In the end, I make it to Nornburg early in the morning. Falstaff and Co will be here much later, because while they accepted my offer to bring them back to terra firma, Falstaff wanted to get back to the main stronghold instead of the city for some reason. So I brought them there, dismissed the hoverboat and started etching a magic circle into the floor. I am going to teleport Ambercrombes to Parsee to sort out the exile I promised Hiram to handle, and the circle is necessary to keep things... less mind-shattering for everyone involved.
"So." - I begin half-hour later, having finished with my etching - "Claude, Manfred, Richard. We're leaving. If you have anything left around here that you want to collect, now's a good time. You three were technically property during the execution of the blood feud, but you are still direct descendants of baron Ambercrombe and as such, your presence in Kraut is no longer feasible. De jure, you three are my belongings according to blood feud laws, along with your estate and what lands you could lay claim to. I have no interest in maintaining that place and none of you can set foot on Kraut land again unless you wish to be summarily executed. Crownprince agreed to buy the estate and lands in the name of Kraut crown. Furthermore, I have no interest in owning you lot in any way, shape or form, so I am signing an emancipation writ for each of you. The funds from the sale of your estate and lands will be divided between you three equally. From this point on, I give you the following options. Option one - take the money and leave. Any of you who take that option will become a considerably wealthy commoner starting their new life in the port city of Mersailles. From there, you can either venture further into Champagne or secure yourself a passage on a ship to a land of your own choosing. Even back to Kraut, if you do have a deathwish. Option two - those of you who want to try and retain their noble title, I can take you to Parsee to see dean Ambercrombe. He is the regent of the Ambercrombe family and currently has a problem with a lack of an acceptable heir to the whole family, due to his nephew managing to annoy the king to the point of getting unofficially exiled to Albic isles. There are good chances he would be willing to formally adopt you into the Champagne branch of Ambercrombes. You are, after all, directly related by blood to him, that makes you three notably better options than anyone else he might consider. Since I will be facilitating this deal, I will put forth a condition that dean Ambercrombe must swear in writing not to attempt to re-enslave you or somehow else restrict your freedoms in a dishonorable manner. You are entirely welcome to write your conditions down for that, and if they are sensible, I will add them."
They confer in whispers for a moment, then Claude as the eldest replies - "We... will take our chances with dean Ambercrombe, if you please. Would you be amenable to us changing our mind if he is not interested?"
"Sure. If the dean for some reason does not want to take you in, you can still go to Mersaille or just start over in Parsee, as you decide." - I tell them - "Actually, Mersaille is not a necessity in itself, I can give you a choice of Parsee, Mersaille, Haver, Grenville, Bakarat or Kalos. Or Grand Forge, if you want to try your luck in Gillespie duchy."
___
"The dean will see you now." - the receptionist bleats, shaking nervously. What's with her? I haven't really done anything outlandish in Parsee recently, now did I? Whatever, let us see the dean. Not really concerned about his underlings.
"...Mademoiselle Gillespie." - he scowls as soon as I come inside - "What kind of problem are we facing?"
I quirk my brow at him. He is not wrong, technically speaking - aside from a problem, what other reason could I have for calling on him in the middle of winter break? In fact, I am lucky he was even present in the Academy today - something about administrative minutiae, I think. I motion for the trio I am hoping to foist on him to come inside. Judging by his flinching, the dean recognizes them.
"Due to certain bloody events in Kraut, I find myself responsible for these three young men." - I tell him bluntly - "Circumstances are such that they are technically my belongings. This is not a situation I am willing to condone, slavery of any kind is an atrocity as far as I am concerned. So I am hoping you would be willing to take them off my hands."
''I will NOT be a party to the enslavement of my relatives." - he retorts angrily.
"Good. Because that's not on the table. Here are their emancipation writs. If you are amenable to signing them with me, they will be released from their bonds into your custody as family members of Ambercrombes. If not, I will sign those myself and release those three within the Champagne city of their choosing as commoners. In either case, the proceeds from selling the estates and unclaimed belongings of the Kraut branch of Ambercrombes will be divided between them three as their personal fortunes." - I lay out the situation to him.
Dean's brow creases. "I will sign." - he begins cautiously - "What are your terms?"
"I demand a written contract that these three young men will NOT be enslaved under family authority no matter what." - I posit firmly - "I have taken their slave collars off and I have given them my word they will never wear those again."
"And?" - he hedges.
"No more and. I do not want to be responsible for anyone out of your family. You make much more sense as their guardian, given the respective ages and relations. You sign this, I sign this, you discuss matters with your, well, nephews I guess? Your family business is none of my concern and I have no intention of being involved beyond discharging my legal responsibilities." - I explain.
"Can I inquire about the circumstances of this... situation?" - he proffers - "I presume that your ownership of my nephews means that baron and baroness have ceased to be by your hands, because I can hardly see any other way for you to be in current position legally. Which, in turn, means that you have had made good on your threat of a blood feud? Which in turn makes me puzzled as to why are we having this conversation to begin with unless this is some sort of weird prelude to hostilities."
"Not quite." - I hasten to deescalate - "I did not call for the blood feud against the Ambercrombe family in particular. I DID declare a blood feud against Norns, and I have already exterminated them. Baron and baroness Ambercrombe were simply... foolhardy enough to ally themselves with Norns when the feud was declared."
He scowls and scratches the back of his head furiously - "...Norns, you say? To the best of my knowledge, they headed a significant alliance centered around Nornburg. How many noble lines have ended?"
"Lemme think... Norns, Kleineschatzes, Hansliches, Ambercrombes, Fonzes, Dachaufreissers, Hexenjaegers and Brikhiters." - I list out absentmindedly, as dean's brows raise higher and higher - "Just so we're clear, Norns started it all and they started really strong. Between them illegally practicing mind magics and trying to kidnap princess Katherine in some ill-conceived effort to pressure me into some concessions, well... Crownprince Hiram Hohenzollern endorsed the feud, and so did princess Katherine."
"...Gods and stars." - he whispers - "Lads, how... how bad it was?"
"We... did not see much, uncle." - Manfred offers after a brief pause - "While our parents elected to support Norns, by the time we got the news, they were already eradicated. Brikhiters had offered the use of their keep for the sake of gathering our strength, but... what armsmen our elders were able to muster did not... do anything noteworthy. We were sequestered in the cellars by father's demand, which is why we survived. The grounds of the keep were ruined by the time we were... freed."
"It looked like the keep was subjected to ballistae for several weeks." - Claude adds as Manfred trails off - "Jungfrau Gillespie had the aid of prince's men and they mostly collected the, uh... bodies by the time we got upstairs. I... don't think there were any survivors aside from us three."
Dean palms his face for a moment. Then he sighs and reaches out for the papers - "At least you survived, lads. I am taking all of you in, if you are amenable. My nephew had been, uh... given the post of fishery inspector in Albic Dominion, and I find myself in need of trusted family closer at home. Once you have gotten your bearings and recuperated after your ordeal we shall discuss your future and figure out how I can aid you and how can you aid our family. Penrod is unlikely to find his fortunes in Parsee any time soon so you three will have to take on this instead, most likely."
Huh. I never actually knew that Ambercrombe Junior's given name is Penrod. Curious.
___
I thrust the papers towards Falstaff - "Champagne Ambercrombes had adopted our leftovers. The agreement we struck upon is that in exchange for their surviving relatives and what wealth they could legally claim being given to them in Champagne, they vow not to enter or marry into the kingdom of Kraut for the next three generations."
He takes the papers, looks through them and nods. "Yes, that will suffice nicely." - he sums it up - "Is princess Katherine awake yet?"
I tilt my head at him quizzically - "At seven in the morning? Surely you jest. The only one on the airship who's awake currently is Bridgit."
He shrugs - "If you did not sleep at all, the hourly distinction becomes hazy. That was a long and complicated night... And there is still much to be done."
He yaaaaawns, winces, then continues - "In two hours, give or take, Klaus will be in Nornburg. It will take him another hour to meet with burgmeister and confer with his own agents in the city. Maybe more, I imagine Klaus would have words with them for missing something this big festering for so long. It would be convenient if you and princess were doing something public by the time he can come question you - because that will be the first thing he would need to do once he is done with necessities. That being said, I believe I will use the scant few hours left to catch on some sleep and I advise you to do the same."
I just... shrug at him. "I don't really sleep, Falstaff. I just wait for the morning to come." - I tell him lackadaisically. Technically, this is fifty-fifty, but I'm reasonably sure this remark will find its way to Klaus, and he was very interested in countering the need for sleep earlier. Provoking him like this, well... Let's just say that I prefer Klaus who is in a rush. Giving him time to think and adapt is never a good idea.
___
In the end, my plan is blatantly simple. Since Falstaff wants public and we had our introduction to public games of "young masters" already, I am just going to double down on this. Katherine is easily persuaded, and she is in fact very eager to see what I can do. Burgmeister is a little more dubious, but between the princess wanting to and not having to actually pay for anything, he caves very easily. So by the time Klaus is ready to talk, my zeppelin is above the plaza and has a whole bunch of speakers aimed down. A couple of street vendors proved themselves remarkably amenable to serving as concession stands once they saw the glimmer of gold in my hands. Putting down some benches for those who wouldn't be fine standing for too long is mostly unremarked upon. Apparently, some of the wealthier kids had gone as far as hiring theatre troupes to be their backup vocals before, so my putting down some temporary seating is not seen as anything too weird.
As "luck" would have it, Klaus makes an appearance just as I am about to start a first song.
"Oh. Hello there. Fancy meeting you here of all places." - I tell him placidly. Of course, having had "forgotten" about the microphone in my hands, the greeting is clear across the whole plaza.
"...Good morning, jungfrau." - he decides to be a good sport about it - "Truth to tell, I did not expect to be here until a few days ago. Something... odd had happened to local nobility, and I happen to be the man who'd duty is to look into it."
"MMhm." - I continue - "I'm sure you're the man for the job. I wouldn't want to sort out the mess caused by illegal mind magic, of all things."
"...Come again?" - Klaus appears to be genuinely discombobulated. Wonder why. Surely Hiram told him about our plan to blame nobles collectively committing suicide via yours truly on Kleineschatzes fucking up with their mind magic experimentation? Though Klaus DID just arrive, so it may be that he is feigning surprise simply to sell the story about him being rushed out of Berlinger to investigate odd happenings in the boonies.
"Well, the reason WHY I went straight for the blood feud, you know?" - I continue broadcasting all over the city - "Count Norn had actually attempted to imprison princess Katherine two days ago. She fooled the guards and went to find me to warn me about count Norn planning something dastardly for all of us. That's when she saw chrysanthemums in the inner gardens."
This is actually true - Norn DID have chrysanthemums there, and Kathy DID see them on her way out. She just didn't peg them as the source of all evil, as it were. But with my interpretation of events, she can entirely honestly confirm that yes, she did run away from Norn's guards to warn me and that yes, she did see chrysanthemums in Nornpalatz inner gardens on her way out.
"Gods above. That utter blackguard!" - and Klaus flawlessly imitates righteous anger. He is actually calm and a little bemused, but to someone who does not see his heat and electric activity, the mimic and intonation all suggest a deep and genuine outrage and disgust. Kraut kingdom has a considerably negative view of mind magics, way worse than Champagne. In Champagne, it's seen merely as a dangerous kind of magic that requires oversight and safety checks to properly study. In Kraut, however, practicing mind magic is not just a legal problem. It's a transgression against morals. It has to do a lot with history and elves - old Champagne was a kingdom of people who were elven thralls long enough to adapt their culture and language, but old Kraut was a kingdom of people who were thralls who still retained their own language and customs. The defiant ones. So the stigma of mind magics is very tangible in Kraut. While we are on the topic, the Kraut kingdom also has much more pronounced and publicly normalized prejudice against elves. If someone was willing to play really dirty, they could point out that one of my wives is an elf. Klaus won't, because Hiram and Alphonse won't let him needle me for no gain, but someone less clued in just might try to capitalize on this. Bother bother bother bother.
"So... yes. Mind magics were involved a lot. I am not sure when things started to go bad, but if the behavior of local nobles is of any indication, count Norn had been experimenting on them all for years. All his proclivities and vices were visited upon the aristocracy under him, cajoled into their minds to take the depravity as their own. I wish there was any way to save them, but... Kleinschatzes were blatanly insane. Everyone heard Gertrude confessing everything, and how much glee she had talking about their crimes. Perhaps they were the ones with the original sin, if you pardon the expression, because they also had chrysanthemums. Bushes of them. Hansliches were compulsive rapists and liars. Junior, in particular, just couldn't stop from forcing himself on every maid he came across. Dachaufreissers were infamous for their berzerker rages. Ambercrombes enslaved their own children. The less said about Brikhiters and Hexenjagers, the better. The depths of forbidden magics they stooped to were terrifying. And a big reason why those two families were not just rooted out, but extirpated down to the last drop of blood. Fonzes were the only ones who had any semblance of sanity... And consequently, the ones who had the most survivors out of the whole mess. Still, even for them, the adults were all compelled to throw themselves into a bloodbath without a second thought." - I spin the tale. We had been in discussion with Falstaff and Hiram about this beforehand, and in the end, we decided that we will blame everything on Norn dabbling in magics best left unexplored. Klaus had been briefed on this and knows to support the story.
"...How do you even face the sun after all this?" - he asks incredulously (wow, that's a backhanded insult with a zing) - "Gods and stars, you Gillespies must be forged from ripple steel to witness this much atrocity. To tender so much last mercy and remain standing unbowed... I would have been drowning my terror in the bottle, jungfrau, I admit that without reservation. If I had to do that in your stead, I would drain every tavern in this city to forget what I have seen."
"Eh. Every life that I have to take, I take in the name of a brighter future, herr Morgenstern." - I zing him back with a backhanded insult of my own, namedropping his nom de guerre should tell everyone in the know he had done worse than this with a smile - "I do wish people would consider not being wantonly stupid more often, though. I could use a break from weeding out stupidity."
"If it is of any consolation, jungfrau, I am here to take over this morbid duty. Be at ease and bedazzle our people with joy. The worst is past us, and I will do my best to ensure the rest passes you by without notice." - he smarms - "Speaking of... I have been told by burgmeister you know your way with a song. I do look forward to hearing you sing myself."
"Hm? Any requests?" - I tease him - "I probably won't know any traditional Kraut songs, but if you have a topic you want to hear on, I am all ears."
"If I may be so bold in this case... An impression on the misfortunes here?" - he proffers. Interesting, but I do have a song in mind...
"Listen, children, to a story that was written long ago...."