Pierre felt the cold steel tip on his neck and a shiver passed through his spine. His life would be decided on his next words,  but he had already made up his mind. " My liege...I apologize for the outburst,  but you know my statement is no lie. I've known you for more than ten years,  I've protected you for more than ten years....I've observed you for more than ten years...I know you."

"Pierre....are these your last  word's?" Siros's hand tightened and he pushed the sword drawing blood. Pierre felt a warm liquid he knew was blood flow down his neck and onto his gambeson, but it didn't deter him at all from speaking.

"My liege, my life is already on your hands, you just have to take it, but then I wouldn't have fulfilled my role. I've sworn allegiance to you and only you, so I can't just stand by to see you lose.  

If this campaign ends like this, you only face exile, and all the blame with be thrusted upon you. You will become the most hated person on the kingdom,  you will never see greatness again....but!"

"You...." muttered  Siros as Pierre had grabbed the sword with his bare hand and was looking straight at Siros's eyes,  penetrating his soul, and Siros was just stunned to speak. What he had just done was the worst crime a knight could commit,  to raise his hand against a royal. This crime wasn't as easily punishable as the execution of the perpetrator, it was way worse.  The knights closest blood relatives also executed, from the oldest to the youngest,  and then their bodies were burned so as neither had a resting place.  Their name was expunged from all records , their trace of ever existing lost for all time.

"Pierre, do you understand what you just did?! You've doomed your entire family....

"It's the same if your majesty Siros fails here. My position was given by you, so if you fall, I'll most likely loose my status and my properties. I'll just become a fallen knight."

"But you will still be alive?!" said Siros in an irritated voice as he couldn't understand the decision of his most trusted aid.

"Barely your majesty..." said Pierre, memories seemed to flash before his eyes. " My life wasn't always as good as it is now. Hunger and cold were my long time friends before I joined the army, but even then I wasn't rid of them. Only on that fateful day when I became part of your guard did I begin to truly live. You taught us...'me', all the things you knew. From writing,  reading,  hunting,  poetry,  art,...you spared not a moment to enlightening someone like me.

You 'made' me what I am today your majesty!"

Siros's hand loosened his grip on the sword, and a sigh was heard across the room. "It seems I've taught you well Pierre." smiled Siros as Pierre  also let go of the sword, his hand now bleeding, but he didn't care at all about that 

"That you did, your majesty. "

"So....what now? You have arrived at the same conclusion as I have. Forward or backwards,  both of these options will have us capitulating. I don't suppose that any of the southern lords have sent us anymore troops,maybe the barbarians have begun to retreat?"

Pierre shook his head " Neither of them my liege , but that means that we will have to cling to the hope of victory even harder. We will have to resort to unconventional methods....we will have to seek the help of ungodly forces."

Siros heart stopped for a moment as the gears is his head spun. He knew what he had just heard,  but he didn't know if it had maybe been a play of his mind "Pierre....you don't mean...

"Yes, your majesty, you have rightly guessed. I strongly suggest that we rely on the help of a devil in order to turn the tides of this war. It is the only way!"

".......

Siros opened his mouth as he wanted to say something,  but he really couldn't. He had spent all his money,  influence and favors to arrive at this point, so either a miracle from god, or a deal with the devil could save him now. Unfortunately God didn't seem to be on his side at the moment.

.............

"Gaaaaaaa...

"Hehe...let me outtttt....let me oooo....

"Heeehehehehe.....

In the dungeons of the castle, the smell of piss and feces permeated all around. Flies buzzed all over the place echoing through the moldy stone walls, and the delirious shouts of the prisoners made it hell on earth for anyone there, so it wasn't a surprise that a summoning ritual to call forth a devil was taking place in one of those cells.

"This is vile." said Siros as he looked down at five unmoving corpses on the ground,  and then at Pierre who seemed to have transformed into a butcher. His body was covered with several patches of blood and the dagger he had on his hand was fully drenched in crimson.

"It is....but don't feel sorry for them your majesty." said Pierre as he cleaned his dagger with a piece of cloth. " These are the scum of the earth,  they deserved to die. At least in death they  will at least surve a noble purpose."

"Let's hope so..." with that Siros moved his attention towards a thin man who seemed to be in the brink of starvation. His face was gaunt, his hands thin and his eyes popped out like that of a monster,  but he was definitely a human. He was their 'key'.

"Hey, mage, what are you waiting for!? Come, let's complete the ritual." yelled Pierre as he glared at the thin man and the later immediately went forward. He stumbled a little along the way but he managed to arrive before  Pierre. 

"Y..yes...

"Do it! Complete the ritual...but be warned, if even one wrong word passes through your mouth, I'll personally make you regret it. Now get to it!"

"Ughh....

Pierre threw the man on the ground, and the later immediately begun to draw something on the stone floor with the blood of the dead. It was quite erie,  especially under the dim light of the two torches on the wall. Pierre and Siros looked at the man with curiosity,  especially Siros.

"Pierre,  does this man really know how to summon a devil?" spoke Siros as he tightly held a perfumed handkerchief to his face. His eyes filled with doubt and curiosity.

"I'm not certain if he knows,  but he doesn't seem to be lying....I would know if he did." confidently said Pierre " Also, he was sentenced because he was caught to be in possession of certain instruments and materials considered unholy in nature, so the probability is high."

"........

".........

After that neither Pierre nor Siros spoke as they intently looked at what the man was doing. He quickly seemed to move from one place to the other,  and with each passing moment a bloody pentagram was beginning to take form. It was a gut wrenching moment for the three of them, but after the pentagram was finished and the man said the words for the summoning, the pentagram shone a crimson light that illuminated the whole cell.

"Ughh...that was brigh...

"My liege,  stand back!"

In the center of the crimson pentagram was now a shadowy figure looking straight at the three of them. Pierre immediately pointed his sword at it and moved in front of Siros to protect him, leaving the man staring at the thing he had just summoned with fear. The shadowy figure looked around the cell for a while as if to understand where he was,  and then finally pointed his finger at the man who had summoned him.

"For what purpose did you call me here? Speak!" said the devil and his voice echoed throughout the cell. Pierre begun to sweat, but on the other hand Siros was marveling at what just happened. He had heard stories of such happenings,  but never in his life had he seen it for himself. It intrigued him, piqued his interest like nothing had ever before, it almost made him forget he would be burned to the stake if anyone found out he had done such a thing.