Reunited...

The civil war in Lakeland raged onward. The armies were beginning to weaken, and the sons of King Thorbjorn were becoming fewer. This did not weaken the remaining children's resolve to become ruler of the kingdom. In fact, they felt all the closer to the crown; thus, the battles continued.

However, with each passing battle, Prince Bjorn had a better hold of his position. Even in defeat, he would have fewer enemies. With every death on the other side, there was another person fewer to dispute his claim on the throne. After all, he was the eldest. Even King Thorbjorn named him the heir; therefore, many defaulted to his claim.

From a royalty point of view, he had the strongest position with regard to succession. Most of the lords supported him despite everything. Most of the peasants and soldiers also took his side. After all, heirs have been killing the sitting king for most of recorded history.

Hence, with his recruiting superiority, his army was the biggest. Even after each battle, whether won or lost, he and his enemies weakened. He may have lost some supporters, but his position was still strong. He remained the most powerful.

As the civil war continued, Prince Bjorn never shied away from a battle. He was always looking to take the war to one of his siblings. In this way, the war raged on for months. Every army became weaker and weaker, but eventually Prince Bjorn's army killed the final claimant to the throne.

No one knew exactly what happened. The night before the two armies were to engage in battle, the borther had disappeared. The soldiers searched and searched but could not find him. It was just before daybreak and one of his generals found his body later. Nonetheless, his army was undeterred. They met Prince Bjorn in battle. In fact, they were quite fired up, and pushed the Prince from the field.

For several weeks they continued to battle the Prince's army. After all, they believed that Prince Bjorn had killed their king. They did not want that murderer on the throne. They were out for revenge. Further, the officers would likely face death., so they continued to fight.

Nonetheless, they were without a candidate for king. In addition, they had a leadership problem. They had lost their commander-in-chief. Thus, they had a breakdown in the command structure. They became somewhat disorganized and were beginning to in-fight. In a major battle against Prince Bjorn, defeat came swiftly. Thus, the war ended.

After all the battles, the only person who remained with even a remote claim on the throne was Prince William. Prince Bjorn eliminated the remaining claimants to the throne. He even killed the ones who supported him. To finish the task, Prince Bjorn sent out a party of his best men to search for Prince William. Prince Bjorn wanted Prince William dead. He believed that it was a mistake not to kill him on the previous occasion. He was not going to beat himself up over that.

After a brief celebration to the war's end, Prince Bjorn had begun planning his coronation. However, he felt he had some unfinished business with Princess Angelina. She had a large presence on the boarder. She took in many deserters. Moreover, Prince Bjorn felt confident that he could retake the treaty land from the Princess.

With their victories in the civil war, his troupes were seasoned. Furthermore, they would have the element of surprise. While the Princess was off doing who knows what, he attack would be completely unexpected. With the surprise attack, he felt that he could take care of the Princess before he was crowned. Therefore, he could be crowned the sovereign of a reunited kingdom.

Prince Bjorn marched his army south toward the treaty land. While his army was seasoned, they were exhausted when they arrived at the border. However, the Prince did not wish to waste any time. Therefore, he wanted to attack the refugees without much in the way of preparation.

The Prince and his army marched across the border without opposition. The Lakeland army prepared for battle, and marched into one of the refugee camps. They were astonished to find it empty. Prince Bjorn stood there stunned. Why would it be empty?

At the center of the Lakeland line, the Prince stood. He pondered what could be happening as the sound of battle filtered towards his position from his left flank . One of his commanders yelled It's a trap! He snapped out of his inaction and began barking out orders.

"Squad 2!" he shouted. "Help support the left flank! Squad 1 protect the center! Squad 3 prepare to assist squad 2! Squad 4 protect the center!"

Soldiers in his army began moving to their positions. The second squad moved towards the left flank, and the first squad surrounded the Prince's position. His army created a strong center position. Another wave of fighting broke out on the right flank.

"Squad 2!" Prince Bjorn shouted. "Help support the right flank!"

"But sir," replied the second squad's commander. "We are supporting the left flank. Perhaps squad 3 or 4..."

"Are you disobeying my order?" asked the Prince.

The commander immediately pulled his men off the left flank and went to support the right. The raging battle on the left became closer and closer to the Prince's position. The third squad began engaging the attacking army on the left.

"Squad 1!" the Prince shouted. "Protect the center! Squad 2 protect the left flank!"

Without a word of protest, the second squad disengaged the right flank and moved to the left. Without the support of the second squad, the right flank began to collapse. As they heard the order for the second squad to support their position, they broke and ran. The rout was on.

"Hold the line!" the Prince shouted as the soldiers fighting on the left flank turned and ran.

However, Prince Bjorn's army was surrounded. There was no place for them to turn. They ran into the Prince's position. The only direction open was towards Lakeland, and that was quickly closing.

"No retreating!" shouted the Prince.

However, his army was already running around. They scattered, and many ran back towards Lakeland. The soldiers not protecting the King had stopped fighting and were simply ran around. Any soldier that did not surrender was cut down. The fighting around Prince Bjorn's position intensified. When the fighting became too intense, the first and forth squads abandoned him. His generals and troupes took on the attacking army.

The defending army destroyed Prince Bjorn's left and right flank. They cut off the path of retreat and surrounded Prince Bjorn and his soldiers. Nonetheless, Prince Bjorn refused to surrender. The Prince urged on the fighting.

After several minutes of very intense fighting, Prince Bjorn lied dead on a pile of Lakeland soldiers. In his rush, the Prince lost his life and his kingdom. Dead bodies covered the once peaceful refugee camp. Pools of blood soaked into the ground.