With the sunrise, Eskihisar, the capital of the Azenur kingdom leaning on Beler Mountain, welcomed them. It was established on a very wide area from the foot of the mountain to the middle of the plain. On the left side of the city, a river about a hundred meters wide flowed calmly.
The entire perimeter of the capital, including the banks of the river, was surrounded by wide and high city wall's. These city wall's gave those inside security in case of an attack and the feeling of an impenetrable fortress to those outside.
It had two gates. One was the main entrance gate used by all visitors and local peoples. The other was the royal gate used only by the royal family and nobles. This gate was opened for official visitors from other countries when necessary.
…
Those in the caravan woke up before sunrise and started to pack up to enter the capital as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the head guard came to Turgay Heriston.
- Sir, in order to prevent any chaos at the gate, we need to inform the soldiers of our situation. If you allow, I will go ahead and meet with the commander on duty.
- Okay, John. You go and handle the job. As you said, with so many dead people next to us, we will have trouble at the gate. While we are in this situation, I don't want to go through any more turmoil.
The head guard bowed slightly to Turgay Heriston and then mounted his horse and went towards the castle gate. By the time the rest of them had gathered the camp, the head guard had returned again.
After all the preparations were made, the carriags set off and they all arrived at the castle gate together. They passed through the gate with the guidance of the soldier waiting for them and stopped in front of the commander's office a short distance away.
A group of about ten soldiers was waiting for them. They immediately checked the horse carriages and then began transporting the dead to the warehouse next to the command office.
Meanwhile, the gate commander came out of his office and was looking at the dead people carried by the soldiers. The head guard grabbed the gang member's arm, whose hands were tied behind his back, and dragged him to the commander.
- Commander, this is the gang member I told you about.
- (He didn't even bother to look at the gang member whose face and eyes were bruised.) Children! Take him inside and take his statement. (When two soldiers immediately took the criminal's arm, the commander added to words.) Make sure he didn't leave anything out and said everything.
- Yes, sir.
Even though the gang member had difficulty walking towards the torture he would soon see, two soldiers held him tightly under his armpits and dragged him towards the room where the dead people were taken.
The commander stopped looking at the gang member being taken away and turned his direction towards the caravan. When he saw Eren among the people in the caravan, he left the head guard and walked towards him.
- Eren... Aren't you going to say hello?
- (Eren bowed his head slightly.) Hello Atilla. I see you have a lot of business to attend to. That's why I didn't want to interrupt you.
- Okay, no problem. But you should have said hello anyway. Although, judging by the dead, it looks like you've had a hard time too. You've obviously been through a tough battle. (He looked carefully at Eren's right and left and didn't see any injuries.) Since you emerged victorious from the battle, I'll ignore this attitude.
- (Eren was about to say something but changed his mind at the last moment.) Yes, it was a tough raid, as you said. I'm sure the head guard explained to you in detail what happened.
- We talked about something, but the details seem to be in your hands. Frankly, I'd like to hear about this incident from you too. (When Eren acted reluctantly, Atilla's gaze turned to Han, who was standing next to Eren.) Who is this? I don't remember seeing such a friend with him before.
- This is Han. He will stay with us for a while until our work in the capital is finished.
- When you say "with us"... So you mean you are coming home?
- If my uncle allows, I plan on staying with your home for a week.
- (He was very happy when he heard that Eren wanted to stay at home. And his joy brought a smile to his face.) Okay, I'll see you tonight then. Try to finish my work and come back early... (His face fell when he remembered the dead being carried inside.) Don't expect me tonight, I'll have a hard time coming tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.
- Okay.
As Commander Atilla was leaving Eren's side, the head guard approached Eren.
- Eren, tell me, how do you know Commander Atilla? (When Eren hesitated to tell him, the head guard insisted.) Are you ignoring me? Of course, it's up to you to tell or not, but I am thinking it would be useful for us to have a high-ranking acquaintance in the capital.
- Chief, don't be angry, but that's exactly why I don't want to tell you.
- Fine... Don't say it if you don't want it. I won't insist anymore. (A sly smile appeared on his face.) We come to the capital every five years. Next time we come, we'll say hello to him on your behalf and also prepare a small gift. After that, we'll see how the commander behaves. So no problem. It's okay if you don't say it.
- Chief! Don't do that! He's my cousin. My uncle's son.
- Why are you tiring me out? I was almost going to prepare a gift... Anyway, you go now. Han is entrusted to you. We'll meet at the guest house a week later. Everyone will be there. Don't be late and come early in the morning.
Before Eren could say anything, the head guard immediately turned around and went towards commander Atilla.
Eren got very angry as he looked after the guard chief, but there was nothing he could do. Finally, he turned towards the Han and the two of them set off towards his uncle's house.
After walking for about an hour, they came across another city wall in the city. When they arrived at city wall's security gate, Eren showed the family emblem he took out of his pocket to the officers.
This metal piece, which was the size of a palm, round in shape, and had an inlaid edge, had a strange scissor shape printed on it. Only one of the handles of the scissors had a protective ring. The other, although it was riveted in the middle, looked like a knife.
The officer let them pass after checking the emblem thoroughly.
…
This city wall was the first city wall built to protect the city fifty years ago. As the kingdom developed, the population began to increase too. Especially due to migration from outside, new settlements emerged outside the city wall.
When the people living in the inner city walls started to build new houses for themselves in this new settlement area, a building chaos emerged and this was a security issue.
After a while, the kingdom put a stop to this haphazard situation and built a new city wall outside the new settlement and took control of the construction between these two city walls. They moved the ordinary people who remained within the first city wall to these new settlements.
Twelve noble families were settled in the area between the old city walls and the royal palace. From now on, there would be nobles closest to the royal palace. In this way, the ordinary people and refugees were kept as far away from the royal palace as possible. However, this separation divided the capital into two: the new city wall and the old city wall.
In order to prevent separation, twelve noble families were assigned tasks. Each noble family would recruit members of the new city wall for their mission and they could have retained some of these people as soldiers. But the number of soldiers they had could not be more than one twentieth of the royal family's soldiers.
This will be good for the royal family. When a war broke out, approximately forty percent of the army will consist of soldiers from noble families. Twelve companies ready for battle at any time.
They could move faster than the royal soldiers and could be easily dispatched and managed. And most importantly, if desired, they could be destroyed instantly.
Each family had a certain responsibility. While one was responsible for the food of the entire army, the other was responsible for the production of weapons to be used in the war. One of these responsibilities was Eren's family. The clothes of the entire army were sewn by Eren's family.
…
Atilla and Eren, who had never liked tailoring since their childhood, left home and joined the army. When they successfully completed military training and the time came for assignments, Eren quit the military and charted a new path for himself. Atilla remained in the military and rise in rank one by one.
When lives that were scattered years later came together again, Eren was a mercenary and Atilla was a gate commander in the castle. If this is the life they want, that's okay. They can continue to live. But the problem was the future of the Padraig family.
Paul Padraig couldn't sit still since he heard that Eren was coming. His son had sent a message. "Calm down, don't get angry and don't leave Eren anywhere." How could he be calm? After a long time, his nephew, whom he loved like a son and his brother's only heirloom, was coming.
His older brother and his aunt died of disease when Eren was very young. Paul had just gotten married at the time. He didn't leave Eren alone and brought him home. This blond boy was very cute. They experienced their first child love with him. A year later, when Atilla was born, their home became more joyful.
They had a daughter three years later. And then another one a year later. Fortunately, Paul Padraig now has two daughters and has no use for those useless men. It had long been clear that those two mischievous people would not take over the family business. That's why Paul was considering passing the family business on to his daughters.
His daughters were very helpful to him in the family business. The girls, who used to be unable to make any decisions and left everything to their fathers, started to make their own decisions over time. This was a good thing.
Now, when Paul Padraig was not around, the girls could take over and run the family business. If Atilla supported his sisters from outside, the family business could continue without any problems.
He didn't know if he needed Eren, but not having Eren around causing a deep sadness in Paul's heart.
Paul Padraig couldn't wait any longer and quickly walked to the entrance courtyard. Just then, the street door opened and Eren Padraig entered with a stranger…