Cypher’s rage at being deceived and used for such an underhanded task was intense. His first thoughts were of rushing to the surface and slaying Fayaldin before he could even react. However, reason soon took hold and he calmed down after a few minutes. If what Gastor was saying was true, and it seemed as though it was, then wasting time with his own feelings of betrayal would be quite selfish of him.
This wasn’t the time for something like that. The members of Mother’s Grace had been tortured and held against their will for who knows how long by Fayaldin and his subordinates. If anyone deserved revenge it was them. Before anything else, he had to make sure that they could escape and regroup. He loosened the grip on his father’s sword and the joints of his fingers ached from squeezing it so tightly.
He sent word to Lent on the surface shortly after that.
He was vague about the details but essentially told Lent to stop fighting the Wizards outside as he was negotiating with their leader. Gastor did the same with his own force and soon the fighting died down. The two sides were still ready to attack at a moment's notice but for now, more lives wouldn't be lost.
Gastor looked at Cypher with a look of gratitude and the two began to speak.
“How did it get like this? How long has this been going on?” Cypher asked, his anger still bubbling beneath the surface of his calm demeanor.
"Our battle against these traitorous nobles began about a year ago," Gastor began, the woman in his arms sleeping peacefully after her tears had dried up.
"Many of the nobles got together and held a secret meeting. Normally the mayor of each city is allowed to attend their meetings but not this time. We all thought it strange but didn't think too much of it. However, after that meeting, things changed in this region of Farnor, and not for the better. The other nobles began to charge their citizens way more in taxes than they could possibly afford."
"People began to starve and the ones who refused to pay such high taxes were either taken away to rot in dungeons, work as slaves in various mines, or outright killed on the spot. It didn't take long for a lot of us to group up and figure out what was going on. We managed to capture the son of a noble in the fiefdom two over from this one and the kid spilled the beans after our guys interrogated him."
"We found out that Lord Fayaldin was behind the entire plot and that in his own fiefdom, the people were put under spells that blinded them to the truth of the situation. Fayaldin also taxed them normally to throw the Royals still loyal to the High Matriarch off his trail. As long as the taxes kept flowing, they wouldn't be alerted to strange happenings going on outside their immediate area.
"He and the other traitorous nobles have been hoarding funds to raise a proper army and put up a real fight against the Matriarch's Royal army. Every bit of the additional taxes are going towards that goal and are kept elsewhere. They don't care what happens to the commoners in their lands at all!
"After I and the other Wizards of these lands learned about what was going on, we mobilized as many people as we could and properly formed Mother's Grace. We were able to free enough people from their enchantments to aid our cause. All of the people you see here are Wizards from our group. They were all captured when the nobles raided our original base of operations.
Stolen novel; please report.
"They've been kept here ever since, tortured for information, and kept in a state of suspended animation in order to keep them alive as hostages. We only recently learned about this operation and as soon as we were able, set to work to put an end to it immediately. We got lucky when one of the Wizards they captured managed to escape before they could lock her in the vault, and she brought the news to our attention.” Gastor’s expression was grim, but his movements were gentle as he stroked the hair of the woman in his arms.
“However, her wounds were fatal and she died shortly after. After that, we knew what we had to do. It was only a matter of capturing this place and freeing our comrades. You have to believe me when I say that our only goal is to put a stop to this act of treason and preserve the true leadership of our country."
Gastor finished speaking and lit another cigarette after laying the woman down to rest her head on his pack. Cypher could scarcely believe his ears and as he thought about it things seemed to make sense. Fayaldin seemed far too eager to get Cypher's assistance on this matter. But in truth, there hadn't been many other signs of such a thing. If Cypher hadn't seen this with his own eyes he likely wouldn't have believed it.
"So… where do you go from here? What's your next move Gastor?" asked Cypher.
"Well, quite honestly I don't know. This attack you led has decimated most of our hired forces. I'd be lying if I said that we could still stick to our original plan and take down this coup d'etat on our own. For now, we'll find a new hiding place and regroup our forces. Of course, now things are going to be a little tricky. Fayaldin will know that you've been inside the vault.
"We've got a lot of our forces back, but what that means for you, I'm not so sure. I'd suggest you leave the country as soon as possible, or at the very least find refuge in the capital city. The nobles have been very careful to keep this entire thing under wraps, and so I don't imagine that they'd pursue you there. They might not even mention it to the Royals at all for fear of their plans coming unraveled.
"A Wizard as powerful as you are is an anomaly they didn't expect. You could have wiped us all out if not for me being the last line of defense. I hate to admit it, but I'm the strongest trump card Mother's Grace has. It’s why the higher-ups sent me on this mission… Well, that and…” He looked to the woman resting nearby and then shook his head mournfully.
“They likely planned to wipe us all out in this attack and proceed with their plans unhindered."
Cypher nodded. That made sense. But something was tugging at the back of his mind. Was it really wise to trust Gastor like this? Sure the proof he had seen was pretty damning for Lord Fayaldin and the other nobles, but was it the truth? Certainly, sometimes things weren't always as they seemed to be on the surface. Cypher knew that he needed concrete evidence one way or the other before he decided on his next course of action.
"What's in the chests?" Cypher asked as he pointed toward the large golden chests in the vault.
Gastor lazily turned his head and chuckled, "Those are what remains of Fayaldin's fortune. Everything else has been moved to their center of operations. I only came here to free my comrades and save my wife, Zeida. What you do with the contents of those chests is up to you as per our agreement. I didn't wish to prolong our battle because I'll need all my remaining strength to get my people out of here safely."
Cypher nodded and walked over to the chests. He opened them one after another and a wide smile spread across his face. "At least Fayaldin wasn't lying about having the goods I was promised for this job. If you'll humor me, I might have a plan. If I'm being honest, I don't quite trust you just yet. But if things go the way I think they will once we leave this place, then I'll know you were telling the truth and we can do something about this possible coup d'etat.
Cypher glanced down into the chests again and his mind went into overdrive as he formulated his next move. There were only two outcomes at the forefront of his mind right now. Either Fayaldin was telling the truth, or Gastor was, and he planned for both occurrences.