“No, Ryan,” Garcia shook her head, “I have never been worried about the Sandpeople, they won’t ever be a threat to Clearwater Port. The lake in their territory is exactly in the middle between the two clans, but the river ending in the lake goes first through the Port of Clear Water. So as long as I block up the river, the amount of water in the lake will be reduced and they will start to fight against each other. This is also exactly the reason, why I chose the Sandstone Clan and the Black Bone Clan, their relationship was never harmonious. “
“Then are you worried about the matter of the pills?”
Garcia didn’t give him a reply, however, just at this moment a guard knocked once more on the door and announced, “Your Majesty, the priest of the church, Dicar.”
“Bring him in,” the Queen stood up and her face became darker.
“Your Majesty, Garcia Wimbledon, I greet you on behalf of the Holy City,” the priest entered the terrace while bowing.
“Pills? Why is it that the previous batches of pills that had always been served timely, but this batch got so much delayed?” Garcia asked coldly.
“Your Majesty no need for anger, this is exactly the reason I came,” Dicar had to wipe the sweat from his forehead, “You asked to buy 5000 pills, but that is just too much, even if we take all the pills produced for the Hermes we can’t fulfill your request. This time I brought as much as I could with me.”
“How much?” Interrupted Garcia.
“One thousand.” Said Dicar in a consoling voice, “the rest will be sent after a while.”
“And it will still be the same as previously promised?” Garcia’s facial expression got a bit nicer, “You now I want to have as many as I can. Also where have you stored the pills? I’ll immediately send someone to fetch them.”
“In the church, the gold royals…”
“This time, I won’t reduce the number of gold royals,” Garcia stepped directly in front of Dicar and whispered into his ear, “but if the delivering of the pills get further delayed, your head will hang on the highest mast of my flagship, and I can guarantee you, the archbishop won’t shed a single tear for you.”
Hearing this the priest turn pale and directly asked to be excused.
When he had left, Garcia went back to the railing and looked out over the sea. Her hair was lifted up by the sea breeze, just like the flags of her ships, waving in the wind.
“You were right, I’m worried about the pills.” Garcia’s voice seemed distant. “If Timothy had waited two months longer, my preparation would have been more adequate, but he had moved too fast.”
“You’ve done a great job,” Ryan thought to himself, who could have done a better job? The moment she had occupied Eagle City, she had already started to prepare the path for her retreat. She had ordered her soldiers to take away all of the usable materials and residents, while at the same time she let ditches be dug out everywhere in the city, afterward filling them up with black water. Since they had a shortage of manpower, Garcia exchanged the territory between the Southern Border and the Wildland for the support of the Sandpeople. She then gave the Clan warriors some pills and let them attack Timothy’s knights from both sides, however, to ensure that her loyal supporters were able to resist the last overwhelming charge, they didn’t hesitate for a moment to swallow the secret drugs themselves.
“The secret medicine provided by the church wasn’t like what they had told, allowing alive without any obstructions. After swallowing them once, if they didn’t get the next dose fast enough, the medication will turn into poison, letting them become weak and later die in pain because of muscle atrophy. If it were only the Sandpeople I wouldn’t care, but the people who worked for me deserve something better. “She paused,” Ryan, take some men to receive the pills and distribute them under our heroic warriors. But only use half of them, this way we can last a little longer.”
“Just as you wish, Your majesty.”
As Ryan was already halfway to the door, they could hear the guards voice for the third time through the door, “Your Majesty, we have just received a secret letter from King’s City.”
“Wait a moment, let’s read the letter first and then you can go,” Garcia ordered.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ryan received the letter from the guard, broke the seal, and removed the parchment. Most of these letters contained information sent by the spies hidden in all parts of the country. They were never signed, never had a recipient written on it and its content was also always as concise and clear as possible normally. But when he saw the first sentence, his whole body was suddenly rooted.
“On the twenty-second day of spring, the church seized the capital of the Kingdom of the Eternal Winter, declaring that the kingdom is now under their rule.”
Chapter 137 Secret Meeting
When he opened the thick wooden door, the light fragrance of straw hit him in the face, Archbishop Mayne liked this mixed smell of herbs and spicy candles, especially in a space which had no windows for ventilation. Every time he smelled this combination of scents, his mind became clear and he felt at peace.
The chamber wasn’t particularly large, it offered just enough space for one round table and four chairs. The other two archbishops were already seated on their chairs, while the chair facing the wooden door was still empty. The Pope’s physical condition had been deteriorating in recent times, it was almost half a year ago, since the last time he had shown himself in front of anyone. Only for cases that were too difficult to solve by themselves would he leave Hermes’ underground castle, seeking the answers for himself.
“It seems everyone is there, so let’s get started,” Mayne announced. he then bolted the door and sat between the other two, “Archbishop Tayfun, what are the last reports from the Kingdom of Eternal Winter?”
“Besides some former nobles, there are only a few other places where they still rebel against our rule, ‘au contraire’ it seems the civilians are even welcoming us to take over the kingdom.” Tayfun explained while stroking his beard, “Of course, those stubborn nobles, holding on to the dreams of their past glory, will be eradicated soon enough.”
“That’s sounds really good” Heather licked her lips. “In the case that you let me hold the next trial, the civilians will all become more aware of how ugly and dirty the former nobility were, but unfortunately, I still have a lot of things I still have to do here, so I can’t go to the Kingdom’s of Eternal Winter’s King’s City.”
Mayne ignored her words, and instead spoke to Tayfun, “We have to fill those vacant positions of power, as soon as possible with our own people. During the years that have passed, the Church has trained a lot of skilled people and now the time has finally arrived that we can use them.” However, the Kingdom of Eternal Winter has forever been the kingdom in which our Church had the biggest influence, but if we are able to ride on this wave, we will be able to handle the Wolfsheart Kingdom and the Kingdom of Dawn a lot sooner.
“That seems only natural.”
“What should happen with the nobility who have always relied on the Church, or to the ones who always turns in the direction the wind blows?” Heather asked, “the reason why the Church was able to attract so many good believers, was because we didn’t ask for their lineage, but for their actual skills. However, those idiots would shake the foundation of our entire Church… so my idea is…” She made a gesture of slicing open her neck.
“In the beginning we still have to use them, to reduce the resistance we received, but after the kingdom has become stable, we can talk about them then.” Regarding this point, they had deliberately decided to ask the Pope, “the church can provide them with the same authority equivalent to their title, but this position can not be inherited by their future generations. After all, our end goal is to destroy the kingship, so don’t be anxious for the moment, Lady Heather.”