The war was over. A civil war that had gripped the Country for four years finally at an end. With the capital city now in their hands and the Leader of the old regime dead the Rebels had complete control. It would have been a time of joy and celebration for all the people had not Budi, Arif and even Ashley met their demise. For now there was little to do but mourn the dead and fortify the city. Felix had waited three years to take over Syrnat, he was not going to rush it now with the end so close in sight.
He had to make sure that it was not he that put himself forward as the Country’s new President. It was not that he did not have enough militia to take it by force, for he certainly had, especially now. But that would have drawn too much outside attention, and created too many human right arguments. However let the people place him as their Leader then any objection against him would be an objection against the people. That and perhaps even more importantly to Felix’s mind, ‘what fun was it taking the island by force when through careful planning and guile he could have it by right.’
He knew it needed to be a natural ascension, one he was not seen as having forced. At least until he had established his reign, after that they were free to think what they liked. For now he needed their love and approval.
Or at least that is what he claimed, internally I am not sure it was that he needed their love and approval, I believe it was on some level because he sought it.
Before they had even launched the assault it had been proposed that there would be a grand meeting to decide what next to do with the Country. Budi had intended to put himself forward as the new President, a title he would have likely claimed. Arif viewed as too young and Ashley as being more of a Commander than Political Leader. Felix had hinted at supporting Budi, loudly and regularly. Steadfastly refusing to consider himself as anything other than a minor role in the new rule.
Yet with all of them now removed Felix was the last of the Rebel Four who still remained. He would need to convince those still wary of foreign aid before he could be sure of enough support. His wealth and supplies had been the driving force behind the Rebel’s success, but some still looked on him as having ulterior motives than what he claimed. Naturally Felix had a way of convincing them just as he had so many others. But we shall get to that in a moment. First let us go back to Bermuda, where Karina and Avelina were preparing themselves for departure. Felix had insisted both be ready to travel at a moment’s notice as he’d left them.
Karina maintained a disinterested look as cousins Arisan and Renal made their way back out, apparently there was word from the island. She hoped it was time to finally leave. Felix had been gone four days already, at first she was glad of the extra time to spend idle at home. Now however she couldn’t wait to be off. There was little point attempting anything serious when they might be called away at any moment, which left her with precious little to focus on. She imagined her Aunt felt much the same way. She was sitting down at her desk busy with some document or other, just as she was always busy with some document or other. Once she would have gladly offered to assist her. However since Felix and Avelina had begun their relationship she could not help but feel awkward in their presence, especially Avelina’s. Both of them seemed happy, and her Aunt certainly had an energy about her previously missing. But it still felt wrong, even given what she’d learned about her uncle and grandparents. An inexplicable sense of guilt followed her around, she wondered why Felix carried no such sense.
“Have you seen the photos from the Island Karina? It does look pretty at the least.”
Avelina’s sudden question took Karina rather sharply from her thoughts.
“Yes, I suppose it does. Though those pictures were taken before all of this military operation. I doubt there is all that much prettiness remaining.”
“Then we will have to recover it. Together.”
“Do you love him?”
It was Avelina’s turn to be startled. Karina surprised herself with the suddenness of the question, she had not planned to ask it.
“I….” Avelina dropped her pen and took off her glasses, “well yes, I do love him. As I love you also.”
“It is hardly the same kind of love. I have heard the noises from your room Auntie.”
“That is hardly appropriate Karina.”
“But sleeping with your nephew is?”
Avelina stared hard at her, Karina stared back just as hard.
Her aunt sighed, “I am sorry Karina, I know it is not easy for you. But we are together now. That will not change.”
“No?” Karina shrugged, “You are how old now Auntie? Forty four? Forty five? Felix will want children. You should know he’ll want kids. No doubt he will need another girl for that. A younger one.”
“I do,” Avelina replied after a pause. “So be it. If we cannot have them then perhaps a younger girl will be needed.”
Karina might have felt pity for Avelina had she not looked so
collected. She did not deny that her Aunt was a clever woman, doubtless she would have realised all of this long ago. Karina admired her acceptance in a way.
“I had hoped that time would help to soothe any of your qualms. Clearly I was mistaken. Perhaps I was overly hopeful Karina, let me apologise for that. Tell me truly, will our continued relationship be a problem for you? ”
“Would it matter if it did? You would go so far as to quit it?”
“I would.”
Karina raised her brow, yet when she looked at her Aunt she saw only sincerity.
Perhaps I only need more time. She considered, For this and everything else.
She smiled drily, “Give me another month. And see if you can stop Felix trying to give me so many orders, perhaps that will help suade me.”
“If you could do the same for me then I think we could create a dream world.”
They laughed almost in unison. It almost felt similar to how they had laughed before the Meeting. Karina was both saddened and pleased by the fact. She supposed most things would never be as they had been before the Meeting.
“And what is it you really think of this new world Felix plans to create for us? You believe it is in our best interests? I am not yet convinced. What use is it being Royalty? What benefit does it give that we do not already have?”
Avelina sighed, “I have asked those same questions.”
“And? Felix does not like to discuss such matters with me, for all his assurances that my input is valued. What answer does he give to you then?”
“He Values you Karina, more than you know. Your feelings influence him. Though he might not show it.”
“Well, we shall have to disagree on that point. As to his answer? What reply does he give? Why is he so adamant on this path to Royalty?”
“His answer? Why it is about power, true power. A Power that does not need to be hidden for it to operate safely.” She raised a hand, “Yes, I know, the Balduins were Kings in the past, just as my ancestors were also. Willingly they abandoned such public offices entirely so as to ensure control without interruption. I understand your doubts, I have them too. But Felix is aware of them. Should we choose our region ourselves, mould and shape it as we so please, we can remove such doubts. I do believe we can create the perfect balance. Together. We shall be ahead of the curve and all the others. By taking a region and becoming its Royalty we’ll secure a place for us in any world. A real tangible to go along with our covert. With both we’ll be the undisputed world power, the Balduins. We shall have an entire nation to support us and our aims. We can shape the world not only on the inside but without too. Without cowering away behind closed doors.”
“That sounds awfully like Felix talking Auntie.”
Avelina smiled, “Not Felix, it is your Father talking. Your Brother is shaped by him in many ways. He has embraced your Father’s ideas completely.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“To our advantage?”
“I believe so, yes. To our advantage.”
Avelina had dropped her documents and was coming around the table to her when a knock on the door reached them.
Renal entered and bowed stiffly. Though family he was always oddly formal and straight around both her and Avelina.
“The island has been secured, the Dictator removed. Felix has sent for you. Both of you.”
“Finally,” Karina sighed, “Then let us be off. If this Syrnat is to be our new Home then the sooner we land and begin transforming it the better.” She would have liked to have continued her conversation with Avelina further, but it could wait. The fact that they had had such a conversation almost seemed more important in any case.
Everything was already in order and ready for them to leave. Their own private airfield meant takeoff and landing was of no difficulty for the Balduins. Two flights departed with Avelina and Karina. One with them aboard it and the other with their own armed guard of 30 elite militia. Renal and Arisan travelled with them.
The twins had become ever present members of the household since Felix had become Head of the Family.
Renal was the older of the two by twenty eight minutes and he rather obviously acted like it. Arisan then was generally the one most ordered about.
Though only second cousins to Felix and Karina (their father had been a first of Joaquin and Alexander) they had the same Balduin genes in their appearances.
Though slightly older Renal was slightly shorter, yet he was still over six feet in height. Both had grown up in the South African home of the family and only moved to the Bermuda residence upon reaching eighteen. They had been avid rugby players, but had to give up that pursuit as Grandfather had considered it too public in nature. Clearly neither had stopped living the lifestyle of sportsmen. The two were big and strong, Karina had been watching them with growing interest as they were given more and more responsibility by Felix. Arisan seemed the warmer of the two, though awkward he always tried to smile whenever they crossed paths. Renal though seemed somehow deeper, he constantly appeared to have something troublesome on his mind. More than once Karina had stopped herself laughing at the seriousness of his expression. Renal did read a lot, once she’d found him reading the Brothers Karamazov. It was the only time they’d truly spoken, his love of the book making him forget his formality. It had been an enjoyable conversation, she found herself rather surprised in hoping there would be more. Though not with Avelina present. After her condemnation of her and Felix she could hardly be seen to get close with a cousin, even if it was a second one and such relationships were the norm for Balduin. For now she decided to follow Avelina’s lead and try to get some sleep. Once they landed she was rather convinced she’d not get much of it.
Felix set down his phone, he had just finished passing on to Renal the message giving the all clear for them to fly. He wanted them here and ready for when his time came. Today was the day he sealed his undisputed rule over Syrnat for there was only one final thing left to do before he could truly take over. The ultimate sign that Felix was a worthy and true hero of the movement.
It had already been a week since they’d taken the city. A week of subdued celebration as the rebels came to terms with the deaths of their three leaders. Only Felix remained but he had to be careful not to push his influence just yet. There was no obvious candidate but him, yet for the moment all of the focus remained on the three martyrs. The people needed reminding who had been the true cause of their victory. The clips had helped. Felix was satisfied with how they’d turned out. Though grainy all that was meant to be seen was seen. The last desperate attempt by the People’s Army to save their leader, the shootout that had so tragically taken the lives of the three Rebel chiefs and so many others. Felix’s heroic rally and tears for his fallen friends. He had the population in his hands, once he closed his fist they would be his, completely.
Whatever whisperings there were, mostly speculating about just how Felix alone of the four had managed to survive, were just that, whisperings. They would not derail him, nothing could stop his rise now, he simply would not allow it.
The palace was in the process of being refurbished, though not nearly so badly damaged as the rest of the city it was still not ready to be considered a home of any sort.
When Avelina and Karina arrived they would be sent to a nearby villa outside the city limits, there they would be able to safely wait for the palace refurbishing to be completed. Felix however had made it his home for the past week, content to sleep on the bare floor if it meant he was seen as the new owner of the residence. Its symbolic power was significant. Which was why then he chose it as the place of his first official press release.
There was a large crowd gathered outside of the palace gates. Everyone was eager to hear and see the mysterious Foreigner who had so readily offered up his wealth to aid in the struggle for freedom. A man who had worked behind the scenes to undermine Terio before ultimately being the one to finally end the Dictator’s life. His face was known to all on Syrnat by this point.
I had been amongst those sent to the island as a member of Felix’s household. I saw and heard first hand the furore surrounding Felix, the young man thrived in the midst of such clamour.
There was a small raised area with a single stand erected at the palace gates, here Felix stood alone to address the crowds.
“People of Syrnat. I stand before you a humble servant of each and every one of you. Long have I watched this once great land left to rot and burn by the very people who vowed to save and revive it. The People’s Republic of Syrnat was an evil regime, full of broken promises and shattered dreams. Its leader a man so corrupt as to make the country his own private resort. We must
strive now to restore what was lost and taken from us. It has been put forward by some that we must now hold elections to decide who shall rule and lead our great nation in these troubled times. For though we have succeeded in uprooting the poisonous weeds that have strangled Syrnat, the roots of their evil run deep. Even now there remains some who would continue to wage war, unable to see the reality of their failure before them. (There still remained pockets of Terio’s former allies throughout Syrnat. Felix was keen to keep them from splitting completely as he planned to use them as convenient scapegoats for his more contentious schemes.) I therefore propose an immediate vote. Not for a government, for that would both time and resource consuming, both of which are needed to focus on rebuilding. Instead I believe that we must firstly elect a Leader among us, and follow him on this new path to glory. Once then all has become settled and Syrnat restored to its rightful place we can correctly and properly conduct nationwide elections for all our people. This is what I believe we must now aim for.”
“Is that not a dangerously close parallel to Terio himself?” One of the reporters present asked, he just like all of the others had been placed there by Felix himself. No international reporters had been permitted inside the country since the capture of the airfields.
“If we elect one leader then how can we be certain he too will not turn against the People?” The same reporter continued.
“Terio was not elected by the People, but rather placed there by the old Soviet Union and its once influential power. His government seized control with the People’s Army and refused to relinquish it. In all of the fifty years of his rule there has never once been occasion where he was fairly elected. Which is why we must vote amongst ourselves a worthy leader. One with the best interests of the Country at heart.”
“Do you propose to put yourself forward then?” Another reporter asked.
“I will not make that decision. I trust in my fellow comrades to do what is right, let the vote be taken by all who joined in our glorious struggle, only they can truly elect the one most deserving of Syrnat’s Leadership. But let me add one final thing, that is my vow to continue to support both the people and land of Syrnat through whatever means I have available to me. Now and forever.”
With that Felix gave a curt bow and would have made his exit to rapturous applause had he not been called out.
“And what of your murder of Terio?” A new reporter called Felix back. By his appearance he stood out from the others. A large figure dressed for combat. “Dictator or not, Syrnat's last ruler was killed in cold blood by your hand. Will you answer for it? Or do the Restorators intend to start their own regime with no sense of justice.”
The reporter was met with a shower of insults and was being shoved and pushed when Felix raised his hands for calm. It must have been pleasing to see so many obey almost immediately.
“Answer for what? You believe then that Terio deserved a trial? Deserved to live another what? A week? A month? A year? That man was the cause of all the reckless destruction and chaos that now consumes Syrnat. Him. His execution was the truest form of justice, one we intend to maintain.”
The reporter freed himself from the crowd and took a step forward.
“Then if you will not avow your crime I will make you pay for it. FOR TERIO.”
Even as the man roared he threw open his jacket to reveal a revolver hidden inside. With a practised step back he fired. Felix
knew what to expect. They had been through this exact same scenario a thousand times before. It was an altogether risky one, and could have proved disastrous had something gone amiss, but Felix insisted it needed to be. It would be the final piece in his masterplan to convince all of his sincerity to the cause.
The bullet slammed into Felix’s chest, a little below where he’d expected but still well within the agreed upon area. He had on a customised bulletproof vest, a Spartan ceramic plate which was built to deal with weapons far more deadly than the soviet revolver that the rogue reporter had been given.
Still, the force of the impact almost knocked him off his feet. Winded he dropped lifelessly to the floor as screams and another gunshot rang out around him. His ears were ringing and his stomach felt as if he’d been slammed in the chest with a sledgehammer. Thank the Lord it did not jam, the thought came to him even as he struggled for breath.