104 PF
Continental Empire
Kingdom of Larnach
City of Larnach
Fort Anastasia
2000 hours
“Greetings, Major McCarter. No need to sit down, this will be brief.”
The office of the nigh legendary Meister-General was hardly worth describing when occupied by the man himself, who, frankly, had more in common with the bland furnishing than with his illustriously decorated uniform. He was ageing yet impeccably alert, although a sharp eye could see traces of the crushing weight that he bore without so much as a wince. It was the kind of weight that strained not the muscles, but the mind. The weight of an entire empire, of untold lives lost and in danger, of… of…
“After careful deliberation, I have decided to have this meeting with you. It won’t occur in this office, so let us not waste any time. Follow me.”
Austin was quite familiar with the man’s mannerisms, and could tell that there was something extremely heavy on his mind, even more so than usual. The Meister-General led the recently promoted Major out of the office, through a set of corridors and stationed guards, stopping at a rather bulky blast door. McCarter knew it led to the fort’s underground layer, but was never previously privy to what was actually contained there.
“Make no mistake,” said the Meister-General as he opened the door with a keycard, a code, and several flavours of biometric scanning, “this is not standard procedure. Only a select few have even been given this opportunity. Major Washington is not one of them, and I trust you to make sure it will stay that way until further notice.”
They descended down several brightly illuminated flights of stairs. Austin could feel that he was at the precipice of something mind-bogglingly vast. The sheer anticipation was almost enough to overwhelm him.
“You certainly have questions, and I’m glad you have the patience not to ask them. This matter is… extremely sensitive. It will all become clear once we reach the destination.”
At the end of the stairs was the fort’s old dungeon, retaining its secretive, ominous atmosphere even after being refurbished as a section of the military base. Buried under solid rock and top-level access, it could certainly contain the Larnachian military’s deepest secrets. Something about it reminded McCarter of Research Facility ‘Lock and Key’. Perhaps by the way it unnerved him.
“Austin, how do you think this crisis will end?” asked the Meister-General as they walked past several mysterious corridors.
McCarter deemed that question to be rhetorical, and did not reply.
“In the grand scheme of things, it will end as it started – with an extinct royal house and an empty throne. I could be elected the new King of Larnach, sure, but the Imperial Crown needs a head to sit upon too. With nobody from House Purpura to take it by right of succession, who will become the Grand Monarch? The sovereigns of the other kingdoms already desire to claim that title, and to claim each other by extension. There will be war, and they’ll tear the entire Continent to shreds. Whatever I do, whatever they do, it will likely not end well.”
There was silence.
“Sir… If I may guess, are you leading me to something that will solve this issue?”
Upon hearing that, the Meister-General did something extremely rare – he smiled. It was a small smile, yet a thoroughly genuine one.
“Perhaps not in the way you might be expecting.”
They soon arrived at a relatively unremarkable door, secured just as well as the previous one. The Meister-General unlocked it and led his protege into just about the last environment he could’ve possibly been ready for – a cosy vestibule. As if entering an entirely different world, Austin found himself in a place of warmth and comfort, a complete opposite to the chill and barren corridors of the underground.
It was styled exactly like an ordinary house. There were wallpapers, furniture, and a coat hanger upon which the Meister-General himself promptly hung his uniform and motioned for McCarter to do the same. It was surreal, almost absurd. The Major tentatively proceeded further into this space, but once he turned a corner, everything suddenly made sense.
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Standing in the middle of the living room was a budding young girl, perhaps fourteen years of age, wearing a simple yet well-tailored dress of deep purple. Her skin and waist-length hair were as pale as the Moon itself, while her eyes shone a ruby red. She looked upon the visitor politely if somewhat warily, her soft facial features and gentle yet noble posture projecting an almost angelic image.
There was no doubt as to who she was. The most mysterious member of the Larnachian royal family, a person discussed only in hushed whispers – Princess Elizabeth Purpura, the Moonchild. The product of prophecy or legend long-forgotten, born into House Purpura as an omen of unknown meaning.
Princess Elizabeth. The last royal. In the flesh.
Austin kneeled as any loyal subject should, casting his gaze to the soft carpeted floor.
“Your Grace,” he said softly, in reverence. He could hardly believe any of this, but he knew it to be true.
He heard her chuckle. It was a simple, beautiful sound that, for a moment, made him forget the haunting orchestra of the battlefield.
“Rise,” she said, almost more of a lighthearted suggestion than a true command. She was only a child. The Continent’s fate depended on her, and she was only a child.
The Meister-General then entered the room, and McCarter could see her relax considerably upon noticing his presence. In turn, the man’s face became softer than Austin had ever seen it before.
“Elizabeth, this is Major Austin McCarter. Austin, this is Elizabeth Purpura.”
“Ah, so this is your Austin. He has told me so much about you, Major.”
Austin tried his best to process this situation. For the longest time, Elizabeth was considered to be dead just like all the other royals, given an empty grave in the royal cemetery, but it would seem that she had survived that horrible day. Was she kept here by the Meister-General for all these years? Her very existence was a closely guarded secret, likely to avoid giving any Sparkwielders an incentive to finish the job. The plan was clear – to end the Sparkwielder conflict and then reveal her to the world as the only rightful heir to Larnach and the Empire, mediating if not avoiding the potentially catastrophic succession crisis.
Something about it all irked McCarter, and yet he knew that it was the only way. He trusted the Meister-General to do the right thing.
“Come, then. Let’s sit down.”
All three took their seats, Austin on an armchair and the other two on the couch together. As he looked around, the Major could see a scarce few royal relics here and there, small and inconsequential things, perhaps all that was left of the Palace after it was set ablaze and left in ruins. One of them was a crescent-shaped pendant hanging from the princess’ neck. It almost seemed to glow with a purplish hue, though that was most likely just a trick of the light.
McCarter also noticed a fully stocked bookshelf, and although he couldn’t read the titles, he could guess the texts were related to matters of statecraft, royal etiquette, history, et cetera – everything a future monarch would need to know, perhaps taught to her by a dutiful regent.
“Now,” began the Meister-General, “this is not the first time I’m telling someone this story, but I can’t leave you without knowing how this all came to be. I–”
He was interrupted by Elizabeth tugging indignantly at his arm.
“Frederick,” she pouted, “I can do it myself.”
“Very well,” he relented with a nod. She faced Austin, and began speaking.
“There isn’t much to tell without going into the… details,” she said with a mild degree of anxious hesitance. “Frederick found me, all that time ago, rescued me from the rubble and fire. I was the only one left. He kept me hidden away here, made this place into a home for me. It was… difficult to handle at first, difficult to even understand, and it still is, but I know the weight of the duties I’ll have to take on when it’s all over. I never asked to be born a royal, never asked for this responsibility, but I can’t avoid it.”
Elizabeth then looked McCarter dead in the eyes with a commanding yet surprisingly respectful gaze, summoning every last bit of her regal aura.
“Austin McCarter. If Frederick trusts you, then I do too. When this crisis finally comes to a close, I hope you can assist me in building a better future for the Continent. Serve Larnach, serve the Empire, and serve well.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
While Austin did not have the bravery to ask, the way the two behaved near each other made him suspect that the Meister-General – or Frederick, as the name he never dared call him by goes – became a sort of parental figure to the lone survivor of the massacre four years ago. That reassured him greatly.
The very knowledge that Elizabeth Purpura was still alive and well gave his own duty an even greater sense of purpose, rejuvenating his weary soul. The pain of the past, the pressure of the present, the uncertainty of the future all became a bit more bearable. This place of comfort and happiness eked out in a maelstrom of conflict, however slim and cramped – McCarter resolved that one day it would not have to be buried underground.
Because while she seemed like a future Grand Monarch, all he really saw was a young girl without a family or a home, hidden away in a bunker, set to inherit a burning kingdom and a fractured empire.
And if there was anything he could do about that, no matter how little, he was going to try his damnedest.
Pretty little twinkling star
How I wonder what you are
All above the earth so high
Like a diamond in the sky