NOVEL NEXT Interlude: Final Preparations
“Tell me Baron Rubix. How strong are your knights?” Visnet asked as he stared down the tubby Baron inside his home, Visnets eyes boring into him and intimidating him.
“We uhh…we uhh are quite strong Your Highness” Rubix answered, his squeaky voice laced with fear as he met the eyes of the crown prince.
Baron Rubix, a fat man who was short and squealed like a pig when things wouldn’t go his way was a very typical noble at the time before Gaius was emperor. A selfish man who despised commoners and worked tirelessly to his territory a living hell for them, ensuring that they would always have a hard time. He bribed every official who came to see if he was fulfilling imperial standards and did everything in his power to fatten himself as he saw it as a way to boast about his superiority. He was a man who despised the Erstads, claiming that his family historically had rights to the land and its people that were illegally stolen when Gaius became emperor. He was delighted when he and his conspirators were able to kill him and his wife but was angered that their daughter was still alive. He was nearly caught by the Imperial Investigation Bureau as they were so close to linking him with the other conspirators and spent a lot of time burying his involvement.
When he tried numerous times to appeal to the emperor to gain control of the Erstad lands which he stated was unfit for a child of a whore to govern and instead should be given to a proper noble like him, he nearly met his end as a Varangian Guard thrust his sword forward, with its tip resting on his neck. With Gaius giving him a stern warning to never repeat those words less he ends up in a grave by evening. Infuriated after the meeting, he spent years upon years undermining the Erstad Duchy, from working with his close friend Count Chernin in recruiting slavers to capture citizens of the duchy be they adults, elderly, or children, and sell them for a high price to straight up sending his knights in disguise to commit acts of murder, arson and other crimes. All so that he could have a reason to legally claim to help them by offering to take the land and pacify it for them. This has never worked as his schemes were always foiled and the men he hired and sent were brutally mangled and displayed on the entrances to the duchy as warnings. Meaning his plans have never come to fruition and now he finds himself under the thumb of the crown prince just because he was promised the duchy.
“Are they strong enough to take on the Imperial Guard?” Visnet asked
“Excuse me Your Highness? The Imperial Guard? The best soldiers the empire has? Are you insane?” Rubix replied, obviously perplexed
“Shame. As your knights need to be strong enough to fight them if you plan on taking the Erstad Duchy for yourself” The Crown Prince continued as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the window overlooking the town below the baron’s manor
“What do you mean Your Highness?” Rubix continued, his face growing more and more worried by his words
“The Erstad Duchy is currently under the protection of my decrepit father. The entire Imperial Guard is stationed there, numbering eight to ten thousand humans and non-desirables. And as you said, those are the best soldiers in the empire and none of them are loyal to me, instead they continued to stand by my father. I can’t even set foot in the duchy less they attack me, and I am not strong enough…yet” Visnet continued as he turned back to face the fat baron
“What of your Praetorian Guard? Can’t they overpower them?” The fat baron asked
“They only number ten, they will undoubtedly die easily. Plus I need them for my plan” The Crown Prince answered
“Your…plan?”
“On the day of the Andria Eclipse which is six days from now is when I will launch my coup, my father will die, the pope as well. And I will be able to seize my beloved. All the while you and the rest of the nobles surrounding the Erstad Duchy will attack it and slaughter everyone there, from the Imperial Guard to the children and infants, your numbers will overwhelm them”
“I see…”
“If you are thinking about backing out now you filthy piece of shit. I suggest you rethink it as ‘snap’”
SCHWING!
“You will die where you stand at this moment” Visnet finished as he snapped his fingers and Lance, his personal knight drew his sword and placed it on Rubix’s neck.
“I see. I will forever be your loyal servant Your Highness” Rubix squealed as he bowed his head, causing Visnet to nod at Lance who sheathed his sword.
“We shall speak a day before the eclipse, I will see you then Baron” Visnet added as he and Lance exited the room.
Outside the manor, Visnet stepped into his carriage, and as Lance was about to follow him in, he was stopped by the former.
“Lance, stay behind and make sure that the baron understands what I wish from him, while I see how my beloved brothers Merwick and Nerwick did with the other nobles” He said with a sadistic and twisted smile,
“Of course…your highness” Lance answered with an expressionless face and a nod as he saw the carriage leave.
As he saw the carriage disappear, he quickly shuffled his way to the back of the manor, finding a large bush and a shed to hide behind, he pulled out an orb that was hanging inside a large pouch on his belt, it looked like a ball of cheese but in reality, it was a communication orb.
“Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?” Lance asked as he imbued it with a bit of his magical energy
“We heard everything. Nice Job Mr. Triost, now we know when to expect their attacks, we are grateful” A voice answered him, it was deep and unnerving,
“Thank you for your kindness, Dame Belle. I hope you will pass on this information to Lady Percy and Amelia” he added as he looked over the bush to see that there were some workers moving about now
“I will, and Amelia has given me a message to tell you” the Varangian Guard added
“What is it?” Lance asked, his breathing stopped
“Thank You” Dame Belle finished
A smile developed on Lance’s face as he nodded, it may have seemed as if it wasn’t much, but to him, a friend who had pined for her and in the process broke her trust and hurt her so bad she nearly killed him, it was a good show that maybe he could once again be proper friends, this time without the romance.
“Thank you for the words, I have to get back to work and beat up the Baron, Crown Prince’s orders” Lance immediately added as he switched off the communication orb and went inside the manor.
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Meanwhile, in the capital.
“So, what is the plan now?” Roimir asked Emilio who was busy looking through the security footage recovered from the security crystals of the fallen magic tower
“We are going to kill Visnet that is plan” Emilio growled as he kept rewinding a certain portion of the recording
“Excuse me what?” Roimir shouted, surprised at the words coming from the mage’s mouth
“We are going to kill him. He is the one who bombed my tower. See here!” Emilio shouted as he pointed at the display from the crystal
In the display, it showed several armed knights bearing Visnet’s coat of arms hauling innocent-looking barrels and stacking them near and around the magical tower, the mages outside did not bother as they thought it was a usual shipment of liquor. The mages used crystals to detect if there was anything inside the barrels and the results came back empty. A few minutes pass as the mages and knights chat with one another before the knights leave, with the mages looking at all the liquor barrels, before the screen shows a bright explosion from one of the barrels that cuts the feed.
“That bastard! I will kill him!” Emilio roared as he let loose a large blast of electricity, shattering the thick steel walls surrounding his laboratory in his personal tower. Causing Roimir and the bounty hunters to duck out of fear of getting blasted.
“So are we abandoning the whole kidnap Amelia plan?” the elf asked
“We will still go forward with it. I have a plan for you guys to successfully capture her during the eclipse, and in the process kill Visnet and his stupid brothers. I will be staying here however as the eclipse renders me useless, you will have to rely on your strength and cunning to pull it off” Emilo answered, turning to the bounty hunters who nodded at his words.
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Meanwhile, in the Erstad Duchy
“So. Is everything ready?” Percy asked her subordinates inside the main dining room of the Erstad manor
“Yes Head Maid. The people have finished their preparations, all of them are marked and are informed on what to do during the eclipse” one of the butlers answered her
"We have mangled and displayed the bodies of the slavers and raiders in the forests, it will serve as a deterrent" another butler added
“It is also of note that Dame Belle and the Imperial Guard have been informed that the neighboring territories will strike the moment the eclipse comes, they have overwhelming numbers but Dame Belle is sure that her troops will hold the line” one of the maids chimed int
“They have also been marked so that when we activate the entire teleportation array, they will be transported with us. We will not leave them behind” another butler added
“Good. good. The Imperial Guard was made by both Lady Ophelia and His Majesty, so it is good reason enough to trust them to be loyal to her ladyship when we reunite” Percy stated as she looked down at the map of the Duchy
“What of Lady Amelia and the Heads of the Orphanage?” the kitsune asked
“They are currently heading back towards the capital in secret, to stay inside the cathedral grounds, they will take the long way around and arrive a day before the festival” one of the knights answered her
“Good. all of the pieces are coming into place. The day is nearly upon us people, the day we leave this carcass of an empire behind. So steel yourself for what is to come, because Goddess willing we do not run into anymore problems” Percy finished as she dismissed her subordinates and continued to look at the map of the duchy
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Meanwhile in the rebuilt Halfriva Manor
“It seems that it’s almost time for us to get out of here” Ilena voiced as she looked at Pyotr, both of them laying side by side on their bed.
“That’s right. Soon we will be back in your home kingdom, far, far away from the coming storm. With the rest of our lovely family” Pyotr replied as he caressed the cheek of his beloved wife.
“Will our dear Sharon be fine though?” Ilena asked as she got closer to her husband
“She told us herself, she wanted to get stronger to protect us, she has been readying for this moment my dear. And we will be horrible parents if we stop her now and send her away somewhere else. Even Yulen and Yulan can’t separate from her, they are currently sleeping with her on her bed, both of them clinging to her” Pyotr replied as he planted a kiss on her lips
“I guess you are right…this empire is about to become something else no? Based on the information we have gathered and what His Majesty told us” Ilena voiced as she turned to look up at the ceiling
“Yes, my dear. So it is best to get out while we can. The Andria Eclipse will give us that opportunity, while everyone is busy celebrating, we and the rest of our people can slip away”
“Göttin im Himmel, vergib uns” Ilena muttered as she fell asleep in Pyotr’s arms
As the days counted down and the plans were discussed and reviewed, the day of reckoning had come. The day in which plans upon plans upon plans were to be initiated, the day when the magic of the world ceased to work, the day when peace and stability disappeared, the day when relationships were to be revealed and the day people would die without knowing it. For the day of the festival that was approaching, was the day…the Hillsbrooke Empire died.
A/N: AND HERE WE GO NUMBER TWO OF THREE! ONE MORE TO GO AND IT IS THE FIRST PART OF THE FINALE! I would like to express again my happiness that you guys enjoyed the series this far, despite my writing abilities. I am eternally grateful and I am planning on setting up a QNA chapter just to address your questions and the like, so if you have any you can ask below! Anyways I will be reviewing and rewriting Part One of the finale and I hope to get it out before Saturday! thanks again for enjoying the series so far and I hope you will continue to enjoy it! And as always Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!