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The Sangiuine Alliance was once a patriarchy, with only men holding positions of authority.
Only men could be knights, and women were left to tend the house when their menfolk went to war.
Near the end of a particularly hard and bloody campaign against a Kreuzer incursion on the north-west coast, the King's men were exhausted after a long march and faced battle against fresh reinforcements from the sea.
The battle would decide whether the invaders were pushed back into the sea or whether they would smash the last defenders left in their way to claiming a foothold on Sanguine soil.
The battle lines were drawn and the soldiers of the king were routed on the sea plains and retreated. The king was badly wounded and hovered near death.
They set their banners on the nearby hill of Korbarra, the ancient burial place of a king, awaiting their fate on the swords of their enemies.
As the Kreuzer advanced up the hill, trumpets sounded and a company of fresh spearmen marched up the landward side of the hill, an unkown pennant waving in the sea breeze, and the knight who led them had a head of long blonde hair flowing from beneath his helm, which was locked to his armour by chains.
The knight rode up to the tent of the king, where he lay in the grip of a fever, and begged his pardon for riding in his land without swearing an oath of fealty to him. He begged the king to accept his oath and recognise thr knight and his soldiers as the king's subjects an men-at-arms.
The King could not reply but his heir, the prince, eagerly accepted as otherwise they would face ruin.
The King's men were still outnumbered, but with the fresh troops they held their ground, and the knight rode forth again and again to inspire the men.
Eventually, the battle was done and they were victorious, but the knight had taken a poisoned shaft in the side and lay dying on the field.
He begged the soldiers to carry him to the King, as he had important information to lay before him.
The king had stirred somewhat, and accepted this injured knight to his presence, having been informed of the role he had played in the battle by his heir. The king offered to renew the oath given by his heir, with the symbolic kissing of the king's ring to formalise the bond.
The knight brought forth a key from inside his armour, and once more begged the men carrying him to be of service and remove his helmet so that he might kiss the King's ring.
The helmet was withdrawn and the beautiful face of a maiden was revealed.
The prince was horrified and urged the king to withdraw his recognition, and to cast this deceiver out of the camp but the king called forth his steward and had his men help him from his sickbed so that he could kneel beside the maiden.
He held his hand to her lips so that she might kiss the ring, and asked her name. He then knighted her, and declared her high protector of the realm, as the incumbent had given his life in the retreat up the banks of Korbarra.
Despite being given the best medical attention, the army’s healing supplies had dwindled and she passed away for want of the herbs and the king was much grieved. He had his men carry her back to her men, and accompanied them assisted by a stick, and asked the men whether they had known they followed a woman into battle.
The men all removed their helmets and it became apparent that of the entire company of spears, not one man was in evidence and that they were all women who had followed their men to war.
The King declared that they all be treated as men of great honour, and their wounded taken care of as best the camp could provide.
The king sat in deliberation for a day, still gripped in fever, before announcing that henceforth the women of his land would hold equal station to men, and that they would be able to take the knighthood and hold office.
The prince was horrified, and asked if this also meant that a woman could hold the throne, to which the king replied yes.
The prince, having an older sister, swore that he would never bow before a woman and the king struck him with his stick, declaring him no Sanguine son of honour, and exiled him from the kingdom.