High up on the Imperial Diet the flag was flown. It was the one that depicted an upwardly stretched fist entwined with thorny vines on a red background. Gone was the flag depicting a golden sun with curved rays, the imperial flag that had withstood even the fierce gales on the day of Meglarsbruck's devastation. In its stead, the banner of revolution had now been raised. The emperor's men knew of the importance and the power of symbols. And they made good use of them.
Everyone was here: The Emperor's wife, the Imperial Chancellor, the ministers of the government, less important underlings in the government apparatus, family members of the missing deputies of the Imperial Diet, the Teleiotic Patriarch and even the Alethic Patriarch. On top of that, a large crowd of ordinary townspeople began to gather in the square out of curiosity as to what was going on. The guards did their best to keep them away from the high lords and ladies who were eagerly awaiting the Chosen One's arrival. From far down the road, the Imperial Guard regiment, led by Balduin, could already be seen approaching. The red and white check pattern of their uniforms was unmistakeable. They marched up in rank and file, stopping right on the margin of the so-called Grain Market. Their commander ordered them to remain there and then joined the other high-profile guests here.
As soon as he had positioned himself next to Peter Rubellio, the latter immediately asked him, “What on earth have you been up to! Where is Wenzel? He should be here at this very moment, so why didn't he come here with you?” - “Your Serene Highness the Chancellor, please bear with it for one more minute. His Highness will answer any questions that are pressing you.” As soon as he had finished saying this, the first people shouted and pointed their fingers up at him. On the balcony above, the wizard had suddenly appeared from one moment to the next. Only Amalie, Silke, Ylva and Brahm knew how he had done this.
Two radiant stars peered down from the Reichstag building. His aura was flickering skywards like the flame of a candle, a phenomenon that almost no one here had ever witnessed. It was much stronger than the magical aura of his, that Amalie remembered from the last time she had seen it. Finally, the radiant entity began addressing the crowd from up above,
“Dear friends! Dear subjects! This address is to the whole empire and all its peoples! I have summoned you here today to make an announcement of seminal magnitude. Your former ruler, the one known as Wenzel Althun, is no more! Believe it or not, but it is the truth: before you stands Melgar, the Chosen of God!”
The crowd stirred and frantic mumbling engulfed the square. His Majesty immediately continued his speech, “Returned I am, resurrected from the dead, to set the world aright once more. For this purpose, I have taken over this new vessel here, whose body I now inhabit. Do not doubt it, for it is the truth. I am the One Chosen by God of whom your holy texts speak!
Now then! Now you will probably wonder why I gave orders for the things that happened this morning. Do not despair, the Imperial Diet has not been permanently abolished. I have merely postponed the session. When it resumes in a few days' time, however, the House will have to accept that the ruler will have a veto right in it in the future! I demand no more than the authority that I am entitled to in my role as sovereign, and I will, from now on, enforce it against all opposition! In any case, those who have steered the fate of the empire in recent years have been completely inadequate. They truly understand nothing about the country and its people.
What do they know about what it means to lose everything, to stand before the wreckage of your own existence! What do they know about picking yourself up again and saying: 'I will live!' Nothing! They know nothing! But I do. I was persecuted and oppressed in the days of the Testament as well as in this new life! Yet, I shall not falter! The Chosen One will not be stopped by such things. We will fulfil the once broken promises, that remained unfulfilled. Only with me this will happen. FOR I AM THE REVOLUTION!”
The astonishment of the audience now drowned out any other emotion they might have had. At the end of His Holiness's speech, a pin could have been dropped, and one would have heard its thud, so quiet had the whole place become. Balduin stomped back over to his horse with his clanking armour, on whose saddle he promptly swung himself. Down the long promenade, as far as the eye could see, a column of infantry and cavalry could suddenly be made out. The regiments of the Holy Ordanian Army had lined up directly behind the Imperial Guard. At their head was the Supreme Marshal! The Imperial Chancellor concluded that Ferenc had apparently accepted the Emperor's decisions, even if he had probably not been in the loop with regards to them either. Yet already from a distance, Amalie could see from his face how divided the military man was over what had happened. The crestfallen expression he made reminded her strongly of the day he had confronted Theodor with the forged letter of August.
Not until now did the first of the innumerable onlookers here begin to shout the usual “Hail Melgar”, albeit cautiously for the time being. The assembled elites, with the exception of the church representatives, still remained silent. On Command, no military horns, but rather those specific trumpets, which actually were sacred instruments, were then blown by the soldiers. They blared loudly all along the street to announce the start of the parade. Together with the drums, they played an aggressive rhythm, to which the Diamonds now began singing:
My heart burns for the true and the holy way,
My head tells me, to never be led astray,
My sword points at the Chosen One’s enemy,
My arm shall strike him without any remedy,
Let’s go on to an auspicious golden age,
One that our offspring can belaud someday,
Even if the great streams of Kaphkos shall run red,
On our path to salvation we won’t lose our head.
The uniformed young men crossed the square in formation and then marched on along the wide avenues through the city. Enthusiasm was beaming from the faces of those in the Imperial Guard and you could almost see their conviction sparkling in their eyes. “We will establish God's kingdom on earth,” they thought to themselves. The drums banged and the trumpets blared through the metropolis, proclaiming the new Holy War. It attracted many inhabitants who were interested in what was going on here. Their parade route went past all the important sites and monuments of the ruin city, or at least what was left of them.
From the balcony, His Highness watched the procession slowly move along until it had passed him entirely, crossed the temporary wooden replacement bridge over the Duhn and continued through the other parts of the city to the north. Melgar then went back into the government building through the balcony door behind him. This prompted everyone else here to rush back into the Reichstag building all at once.
A boisterous crowd of ministers, church representatives, nobles, their bodyguards and the Imperial Guard was jostling through the corridors. Under the watchful eye of her protector, Brahm, Amalie also found herself among them. However, said person whispered something in Her Majesty's ear and then, surprisingly, parted from her. Vehemently and purposefully, he dashed through the emotionally charged crowd to reach the stairs and climb them quickly. He soon left the spectators of the parade behind him and hurried to where he wanted to go. Where was that? Well, he could already be seen further down the corridor of the upper floor: Emperor Melgar.
His old buddy approached the emperor. Looking tense, he then addressed him: “Let me get straight to the point, Your Highness! I'm very sorry, but I can no longer support your current actions in the realm. It is no longer reconcilable with my conscience. I want nothing more to do with such a coercive rule that uses violence against all those who do not obey the autocrat at the top of the empire! I, therefore, ask to be relieved of your service.” As a result, the Chosen One squinted his eyes in scepticism and replied, “And yet you had no problem with it all these years and decades, when I wasn't the one who could be blamed for such things! Don't think you can convince me that all this is my fault! Again and again, I have tried to steer society in a different direction, all in vain! The nobility, but likewise the Church, they never listened to me. Now they are reaping the fruits of the seeds they have sown themselves! The young men they indoctrinated are now marching in my ranks and dancing to my tune. And why? Because I was given no choice. So, it's either them or me, and if we're playing this game, it will be me.”
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He spoke with inflections and aspirations that almost gave the impression that he had only learned Ordanian as a foreign language on the side, but his arguments still hit Brahm hard. The man had no idea how to respond to the accusations made against him. “The Imperial Council had no plans to go against you!” In response to this statement, His Majesty explained to him, “What do you know! I know what will happen. I see the future.” Then he briefly made an effort to come down again, and finally continued, “Be it so! A healthy body rejects everything that is harmful to it and only accepts that which strengthens and sustains it.” Having understood his allusion, his former bodyguard could not let what had been said go so easily. He gave the following rebuttal, “I would rather compare the empire to a fish. And we all know where a fish starts to rot!” Melgar seemed amused by his clever retort and let out a short laugh. Then he turned his back on him and left. And this is how it came to be, that the old hand, Brahm, took his leave from the imperial house.
Sporadic, little fleecy clouds covered the firmament in seemingly complete stillness, almost as if the whole earth had stopped moving. Sitting on the roof, he did, however, not observe them. He was engrossed in what he was reading. “What are you doing?”, Peter's voice reached him from behind. He had apparently entered the roof terrace unnoticed. Patently, the guards had let him past. The Chosen One responded, “I'm just indulging in reminiscences again.” Over his shoulder, the man was then able to catch a glimpse of what his reading material consisted of. It was the Holy Testament, laying in his lap.
“It is pleasant to note that nothing about it has changed in the last five centuries. At least one constant.” His Ordanian now sounded more foreign than that of Peter. When he looked the enquirer in the face, he immediately noticed the scatterbrained, worn-down expression in it. In view of today's events, it was probably safe to assume that Wenzel's first friend would have quite a number of further questions for him. So, he immediately spoke to him, “What do you want from me?”
“Are you seriously going to keep up this charade in front of me too, Wenzel? I understand that you needed a justification, that would get the Commune on your side and that could be presented publicly. It was bold nonetheless - Golly gosh, it was - but there are probably enough people in Ordania who genuinely believe in such miracles. Still, you don't need to fool me here, Wenzel!” His Highness, subsequently, stared at him impassively, but a hint of disappointment also revealed itself on his face. He unsheathed the sword of his, which was not exclusively ceremonial, and held it out to the man. Then, he replied to his friend,
“This was one of the five Holy Artifacts. In them, I had conserved my soul for centuries.” But before he could continue his explanation, Peter pointed out that his spouse had already informed him of the nature of these objects. “I still don't believe it,” he commented on this matter. Melgar hadn't had that on the cards. He looked at the crack in the cloudy, red jewel of the sword and wondered what had caused his counterpart to regard the reality presented before him as untrue. Wasn't it blatantly obvious how different he was now, how his entire head of hair was now resplendent in snow-white? Finally, he said, “Sit with me. Let's talk a little more. You'll realize that I've told you the truth.” The Chancellor complied and joined him.
“Are you really going to abolish the draconian punishments? I mean, recognizing Alethism is probably the most courageous step anyone could have taken. And I mean courageous in many ways...” The wizard now elucidated, “In general, I will lower the penalties for blasphemy. Tolerating those who do not consider the Chosen One holy will significantly reduce the convictions in this area anyway. At the same time, though, a large number of schismatics who do not recognize the decision of the Alethic Patriarch will still have to be dealt with as harshly as before. Overall, though, I estimate that it will reduce the oppression of the country's population at large.”
Peter expressed scepticism about this. He also noted, “Is that your excuse for destabilizing the entire empire? How are we supposed to achieve development and growth under such circumstances?” - “Well, on the first point: no, it's not. And secondly, everything is already broken and ruined anyway. Either way, we'll have to start from the bottom again.” His interlocutor had to agree with him there, even if it displeased him. “And the possibility of a revolt of the nobility doesn't worry you at all? Not even the slightest bit? Because it sure does me!” The ruler didn't even have to think about this, shook his head and instantly gave him the following answer: “No, it doesn't. They won't accomplish more than a few minor uprisings, and they wouldn't and won't stand a chance and will be crushed with ease!”
“I'd love to have your confidence!”, his counterpart then uttered. But the mage countered, “It's not so much self-confidence than it is the ability of observation and logical deduction. The forces that the rebels had gathered in Camenia and Kasharovar have only recently been crushed. There is hardly any potential left that could be mobilized for resistance. Furthermore, the major noble houses will probably think twice about rising up against me, given that I have some of their more important lords in my custody.”
After he had made that statement, one of the guards brought over bowls with a selection of dried fruit, which His Majesty apparently had requested. There were figs, dates, apples, raisins and apricots. “Here, help yourself,” the emperor said to his friend. Initially hesitant, he just gazed, but eventually he sampled some of the dates. Only now did he really begin to question his perspective. “Could he actually have become Melgar? Wenzel has never eaten anything like this before. His behaviour has changed noticeably, but so far, I've put that down to the shock of what happened with Viktoria. He's not completely different from before. Somehow Wenzel is still in him, ....... but somehow he also isn’t.”
As they sat there eating, the native Camenian couldn't help but repeatedly glance over at the sovereign. That was, of course, very noticeable. “I know you're looking for something....for someone who's no longer there. It's all right. I understand if you still don't want to believe it. His memories are still up here,” he pointed at his head, ”and I know Wenzel always held you in high regard. I'll try to make sure nothing changes between us. Although that's a childish thought, of course. Everything is in constant flux and can never stay the same.” Peter sensed that there were genuine, earnest emotions coming through to him from the person who was talking with him here.
But one thing was still bothering him: “And Amalie? Why haven't you discussed the whole issue with her yet? She is your wife, after all.” Melgar took a rather sizeable raisin and popped it into his mouth before replying, “I came up here to avoid her. In my mind, I still haven't worked out the right words to tell my darling about the matter with the necessary tact. It has to be just right for her. She's been through enough as it is.” - “I understand. Well, I'm not going to interfere with that. Good luck!”, was all Peter said. After that, it wasn't long before he took his leave. The sun certainly was already very low, and there were a myriad of things to take care of, especially now.
After the first friend he’d ever had had disappeared, the Chosen One still tarried here. He would be watching the sunset. He spent a while contemplating on his own. “Nothing has changed in the last five hundred years... Ha!”, he now mocked his own words from earlier. “That he would simply accept such drivel without question!” What he was not aware of was the fact, that his old friend was still very sceptical of him, and that it would be a long time before he would accept the true circumstances of the emperor's identity.
The day was drawing to a close. Melancholy overcame the mage, as he reflected on everything that had transpired. He looked straight into the setting sun, getting blinded by its bright rays. What did the future hold? He had some ideas there, even if ultimately only God knew. An empire as golden as the sun itself was what he wanted to leave behind. He would now use all the strength he had to make this dream come true. Slowly but surely, the celestial body disappeared from the horizon. Its light began to redden more and more, dipping the ruins of the city in a deep crimson. Slowly, very slowly, it became darker and darker until it finally disappeared completely behind the horizon. Tomorrow would be another new day. A new day would always dawn. Come what may.