The Fall of Cadoria: After War Comes Betrayal

Chapter 1

The short, plump Eggen knew he was not made for this task. as he waddled hurriedly down the long white corridor as fast as his fat little legs could carry him. His velvet doublet, of the latest fashion, felt tighter than normal, and his oversized stomach swelled with every breath. He stopped briefly to stop his wheezing, supporting himself with a chubby hand on the wall. Trickles of sweat ran from his brow, his face flushed with an alarming colour of red.

He carried on down the corridor which was the perpetrator of his labour. He had been sent on a mission of great importance but wished desperately that this mission was not quite so far away or so urgent that he had to run.

He stopped again at the steep and, in his unwavering opinion, dangerous flight of stairs that led to the outdoors. Eggen took out a white lace-trimmed handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face before he gave a high-pitched yelp when he realised his hand was resting on an old, bloodied handprint on the wall. The stains that stood out clearly on the floor and walls, looked suspiciously like blood, too. That confirmed to him just how dangerous the stairs were. It did not occur to him that they could have been there for any other reason.

Eggen almost stumbled as he fearfully descended the stairs, trying desperately not to go too fast for fear that he would trip over his own feet. A thick wooden door barred the bottom of the stairs. Bright sunlight outside shone mockingly through a gap at the bottom. As Eggen got closer to the door, the angry screams and shouts of men became clearer. He heaved open the door, which felt like it was laughing at him as it resisted his efforts, with all the might he could muster. The sunlight almost blinded him as he stepped outside. When his eyes became accustomed to the light, he was confronted by the terrifying sight of the men of the Cadorian army in a melee.

To the untrained eye, it was no more than a mass brawl. Men were fighting in close contact. Gloved fists and wooden training axes made heavy thudding sounds as they landed on their targets. There was a structure to the melee, however, that would not have been apparent to the untrained eye of Eggen. The soldiers in front of him were set up in two opposing lines. Each line was three men deep. Behind each line, a flag hung limply in the still air. The soldiers of each line were attempting to capture their opponent's flag of their opponents. However, each line of soldiers was brutally and aggressively resisting as well as brutally and aggressively trying to fight their way to their opponent's flag.

The autumn air was hot which was unusual for Cadoria for that time of year. The sky was a dazzling blue which may have been turned that way by the soldiers as they swore and threw creative insults as they fought. The bare, parched, brown ground contrasted starkly with the white stone that the wall surrounding it was built from. The stone wall reflected the bright sun with a fierce glare. A pair of men on the outside dived into the melee and dragged out a bloodied and unconscious soldier onto the sidelines where he joined other soldiers who were either coming to or remained unconscious. What looked like a doctor was treating various wounds.

It did not take much thought to work out that Eggen was not made for a soldier's life. His stomach pushed out and hung over his trousers and his arms and legs were thick with fat rather than muscle. He was a man of letters and intellect, at least he liked to think so, making him more suitable for a more officious and luxurious life behind a desk. He looked on at the soldiers fighting open-mouthed. Aghast at their violence. He instinctively covered his mouth and nose with his lace handkerchief to keep out the dust from the parched autumn ground that covered the melee and the rancid smell of sweat that emanated from it, which made Eggen almost gag in disgust. He squinted over his handkerchief in the glare of the sunlight as he peered into the melee until he found the person he had been ordered to find, Crown-Prince Tyrran of Cadoria who was in the centre of the violence as he led one of the lines.