Temple Sword

Chapter 108 Eternal Loyalty

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" said Charlie mockingly, dusting off his expensive clothes. "Listen, since I've been here, you don't know what to say to me, how to treat me! I can see your pain in your face.

Remember what I said to you on the stone steps of Genz Castle ten and a half years ago?You are my brother, you can ask questions others can't ask, say things others can't say.If I foolishly regarded you as my blood relative when I was a child, then I will keep my promise for the rest of my life.Although……"

Charlie's mouth curled into a cautious half-smile, "The only reason I won't punish you this time is because no one saw it all."

"I didn't hit you for the crops, or even for the farmers," Antar admitted, though he was deeply ashamed that he couldn't contain his violent temper. "At the junction of the east and south walls, at the base of the stone wall, there is a grove surrounded by wooden sheds. There are weeping willows leaning on the cross, William buried my mother there, and over time, everything took root here people were buried there.

Maritis, Urbanos, poor Umberto... even William himself, and Agnes' father, who spent the last years of his life with us.Over the years, the number of crosses has increased, and there are five small tombstones, five small crosses..." When he said this, Antal's voice sank, "Five little souls..."

"I can understand you," Charlie approached, stroking his shoulder, "I understand what it means to lose."

"I wish I never knew what it felt like!" Antar screamed in pain, thinking of his dead children.

"plague?"

"Some are plague, some are other diseases, some are stillbirths, or..."

Antal closed his mouth, he couldn't finish the sentence.The two of them stood in silence for a while, two mourners, two bereaved fathers.In this moment, regardless of their status, they share the same feeling. This is one of the rare moments in life, and every word spoken by the two is the most sincere expression.

"I came to Slavonia to take you back with me." Charlie didn't twitch again, "That's why I only brought so few people, because everyone else thought I was still in Timisoara, and they couldn't know this.

We galloped here on horseback, and my well-chosen men and I hardly rested. Such a forced march cannot be slowed down by a group of foot servants.Do you remember what you said to me the last time we talked? "

"I remember," Antar admitted intermittently, repeating exactly what he said at the time: "If you need me, you know where to find me, and if you call me, I will answer without hesitation, and I His loyalty is eternal."

"The time has come when I have come to call you into my army," Charlie said solemnly, "and just like in those hard times before, I need you again.

My loyal supporter, Archbishop Thomas is dead, Dorsa Debrecen is too old to die, and who knows how many years he has left.I made him a Paladin because he deserves to die in the highest office.

But I leave to Thomas Széchenyi the titles of Governor of Transylvania and Count of Szolnok, and there is no better man on my staff.

There are good soldiers in my army, but like Dosar and Szechenyi, they are all getting old and dying, or put into positions that are not on the front lines of the war.do you understand?I need you to burn the whole north and take Upper Hungary! "

"Go to Hungary?" Antal raised his head and asked incredulously, "I thought you would never fight Mate Chuck again."

"A few years ago I fought in Komarom, I took Visegrad five years ago, and in the past year I conquered Sirok and Filakovo. I was often on the edge of the Northwest Highlands roam."

"The edges of the highland provinces are not the same as the center," said Antal, who recalls that Mattei was defeated only once, in Buda.But he never lost in other battles. "In Rozgoni, we only managed to defeat his mercenaries." He noticed a strange expression on Charlie's face.

"I haven't told you everything yet, Antal." His voice shook with excitement. "I didn't inform you in advance because I wanted to surprise you, and I wanted you to hear from me that Matt Chuck is dead! He has been dead for ten days, and nothing but his grandchildren Besides, he has no other living heirs, but they are all still children.

Trencin's owner was his brother-in-law, István Sternbergi, who was just a good-for-nothing Czech dog, not a terrible opponent.So this is a good time, I am going to the Northern Expedition now, otherwise I will never have the chance. "

Antar was a little dizzy, and he still clearly remembered how desperate the battle they fought with the highland governor was, and how they retreated again and again after realizing the inevitable defeat.The direct descendants of the chiefs of the seven Magyar tribes, the powerful lord entrenched in the Northwest suddenly died, and no king could stop him during his lifetime, and he just disappeared, which is really unbelievable.

"He was not defeated by anyone, but he was defeated by himself..." Antar said to himself, and was surprised to find himself in awe and fear of this great opponent. "He died at home, in his own bed..."

"God forbid, I don't want to have the same fate as him," said Charlie half-sarcastically.

Antal ignored the king's joke, he asked bluntly: "What is your plan, and how can I help you realize it?"

"My plan is very simple," Charlie replied without hesitation. "There are no less than 28 castles on the high ground that still hang the flag of the Chuck family. Before the flags are blown away one by one, and then hang the flag of my family, I will not rest until then.

And you will be the leader of thousands of soldiers, and if you will go back with me, I will make you my commander.William has made you a formidable warrior, and your skill with the sword is unparalleled, and it would be a sin to let this go to waste!
I want you to teach your captains, knights, and even your servants what you taught me. I want you to teach them the true art of war.I want an army, an army that I can safely leave to my heirs, an army that can defeat any enemy from south to north, from east to west, everywhere the wind blows!

I hope you will stand by my side again from now on, and help me defeat my remaining enemies and overcome the last obstacle, so that I can start building my kingdom with peace of mind! "

Antal sighed deeply. Before, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see the vision of himself as a contented old manor, whose son was growing into a man, leading his own men.What he saw was a small town before him, centered around his former estate and later farm, a place where hundreds of people could find peace and security.

Perhaps the name of the Barto family will be engraved on a beautiful stone tablet as a memorial, and then hundreds of years later, that stone tablet may wear, crack, and fall into disrepair, but it doesn't matter... because the people who live here will bless the past. He who laid the foundations of this settlement, put the work into the hands of the people, and put the bread in their mouths.

Whenever Antal closed his eyes, such a daydream-like picture would appear in his mind.But now that Charlie had told him why he had come to him, the vision of the town and the people who lived in it faded and seemed more remote than ever.

Charlie seemed to be running out of patience, "What do you say?"

What can he say?His adoptive father, the Lion of the East, the mighty Knight William, raised him on behalf of his father since he was five years old, making him always stand up straight.

He too, like everyone else, has made a whole host of mistakes and sins, but honor and honesty are the essence of his character.If he had once promised to obey, he could not take it back now, no matter how convenient it was for him.

He had only broken his oath once in his life, but it had haunted him ever since, haunting him, leaving a bitter taste like bile in his mouth.

Antar stood before the king on this cool spring night, and he wanted to say that he would no longer draw his sword on his people, that he would no longer ride over dead bodies, that he would no longer lead an army into the highlands.

But he can't say those words, he knows what William would say if it were him, so he decides to do the same with his adoptive father.

Though he had said it with ease many years ago, this time he felt the tip of his tongue as heavy as lead, and he replied in a low voice.

"My loyalty is eternal."

(End of this chapter)