43 Formulated (1/2)

After a few hours, the king called us to the royal conference room, which was just a room with a large circular table with many chairs to accompany it. I sat beside Jake across from the king, there were several officials lining the remaining chairs, all outfitted in elegantly crafted armor or expertly tailored uniforms. These were the cabinet members that were with the king during the incident, most of them were at least. There were still some faces I didn't recognize.

The king cleared his throat and the room became deathly quiet, the king sat up straight in his ornate chair and declaring.

”As all of you are aware, the Four Kingdoms of humanity, no humanity as a whole is in peril. As of last week, the Lion's Guard Kingdom to the north-west and the High Imperium to the north-east have both fallen to Forsaken Rule. We, the Lord's Union, and the Dragerian Republic have been branded traitors of the ”Paladin Order”. We all know this was a deliberate coup to delegate power to a possibly tyrannical force.” He looked at me and asked. ”Christian, would you like to elaborate on your experiences. I am aware you were in the 12th battalion at the time of the hostile takeover.”

Every pair of eyes shifted to me, I could feel the weight of all of their gazes resting on me. I started sweating slightly but said.

”Yes, from what I understand, all the brothers of the Order were either persuaded to shift allegiances with promises of power and wealth, or they were executed. I was almost killed by my commanding officer and I imagine many other Paladin Knights suffered similar fates, all be it with different outcomes.” I kept my head up and my voice even, the king and his cabinet seemed content with my response.

The king nodded, then asked. ”I can see that you've endured much during your time, Christian. Now that you have proved our trust in you, would you care to tell me the original reason for your visit?”

I nodded politely, discretely glancing at Jake. He seemed to be waiting for my response as well, I guess I would be the one to explain everything since it was my idea, to begin with.

”May I ask you a question, Sir William?” The king nodded. ”Do you know of the Moon Claws?”

He was slightly taken aback by the strange question, but nodded and waited for me to continue.

”I suppose I should start at the beginning.” I took a breath before saying. ”When I escaped, I did so while rescuing a beast-girl who happened to be the sister to the chief of the Moon Claws at the time. He tracked her, as well as me, down. He challenged me to a fight to the death which I barely won. After that I became the chief of the Moon Claws, with a force of 1,000 beast-men, I was able to repel demon forces in the southern region of the kingdom. I traveled here recruiting any Paladin Knights or soldiers I could find.

My men are amassing strength and numbers in the town of Hampton as we speak, I have no idea of how many soldiers are currently there, but I can assume it's close to 2,000 men including the beast-men.

I say all that to ask for your assistance. I can assume that all Paladin Order assets under your command have been frozen and you've been disconnected from any of your soldiers aside from those in the capital, correct?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he said.

”Your assumption is correct, the only military force under my command is the garrison currently stationed here. So what exactly are you proposing?”

I couldn't help but smile, the future was laid in front of everyone. The notion of hope lifted the mood greatly.

”I want your help to take back this kingdom, then the next, and next. Until this entire continent is no longer threatened by demonic or tyrannical rule. I want us to be free again, I again want to serve the Order that raised me and see it prosper once again. Can you help us?”