Herald of Steel

848 Theony's Love (Part-2)

Theony's naked hard truth of the matter struck Philips hard.

In fact, it might have hurt harder than if Lord Theony was just a power hungry traitor.

Were that to be the case, the Crown Prince could have somewhat soothed his heart.

But Theony's reasoning laid bare to the crown prince the absolute disaster the royal family was currently facing.

They had lost three huge back to back battles- first- the chance to take Zanzan, second and their most grievous wound- losing the fortress of fortress, Thesalie and the third and the latest, the defense of their capital.

Each of these defeats not only caused the loss of the crown's prestige and territory, but it also meant the death of a huge number of loyal nobles and competent officers, shrinking the royal family's pillar of support even more.

The wars also cost the country an immense amount of manpower as all able bodied men were diverted to the army, turning the countryside almost barren with few people left to work the fields.

And with no one to produce stuff, naturally, taxation fell, making the treasury also dry up.

It really was the perfect storm.

For given their vulnerability, it was only natural that rivals to the royal family would pop up.

And although it was not like Philips had never thought about this possibility, but still, thinking something might happen and something really happening before one's true eye were two very different things.

"Let me go talk to Lord Theony. I know I can still convince him." Faced with this monumental betrayal, Philips hence decided to try and negotiate, as he attempted to exit the room.

His very initial thoughts were to try and muster the royal guards and resist Lord Theony forcefully but quickly found the idea impossible.

The other side outnumbered them almost by ten times so the most likely outcome of that fight would be to be crushed like a bug.

And even if they would use the palace's choke points to hold off, well then for how long?

Lord Theony would surely be able to put the entire place under siege and starve them out.

It would also be almost impossible for Philips to ask for reinforcements, as there were no messenger birds in the aviary trained to go to the place where his father was currently staying.

And even if somehow a rider could get there, well then the king would still have to get here, the entirety of which would take almost two weeks.

And what would the king find upon his arrival?

Surely not a grand reception with the red carpet rolled out where he would be able to simply waltz into the city.

Instead, Lord Theony would surely defend the walls, forcing Perseus to smash through them.

And while this would be happening, Menes's army would still be marching towards them.

If they were lucky, the Zanzan army might even be able to catch Perseus out of the walled city, squeezed between them and the walls.

That would truly be disastrous.

So Philips wisely decided that talks, not swords, were the way to go.

"No. Don't bother." But just as he was about to go find Lord Theony, he was suddenly grabbed strongly by the arm by Theony, who cried,

"My father's mind is already made up. There is no turning back for him."

"He was already thoroughly disappointed at the royal family for all the failures. But then, once he learned that his His Majesty had taken help from Zanzan again, it completely shattered him." "You know how much he was against that deal in the first place. And he was right in that."

"Adhania did backstab us. Zanzan is not in our hands. As a matter of fact, it is trying to destroy us even as we speak."

But then His Majesty has done the exact same thing."

"So my father believes there is no point in following the king anymore."

"If you go before him, you will be just delivering yourself to him like a nice present. He will kill you instantly. Please don't waste all my efforts!" The voice pleaded with almost sobbed cries.

And Philips's body slightly shivered at this reveal.

It was not like the man could not see the reason behind Lord Theony's actions.

He could very well see them.

And perhaps it was because of exactly that that the crown prince was beginning to see how deep the rabbit hole went.

The future of his family seemed to be filled with only darkness.

"Then… what do you want me do?"

Thus faced with this desperate situation, Philips turned to his partner with clenched fists.

"Run away!" Came the instant answer, as Theony then spoke quickly,

"Change into my clothes. We both have similar builds. The guards will not be able to us apart from afar."

"Keep to the shadows of the palace and do not let anyone see you."

"Make your way to the place we usually meet. You will find a horse ready, hidden among the bushes."

"Take it! It has supplies to last you three days. Then go meet up with His Majesty. Stop my father's madness!"

The elaborate preparation Theony reveal so succinctly very clearly revealed that he knew who he would choose over, his father or Philips, even before he consciously made the choice.

And hearing this, Philips was at first a bit taken aback..

"Why… why are you doing this? Betraying your family? Do you think your father is wrong?" He could not help but ask.

Because for a logical point, Lord Theony really was not the villain of the story.

He was only doing what was best for him.

'Because I love you!' To Philips's question, Theony wanted to shout out this simple reason.

But for reasons even he did not know, he did not.

Just as those words rose up from his throat to his tongue, Theony felt a bitter taste, he even felt dirty.

He felt that he had no right to love this man after what his family was trying to do to him.

So Theony instead answered.

"Because you also saved me. Back in Zanzan, when I was captured,I know that it was you who went behind His Majesty's back and convinced Lord Mithriditus to do the prisoner exchange. Without that, I might be already dead."

"So take it as me returning the favor."

It seemed both men were willing to defy their fathers for each other.

But this was really not the main reason Theony was doing this.

He would have most likely betrayed his father for Philips even without that.

Because he loved him.

Philips, hearing the answer, did feel a bit down.

He wished the reason had been more primal.

"Wait! Then… what about you? If your father is really as determined as you say… will you be alright?

But then as he thought about Theony's plan, he quickly found a missing element, as he then urged his lover with moist eyes. "Come with me!"

Although the crown prince was given a clear way out, it was very hard for him to take it, for he would have to leave so many things behind.

"Don't worry about me." But Theony brushed aside these concerns with a strong tap on the crown prince's shoulder, putting on a very confident, reassuring smile,

"I'm still my father's son. His heir! He will not harm me."

"And besides, if I were to also go, who will protect your sons and daughters? Someone has to talk sense to my father!" He pointed out, before once again repeating,

"Don't worry about me! Go!"

Then the man started to quickly strip given the time crunch.

But although Theony sounded very nonchalant about committing this folly outwardly, internally, he was not so calm.

For he was not letting just any no name nobody escape, he was letting the crown prince slip through his fingers.

One who could not only alert the king to the happenings in the capital, but also be able to rally the people around him.

So even if Theony was not skinned for this huge blunder, or more perhaps like betrayal, at the very minimum he would be surely chewed out, and chewed out badly.

And given how long they had together, of course Philips could tell Theony was heavily dressing up the situation.

But ultimately he did not insist.

Because he knew that it would be too hard for two grown men to escape on a single lone horse.

And if Theony was to be caught escaping with him, Lord Theony's anger over his son would surely be many, many times greater.

So to honor the sacrifice Theony was making for him, Philips quickly followed his partner's suit, andilently the two men finished swapping clothes with one another.

"Promise me you will live. Do not die!"

And then sharing a brief intimate moment with this promise, the two men parted ways with this small sentence.

Dressed as Theony, Philips would indeed be able to make it to the secret rendezvous point without any problem, for Lord Theony was still unaware of his son's betrayal.

There the crown prince would find a large, snow-white mare waiting for him, all saddled up.

And getting up on it, the crown prince would be away!

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