World Conquest Online

King Rameses stood there in shock as the portal’s appeared and then disappeared. One second Lord Lazarus was leaving the leaving the room, then suddenly a golden ring appeared and he walked through it. Through the portal King Rameses could see a thick forest with large wooden buildings in front of them, he could also see what looked like Warriors in thick silver metal walking around, with intimidatingly large shields and crested helmets.

The first portal was a shock, but the second shocked him even more, a similar portal appeared before Meritamen and Commander Abubakar, who had both looked at each other before taking a step forwards in to the same picturesque scene that he had seen in Lord Lazarus’s portal. As they stepped through the portal’s, the portals closed and disappeared, causing the room to suddenly became loud in uproar.

He turned and could see a His Generals and Commanders quickly jumping to their feet as they all ran towards where the locations of the gates, especially the personal guards of Meritamen, who were shocked that their lady had left them suddenly.

"This is the work of the gods!" General Sidiki exclaimed in shock.

"Where did Abubakar and Meritamen go?" General Tau shouted, as they had both been sat next to him until seconds earlier.

"Lord Lazarus has gifted us Kadesh, has he took them in sacrifice?" The General who was Tau’s brother shouted.

"Is Lord Lazarus a god in disguise?" Another General exclaimed.

Guards quickly left the room and entered the courtyard outside, whilst musicians and other guests all stopped what they were doing in shock and awe. The two Princes had stayed in their seats whilst this chaos happened, holding their cups of beer and watching the guests reactions as they ran around the forum in shock or stood aghast.

"Guards, why are you here but the Princess is not?" General Sidiki exclaimed looking at the Princesses guards. They all looked around in shock themselves still, unaware of how any of this happened, the sudden realisation hitting them that they had failed in their most important task, protecting their Princess.

"Take them away and execute them immediately!" Another general commanded, as the Kings Guard stepped in to action and grabbed the ten guards, dragging them outside. The guards didn’t put up a fight at all and were still in shock as to what was happening. The Princesses Maid Servants were also dragged outside, as from the moment of their birth and assignment to the Princess, they new that they would live and die serving her.

King Rameses headed back towards his seat and sat on it as he watched what was happening silently. As he sat down he grabbed his cup and looking down to both of his son’s that were beside him.

"It seems that life is going to be more interesting than I ever expected." King Rameses said as he leant back and took a sip of his drink.

"I have never heard of anything like that before." Prince Sethi commented, "It was like a dream, something that could not exist but did nevertheless."

"It seems the Generals are over reacting as usual." Prince Pareherwenemef stated unimpressed, watching the commotion as guards were sent out to explore the Palace, whilst others were taking the Princesses guards outside.

"It’s just some small people doing small people things." King Rameses responded as he took a sip of his drink.

"We should probably not execute the Maid Servants, Meritamen wouldn’t be happy about that when she returns." Prince Sethi commented.

King Rameses looked at his younger son and agreed with his thoughts, Meritamen was a strong headed woman and would not want her property damaged. He called over one of his Guards that was always stationed beside him, whispering some things in to his ear. The Guard bowed and left the room in the direction of those that had been dragged away.

"Will this affect your plans?" Prince Pareherwenemef asked seriously.

"I had thought that Lord Lazarus had strong Commanders but was not strong himself, He is the scorpion in that plan, growing his little kingdom far away. Meritamen is one of us, a strong snake who watches them as they grow and pounces them when they are ripe for eating." King Rameses responded, "But now I have realised that I have calculated incorrectly, he isn’t the scorpion, nor is he the snake, he is the eagle watching everything else happen and waiting for the snakes to get fat!"

Prince Sethi and Prince Pareherwenemef looked at their father in deep thought, both of them had plans, but neither of them seemed to have thought that Dom would leave in such a state.

"I believe that they have a tiger as their motif on their flags." Prince Sethi commented, "One with extra long sabre like teeth. An intimidating creature that maybe we should have taken on board."

"I am unsure on that." Prince Pareherwenemef responded, "It is but a motif, and he didn’t seem to have Tiger like tendencies."

"Maybe not obvious, but there is a glint behind his eyes, a deepness of knowledge. The way he looked at us was as if we were playthings in his world." King Rameses responded, "I thought it was lack of experience, but maybe it is something else. That Commander Subutai also looked over our forces as it they were nothing to him, as if he could destroy them with but a simple swish of his hand, a giant who saw us as nothing but ants. His Concubine Tomoe was just as much a disturbing presence, I could feel the constant blood lust on her, flicking through the different layers of sanity, the sense of death that followed her was intense."

"I saw them on the battlefield." Prince Sethi responded seriously, "He is a Lord, but he fought on the front lines with no fear of death, as if he was immortal. Commander Subutai’s archery skills were unhuman, as was the tactics that he gave us to defeat the Hittites. The scariest was Commander Tomoe, where ever she went, heads would fall from bodies. General Tau had mentioned how he had sent one of his Commanders to duel against them when they first met as a test, and Tomoe had decapitated his best Commander on the first bout!"

"We may have made a mistake in letting them live and playing the long game." Prince Pareherwenemef stated. "We may have underestimated them and their capabilities."

The three of them all went silent for a second at this comment, realising that the Prince may have a point, but what if Lord Lazarus was a god, or if those silver soldiers had attacked them when the portal ended, they may all not be having this conversation right now. King Rameses felt a shiver run down his back, and for the first time in his life, he felt a small amount of fear.

"Then what happens to Meritamen?" Prince Sethi asked, interrupting the Kings thoughts.

"She is one of my favourite daughters, she is loyal, intelligent, cunning and fierce." King Rameses replied, "But I feel that I have just given an eagle a new pair of wings. With her mind, we have just gifted the Eagle a loyal follower. If she sees the same potential that they are not a scorpion or a snake, but the top predator, she may change sides and become a thorn in our side in the future."

"Out of all of my older sisters, she is one of the scariest." Prince Sethi agreed, "We will need to take this in to account in our future plans."

"I’ll speak with with my older brother Amunherkhepeshef when we return, I think it’s best I leave General Sidiki in charge and I head back to Thebes as well." Prince Pareherwenemef commented.

"I’ll speak with your mothers as well, they will not be happy with me." King Rameses lamented, before standing up and getting the attention of all of the guests. "Go and prepare your units, we will return to Thebes in the morning. General Sidiki, please work with the surrendered Hittite’s to prepare the City to join our Kingdom."

"Yes your highness." The Generals said in unison, before they began barking orders at the men around them. The musicians and dancers understood that the banquet was over and began packing away their instrument. Whilst the Kings Guard around the hall arrived around the table to guard the King and his two sons.

The guard from earlier who King Rameses had sent to the follow the group who were escorted for execution arrived back and whispered a few things in to King Rameses ear, which caused the King to thrown and then smile. Rameses leant back in his chair and had a final long sip of his beer, before placing the cup back on the table.

As he placed the cup down, the room suddenly got very bright as a golden glow appeared across the floor. There were screams and shouts around the room as the ground suddenly began to shake violently. A couple of plates of food on the table shook of it and crashed on the ground shattering. A Dancer screamed as she fell and had to quickly be grabbed by one of the musicians before she hurt herself.

"What’s happening?" Prince Sethi exclaimed, "Why is there an earthquake?"

A Guard who was stood behind them fell to the floor heavily, and struggled to get himself back to his feet as the ground continued to shake. The guards nearby didn’t dare to move to help him in case they were needed to protect their leaders.

"Why is the ground glowing?" Prince Pareherwenemef said in more shock.

The light got brighter and brighter, so bright that all that could be seen was a whiteness that surrounded them. King Rameses was almost blinded from it, but could hear the sounds of those that were nearby him.

"It looks like our fun is just beginning!" King Rameses II replied with a huge smile.