"However, the church also recognized that he is the incarnation of St. Var." The squires hated their king, but at this time tried to defend the king, "They also held a grand baptism for him in St. Weiss Cathedral. "
Baron Sheehan held the torch and shook his head with a smile.
He knows his good friends too well, like most Legrands and Blaises, they are extremely religious and have a firm trust in the church... Admitting that the church lies and deceives people is much more painful to them than accepting a tyrant .
However, shortly after the birth of the king, the always strong William III backed down from the church, and the church had a greater say in the appointment and dismissal of church clergy.
Baron Sheehan stopped talking.
He drove his horse forward and took another two steps, and between the flashes of fire, something caught his attention.
A scarlet figure appeared in front.
"alert."
Baron Sheen did not forget that there were at least five oath knights beside the king. With a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, he led the vigilant crowd forward.
Unexpectedly, they were not attacked.
That scarlet shadow was the king's cloak.
It was hanging on a slightly lower tree trunk, swaying slightly by the cold wind, and from a distance it looked like a king standing here. The cavalry spread out and surrounded the baron. Baron Sheen reached out and took off the red cloak. Turning over to the back of the cloak, there are two holes in the cloak.
The positions are slightly down the shoulders and at the back center.
It seemed that his arrow did hit the king.
But the king disappeared, leaving only the cloak hanging from a branch.
At this time, the hound made a discovery.
The hound barked low at a place on the ground. Baron Sheehan dismounted, walked over, reached out and brushed away the thick leaves on the ground, and saw that his arrow was discarded here. He picked up the arrow, squeezed it with his hand, and got a sticky scarlet liquid—and it hit.
"It's not far from here, search!"
Baron Sheehan stood up and ordered.
The cavalry nodded and were about to disperse.
The hounds dashed to the side of the horses suddenly, clinging to their respective masters, and making a strange, tense noise from their throats, which did not sound like a warning but engulfed in some kind of great terror. They shivered toward the darkness ahead of the forest.
"what's the situation?!"
The cavalry looked in horror in the direction of the hound's horror.
There is a thick darkness... I don't know if it is their illusion. At this moment, the darkness seems to be expanding, and it seems that something is waking up little by little, and then drooling at them uninvited guests... What is that? ? !
The horses also began to feel uneasy, and the cavalry had to tighten the reins hard.
"What is that? My lord, what is that?!"
The squire asked in panic.
Baron Sheehan grabbed the iron arrow and cloak and jumped up, turning over on his horse. His warhorse was the best of Legrand's famous horses, but it was also trembling at this time.
"withdraw!"
A strong sense of crisis swept through his heart, and Baron Sheen gave an order without hesitation.
The warhorse ran out of the mysterious Kono Forest shrouded in mystery almost without the owner's whip.
After leaving the Kono Forest, the feeling of being watched suddenly disappeared, but everyone still had lingering fears when they looked back at the black tree trunk.
"Block the forest."
Baron Sheehan is not without success, he has obtained the king's cloak and iron arrow, and can confirm that he has indeed shot the king - this is actually enough. Cold rain, forest, no medical officer... Baron Sheen couldn't imagine how the king could survive. Still, out of an abundance of caution, he decided to seal off those parts of the forest that lead to the road.
"Just as..."
Baron Sheehan pondered and smiled.
"In the name of guarding the royal forest."
The cavalry laughed.
…
tick.
The raindrops fell on the moss-covered ground, and the breath was all wet and cold.
Baron Sheehan's estimate was actually wrong, the king was not near the cloaked tree trunk, they went deeper. Almost as soon as the steed stopped in exhaustion, the king and his knights rolled off their horses and fell to the ground, exhausted.
Thanks to the thick moss and fallen leaves, they didn't fall out of new injuries.
The king listened for a while, and the cloak he had left to confuse the sight should have worked.
The pursuers no longer followed.
The rain stopped at this time, but the place they were in was still very dark, and even after the eyes got used to it, they could only vaguely see the outlines of the people around them. They had no torches, were cold and tired, and all had injuries.
It was a terrible night.
A vowed knight spoke up, saying that things will be much better when he meets other people at dawn.
Hearing the words, the king sneered lightly and coldly in the dark: "That's really great, you don't need Baron Sheehan to do it."
For the Lord's sake, they still expect not to meet anyone else. Although the forest is also a place of refuge for the hermits, it is often the most vicious thieves and desperate desperados who prefer the forest to the hermits - either way, it is not good for them.
And don't even count on the loggers for help.
Like most countries, Legrand's forest laws are harsh, the forest belongs to the royal family, and all creatures in the forest belong to the king. Any felling of trees and undergrowth is carried out under the supervision of the Chief Forest Officer[1]. And for those who depend on the forest for a living, it's difficult for them to pay that allowance to the royal family.
As a king, Purland I was definitely a master of exploitation. Before Zhuchi was reborn, Purland extended the forest law to nearly one-third of Legrand's territory. The fees levied have also doubled from the previous kings.
Most of the people are logging trees privately.
It's hard to say what kind of actions the slashers will do when they find the king.
No one dared to speak for a while.
Everyone was reminded of the Forest Law, but saying this at this time would undoubtedly amount to accusing the king of his tyranny.
In fact, the king was bothering this more than anyone at this time. He gritted his teeth in the dark, and when things settled down, the first target he took was the damn royal forest law.
To hell with those foresters.
"Tell me, your companions..." the king said in the silence, and he paused, "their names, ages, where they came from—including yourselves."
There seemed to be no such word as "weak" in his dictionary. Even in this darkness, the king's voice is still cold and majestic, which is exactly what is needed most at this time.
It reassured the tired and bewildered knights.
Their majesty was born arrogant, and since he was born, he did not know what "kindness" was, and his eyes were always filled with pressing sharpness. It makes people feel that His Majesty is as cold-hearted as the rose badge in his hand. By saying this he already meant that the king remembered their loyalty and sacrifice.
They had not expected the king to remember this.
After a moment of silence, the knight commander spoke in a low voice. He knew his team members better than anyone.
"Kahn, seventeen, from Saxony..."
The king interrupted him: "The one just now?"
The knight commander quickly understood what the king meant: "Yes, the one who blocked the longbowman."
"continue."
The king remembered the sworn knight who roared at him in the mud—he was young, with a round face and a boyishness.
"There are two younger sisters in his family, and his mother suffered from a cold last month..." The king only asked his name, age and where he was from, but the knight commander suddenly had the courage to tell the king about these trivial things, his voice faintly The ground trembled, "He originally wanted to take a week off..."
The king did not interrupt him.
The knight commander's voice calmed down.
He started talking about his buddies, trying to describe their habits as if they hadn't left. Gradually, other oath knights also joined the conversation.
The king seldom spoke, but occasional inquiries let them know that he did listen and remember. Their eyes were slightly red.
The knight commander was the last to speak of himself.
"... Twenty-nine, I'm from the Northland." The knight commander said naturally.
"Do not."
In the darkness, the king's voice was emotionless, indistinguishable between joy and anger.
"You are not from the Northland."
Some of the lively atmosphere suddenly ended, and the others were confused and didn't know what the king meant.
"Yes," the knight commander admitted bitterly, "I am from Anger."
The other oath knights gasped and realized something.
Ingres was a small state conquered by Legrand before, but its repeated rebellions angered the royal family. As early as hundreds of years ago in the criminal law, the Anger people were prohibited from occupying land, serving as royal officials, and even wearing armor... The Anger nation's status was extremely humble.
However, the knight commander became the king's sworn knight.
After the hidden secret was revealed, the knight commander was relieved. He said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please allow me to escort you back safely. After that, I am willing to accept everything..."
"Don't bother me with trivial matters." The king said indifferently, "Tell me about Angel's situation."
The other sworn knights cheered.
The knight commander wiped his face indiscriminately, he couldn't believe his ears, he was trying to express his feelings almost in a mess, but the king just interrupted him impatiently and told him to say what he should say.
He stammered about the rebellious region shrouded in savagery, utterly messed up with over-excitement.
The king listened quietly.
This time he was silent for a long time, until the knight commander finally calmed down and realized that something was wrong.
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
The king did not answer.
Joy retreated cleanly, and inexplicable fear surged up. The knight commander struggled and staggered towards the king.
The rainstorm stopped for a long time, and the unknown moon came out at this time.
The moonlight fell through the gap in the tree trunk, and the knight commander's breathing suddenly stopped.
Their king lay not far from them, as pale as an ice sculpture.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
He ignored the pain all over his body, shouting, and pounced on the king's side. He shivered to test the king's breath, as slight as a breeze.
There was a terrifying dark red color that spread under the king's shoulders, and the moss was dark brown.
A terrible word appeared in everyone's mind, and their minds went blank.
huh, huh...
Worse things happened.
A faint blue mist spread out against the ground, and a horrifying sound of bones colliding came from the mist. The knights jumped up, guarded the unconscious king in the middle, and held the sword in their cold, stiff hands.
The sound is getting closer.
The fog is getting thicker.
They saw the outline of a carriage in the thick fog.
The author has something to say: [1] Quoting the Law of Canute,