The Freetown Bridge

Prologue 2: Summer 1100 ac Frisia

Prologue 2: Summer 1100 ac FrisiaBraced at attention, every boot polished, every back straight, every head held high, ten thousand Frisian soldiers waited. The scarlet tabards of the lower ranks interspersed with the sharp black shirts of their commanders made an awe inspiring sight as they stretched back rank on rank, filling the parade ground of the Inquisitorial Palace. Rumour had it that every soldier that could be spared was here. It was an unprecedented gathering in the history of the Red Army. Silence is somehow thicker when there are so many people not making a noise. The controlled breath of the ten thousand barely registered as it misted in the chilly half dark of early morning. Each soldier listened to their heart pounding in their chest and wondered what was about to happen.

As the sun rose, a red ball slipping above the horizon, it's fresh rays caught the stone. A thousand facets twinkled and bounced a soft pink glow over the waiting army. It was a glorious metaphor for the new dawn that was ahead of them, but even as the adrenaline coursed through their veins not a single soldier smiled. Just as the sun crept up directly behind the stone, so that every ray of its light was now streaming out from every facet across the ten thousand, the High Inquisitor appeared on his dais with the head of the Inquisitorial Guard and several aides behind him.

He wore a plain red floor length robe and hood, not dissimilar from a demonic incantor. In fact, there was little way of distinguishing him as the most important man in Frisia. The head of the Inquisitorial Guard looked more important. He might not have dressed the part but, as he stood on the dais the rays of the crimson sun shining out of the stone behind him like a divine nimbus, no one could deny that he made an impressive sight.

He did not need to wait for quiet, he did not need to, he merely began to speak to the eager ten thousand who were ready to hang on his every word.

“I welcome you all, loyal soldiers of the Motherland, to witness this. The new and glorious red dawn.”