Palace throne room It had been a few weeks since Andrew had returned from Nyhem. He was glad to be back in home with the company of his friends and family. But the war in Formaroth had begun, even though Andrew didn't want to have to fight another war he knew it was his responsibility to defend his homeland and make his dream of a united Formaroth a reality. Andrew was in the throne room. The throne room was made entirely out of sandstone and the throne was made out of an exotic palm tree which went extinct one hundred years ago. Andrew was sat on his throne; in front of him was a palm wood table with the map of Formaroth marked with the new alliances forged after the meetings. Either side of him stood both his friends and trusted advisors Alun DeGrande and George LeWest. "So where do we start?" said Andrew. "Well my lord the first thing would be to strengthen the weak spots in our borders in case the enemy would dare attack Uzgob." Replied Alun. Andrew looked at the map and analysed it carefully, he could see three weaknesses that the imperial concord could exploit. "Ok first should deploy a small number of soldiers to the mountain pass that leads from Rathikun to Uzgob, then send a larger number towards the border that divides us to upper Glarmion, finally we have where the river meets the sea, if the enemy were able to use this then they would have no problem sailing up towards the city." Said Andrew. "I will attend to the mountain pass and the Glarmion border at once Andrew." replied Alun. "Thank you Alun I know you'll do your best for me and all of Uzgob" said Andrew. "Just like old times." said Alun as a remark toward the civil war towards the Remonnets. "Just like old times." replied Andrew with the addition of a smile. "George what is the status of Fort Scarab if the fort falls then the river is completely open to the enemy." "Well since the civil war we have improved its fortifications, we've installed trebuchets that can easily destroy your average ship, we have also installed watch out towers so we can see any armada for miles meaning we can easily prepare if they launch an attack. We have also increased the amount of ships stationed at the fort so if we have to fight we'll be ready." said George feeling proud of what he had accomplished over the time. "That's amazing, thank you George it's good to know that I have reliable friends as my advisors who care about Uzgob as much as I do. If we do not survive this war I want you to know that it is an honour and a privilege to be your friend." As Andrew said this he put his fist to his chest and bowed to both men as this happened both Alun and George did the same. "Well it's an honour to be serving under such a lord that both protects and cares so much for his land and its people". Replied Alun. "Now is there anything else I should know before we conclude this meeting?" said Andrew. "Yes my lord" replied Alun. "Our spies have reported that Imperial forces are withdrawing from Orog." "This is most likely to reinforce their borders." replied George "Would you like to act on this my Lord?" "Yes." replied Andrew "I will send a letter to House Greensworth sympathising with them and offering them protection which the De Reimers so easily left them to be wiped out in exchange for joining us in our cause and a chance to get revenge on the De Reimers themselves." "Very good my lord" replied Alun "Is that all?" "Yes that is all, thank you gentleman." Both George and Alun went on their way and Andrew headed to his chambers to gain some solace. Training – Palace Courtyard It was early afternoon and Andrew had taken some time off to practice with his niece Elizabeth. They were both in the training field sparring with each other using wooden swords. Andrew wanted to see that Elizabeth's training didn't go to waste. "Very good Elizabeth. But your legwork still needs some work." said Andrew. "I don't see why we can't use real swords." said Elizabeth "Remember the last time we used real swords." said Andrew who pointed to the scar on Elizabeth's cheek. "Any enemy smart enough to see that flaw could knock you down and then it would be over." "My legwork is just fine Uncle" said Elizabeth. "Very well then. Again!" yelled Andrew and the pair sparred again. Andrew could tell that Elizabeth was a bit too confident in her abilities with a sword. It was time to prove her wrong. He could see the same flaw in her legwork so using his sword he knocked Elizabeth to the ground. As Elizabeth scrambled for her sword, Andrew had his pointed at her. "Told you." he said as he offered his hand to Elizabeth in which she accepted. "Always hone your skills Elizabeth and maybe someday you'll be able to give both me and Alun a challenge." "Thank you Uncle." said Elizabeth as she did this she gave Andrew a hug. Then suddenly a voice called out "Uncle Andrew!" Both Andrew and Elizabeth turned their heads to see Mary and Lucy approaching them. Mary was running straight to them while Lucy quickly walked behind her. Once both girls reached him, Andrew gave both of them a hug. "Hey you two. Did you come from your lessons." "Yeah" said Mary "Mr DeGrande and Mr LeWest were teaching us the history of Uzgob." "Interesting" said Andrew "So; name me the house that took control of Uzgob after the great purge?" Both Lucy and Mary thought hard on this question but ultimately Lucy had found an answer. "House Ennis, they were the ones to later introduce the election system so that corruption could not sit on the throne again. “Very good Lucy" said Andrew who was very surprised with how quick Lucy answered the question. "So who's up for some dinner then?" "ME!" exclaimed all three girls as they raised their arms. Andrew smiled and all of them headed to the castle kitchens to make their favourite meal. The Dream 490 A.R – Execution of Rhys Manshrew It was raining in Nyhem and Andrew was stood amongst the crowd wearing a black shroud so as not to draw attention to himself, especially at this moment. Andrew made his way through the crowd until he could see the execution stand which was surrounded by numerous guards. On top of the stand stood Duncan De Reimer 'The Snake', Aurelia King Heylot's mage, King Heylot himself, the executioner and more importantly his brother Rhys who was so bloodied and bruised that he was barely recognisable who was shackled. Heylot spoke to the crowd "My loyal citizens as your King I must tell you that we have been betrayed." He then pointed to Rhys. "This man tried to assassinate me under the guise of being an honourable guess in my castle. This man who I once called an ally and most importantly a friend has betrayed me and therefore all of Formaroth." As the crowd cheered, Andrew from amongst the crowd shouted "He's lying!" luckily no one heard him over the noise of the cheering crowd. Heylot spoke again "The penalty for such a heinous crime like this is... death!" The crowd cheered once again but Andrew couldn't believe what was happening and that no one was objecting to this. As Rhys knelt down readying himself for his demise he saw Andrew in the crowd but making sure he did not give him away for he would be surely killed as well. Andrew was ready to fight he was not afraid to die today knowing that he tried to save his brother but as he was ready to draw his sword he saw Rhys give a slight shake of his head telling him not to do it. Andrew saw this and put his sword away with a tear leaving his eye, luckily the crowd was too transfixed on the execution to have seen the sword. As Rhys laid his head on the block his final thoughts were those of his family back in Uzgob and how he would never see his daughters grow up. Andrew felt helpless, his anger for Heylot grew and he vowed that he would kill the tyrant king himself. As the executioner's blade rose Andrew wished he could stop this but Rhys' death would become a way to show Heylot's true colours and then the blade fell. Andrew jolted from his sleep his brother’s death still haunted him after so many years. The best Andrew could do was that his brother's death was not in vain as it was the spark that destroyed Heylot's rule and made the House of Manshrew a hero name. As he thought of this Andrew went back to sleep.