Building an Empire [M/M]

Chapter Ten

A wild update appears! 

Heya my lovely readers (^_^)/ 

Not much to say. It took me a while to get this little chappie completed. Hopefully it will pave the way for more. (Hopefully less than 4 long months...) 

Not much else to say, I hope you enjoy it. 

Alexander

The roar from the crowd was a constant hammer against my ears as a gong was sounded and all the squadron leaders ran for the palisade. I couldn’t spot Siobhan among the many bodies clad in black. Fighting immediately broke out when they reached it. About 150 people were trying to get over a 20 metre long palisade, so it was inevitable. None of them had weapons so it was more or less a grappling match. As a few made it across the palisade I wondered if Siobhan was among them.

“Are you rooting for someone, my pretty?” I looked to the side where an older man was sitting. I had seen him next to the Emperor on different occasions so I guessed he was a General. I smiled politely at him. He looked tired and worn down, the wrinkles in his face like deep furrows, and his hair was thin. But his eyes still had a cunning spark in them that told you that underestimating him would be your last mistake.

“Yes,” I said with heavy accent, making sure to also mispronounce it a bit. It was no secret that Mercus had been teaching me a bit of their language, so I could slowly begin to have small conversations.

“Who? If I may ask?” the General looked out over the men down in the valley as if he could spot the one I was rooting for. I turned to look with him but still had no luck spotting Siobhan. “Siobhan,” I said then looked at the wrinkly man again, “Who you is?” Good thing I never cared for school or grammar.

“Oh yes, of course, how rude of me. I am Cinnar son of Faboni, also known as the Eight General or The Watchful Eye.” While he answered he never took his eyes off of the fighting and climbing going on. Watchful Eye? What the hell was that? Did Siobhan mention something about it? Why did they have to have so many confusing titles. And what was up with the last names? But I had been right about him being a general. And he was the eight one. How many were there anyway?

“Many generals?” I asked, hoping he would bother to answer my question. I wasn’t entirely sure what the code of conduct was around these guys. “There are ten Generals, my sweet,” Cinnar said with a clear, strong voice, “and besides me the only generals home are the Second and the Third. The rest are out waging war.” I nodded with a small frown so it would seem like I had difficulty understanding. I had already met the Second, he was Mercus’ jerk of a father.

“Why this?” I continued. I figured I might as well get all the answers out of him that I could get. And I couldn’t see where Siobhan was down there anyway, so all I could really do was sit on my butt and wait.

“The Sixth General is dead, this tournament is held to help find out who the next one to hold that title and position should be. I was once part of one of these, you know, I won it too. But winning the Election Tournament doesn’t necessarily mean that you get to be a General. After the Tournament is over, a council is held where the Generals decide who should be the next one. At least seven generals have to stand behind a candidate for him to take the position. But since we’re only three here in the capital, I guess it’ll be the one who manages to get two of us standing behind him. It’s all horribly dull, my dear.” Hearing the tired dismissal, I decided to leave the rest of the questions I had. For now at least.