The King's Follower [Rebirth]

Edward sat on the edge of the high window sill, looking out the window.Although this is the black tower where criminal nobles are held, it is dark everywhere, but it is not dirty. The windows are wiped clean, and he can clearly see the situation in the Saint Anthony's Square under the black tower, which is specially used for executions.

Someone is clearing the execution table.The execution platform made of white marble has been washed clean, and the workers are slowly assembling the gallows with wooden planks and wooden strips on the execution platform.The gallows can be erected in one day, and the next day, it will usher in a king who personally judges the criminal who has committed a crime, and the person will be covered with a black hood and hanged in front of the people.

The gallows hadn't been finished yet, but the execution platform was already surrounded by spectators.The square is bustling like a market. Everyone gathers together and chats happily about the scene of the last public execution. At the same time, they look at the black tower standing beside the square from time to time, hoping to see it from the window of the black tower. The former Crown Prince Edward who was about to be hanged here.

In the Cuthbert Empire, executions are not common, public executions are even rarer, and the last public execution took place several years ago. At that time, it was a vicious perverted murderer who was hanged in St. Anthony's Square. He ran around the country and killed dozens of orcs in extremely cruel ways, and raped dozens of sub-orcs.

And this time, he was the one who was going to be hanged.Edward breathed tremblingly, blinked his sore eyes, and the king's final judgment read to him by the herald a few days ago once again appeared in his mind:

"Edward of Arbros, the king and the court adjudicate the charge of treason against you, and you are condemned to death, and you will be executed in St. Anthony's Square on the [-]rd of November."

Ablohs was the maiden name of Edward's nominal mother, the Queen.Edward has been deprived of the crown prince, and later lost all his titles and titles because of the queen who started the treasonous war. In the end, he even lost his surname. He was not allowed to take the royal surname Lan Kai Sturt, without a surname, can only be called Edward of Arbroath.

He carefully pressed his face against the cold glass, and the glass was covered by the breath he exhaled. The white execution platform exuded a hazy and holy white light in the mist, as if it was not a place to hang prisoners, but a place to receive Austrian punishment. The altar of the Hadith of Ergun La.

It's tomorrow.He leaned his forehead against the cold glass, and pressed his hands clenched into fists to his lips.Give me courage, almighty Orgunra, your humble servant begs you to give me the courage to face death and take his humble soul into the garden of your glory.Thinking of this, he jumped off the window sill, hurriedly came to the altar in the corner of the room and knelt down, supported the altar with one hand, and pressed the other hand to his chest, looking at the golden ring dragon on the altar that symbolizes Olgunra , his lips squirmed slightly, and quickly recited the Hadith silently.

He is not a hero who regards death as home and has no fear in the face of death. He is just an ordinary person who will be nervous, afraid, afraid, nostalgic for life, and afraid of the unknown world after death.But in the face of inevitable death, he only hopes that his sins can be forgiven and his soul can be redeemed, so that after death he can enter the kingdom of Orgunra instead of falling into hell and suffering eternal pain.

The door of the cell was opened again.Edward looked back and saw a tall orc walking into the cell.He stopped breathing and paused for a moment before standing up, stepped forward two steps and saluted the orc deeply, his posture was elegant, and the standard was exemplary: "Your Highness."

William took a step back, turned sideways to avoid the salute, and immediately bowed and said, "Brother."

Seeing this scene, the servant following the current crown prince opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but finally nodded silently.Prince William has always respected this Asian orc brother who has neither mother nor father. Before, some jailers disrespected Edward. After being discovered by William, they were all thrown to the front line as cannon fodder.Therefore, even though he saw this discordant scene, the valet still kept silent with a deep understanding.

"You go out first." William ordered in a deep voice, "I want to talk to my brother alone for a while."

All the people in the cell immediately retreated, leaving only Edward and William.

Edward raised his head, looked at the orc who was becoming more and more majestic, and showed a slightly relaxed smile: "I didn't expect you to come to see me for the last time..."

"I won't let you die here." William interrupted him, stepped forward, held Edward's shoulder, and said in a soft but firm voice, "I will take you away."

"...What are you talking about?" Edward's eyes widened slightly, suddenly unable to react.

William put his arms around his shoulders, led him into the corner of the cell away from the gate, and whispered quickly, "I've made arrangements. When you have evening classes this evening, as usual, a priest will come to preside over you once." Confession and prayer, the priest and the jailer who led the priest into the black tower are all my people. Then you and the priest change clothes, his clothes are sprayed with potion, which can cover your smell, and then the jailer will take I will let you leave the Black Tower. When you leave the Black Tower, you will go back to the St. Leman Cathedral in the east of the city, and go directly to the back door of the storage room of the large refectory in the monks' living area of ​​the church. My people will be waiting for you there. You have arrived Just follow them on board."

The cathedral is next to the Iltos River, and the back door of the canteen storage room stands by the river, which is convenient for loading and unloading food and other goods needed by the monks from the boat.The Iltos River runs through the entire capital of Leman, and there are frequent transactions on the river, which will gradually stop until the city gate is closed at ten o'clock in the evening.

Listening to William's arrangement, Edward was too shocked to say a word.He never imagined that he would encounter such a turnaround the day before his death. The rekindled hope was like a raging fire that was suddenly ignited, burning him so much that his chest ached.

But should he trust William?Could this be a trick?Could it be that the king just pretended to let him go, to see who he would contact, followed behind him, took the opportunity to break into the queen's camp, and captured the culprit in one fell swoop?After all, he and William are not real brothers, and their relationship was not very good before. At that time, William was just one of the many illegitimate siblings to him, but his talent was better, so it was not worth him to take a closer look. .

"Please believe me!" William said impatiently, he could see the hesitation in Edward's eyes, "Your mother has given up on you, and the Ablos family is now supporting His Majesty's cousin. No one will come to rescue you, Your Majesty knows this, and he will not sneak into the Abros family camp by pretending to let you go."

The expression on William's face was so sincere that it didn't look like a fake.Edward looked at his face, and his heart gradually calmed down.So what if it was a trap?If you don't get in, you will undoubtedly be hanged under the black tower tomorrow. If you get in, you might be able to survive.Edward thought so, met William's gaze, nodded, and said softly, "Thank you."

William looked deeply into Edward's eyes, with a heavy expression, and finally gradually revealed a sad smile: "My God, I really can't bear you...I'd rather you be my own brother than the crown prince, As long as you are still in front of me, let me see you every day and know that you are happy and safe..."

"What stupid things are you talking about?" Edward couldn't help but his eyes turned red, "You are a well-deserved crown prince and the future king. Don't say such things in the future."

"I don't care about these!" William's voice suddenly increased, and he became even more excited, "I don't care about the throne, I only care about you! I..."

The words came to an abrupt end, William's lips trembled, his eyes mourned, his hands ran along Edward's shoulders, slowly moved up along his neck, and finally supported Edward's back neck, his thumbs lightly brushed across his cheeks.

Edward suddenly felt a little out of breath, and there was something hot and heavy in William's eyes that he couldn't understand, like a piece of red-hot iron, rolling heavily into his chest.He lowered his head in embarrassment and turned his gaze away.

In the end, William still didn't finish the unfinished sentence, but hugged Edward tightly, and after a while, he pressed a kiss on his forehead, and said in a low voice: "You have to take care of yourself, wait for you I've settled down, I'll contact you again. Take care."

He let go of Edward, touched his face again, his movements were gentle and careful, "I will take you back," he said solemnly, "I swear."

It was getting dark in the evening, and it was the time for evening classes before dinner. Everyone would stop their work and pray to Orgunra.Edward put on the priest's voluminous black robe, covered his blond hair and face with a hood, lowered his head, and quickly left the black tower with the jailer.The jailers sent him all the way to the street outside the Place Sant Antoine.

At this time, the street seemed a little empty, and there were much fewer people than usual. Everyone was busy with evening classes, and even passers-by were in the nearest shops, praying with the boss and shop assistants.Edward restrained himself from running, and walked quickly along the street, through the market, and came to St. Leman's Cathedral.There was no one outside the cathedral, so Edward made his way around to the living area of ​​the monks behind the cathedral, and found the storage room of the big dining hall.At the back door of the storage room facing the water, he saw a boat docked there. As soon as the people on the boat saw him, they immediately bowed deeply and said in a low voice: "Your Highness Edward, we are sent by His Royal Highness William to take you out of the city. people."

Edward stopped where he was, and once again doubted whether he should board the boat.All this seemed to have gone so well that he would have been hanged the next day in St. Anthony's Square, but now, standing on the banks of the Iltos, he could escape out of the city at once.

"Your Highness?" the crew member reminded in a low voice.Edward snapped back to his senses, gritted his teeth, and boarded the boat anyway.He didn't know what was waiting for him in the future, but he couldn't die anyway, so he might as well fight, maybe he could really survive.

If William is really helping me.Edward hid in the wine barrel in the cabin, smelling the intoxicating aroma of wine and thinking.If he really helps me survive, I will spend the rest of my life begging for health, safety, happiness and strength in front of Orgunra for him.

After a while, the evening class was over, and the boat slowly sailed into the Iltos River, mixed with the large and small boats, and headed towards the city gate.Edward listened to the sound of water flowing through the cabin and wooden barrels, his heart was pounding in his chest, he listened to the conversation between the crew and the guard at the city gate, paid the money for leaving the city, and then drove away from the city gate and left left the capital.A wave of hot air called hope blows into his heart, his heart is like a hot air balloon, gradually inflated and full, slowly rising from the ground.

I survived!He said to himself in his heart, his eyes blushing uncontrollably.He closed his eyes and began to fulfill his promise, begging for William's well-being.

The boat traveled for another 10 minutes before stopping.Edward finally left the barrel and stepped onto the ground.After taking the money bag, luggage and pockets filled with various scrolls that William had prepared for him, Edward thanked the crew and turned to leave the river bank.Before the people in the Black Tower found out that he had escaped from prison, he had to travel all night and go a little further, and tomorrow there might be soldiers conducting a carpet search outside the capital.

Edward opened a wind scroll to increase his speed.He didn't dare to walk on the main road for fear of being overtaken by the pursuers, but hid in the woods beside the road and walked along the main road under the cover of trees.He planned to buy a flying beast when he reached the next market, and then head south all the way across the border to a neighboring country to survive.

The night was getting darker, and the forest outside the capital was so quiet that his heart trembled. Edward felt more and more panicked. He had been driving for several hours and felt quite tired, but he still ran faster and faster.Then he heard heavy footsteps coming from behind, with heavy panting, it was the sound of giant animals running, and there were no such large creatures in the forest outside the capital, so there was only one possibility, the orc soldiers were catching up .Edward paused, turned around and fled towards the interior of the forest.

However, he didn't run a few steps, a leopard as tall as a person passed over his head lightly, landed in front of him, turned around and looked at him, its eyes flashed a chilling green light in the darkness.

"Edward of Ablos, we are soldiers of the Black Tower." The leopard said, "You'd better go back with us honestly, you know, in the process of chasing the escaped prisoner, if the prisoner refuses to obey, we have Right to kill on the spot. You are just a sub-orc man, you can't beat us, so go back with us."

Edward took a step back in despair, and a black wolf and a white bear had already stopped behind him.On the avenue far away, several pairs of green eyes looked at this side without blinking. These are all orc soldiers.He looked at the ambush behind him, then at the leopard in front of him, without saying a word, he raised his hand suddenly, gathered the water elements in the air to form a thick and long water whip, and swung it forward fiercely.

The leopard quickly dodged, and the whip lashed the tree trunk behind him, leaving a deep mark.Edward didn't give them time to fight back, so he whipped his whip a few times, took out a wind scroll to increase his speed, and rushed into the depths of the dense forest.

The soldiers followed closely behind him and shouted unhurriedly: "Edward of Abros, please surrender immediately!"

Edward didn't speak.He knew that he couldn't escape, the whip just now was just relying on surprise.Orcs and sub-orcs can use magic, but most of the sub-orcs will use defensive and healing magic. Only orcs can use offensive magic. If these soldiers are willing, they can take him down in a second , Now they are following him slowly, but they are giving a final warning.

But Edward didn't want to be caught without a fight. Hanging in St. Anthony's Square at noon the next day is no different from dying in the woods now. The people in the capital were amused, he was almost dead, he didn't want to lose his dignity.

"Edward of Ablos!" Hei Lang's slightly ferocious voice came from behind, and he rushed to Edward and blocked his way, "Stop!"

Edward took out a few blasting scrolls from his pocket, and without looking at them, he pulled the rope that bundled the scrolls and threw them forward.There was a delay of a few seconds between the opening of the scroll and the explosion. Heilang bared his teeth, slapped the scroll away quickly, and roared: "Enough, you..."

A scroll hit a nearby tree trunk, bounced back, landed at Edward's feet, and exploded.

At that moment, seeing the terrified expression on the orc soldier's face, Edward suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.That's it.he told himself, and then he thought of William.If I hadn't gone to hell, my dear brother, I would have prayed for you day and night in the kingdom of Orgunra.