The Decorum of Warfare - Zarry - GIOD Sequel

five.

*** this is another long chapter (7.4k), please make sure to comment and leave some reactions to the story, it really helps me while writing, thank you so much ❤️ ***

(the photo is of  Chateau de Roquetaillade where Zarry have been staying and once again, the dialogue with French people is in French but I'm not annoying you all with translations)

March 1494 - Bordeaux, French England

Long months have passed since the last battle and not much has changed. The war is still on, no promise of peace in the near future. They've got news from their spies, about Mathieu and Pierre plotting, perhaps pointlessly. After they lost the battle, The Holy Empire of the German People withdrew their support and without half their bannermen, who are loyal to England now, they can't muster up enough manpower for an attack. It would be futile because they would certainly lose, there are no doubts about it.

Still, the situation is on very shifty ground. The nobles have more or less accepted Zayn and Harry's rule because frankly, they're quite easy to fool. They threw a few balls, organised a hunt or two, all while not speaking a word of English to them and all was well. Years of court life have taught both Zayn and Harry that all the nobility truly wants is validation. Normally, it's quite easy to give it to them.

The peasants however, they carry their Kings in their hearts for a longer time than the nobles. The gentry shifts sides as easily as the tide comes and goes, as long as they feel like they have a voice on the King's or Queen's court and they get to keep their riches and not pay astronomically high taxes. But the people are wary of intruders. They're cautious about someone new on the throne because there could be new decrees, there could be more leeway for the nobility to exploit them. All Zayn and Harry were able to do about them as of now was organise some festivals and show the people that they're not there to opress them and force them to abandom their culture and roots. Over time, they will surely issue an official decree stating that French will remain the main language spoken and no one will be required to learn English if they don't want to. This union will be peaceful and based on equality and they're willing to prove it.

Another bit in their program not to alienate everyone in their new territory is throwing a spring festival in honor of Philippa's sixth birthday. For the regular folk, there are gonna be festivities and markets in Bordeaux, while the nobility will get to enjoy a whole afternoon of children screeching around the castle and playing games while the adults gets drunk on wine.

It's not all perfect but life goes on. As long as they're alive and their Kingdom hasn't crumbled, all is well.

xxx

Zayn stares at the window opposite their bed, trying to figure out if the sun is about to break soon or not. He wishes it was, coming in with its rays to get rid of this depressing darkness. The nearly pitch black of the room feels almost suffocating.

He woke up a couple of minutes ago, gasping away from a nightmare.

It's been a rather frequent occurence since the last battle. He sees blood-soaked fields, thousands of corpses piled on top of each other while more blood streams all over them. Sometimes Mathieu stands atop if it all, laughing in his face. Other times he sees Harry's lifeless body on the battlefield, face streaked with mud and blood, his eyes open but unfocused, unmoving.

This time it was rather gruesome. He can't quite remember the details but all he knows is that he could almost feel himself getting crushed on the ground as he was slowly bleeding out, horses stomping over him and other victims of war. It was what would've waited for him if the man stabbed him any better than he did. Or if Zayn was reckless enough and stayed on the battlefield, trying to fight even if he was bleeding all over his arm.