Chapter 38: Oath
The entire easter army had gathered next to the camp, the men of house Lunebleau and most men of house Beaumont as well. The Fire Eater tribe had also come, and few orcs from the Ruin Builder tribe. They were here as witness.
Aedrik was standing next to the Imperial Banner he had used to ask for the duel, next to it an standard Imperial banner, and last the Imperial flag of house Lachdanan le Fay. In front of him were the Book Reader tribe, and those of the Ruin Builders who had chosen to become part of the empire. Kirn and the elder shaman Yara, were at the front of their tribe.
"I am Aedrik Lachdanan le Fay, fourth prince of the Imperial house of the Fey Danan Empire" his voice reached everyone, amplified by magic "Hear ye, men of the Empire, today is a day of celebration. We have our allies from Loire, the Fire Eater tribe and the Ruin Builder tribe to serve as witness, for today the Empire welcomes new sons and daughters"
"By free will you've come, you all accepted and agreed the invitation to join the empire, from this day forward, you are no longer of the Book Reader tribe or the Ruin Builders, you will become part of the Empire. By my right as imperial, I ask you orcs of the Book Reader tribe and the Ruin Builders, those of you who will become part of us, kneel" Aedrik was speaking in orcish, and then in common, as he stopped speaking, the entire Book Reader tribe knelt, and so did the few orcs of the Ruin Builders who had agreed, Erkal among them.
"The Fey Danan Empire is not made by its land or riches; it is made by its people. Humans, Fey, Ashran, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Sylvans, Dragonewts, and Halves, these are the people of the Empire, within the Empire they are of no different race, they are all men and women of the Empire, as you will be. The imperial law is what rules them; they bow to no one but the Imperial house Lachdanan le Fay. All men and women in the Empire belongs to the imperial house, and the imperial house belongs to them, an oath bound by life, honor, duty and love. If you understand, you will make this oath, you will repeat my words, for they will bind us" as Aedrik finished speaking, the entire eastern army also knelt, the northern men and Pan were the first, followed by the rest.
"From this moment on by my free will, I am bound to the Fey Danan Empire. My life for the Empire, by its all I will live. My heart for the Empire, I will serve and protect. My honor for the Empire, may I be worth it. My death for the Empire, never will I be forgotten. Life, Honor, Duty and Love, my oath to the Empire" Aedrik waited for the orcs to repeat the oath, before he said it in common, the eastern army replied with the same oath.
"By my right as the fourth prince of the Imperial house Lachdanan le Fay, and in the name of the Emperor, I take on your oath, never forget your words. From this moment, you are men and women of the Empire, we are bound, we are the Empire. To serve, protect and care for you, that is the duty of the Imperial House, our promise. Stand proud men and women of the Empire" those who had knelt raised.
"RAISE WOMEN AND MEN OF THE FEY DANAN EMPIRE, LET THE WORLD KNOW WE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, FOR THE EMPIRE WILL LAST EVEN AFTER THE SUNS HAVE DIED. FOR THE EMPIRE" the response was deafening, the men and women of the empire, roared, cheered and applauded. Luka was surprised by the response, even Percy somehow he had composed himself. The orcs who had not taken the oath, were looking astonished at the response.
"General Svein, help our civilians, organize them, we will march in two days" Aedrik said once the cheers have calmed, the eastern army formed back in a moment "Kirn the huntress, will act as the chief for the civilians, by my command she should be considered the civil authority among them, and serve as Exarch. The eastern army will carry on, once we have honored our allies, the Fire Eaters and Ruin Builders, to claim their right on the spoils of war" The eastern army officials started giving orders, they moved to where the spoils of war had been gathered.
Luka and Percy had them men do as well, as they had discussed with Aedrik, they would let the tribes take on their part and the rest will be split by them as used as they see fit.
"Exarch Kirn, have your countrymen move next to the easter army. We will discuss things further, for the moment work with general Svien, we will honor our allies" Aedrik said with his voice not amplified by magic, Kirn who looked surprised and nervous nodded, and had what had been her tribe, move next to the eastern army.
"Erkal, once we have finished this, I need to speak with you at my tent. Then I will speak with all of you" the big orc still covered in bandages, smiled, and nodded.
The Fire Eaters and what was left of the Ruin Builders moved to where the remnants of the fight had been gathered as they had discussed before. Pan soon walked next to Aedrik and walked to the front of the Easter Army. Luka and Percy came near them as they finished forming their men.
Aedrik motioned them, and the four of them walked to where the Fire Eaters and the Ruin Builders had gathered.
"As we talked about if, both the Empire and Loire, will pick their rights from the battle once you have taken yours. How you take them, is for you to decide" Luka and Percy nodded after Aedrik spoke, and they all returned to where they were.
Raz of the Fire Eaters turned to speak with the few Ruin Builders, even though they were to few, he respected their place as a tribe. After a moment, Raz was the first of the orcs to pass and take his prize from the spoils of war. The slender shaman, took a one handed axe, from the looks of it, it was enchanted. As he returned to his tribe, one of the Ruin Builders, passed to the pile, and took his prize as well.
It took almost two hours for the tribes to take their share of the spoils, even considering the share of those who had died. Aedrik noticed how Percy was sweating profusely, but he had endured. Aedrik saw Luka looking at him from time to time, it was a tedious thing, but the lord understood that they needed to respect the orcs.
Luka knew that Aedrik and Frey were right, if they managed to build a true relationship with the orcs, their eastern border could change completely. Luka would follow on Aedrik's on how he addressed the orcs, and they needed to have someone start studying the orc customs, he grimaced, Frey would have been the one to address the issue.
Luka turned and gave Sir Remy a nod, he would handle the men, and start preparing. The crown had already recognized the lands and given house Lunebleau the right to use the mines, they all had work to do. Next to him, Percy went to see his men prepare as well, and probably to puke somewhere private.
The easter army was already moving, preparing. Aedrik had suggested a meeting at noon, they had made a written treaty for the alliance with the tribes, and curiosly the Aedrik had a banner made to signify their alliance, the banner was more important to the orcs than the written treaty, each one of them would take one of this banners.
They needed to stablish routs and lines of communication, to have their alliance working. Luka, saw Aedrik heading to his tent followed by Pan, Kirn, Erkal and the elder shaman Yara. He wanted to speak with him before the meeting but they needed to address what would happen with the orcs once they had been made part of the empire. Luka was still surprised by the surreal idea of it, an oath.
"You want to join us, Luka?" Aedrik must have seen him looking his way.
"I wanted to talk with you before the meeting, I understand you have responsibilities, you could call me once you've seen them through"
"Come, I also wanted to speak with you before the meeting. Join us" he hesitated but nodded. He wanted to see how he interacted with the orcs.
The small group spread around Aedrik's tent. Pan motioned him to sit next to him, so he could translate for him. Pan was good, he had his doubts for a while, but the fey was a good sort. Aedrik waited for everyone to be seated before he commenced.
"Let me welcome you again, Kirn, Yara, Erkal" Aedrik gave the orcs his unusual bow, which now Luka knew it was a norkrieger custom "These is for you Kirn, I will have more of these handed to you for their distribution, but these one is special" Aedrik handed the orc female a small book with a brown leather cover. Kirn took it respectfully.
"These are the written laws of the Empire. These one is written in common and in rune orcish" Luka saw both Kirn and Yara eyes went wide with the book.
"These are the laws?" Kirn asked confused, she held the book with respect.
"Good thing we come from the Book Reader tribe" Yara the elder shaman said grinning, Erkal snorted at the comment.
"The laws are written in a special book, guarded in the Imperial Palace. The book I gave you, as many others are connected to the original book, if any law is added or changed to the original book, yours will change as well. Every settlement, village, town and city of the Empire has one of these. They are made by magic scribes, and ancient profession of the fey" Luka was surprised by Aedrik's words as well. Loire had its laws written inside the Ciel Rouge Library as well as the palace, but whenever there was an amend, they rewrote the thing, or just placed the amends at the end. He noticed the orcs, looked at the book Aedrik had given them with respect now.
"I am giving you this, so you all may know the laws you have accepted to obey. I have taken your oath, but the Empire does not take advantage of its own, you have to read them, and I would discuss them with you" Luka saw the eyebrows of Kirn almost touching each other in confusion, Aedrik just smiled.
"Why would we need to discuss the laws, we made an oath, we are prepared" Kirn said preoccupied.
"You should read them first, Kirn. Use this day for it, talk about them with the rest of the civilians under your charge. Once you have, and after we discussed them together, we will amend them to fit you" Luka was surprised Kirn had stood up upset, Yara and Erkal were weary as well.
"Is it because we are orcs?" Kirn asked, her tone cold, still Aedrik was calm.
"No, it is because you joined the Empire by your choice, and thus there is leniency with the laws and even some exceptions or additional ones. The Empire is made up of different races and cultures, and it does not wish to erease them, but be nurture by them. You have a chance to address the laws, it could be done with a council choose to discuss them with you, or by imperial appointment. I was given the authority to discuss them with you, hence why I am asking you to revise them, tomorrow we will discuss them, and address the laws that will rule you. You are part of the empire, you are free men and women of the empire" Aedrik's tone was gentle, Yara and Erkal nodded, Kirn sat back still confused.
"We made and oath, we want to be treated like everyone else" Kirn said indignant about Aedrik's words
"You are Kirn, this is your right as a newcomer to the Empire. You have yet to read the laws, we will talk once you have" Aedrik waited for a moment, and Kirn nodded "We will start moving back to our border in two days, I'll explain our plan of action, come" Aedrik motioned them all for the map on the table at the center of the tent,
"These are the lands, we secured" he pointed at the line, which would be the new borders, the map had already been marked to separate those that were being taken by Loire, the Empire, and the rest of the orc tribes "The Empire is going to take these"
"But you are giving them the iron mines, the Empire was the one who risked more, why would you do that" Erkal asked confused
"Loire and the Empire was just become allies, Erkal, respect and honor our allies. There was no point in stretching ourselves or taking over the control of the mine. That is what the Empire has decided" Luka saw the orc was about to say something but stopped "As you see we are taking part of the lands the Book Reader tribe used to control, but the north part of them are going to be given to the Fire Eaters tribe"
"The empire guards and protects its own, we have enough land to settle and use, the Empire wants to strengthen and stabilize the easter border, you will play a large roll in this" Aedrik placed a little wooden piece and place near the corner of the new border of the Empire, at the edge of the lands that used to belong to the Book Reader tribe.
"This will be anchor of the easter border, you will see the foundation of it"
"We are going to be surrounded by allies" Kirn said after looking at the map, Luka was surprised at how fast she understood Aedrik's idea.
"Indeed, we work with them, and we secure our eastern front. We will be placing defensive structures along the border, but our allies have an important part to play. In turn they can work their lands truly, we hold their backs, and we will assist them if needed" Luka saw the orcs with mixed expressions, have they not joined the empire they would have given the same 'chance', how would they take it…
"What if they turn against us?" Kirn asked
"Trust is not easy to earn. The warring hills are called that way because there is no relative peace, the tribes tend to work alone, alliances are too fragile. Nothing can guarantee how others would act, the Empire will honor their promise. If they turn against us, we will answer, but only if there is no other way. The best relationships were those were everybody gains, we forfeited more lands in favor of our allies, as a token, we promised. The empire is known for its wars, but it was founded upon an alliance. The empire is ready for anyone who would move against it, but it desires peace. I hate war, Kirn, it gives nothing. The imperial house and the empire is working to assure peace, wherever we can, as long as we can" Luka was not surprised by his words, the Empire alliance with Loire was a genuine prove of their intentions, the orcs however, were truly surprise.
"But you are well prepared for it" Erkal intervened
"We prepare for it, because we have too. Because we care for our people, the empire grew to large to fast. We are made of different races and cultures, it was born by the idea that our differences do not separate us, that there is common ground to lay our foundations. Yet there are those who always have different interest in mind, outside and within the Empire, we prepared because we must. That is why we will honor and protect our allies. We have a chance to become something unique and wondrous, I hope you will work with me to achieve this" Aedrik tone was gentle, Kirn nodded instantly the rest of the orcs did so after a moment.
"The Empire needs to establish a settlement from where we will work our new border, as I told you I was hoping you would take on this task. The Empire is currently divided by regions, the past years the high council has been working on changing the distribution. The changes of the eastern border will be the trigger for the change, this will be clearer after you've settle in inside the Empire. The settlement will be formed by you, and a small detachment from the eastern army, and a few soldiers from the north. You have been granted the charge of Exarch, you will be in charge of the people, and will work with captain Kelby, who will be in charge of guarding you" Luka was surprised, he did not expect Aedrik to have a concise plan for the orcs, he saw that the elder shaman Yara was relieved, probably worried about the same thing than he was, Kirn on the other hand was once again troubled.
"We can defend ourselves, there is no need for you to leave troops, and we will abide by our word and your laws" Kirn began but Aedrik stopped her.
"You are not part of the imperial army, Exarch Kirn. You are citizens of the Empire, and it is the army job to protect you. They are not there to watch over you, but to aid you. The easter army is recruiting anyone who wish to join it, may apply as recruits, however any settlement needs a local guard, which is your responsibility or organize and work with the army. That is why you need to read the laws, do you understand?"
"I do, prince, it is just that our people are hard, we can help the Empire" Luka had considered Kirn to be reserved and analytical but the female orc was truly worried about failing the Empire somehow.
"I know, and you will. That is why you have been granted the position of Exarch, the settlement is terribly important, I expect many things from you, you noted how you are surrounded by allies, it it's your actions that will truly make our alliance work. You need to talk with the rest of the group under your charge, be sure to understand the laws. You know them, and what they can do, use them properly. Use the resources of the Empire, Loire will soon have the mine working, we expect to trade with them, these will pass by the lands under you care Exarch Kirn. We will move in two days, but I would not be able to come with you, I have to go to Loire, I will return to see how you are faring, but I need to go in two days, I was hoping to discuss as much as we could, but you need to start thinking about what you have to do, for our talks to be effective" Luka saw the fear of uncertainly in some of the orcs, curiously Kirn was not one of them, Luka had seen the female orc, gathering information, she knew Aedrik was engaged with Frey, and that his wedding date was in less than a month.
"Captain Kelby and the northern men under his charge, are familiar with orc tribes, and they've seen how one has already merged withing the Empire. He can provide insightful information "I am truly sorry I won't be able to see you start the settlement, but I am to be married to lord Luka's sister. You already have a general idea of what is to come, use these two days, and do not hesitate to come and talk with me for anything, but you have to read the laws first, understood?" the orcs had all troubled faces but they nodded.
"For the moment this will be all by my part, see general Svein, he already has his orders, and will explain to you how we are moving back to the Empire"
"Thank you, prince. As you said, we have many things to do, we will be consulting with you later, we are grateful for your concern and for explaining everything" the elder shaman Yara gave Aedrik a small bow, Kirn and the rest did the same, to which Aedrik responded with one, afterwards the orcs, left the tent.
"Will they be alright?" he asked Aedrik, who let out a long sigh after the orcs had left.
"Not at first, but they have to many things to do and worry about, once they start working on them, they will stop worrying about anything else. Leaving them in itself is a test for the Empire and for them"
"Orcs are tough, they will be all right" Pan added happily, Percy darted out of the tent, the unmistakable sound of vomiting came inside the tent and that was the cue for everyone to leave.
"Wait Luka, I need to talk with you" Luka stopped
"I have confirmation of my sisters assisting the wedding, and I was hoping of discussing with you the best possible way to get them inside Loire"
"Oh… certainly. You know I think Percy should be here as well"
"I'll call for a healer, do not start talking without me" Pan said and sprinted outside the tent.
Weekly Power Status
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