The Anbieter, Jayant, Vigdis, Aulis and Rask reconvened that night in the entrance hall with 10 soldiers from both the Free Army and Black Shield to discuss the logistics of the battle upon them. These 10 would act as leaders to about 100 soldiers each and would pass on information from the five main heads of their combined group to make dissemination of information easier and faster. There were 20 large paintings situated on the walls of the Linden house, behind which were the entrances to the tunnels that sprawled below the entire personal property of the Linden family. Each painting contained the image of at least one of the Linden’s southern employees in the background, and any Titanian with their twisted version of dignity would dare not touch one of them. These tunnels would lead them to safehouses dozens of leagues away from the manor. The tunnels themselves were spacious—five adult men could lay down and sleep side by side in its width with minimal discomfort. Once a signal was made by the Anbieter in his public role as Baron Egon Linden during the conference, it was time go all out and jump out of the tunnels. Anyone unlucky enough to not be wearing a black mask would be killed.
“Once we declare victory on those freaks,” Aulis said at the end of their meeting, “As the last remaining example of a true northern resistance leader, I will proclaim myself President of a brand-new Northern Republic. The southerners can stay where they are, just as they’ve been for the last few decades.”
Jay clenched his fists underneath the round table the meeting was being held at. He was aware of the Free Army’s policy towards southern affairs—they are not our friends, for they have sided with the enemy. They live among them in their colonies and keep us caged behind artificial mountains. Do not befriend them, and do not associate with them.
But did the northerners even remember why the mountains had been built in the first place? Or why they were desperate to the point that they accepted a Titanian hegemony over Yeupisian harmony?
Egon sensed the frustration coming from his longtime friend and subtly moved his chair ever so slightly closer to him, an action that only Jay would’ve noticed and appreciated.
“You can think about the administration of north Yeupis after the Titanians are run out,” Baron Linden reminded Aulis with a polite tone. “You cannot run a nation on your own. Anyways, after having given these directives, I have one more urgent piece of advice… no, indeed, a warning that you all must be very aware of. Just as important as showing the Titanian delegation no mercy is making absolutely sure that Stefan Laine is protected…”
“Stefan Laine?” Marquess Rask raised his brow.
“One of our most promising soldiers… but he has garnered the interest of the Crown. When, and surely when, they learn of his presence here, they will take every measure they can to acquire him. If that happens… I fear a Henrik-level revival of the Empire will come about. Protect him with your lives.”
“Kallista’s kid, huh?” Aulis wondered aloud. “Why are they interested in him?”
“His father is the missing Emperor Halsten. Your reservations for the Empire are like mine, but Stefan knows nothing about his father. Please keep your sentiments towards them away from him.”
“My sentiments towards them? That’s Kallista’s little boy… I’ll keep him safe with all I have.”
The Anbieter smiled, listening to his proclamation. The Free Army were hardline anti-Titanians, but at least they wouldn’t hate a boy simply for his parentage.
“If that’s all we have to say, you’re all dismissed.” Egon stood up, followed by the 14 others at his table. They then left to other parts of the house except for Jay and Rask.
“I have to return to the city-centre and convene with my troops who are on-route from Mars,” Rask said. “I haven’t been invited to the conference, so my being here will arouse suspicion when the Governor visits before the conference starts. They’ll be here the moment we launch our attack, as you specified.”
“Of course,” Egon agreed as he walked Niklas to his front door. “We’ll keep in touch via long-com. I’ll let you know when to return.”
“Thank you, brother.”
“Please call me Egon,” he said. “I don’t use the Empire’s ways of speech.”
Rask acknowledged his wishes by offering a Terran-style handshake which the Anbieter gladly accepted, before heading out the front doors.
When he was out of sight of the house’s occupants, Jay grabbed the Anbieter’s shoulder and faced him towards him.
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“Thanks for having my back over there,” Jay smiled. “The stuff he said had me pissed off.”
“Anything for you… brother,” Egon said, patting the much shorter man’s shoulders. “That’s the thing about revolutions… we have to make compromises.”
The Anbieter strolled towards the painting featuring the likenesses of his parents standing in their bedroom. In the background, an unknown female servant of southern origin looked out of a window, the front of her body of out view. Her hair fell behind her back in a braid.
“Master Makari and Mistress Shura…” Jay muttered. “If only they got to see this through to the end.”
“This is their dream,” Egon breathed. “I will make it come true. To free their family of the burden of being little more than placeholders for the Empire, chess pieces to substantiate their claims over this continent. My ancestors wished to be relieved of it, but only Mother and Father had the guts to put it in motion. Hah, too bad I’m the last one. Is it selfish to say that I’m doing this for me, Jay?”
“You’re not doing this for yourself, and you know that!” a hand grabbed Egon’s ear and tugged at it viciously.
“Ow, ow!” Egon cried. “Stop it! Stop it, this hurts!”
“Ma, I think he gets it! Let go a’ him!” Jay called out to his mother who had joined them from out of nowhere.
Paridi only relented when Jay ripped her away from their employer by grabbing her wrist.
“Master Egon, that is quite rude of a thing to say. You should know better than to think that you’re alone. You’ve always had family. Even after your ma and pa passed, we stuck by you the entire time. We are your family, Master Egon. Everything you did… going north, recruiting and training those soldiers, enlisting help from off Terra… it ain’t just for us, but the whole continent!”
Egon stared at the woman who had cared for him on her own for the past two decades. Her brown eyes seemed to glisten as he remembered the kindness, love, and especially the firmness she carried and instilled into him. His eyes welled up. Blinking away the wetness, he took both her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes.
“Paridi, tomorrow morning… you’re gonna get up and gather as many servants as you can. After that, you will use this,”
He let go of one of her hands and dug into a pocket of his pants, pulling out a small bag filled to the brim with copper coins—the only currency southerners were allowed to use.
“Go to the train station at the city centre and buy tickets for yourself and the other servants. Go as far south as you can and stay there until everything settles down.”
“Understood,” Paridi said after hesitating for a couple of moments. “But I don’t want to stay away from the manor for too long.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to make this mission short. You have my word.”
He dropped the bag of coins into Paridi’s open palm and closed it. With tearful eyes, she beamed.
“You won’t fail, Master Egon. You won’t fail.”
-
Klaudia basked in moonlight as she leaned onto the railings of one of several balconies on the upper floor of the house. For as far as she could see, only fields and pastures covered the ground up to the horizon. This was interrupted only by a few patches of woodland where southerners were permitted to hunt, and to her south, a small skyline composed of metal monoliths and bright purple and white lights. Immediately below her was a small creek that ran through the Anbieter’s personal property. Nothing that met her eyes reminded her of home. A home she so desperately wanted to go back to.
“The weather’s nice, isn’t it?” a voice asked as footsteps slowly made their way to her. She turned her neck to see Meinrad joining her at the edge of the balcony. Even though she hadn’t seen her friend in days, she couldn’t smile.
“I guess it is,” she shrugged. “It’s warm here. Back home, it’s never warm.”
“At least this was what our bodies were made to handle… but back home—
“The climate means nothing if I can’t be with my family… my parents, my little sister…” she whispered, gripping the rails forcefully. Meinrad could sense the longing in his friend’s soul.
“In a few days, on the day of the attack, our allies will come. We’re getting closer to the chance to go home,” he said, resting his hand on Klaudia’s shoulder. “You’re strong. Even stronger than me. You call yourself a medic, but you choose to hold back on your power. Keep your patience, Klaudia. Just enjoy the weather for now.”
A weak smile came about her face.
“I’m trying, Meinrad,” she said. "Thanks."
“Trying what?” a male voice that didn’t belong to the young man she addressed said.
Meinrad whipped around to see a familiar medic looking at him and Klaudia with curious eyes.
“D-Detlef? Don’t scare us like that! When did you come here?”
“Just now. I wanted to explore the place a bit and I didn’t expect to see you two here.”
Klaudia’s hands turned into fists as she stormed away from the railing, stomping towards Detlef. She had a look of fury as she stared daggers into his soul, her head tilted slightly back since she was shorter than him, but he was no match for her as he stood frozen in his spot.
“You wanna know what I’m trying? I’m trying not to pummel you into the ground for not coming with me and the first convoy when you said in front of everyone that you would be there to look after me!”
“It’s—it’s not my fault the boss made Leon go with you guys at the last moment! Believe me, I would’ve gone with you if I wasn’t ordered to stay back.”
“Oh?” Klaudia said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not scared of me? I thought you’d back up. Good, Detlef. I like that. I don’t want you to be scared of me,”
Klaudia’s quick thinking never ceases to amaze me, Meinrad pondered.
“Thanks for being someone I can count on,” she said, patting his cheek. “I hope you can count on me the same way.”
Detlef’s cheeks became red as she walked past him, into the house. He swiftly moved from the doors to the outer edge of the balcony, attempting to hide his infatuation.
“You still ended up getting embarrassed in front of her!” Meinrad laughed, pointing at him crudely.