187 The Fanatic (1/2)

City of Murt, Tulosa

Tobias' body was shaking. His hair was unkempt. His beard was messy. He laughed.

He reached his hand towards the ceiling. His eyes were quivering inside their sockets. Mouth agape, he laughed.

Tobias rose from his bed, his laugh unceasing. Suddenly he knelt. His knees slammed towards the tiled floor of the room. It was a good day. It was a great day. Oh the Omniscient loves him!

The door creaked. Tobias snapped from his trance.

”Sire” Tobias' squire called. The lad was carrying a platter of food.

Tobias crawled towards his squire. His white robe was being dragged. He grabbed the squire's feet.

”Jason. Oh Jason! He called me again. Last night! Oh yes. Last night Jason. I spoke with God. I spoke with the Omniscient again” Tobias looked up to the squire ”He said that he is proud of me. He said that I am his chosen prophet. He said that....” tears of joy dropped from Tobias' eyes. He uttered unintelligible grunts ”The Omniscient called me his prophet! I am his light in this waning world. I am so happy”

Jason knelt. The platter of food was set aside.

”You are sire” Jason's calming voice said ”You are the chosen one. The Omniscient chose you as his personal servant. You need to prove your loyalty to him”

”Oh yes! I will. I will prove myself. I am loyal to the Omniscient. I will do anything for him. My faith is absolute!”

”Now is actually the perfect time to show your faith sire. News just arrived” Jason shook his head ”It is a terrible news”

”What happened?”

”Henry sire. He came back to Bivon with twenty thousand Castonians and Princess Emily. They took the city from Balian the evil”

”That is good. He took Bivon for me. Henry saw the light of God and followed it”

”That should have been the case sire. But no, evil again prevailed. The Castonians proclaimed Henry as the Grand Master”

”Henry!” Tobias cried, shrill was his voice and long was his shout. ”Oh Henry has fallen to the evils of this world. He is lost. This is a dark day” Tobias then chuckled under his breath. His shoulders shook ”We should kill him. We should sacrifice his corpse to the Omniscient as gift. The Omniscient demands a sacrifice of infidels”

”It will come sire, it will come. We will make a great sacrifice to the Omniscient to thank him for his goodness. But first we need to deal with the Castonians. I've heard a Castonian diplomatic party is on their way to Bivon. We should greet them ourselves”

Tobias smiled widely ”You are right. We will introduce them to the glory of God”

**********

Dust flung behind them. Numerous hoof marks dotted the sand of the Deadland Plains.

Henry's armor was hot under the sun. Although seldom gusts of wind would bring respite, he was sweating under his helm.

But all of this hardship will soon end, he thought. They have been riding for days but the scouts finally spotted the diplomatic party about an hour ago. Now he could see the Castonian flag fluttering about a thousand steps away.

The one at the front was a woman. She was flanked by several other nobles. Henry halted his mount in front of her and slid off his horse.

Before he could turn towards her, Freya ran to him. A warm embrace under the already searing afternoon sun followed.

”I'm all sweaty and dusty. I probably don't smell nice”

She rubbed her cheeks against his breastplate ”It's alright but you've grown thin. Are you eating well? Have you been sick? Is Erik giving you troubles?”

He missed her. It had only been two weeks but he had missed her. Henry put his palm on her face.

”I am well. You, on the other hand... Freya you shouldn't have come here”

”It is my duty Henry” Freya smiled. She gestured towards the people to her back ”By the way these are my peers. The monarchs have decided to give Tulosa the treatment of a close ally. We will propose to have the whole bunch- military pact, military access, alliance, trade agreement, free use of ports- not that Tulosa has a navy, and probably royal marriage ties”

Henry walked towards the nobles. They were dressed nicely despite being dusty from the journey. ”A pleasure to meet you and welcome to Tulosa. I hope your presence here will strengthen the bonds between our two nations”