continue to fight at your side, Your Majesty. I —“
“Knight, by defending the borderland you will also fight for me.” Timothy interrupted, “Listen, there are still many things you need to do, so I have to leave the Southern Territory in the hands of loyal and competent people who are able to deal with the aftermath.”
“But…” Ed was still a bit hesitant.
“I know what you are worried about,” the new King smiled understandingly and patted his shoulders. “Rest assured, you won’t stay here forever. When the matter regarding Port of Clear Water is finished, I will immediately recall you back to King’s City. After all, Graycastle is not unified yet, I still need to recover the Western Territory, and for that, I will need even more Knights who can charge in and break through the enemy’s lines. So, how could I ever forget you here?”
Hearing these reassuring words, the young man looked up with shining eyes, knelt down then said, “As you bid, Your Majesty!”
“Get up,” Timothy said while nodding with satisfaction. “There are three things you have to do next. First, you have to take all the remaining inhabitants of Port of Clear Water into custody and escort them back to King’s City.”
“Don’t you want to hang these traitors?” The Knight asked surprised.
“No, they cannot be considered as real traitors. If they had indeed joined Garcia’s side, they would have long left with the Black Sail Fleet. If I kill these people, it would only suit her more.”
“Your Majesty is benevolent!”
“The second thing you have to do is burn all the docks, shipyards and the Lords Tower, I want to let everyone in the South see that Garcia, the Queen of Clear Water, has ceased to be. Even if she comes fleeing back, only ruins will be left for her to return to.”
“Yes,” the Knight agreed.
“The last thing I ask is that you gather all the refugees for me.” Timothy looked at the horizon over the sea, then calmly said, “Furthermore, any homeless man, rat, bandit, and even the Sandpeople are acceptable. From the battle of Eagle City until today, the dispute in the Southern Territory has never been quietened down, so you should be able to find a large number of refugees living in the surrounding villages and towns. What kinds of methods you use to gather them doesn’t matter, only that before the war against the West begins you will need to provide me with at least 5’000 men.
Garcia’s escape proved the correctness of his strategy, as the ruler of more than half of Graycastle’s population, he should use them to fight against the rebels — under normal circumstances, with a team of 100 Knights leading an army of several thousand commoners, the Knight’s usually wouldn’t even need to participate in the battle. Their only responsibility would be the distribution of the pills and commanding the battle. In front of an enemy who had the advantage of absolute numbers, as long as they unceasingly attacked, the enemy would be unable to resist them. If Garcia had shown an unwavering will and decided to defend Port of Clear Water to the death instead of retreating, she would have been bound to be swallowed up by the masses of people turned mad by the pills.
Now he only had one enemy left, Roland Wimbledon in the western territory.
“Your Majesty, do you know why there isn’t any news from my older brother?”
