(continuing from chapter sixteen)

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Mandara and Derogan snickered at Saxon talking about snakes, Mandara was still mad that he didn't get to see him get scared by one, he'll have to fix that later.

"You call Australia snake-infested when you were chased up a tree by one yesterday," Derogan pointed out, "I'm surprised you even left the castle after that."

While the brothers distracted the Brits, Silver Streak took her opportunity to conquer the last bit of territory from Anglo, screeching as she announced her victory.

Mandara clapped for his friend and asked Saxon, "do you want to join, there are still two empires left in the box."

N:   "Aye, I would like to join," and he peered into the box where the last two empires were, but his face fell when he saw Prussia. He held out his hand to get a piece, but he hesitated on which one to choose.

Strategically, it would make sense to have Prussia, as he is stronger than the Ottomans, but he wasn't going to give the satisfaction to Prussia by using him, even if he wasn't in the room right there. He quickly grabbed for the Ottoman Empire to avoid any delays and placed him on the board.

He looked up to Silver Streak, and smirked, "I better keep an eye on you."

-----

Johann leaped from room to room, determined to explore the entire castle, and the hyper kid kept on running around, causing Rowen to chase him everywhere, eventually tiring him out.

"I should probably stop now," Johann said when he saw the captain and walked up to him, "but I have not seen the inside of a castle before." He spun around so he can get a glimpse of the place, "we did not need one since Lord Saxon was away most of the time, either being in Britain or doing his insurgent stuff, but he would put the effort to come every year to come to Saxony, sometimes bringing Sir Anglo with him.  What is it like to have your country be with you all the time?"

M:   Well, why don't you let me rest so I can tell you about it," Rowen said as he was panting a little from running, "you have quite the energy kid, you could give the horses a run for their money."

After catching his breath, Rowen answered, "it's no different than having any other king, he creates the laws and keeps peace within the kingdom.  Every once in a while he will leave to meet with other kingdoms or empires to uphold our alliances but he always comes back."

A thought then crossed his mind and he asked, "so what about Saxony, since Sir Saxon does not stay there often I assume King Prussia must have taken over without resistance?"

N:   When he heard the question, Johann hung his head so he no longer made eye contact with Rowen, and said gloomily, "Lord Saxon was there when King Prussia attacked, and he fought him with our help since we were not going down without a fight."

He looked up and tears started to form in his eyes, "b-but then after a ceasefire, Lord Saxon c-came to us and he-" by this point, Johann was stammering so much that he couldn't form any coherent words and broke down in front of the captain.

To comfort himself, he hugged Rowen, since he trusted that he would protect him, and his red face squished against his armor. He pleaded through tears, "I don't want to think about Saxony, can we do something else?"

M:   Rowen felt awful that he made Johann cry, he should have known better than to ask about such a traumatic event to a child. He patted the kid's back in comfort as he hugged him.

"I apologize for talking about something so traumatic for you, I promise it won't happen again," he said, then had an idea of how to cheer up Johann, "say, you've traveled a long way to get here and you must be very hungry, how about we go to the dining hall and get you something to eat."

-----

Back with Mandara and Derogan, th brothers had ganged up on everyone else and were starting to take over the board, though Silver Streak was still winning.

"I swear Silver, you could give Captain Rowen a hard time with your battle planning," Derogan said as he moved a ship over to the South American coast.

N:   "She sure can," agreed Anglo as he looked at the board. He and Saxon also teamed up, with Saxon keeping control of the Middle East with the Ottoman Empire and himself trying to counter attacks from the brothers and Silver as the British Empire spanned continents.

"I wonder how British Empire is able to keep all this land, and still gain more," Anglo wondered, as he moved a ship to North America to keep an eye on Derogan.

"He finds a way to control the people," muttered Saxon as he took a hold of the Strait of Gallipoli to block the Russian route to the Mediterranean, sneered at the bird, but he looked up to see Anglo's annoyed expression, "what, she is smarter than you think."

Anglo shook his head and focused back on the game to see Silver landing in Scotland from Scandinavia, and said "now, Silver, you did not have to do that."

-----

Johann nodded as he let go of Rowen and followed him to the dining hall, not having the same amount of energy as before.

When he entered the dining hall, he slumped into a seat as food was provided to him. The table already had some pastries on it but he was given a warm soup with meat in it, so he grabbed a spoon and began eating.

He did not anticipate the spice, so when it was in his mouth he started to cough.

M:   Silver streak cawed in a mocking tone, earning a giggle from the brothers.  Derogan used the distraction he made with his decoy ship to capture the Indian Ocean from Anglo, as he left it completely unguarded.

"That was sneaky, brother," Mandara commented.

"You always have to be two steps ahead of your enemy," Derogan explained, "there is a strategy everyone follows, a pattern if you will.  To beat your opponent you have to find the pattern and when you do-" he slammed the cavalry piece he was holding onto the middle of Italy where Saxon had a castle chip placed, claiming it, "-you can catch them by surprise and crush them."

-----

Rowen jumped when Johann started coughing, then mentally facepalmed then he realized what happened.

"Tes muler, I am terribly sorry about that, I forgot how spicy our dishes can be to foreigners." he apologized, he slid over a jug of water to Johan and then asked a servant to bring a bowl of soup that didn't have spice.

N:  

"It's alright," wheezed Johann as he grabbed for the jug, he smiled to try to convince Rowen he was ok, "I said I would explore and now I discovered the spiciness of your food." He chugged down the water until his tongue stopped burning from the spice.

There was a moment when no one talked as they waited for the servant to come with the soup, so Johann asked, "what is your favorite place in the castle, sir?"

-----

When Saxon saw his land taken over by Derogan, he muttered, "this is why I am not a country," he looked up to Derogan and commented, "you are quite the tactician, Derogan, maybe even on par as this super bird here," which Anglo chuckled to.

Anglo studied the board and saw how Silver, despite playing on her own, had the greatest amount of land, so he came up with an idea, "I believe that the prevention of a problem is better than dealing with it when it comes, so I would like to propose a truce between our two factions and team up against a common enemy," he pointed at Silver Streak, "her."

M:   Silver Streak made a sound like she was gasping in shock, but Mandara and Derogan chuckled mischievously.

"Works for us," they said in unison, earning a barrage of angry screeches from the raven.

"Calm down Silver, no need to be a sore player," Mandara said, "besides, you had it coming with how you've been winning, twice."

Silver Streak growled in annoyance, or whatever sound is close to growling in a bird, and just focused on changing her strategy to compensate for all four empires attacking her.  For a while, Silver held her own pretty well, concentrating on defending existing settlements rather than gaining ones she couldn't defend.  With the four countryhumans attacking her from all sides, however, it wasn't long before her territory shrunk down to the main area of Asia where RE resided.

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"Hmm," Rowen hummed as he thought about it he never actually spent an extensive amount of time in the castle before, he was usually out patrolling the kingdom, so the earlier exploration was just as much a trip for him as it was for Johann.

"Well, I would have to pick the horse stables," he finally said, "I just have always had a love for the animals since I was a boy. My personal horse, Star Dust, has been with me for years and I would consider her a true friend."

When the servant came with the new bowl of soup, Rowen suggested, "when you're finished I can take you down to meet her if you want."

N:   "Yes, please," Johann beamed just as the servant returned with the non-spicy soup. He rushed through it since he was really hungry, and when he finished, jumped out of his seat and ran towards the door, but he slowed down for Rowen to catch up.

"I won't make you have to chase me again," he smirked when the captain caught up and followed him to the stables.

When they arrived, Johann gawked at the horses, and said, "there are so many beautiful horses."

-----

As they surrounded Silver's land, Anglo and Saxon looked at each other and silently agreed on something. During the game they switched up their tactics, Saxon attacking any Russian land while Anglo deflected attacks from Silver. They agreed to work for the princes, using the tactics that Derogan used and what they were asked to do.

Anglo announced to Silver, "you are completely surrounded, Saxon to the north-west, myself to the south-west, and the brothers on the east. You can either surrender peacefully and we will split up the land among ourselves, or you don't and we continue to attack."

Saxon then moved a piece from the land in Finland he acquired and moved his knights towards St. Petersburg.

M:   Silver didn't utter a peep as she studied the board, desperately trying to find a play that could give her an advantage, but there was none.  With nowhere to go and not enough forces to defend with, the raven knocked over her Russian Empire piece, signaling her surrender.

"Huzzah, we have won," Mandara declared, raising his arms in the air victoriously, "the Russian Empire was no match for the combined forces of Europe."

Derogan smiled ruefully, "If only it were like that in real life, then we could all gang up on Prussia so he won't challenge Father."

Mandara's face turned down, "way to kill the mood brother, now you just made it depressing."

"Sorry," Derogan apologized, but then got an idea to lighten the mood a bit, he grabbed the pillow he was sitting on and threw it at Saxon, "pillow fight!"

-----

Mandoria was in the stables brushing his Shire horse, he loved his horse and made it a priority to come down and interact with it every day.  He was finishing up brushing the animal's blond mane when he heard Johann, he poked his head out of the grooming area and saw the boy and Rowen come into the stable.

"Well, fancy seeing you two here," he called over to them, "did the little one want to see the horses?"

"Yup," Rowen called back, "I was just going to show him Star Dust, maybe after we can check out Xanthos."

Mandoria chuckled, "sure, just make sure Johann is taller since Xanthos's hooves are bigger than him."

N:   Johann crossed his arms in defiance and pouted, "I'm not that small," as he watched Mandoria groom his horse, "but that one is huge." He quickly followed Rowen as he led him to Star Dust, admiring the steeds around him.

"I don't often see horses in the area where I lived," Johann said, as he was led, "my family had a farm and we would usually take the sheep up the hill near our house to graze, so instead, we had lots of dogs to help us herd the sheep." His eyes grew distant when he thought about home, but were immediately brightened up when he saw Star Dust.

"She is beautiful."

-----

"WHAT THE," shouted Saxon as the pillow slammed into his face, and was momentarily studded by it, before picking up the pillow and throwing it back at Derogan.

Anglo started to panic since he was still in bed and injured, so he tried to curl up as small as possible to get away from the fight and warned, "you can fight, but not near me," he faced Saxon, "and I will watch as two children beat you in a pillow fight."

Saxon got off the bed, and replied, "thank you for the motivation," he raised two pillows and sneered at the princes, "thou hath challenged the wrong person."

M:   Silver Streak flew over with Anglo, also not wanting to be a part of the battle.  The brothers on the other hand each grabbed a pillow and stood up to face Saxon.

Mandara charged first, trying to smack Saxon in the face but was deflected, Derogan played a more tactical attack and snuck behind the entity while he was preoccupied with his brother. He hit Saxon on the back of the head, diverting his attention so Mandara could tackle him from behind.

-----

"She is, isn't she," Rowen agreed, opening up Star Dust's stable.

The horse was an Andalusian breed with black hair and a grey pelt dotted with white speckles, making her fur look similar to the moon's surface. The mare's eyes were different colors, her left eye was milk chocolate brown and her right -which was surrounded by a large white splotch- had an icy blue hue to it.

Rowen led the animal out of her stable so Johann could get a better look, "you can see why I call her Star Dust, her coat reminds me of the night sky," he said, the mare then leaned her head down and nudged the stranger with her muzzle, earning a chuckle from Rowen, "I think she likes you."

Mandoria stopped brushing Xanthos and watched as the three interacted, it was very adorable.

N:   "Stop it," Johann laughed as Star Dust nudged him, then he reached out his hand and stroked her muzzle, "you're quite the beauty, aren't you?" He kept on stroking her muzzle, almost therapeutic, as he interacted with the mare and brushing his fingers through her mane made him feel like he could travel through the stars.

He turned around and saw Mandoria watching, so he said, "Xanthos is going to have a tough time trying to convince me they're the better horse," he pointed at Star Dust, "how can you compare to STARS?"

-----

Although he kept his ground, being tackled from both sides, bombarded with pillow attacks, finally brought Saxon to one knee. His vision was completely covered by feathers and pillows, and by this point, he was staying on the defense.

Anglo, watching as the battle unfolded, called out to Saxon through the chaos, "I think your losing." Saxon looked at him, dead in the eye, wondering why Anglo had to be annoying and was tackled to the ground by Mandara.

M:   "We have you now," Mandara jeered playfully, hitting Saxon with the pillow again.

Derogan leaped onto Saxon too and the two battered him relentlessly with their pillows, to the point that the entity had to put his hands up to protect himself.  At one point, the brothers caught each other's eyes and a silent message passed between them, they both nodded in agreement and ditched their weapons to start tickling Saxon into submission instead.

"Yield, Sir Saxon, you can't hold out much longer," Derogan smirked as he made for the entity's ribs.

-----

Rowen smiled proudly at Johann's compliment and flashed his king a smirk.  Mandoria laughed at his captain's smug smile and said, "I probably can't compete with stars, though my Xanthos's chestnut fur is beautiful to me, isn't big guy."

Xanthose nickered and nuzzled his owner, Mandoria responding with kisses and pats.  The king then led the Shire over beside Star Dust, who looked like a miniature pony in comparison.

"I was actually going to take him out for a quick ride, perhaps you two would like to join us," Mandoria offered.

Rowen nodded in agreement and looked to Johann, "I don't suppose you have ever ridden a horse before?"

N:   Johann shook his head, "No, I have not, but I have watched other people ride horses, especially in races." He stroked Star Dust's muzzle and chimed, "but I can learn, right? Can I ride with you, sir?"

He turned to Mandoria with a mischievous grin, "and maybe, we can have a race?"

——————

Saxon immediately laughed when they started their tickle attack, "nay, nay, nay, NEIN." He was laughing so much that he switched to German without realizing it, and he tried to wriggle out of the princes' reach but they trapped him.

Eventually, he was struggling to breathe from all the tickles that he shouted through breaths, "Fine, I yield, I YIELD. Bitte, you can stop now, I yield."

M:   The brothers did stop, but only because Saxon started speaking German, they learned to become fearful if they heard someone speaking it.

Derogan shook off his hesitation before it could be noticed and shouted, "huzzah, the Feathered Assassins have claimed victory once again, no one can stop us."

He tried to high-five Mandara but his little brother still had a scared look in his eye.  He quickly got off Saxon and backed up against a wall, "y-you're P-Prussian," he stuttered fearfully.

-----

"A race?" the adults echoed, surprised that Johann would suggest that when he had never been on a horse before.

"I don't know about racing just yet," Rowen said, "but yes, you can ride with me, we just have to get the horses saddled up first."

Mandoria nodded in agreement and the two led their steeds and Johann to the saddling area, and once the animals were ready for travel, Mandoria climbed onto Xanthos and Rowen helped Johann onto Star Dust then got on himself.  When everyone was situated some stable hands opened the gate and the riders headed out to the open plains.