Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 175: Shaking hand with enemy

Chapter 175: Shaking hand with enemy

Alarzat, now declaring himself King of Arlania, sat on a simple wooden chair in his modest audience hall. His skin was a deep, tanned brown, kissed by the sun, as the people that declared themselves blessed by earth and sun. His black hair was braided tightly, falling from the back of his neck and draping over his chest, giving him a regal yet rugged look.

Around his neck hung a heavy gold necklace, a symbol of his newfound kingship, resting atop his broad chest. Similar golden bands adorned his wrists, catching the light and glinting faintly with each of his subtle movements. Despite the simplicity of the chair beneath him, his adornments and commanding presence made it clear that he was no mere prince anymore, but the ruler of a land he now called his kingdom.

The meeting had been called by none other than Maesinius of House Romelia, who now styled himself as the Snow King. It was a title he had claimed after the secession of the northern realms during the chaos of the civil war.

His envoy, a sharp-eyed man named Cyrana man that did not come frome the northern land but from the province of Messenia , stood in the modest audience chamber of King Alarzat, watching the man who had become the symbol of Arlanian defiance and also the man who led the empire to his current situation.

Cyran's gaze lingered on Alarzat, his thoughts simmering beneath a composed exterior. He knew, as did many others, that it was Alarzat's actions that had ignited the storm that tore the empire apart. The civil war had been triggered by the bold maneuvering of this self-proclaimed king, and it was his hands that had shaped the course of events. The secession of the north, the breakdown of imperial authority, and the widespread unrest—they all traced back to the chaos Alarzat had sown when with a stone they killed a giant.