"How dare you speak to our King like that, Lord Zadkiel?!" Roared Duke Silverthorne, his voice echoing across the deck of the warship. "I don't care how much power you have, but you need to respect his authority!"
"That's okay, Lord Silverthorne," said the King, calm and collected. "At its core, it's a valid question and given the circumstances, anyone who hadn't questioned it...is a fool."
"But, your highness--"
The King held up a hand silencing Duke Silverthorne. "Tell me, my lord, what made you arrive at that question?"
There was a silence after that, the only the sound of wind and waves prevailed.
"The way everything moves and the way you're in control of everything makes any sane person with half a brain question the truth of this mission," replied Duke Zadkiel. He was not scared or anything, he was also calm and collected.
"You're always smart, my lord," said the King. "Tell me something? Do you believe we can win against the remaining three great kingdoms? Would be we able to remain intact and not in ashes?"
A tricky question it was. Duke Zadkiel knew about it. If he were to answer yes, then he was a fool. The four great kingdoms were a power of each one and no single kingdom can take on the other three. It was simply impossible.
If the answer is no, then he doesn't have any trust in his Kingdom's army, thus making him not have any trust in his King who made the decision to wage war against the other three.
Duke Zadkiel was silent as he thought about answering the question or not.
"Lord Silverthorne?" the king asked. "What about you? What do you think of that situation?"
"Of course, your highness," said the duke. "It might be hard but with you on the head, I believe we can conquer the world. Right?" he turned towards the other dukes, who bobbed their heads in unison.
'Fools!' thought the Duke.
The King chuckled, hearing his answer. "See that, lord Zadkiel, he believes we can conquer the world without any problem. What about you? Do you also feel like that?"
"My King," said the duke. "I'll answer that question whenever the situation arises, but do note that if there is a situation like that, even if it meant sure death, I'll be with you, just like always."
"Touche!" said the King and resumed his sightseeing.
Suddenly, a large fleet of ships emerged from the other side of the sea.
Their banner swayed in the wind.
A barrage of magic spells rained from them. It was a marvelous view to watch the spells lighting up the sky, but it also meant danger was coming.
The King turned to his dukes. "Prepare for battle! We will show them the might of the Spring Kingdom!"
The dukes nodded and started giving orders to their soldiers. The sound of swords being unsheathed and armor being put on filled the air.
A barrage of counter spells rained on the incoming spells, negating them in the air itself. The explosion created a beautiful splash of all different colors in the sky.
Duke Zadkiel walked towards the edge of the warship, his eyes fixed on the approaching fleet. He knew that this battle was going to be tough, but he also knew that he had to fight for his King and his Kingdom.
As the two fleets collided, the sound of clashing swords and spells being cast filled the air. The battle was fierce and bloody, but the Spring Kingdom's army fought with valor and courage.
Duke Zadkiel was in the middle of the fray, his sword slicing through enemy soldiers. He cast spells to protect his allies and to defeat his enemies. It was a dance of death, but one that he was willing to do for his King and his Kingdom.
After hours of fighting, the Spring Kingdom emerged victorious. The enemy fleet was destroyed, and the surviving soldiers were taken as prisoners.
"Move forward and anchor at the dock. We're going to do this quickly and efficiently." The King gave orders to the captain of the naval fleet.
Though they did also suffer losses, it was minor compared to the size they had.
"That was tough," said the King. Standing in the same place as before. "The Aurore Island is indeed powerful, right?"
"Of course, they are powerful, but they won't be as powerful as our Kingdom," said Duke Moonstone, wiping the blood on his forehead.
"True."Said the King. "And to answer your question, my lord, no we don't have any legs on Queen Serielle's assassination. We're also trying to find the culprit behind it. Whoever is behind it, is backed up by a powerful kingdom."
"One of the other three?" Asked Duke Goldberry, his golden hair swaying unevenly on the wind.
"Maybe or maybe not. If, like the Aurore Island, act on suspicion and wage war on any of the three, it will trigger an event where we're destroyed by the other three. Maybe the culprit wants exactly that." Said the King, drinking a glass of wine his attender poured him.
"What is your plan?" Asked Duke Zadkiel, holding a hand against the attendee and the glass.
"The man your son caught is of no use, he can't utter anything." Started the king. "He's useless. He looks like he's from our Kingdom so pinpointing to a specific Kingdom is out of the question. No one knows him to start investigating him in this Kingdom, so that's out of the equation, too. The only thing remaining to do is to spy on the other three kingdoms along with the other minor kingdoms and freeholds, too. It will take time and resources, but the best way might be..."
"Waiting." Finished the Duke. "Waiting for them to do something like that again."
The King smiled and leaned onto the rail of the ship, taking in the beautiful site of the wreckage of ships and bodies floating. "Just like always, you're on point, Nathaniel."