"Camrild... that's King Rodgerens's territory, isn't it?
I remember that old man Rodgrens having a decent reputation. He treated his subordinates well and kept taxes reasonable.
King Liens must have had some reason to attack him. Did the scouts hear anything?"
Sovell looked at the warm tea in his cup and took a small sip to moisten his throat as he asked.
"Yes, my lord."
"Then tell me."
"Yes, my lord."
After acknowledging the order, the messenger began recounting the various possible reasons the scouts had uncovered.
Some said it was a border dispute.
Some said he simply disliked him.
Another claimed he had lusted after Rodgrens's daughter.
In short, none of them sounded reliable.
But one reason, mentioned only in passing, caught Sovell's attention:
"Liens claims to be a descendant of Heracles and uses that to proclaim the legitimacy of his kingship. Rodgrens was chosen as his first target."
Sovell did not react immediately. Instead, he waited until the messenger had explained every possibility, then dismissed him from the hall with, "Go collect your reward."
Afterward, Sovell began seriously examining the possibility that Rodgrens had been chosen as a first target.
King Liens truly was a descendant of Heracles. The higher-ranking officials and regional lords all knew that.
Though, with so much time having passed, there was no way to establish precisely which branch of Heracles's descendants Liens belonged to.
The most likely possibility was the line originating from Heracles's "thirteenth labor."
According to legend, before the twelve labors through which Heracles sought atonement in self-imposed exile after killing his wife and children, King Thespius of Thesbia had asked him to slay a giant lion within his kingdom.
Heracles had naturally completed the task with ease, but the reward took him by surprise.
Why?
Because that reward was a