Under the great marble hall of the Weissenhaus castle,Prince Gardner, in his garment of pure white-purple royal robe, was sitting proudly on a grand white marble throne which was carved like a wood stump carving covered in purple silk lined with golden thread, placed underneath the shadow of the great pale white oak tree. His amethyst-like eyes gazed out beneath the midday sunlight piercing through the church-like stained glass panels which were located all across the wall, depicting the founding of the kingdom.
"The Humans were once uncivilized savage tribes."
"The Elves then civilized them, cleansing them of savagery."
"Thus the rule of the Fae Folks monarchy began, and it continues to this very day."
"Those who rule the land, may their deeds be recorded down onto the canvas of colored glasses."
The prince's eyes gazed at the stories with a plain expression, then shifted to the last set of panels, which were translucent glass without any picture or stories depicted within. It's basically a set of blank canvases, tales yet to be written.
The prince's expression then changed. His smile widened brightly as giggles of happiness left his mouth. He believed wholeheartedly that he'll win the war and put his story down on the glass, not his traitorous sister.
In front of him were the still-assembling group of high-ranking nobles in bright-colored exquisite clothing and clear-cut jewelry of gold and silver.
They came before his throne and reported their respective situations one by one. Some won their battles, some lost theirs, as expected. But the balance of power seemed to favor him, as his numbers were much higher than hers, so he could easily replace his losses while she couldn't do the same.
Yet, despite their bright appearances and prospects of victory, every noble's face was dripping with doubt and anxiety. They were concerned about something at the corner of their minds and at the tip of their tongues.
"If you all have something in mind, just spit it out. I hate people with their puny secrets." The Prince declared, shifting his gaze to the group of nobles while his mouth smirked with a devilishly handsome smile.
The nobles talked quietly amongst themselves for a bit before presenting their concerns to the Prince.
"Undead." It's a word that made a chill run down the spine of everybody in the room, nobles, their lowly servants, and even mighty warriors clad in steel, grasping in absolute horror. As the news about their underlings' troops, which turned into a horde of undead after they were killed, spread like wildfire.
Yet, the Prince's expression remained devilishly joyous. News about his troops turning into a horde of undead didn't surprise him at all. In fact, he had already told all his high-ranking subordinates that this would happen in the meeting even before the beginning of the war, and they all agreed for him to use their troops as the "Undying Soldiers" But now they all huddled around each other and murmured in fear like a herd of scaredy-cats. "Pathetic" as expected from a bunch of ignorant weaklings.
"I've already told you all that the resurrections will happen as per my command. Remember our meeting from before, or does everyone have amnesia already?" he asked them with noticeable frustration.
The plan was to leverage the superior numbers of his force to overwhelm the enemy. Even if all his men died, he didn't care, for his signature magic, "Royal Necromancy" shall keep his forces at tip-top shape at all times.
Yet his power had its own limits. He could resurrect only those who pledged loyalty to him into a mindless lifeless meat puppet, and also, he'll have to consume the souls of the innocent in order to charge up his power.
This resulted in thousands upon thousands of lives of children, maidens, and those who committed no sin, being sacrificed by his own hands, but he didn't feel bad nor sad for them at all.
They're just pawns for him, low-value meatsacks, fated to be dominated by him, who is superior to them in both mind and merit. "The weak should fear the strong." This is his personal motto.
"But my liege, even with the undead blessing, casualty numbers are just too much. Our northern incursion force was wiped out entirely!" one of his foolish nobles retorted, in pure worrisome anxiety.
"Firstly, it isn't a curse, it's a blessing from your liege, you fool! Secondly, I'm sure they've slain a lot of traitors before they passed, have they not?" the Prince half-answered, half-asked with a smug smile.
The nobles got quiet for a minute, until one of them gathered the courage to report the bad news to him.
"Umm... my liege, the northern force is..." He paused, swallowing down his saliva in fear as all the courage he could muster subsided.
Then the courageous man right next to him continued his sentence, "They're all terminated, even the undead. We've sent a scouting force, and only one survivor came back..."
The news hit Prince Gardner's brain like a block of solid concrete. The confusion and the rage he felt couldn't be described by simple words.
He slowly raised his body up from the throne, his face wrapped with a baleful smile, yet his eyes narrowed down in focus.
"Who said that?" the Prince asked with a voice as cold as arctic ice, his amethyst-like eyes dazzling like a gem, yet his fury could be felt as the atmosphere in the room grew tense.
The two brave nobles observed the prince's reaction with acceptance, as they now knew their fate, and raised their hands up.
"How courageous to present me with the truth," the Prince said with the same smile. Then he continued, "Guard! Whip everyone who dares to hold their tongues when I want answers!" while raising his hand to command the royal knights to take the nobles who stayed silent out and whip them for a bit, regardless of their noblesse status.
The two nobles who spoke up watched in horror as the other nobles were dragged away.
"Now, now, don't be tense! You two are brave, so you two must also be reliable!" the Prince said as he raised his hand and pointed his finger at the two of them.
"If you two don't want to get whipped, find me ten children and bring them to me! The younger, the better!" the Prince commanded. And those two obeyed in panic before rushing out of the hall, their footsteps echoing throughout its white marble walls.
"I wonder who's guarding your northern line... my sister..." he whispered with a twisted smile.