Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 203: The thought that started it all (2)

Today another conflict between him and the Orleans arose.

The bishopric of Prodence fell vacant after the unfortunate death of Bishop Ordolr, when he falls into a deep ravine on his way back on a stormy weather.

Lord Harald decided to promote one of Lord Bascogne son, but he favored Bishop Paul, a Caelum-born lord and someone who is very close to Lord Arial.

This is the reason why he so wants to elevate Paul to the position.

Edward have never forgotten Arial kindness towards him and by helping Paul to gain a foothold in Vangua he hopes to repay the young lord of Arrandy.

The problem arose when the other Anglais-Raxons lord protested to the appointment and resented it.

The reason he did this is not only because he wants to improve Vangua relations with Arial in Aetherland but he also wants to show to the other lords that he is independent enough and have power enough on the court to break away from the Orleans, now that he is well established.

He has done this deliberately and after thinking about it seriously.

Political alliances between Vangua and Arrandy, though never written in paper are recognized by many nations, and the hostilities between Cori and Vangua governed much what occurred in his country.

Thus it is important to secure new allies. The Corian new King seems aggressive and so is his expansionist policy.

He of course paid heed to these threats and look to whoever that might counter these threats.

Freya Republic is useless. They supplied many slaves to Cori which is why Edward turned to Arrandy and their army for help.

Edward learned many things in his years at Arial court.

He kept connections with others who might be useful against Cori, such as the Dostov, Renasia and Danoa Republic beyond the South Sea. 

But for now he intends to rule and the Orleans still a threat to his reign in Vangua.

Edward knows that at this moment the things he needed to do is to endure the matter.

He got up from his bed and went to his bath. He did not trust his servantsat least that is what people believes.

Truth is, he hated people see the broken parts of him and his misshapen face and body.

And as such he bathed himself. After half an hour he cleaned himself and then after wearing his clothes, he walks to the windows of his bed room

He sighed as he looks at the moon up in the sky. Lord Jean is dead yet a new enemy arose, younger and stronger bolder and smarter.

He sometimes envies Arial.

Arial was already a ruler whose fame had spread far beyond the borders of his own duchy, and revered by his own people.

He ruled unchallenged in his duchy, and whatever people said of the young lord, it is a truth that he has been influencing the politics in the Continent.

Arial reign began when he was fourteen years of age, and the events that happen after that could not corrupt him in the way in which so many princes have been corrupted. 

Arial whole position, political and personal, could not fail to have its effect in forming the man the world now knows

Aetherland and Arrandy have a weird relationship with each other.

Though Arrandy lies in the Kingdom of Aetherland, they are uniquely not part of the Kingdom.

In turn for House Vermont help in securing Aetherland crown for King Adrian, Arrandy were given a special status, in the Kingdom, almost like a Kingdom inside a Kingdom, each owning a precarious supremacy.

Edward could not help but feel that someday, these two forces will battle it out.

The reigning king, Adrian Alan the First King of Aetherland, owed his crown to the help of Arial father Aries Vermont, the Kingmaker and the young lord who won battles for him. 

And while the Vermont family deeds on securing his throne are a noble endeavor, surely Adrian will feel pressured by his court to match the vastness of Arrandy influence.

Even when they redraw the Duchy, Arrandy become bigger swallowing the smaller counties under his rule and after Lord Arial marriage with Lady Helia in the future, the young lord, Arial Vermont influence would extend from East to the South of the kingdom

That is already two fourth of the land of the kingdom. But there is still north and the west. Even then, unease is apparent in Aetherland court about the growing influence that the young lord possesses.

While Lord Arial may have few allies in the North, that is not saying he has none.

This is the complicated relation of Aetherland and Arrandy, a precarious balance between the great duchy and the Kingdom crown.

Edward knows that Arial had no intention to take the crown.

Lord Arial shows no sign of rebelling, and even his most staunch opposition could not accuse him of wanting to sit on the throne, but that doesn't mean they didn't envy the power that Arrandy holds over them.

The fact that Lord Arial can very well, take the throne but did not, may become a sore point for King Adrian.

While the King of Aetherland harbors no resentment to Lord Arial, his court dislikes the young lord and the influence he has on determining the King action invites discord of the worst kind

The mutual dislike between the people of the two courts is strong.  Edward had lived there, though briefly, and he knows how intense it can be between the two courts

Not to mention even though they are in the same Kingdom, their culture is different.

Acro, the great city situated at the heart of Arrandy, is different in that their organization and the fact that many courtiers in Arial court is filled with talented people instead of people that is descended from good lineage.

This doesn't mean that all of them are not noble but only the most talented noble can serve on his castle.

And also there is the fact that the people of Arrandy enjoy freedom that no other part of the Continent has ever seen.

And, as the fame of Arrandy grew, jealousy was doubtless mingled with dislike. 

Lord Arial, in short, inherited a very doubtful and dangerous state of relations towards the king who was at once his chief neighbor and his overlord.

The young duke reign and ascend to power is something that many lords of the Continent talked about, believing that the new duchy would be weak led by a young boy, but he dispelled their notion that Arrandy grown weak after he took over.

Instead under his reign, the duchy become even more prosperous and stronger.

Successful in battle and genius in his political maneuvering, Edward could not help but be awestruck.

And Lord Arial was lucky in that he has no other contender for his duchy.

Lord Arial father, Lord Aries cultivated an area of mud and forest to become one of the greatest city in the Human Continent and since Lord Arial is his only son and the land never belong to any lord before and was given to Lord Aries by Lord Hadrian, when Lord Arial inherits it, no contender dare claims the land.

Lord Arial is still young, but no longer a child or even a boy. He looks at the moon as the rain slowly turns into a drizzle and is slowly stopping.

The thunder is also slowly disappearing. There are no longer flashes of lightning on the dark sky

Edward sighed as he thought about Arial. No one could deny he is a wise and valiant man, and his valour and wisdom are tried to the uttermost. 

It was on the War of Succession between the Spear and Shield that marked; truly, Edward believe the true strength that the Vermont finally showed, that made them one of the most influential families on the Continent.

The battle that is started because of the succession of Arouen to Lord Adrian marks the series of battle that make the Dukedom to a Kingdom, united in a single cause and all of it is orchestrated by the Vermont family.

Picking Lord Adrian as the winning side is a risky move but the Vermont's prevails and in prevailing, putting themselves and their family into the forefront of the politics of Aetherland.

And then Arial father abdicated in favour of his more talented son, and now Lord Arial Vermont is the lord of all Arrandy, the vast land, and able to put down any plot or disturbers of peace in his region with his mighty army.

'He has been schooled for the rule of men' Edward muttered to himself.

He sighed again. Edward could not help but feel someday Arial is going to do something so great that his name will be remembered a thousand years from now.

Arial has a gift.

He had the gifts of a born ruler, something not every lord son has, and he was in no way disposed to abuse them. 

Arial made Arrandy, peaceful and flourishing, more peaceful and flourishing perhaps than any other state of the Continent. 

He is everything, a wise and beneficent ruler, the protector of the poor and helpless, and the patron of commerce, art and knowledge, and of all that might profit his dominions. 

He is cold and calculating, and this is not something anyone will dent, but at the same time he is an able ruler, he did justice to his people and to himself, to visit wrong with sure and speedy punishment, whoever was the wrong-doer. 

He then remembers another person. Bishop Paul.

Paul unknowing to his young lord attention once suggested the thought of succession of Arial to one of the duchy here in Vangua to him.

At that time Edward just laughed it off but maybe it is a fine idea. He is after all a great ruler and it would help to gain an ally here in Vangua, one that he could rely on.

It even crossed Edward mind to give him the throne after his death. He laughed it off of course.

By Vangua custom, the king was chosen out of a single kingly house, and only those who were descended from kings in the male line were counted as members of that house. 

Arial is not descended, even in the female line, from any Vangua king, or any nobility. Such a kindred, could give no right to the crown according to any doctrine of succession that ever was heard of. 

It could at most point him out as a candidate for adoption, in case the reigning king which meant him should be disposed and allowed to choose his successor. 

Though if Edward have no heir he could choose him.

He sighs and shake his head.

Edward should not be worried about this at this moment or even think about it in his current situation.

He needs to gain power first and solidify his foundation.

When he has gained power the first thing he would do is to expel the House of Orleans from the Kingdom and then he will marry a woman of his choosing.

He walks away from the window as he thinks about what would happen if he did such a thing

That would cost him the alliance of the other Vanguan lords and nobles. But the effect will only be for a while.

He smiles a bit as the rain stopped already. The dark clouds give way for the moonlight to shine its light upon the palace ground.

With all of this thought, he slowly went into his bed. After offering prayers to the Light Above, he closes his eyes and sleep, to prepare for tomorrow.

Thus, he sleeps as his thought drifts.

A thought that was born in his mind that night would one day affect the matters of the Human Continent

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