August couldn’t keep the scowl off his face as he leaned back in his chair and stared out of his window. Behind him in his office sat Roland, the Brimstone Paladin, and about half a dozen others in his retinue. Everyone was silent as they waited on August to speak.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, August finally bitterly asked, “No sign of him?”
“None, Your Highness,” Roland responded.
August uncontrollably grimaced, and it took him a few seconds to regain control over his face.
“That’s a shame,” he muttered as his facial muscles settled back into something resembling his normal expression. “Justin Isynos never struck me as the type that would cut and run when things got hot…”
“Your Highness, he may have gained enough of the King’s confidence to be made Exarch of Calabria, but in the end, he’s still a foreigner,” one of August’s aides said. “There’s little to stop him from abandoning this Kingdom if he feels it no longer welcomes him…”
“That hardly explains how he knew about the warrant out for his arrest before the High Arbiter’s agents arrived to take him in,” Brimstone added with a frown almost as deep as August’s had just been.
“Is there something about these matters that you find suspicious?” Roland asked.
Brimstone practically rolled his eyes. “There was nothing at his home, not a discarded article of clothing, not a single piece of furniture, not even a few wheat grains left behind in his pantry! He clearly had enough time to quickly pack up and leave, indicating that he was either not planning on staying with us in the first place, or he had enough of an advance warning that he should’ve said something to us in the first place! Maybe he’s even been involved in all the other arrests that have been taking place, and he’s just using this as a cover while he talks to Octavius behind our backs! Whatever the case may be, he clearly had the opportunity to work with us on this problem and chose not to do so. Of course, I find that suspicious, not to mention infuriating!”
“Regardless, he’s gone,” August interrupted before things got too off-topic. “Justin Isynos is gone. Dozens of others are gone, too, arrested on various charges. How do we handle this? Those people weren’t highly ranked, but they still handled important functions. We need to replace them as soon as we can, or we need to get those charges levied against them dropped.”
“That won’t be so easy, Your Highness,” one of August’s stewards said. “These charges come directly from the High Arbiter. She won’t drop these charges for anything. This will go to trial unless our people reach some plea deal where they admit wrong-doing. Either way, this is going to greatly damage our cause.”
August sighed, knowing that he was right. None of those arrested had been noble—so far—so they couldn’t even lean on that side of things to lessen the impact. Octavius had taken a huge chunk out of August’s bureaucratic apparatus and it would be months before it could recover. With Trajan gone, August didn’t have months to spare.
“Your Highness,” Roland hesitantly began. “I… I believe that we may need to consider leaving the capital…”
“What?!” Brimstone shouted, his disbelief echoed in the faces and shocked mutterings of the other stewards. “We can’t do that!” Brimstone continued. “We might as well abandon the entire Kingdom if we abandon the capital! Just let Octavius roll back the centuries of progress that this Kingdom has made in breaking the power of the nobility! All the work we’ve done to protect the institutions of this Kingdom would be undone!”
“I’m not sure we have much of a choice,” Roland said as calmly as he was able to. “Your Highness, without Prince Trajan, we simply don’t have the support in the capital to ensure your safety, especially with Octavius taking the opportunity to strike and remove so many of your supporters. It may not be the best or the most desirable option, but I believe that at this point, the only way we’re going to win this struggle is by force of arms. As much as it pains me to admit this, I think that Octavius has out-played us here, and we would be better served in the Eastern Territories, where you can consolidate your supporters and prepare for the inevitable.”
“And what is inevitable?” one of the other stewards angrily asked Roland.
“War,” the sixth-tier Paladin replied. “War is inevitable. Octavius has too much support for us to win, at least unless we were able to securely win the support of the high officials and more individual Legions—neither of which I think will happen without Prince Trajan in our corner. Already, there are delays in reports coming in from the East that I can only assume are signs that support for us is waning without Prince Trajan.”
“How are things in the North?” August suddenly asked.
“Not looking too bright there, Your Highness,” August’s first steward answered. “Sir Clovis still refuses to pledge loyalty to you, but he at least hasn’t declared for Prince Octavius, either. Most of the nobles in the western portions of the Northern Territories have pledged themselves to Octavius, but given how poor and sparsely populated those regions are, there isn’t much of a reason to concern ourselves with them.”
“What about Teira?” Brimstone asked.
“Still in complete political turmoil,” the steward replied.
“Turmoil?” August asked. “I didn’t realize things were that bad up there…”
“As far as the commoners are concerned, things aren’t that bad,” the steward explained. “However, ever since the fall of House Raime, the other noble Houses in the region have been trying to press whatever claim they have on the city that they can come up with. The Exarch stationed there has been able to keep the violence from spilling out into the streets, but there has been a spike in assassinations that have left the city’s bureaucracy hollowed out. The local nobility is far too wrapped up in trying to claim the legacy of House Raime to worry about the Kingdom’s politics.”
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August frowned. He wanted nothing more than to march Leon right up to Argent Palace, make his identity known, and settle that whole thing immediately. Doing so would probably even bring the rest of the Northern Territories in line, perhaps even winning Sir Clovis’ support. However, August knew from his meeting with Leon that such an act would bring him absolutely nothing. With Leon’s connections with Heaven’s Eye, August couldn’t imprison him—not that he wanted to in the first place—and Leon would just disappear if August were to reveal his identity.
‘Actually, doing so wouldn’t bring me nothing—nothing would actually be preferable—it would bring me more embarrassment than I could handle…’ August bitterly thought to himself. The Prince momentarily thought about simply giving up on the Northern Territories, but he couldn’t do that, not when he’d increased the number of Legions there to twelve.
As August was contemplating how he ought to respond to these losses, the sound of shouting leaked through the door. Given the room’s sound-proofing wards, the shouting had to be loud to leak through, and it quickly drew the attention of the office’s occupants.
“What is-“ Brimstone began, but before he could finish the thought, the door burst open and the Sapphire Paladin walked right on in. She was dressed in dark blue trimmed in gold, tight pants that accentuated the shape of her legs, a modestly cut but loose-fitting shirt, and sported an almost murderous glare that filled the entire room with her immense killing intent. Only the Brimstone Paladin could fight it off quickly enough to stand, but Sapphire didn’t simply stand in the doorway; she sauntered in with more than a dozen fifth and sixth-tier Legion knights at her back, and from the sounds of it, even more soldiers just outside the office.
“Prince August,” she formally declared, locking eyes with the Prince in question, “you are under arrest for the murder of Prince Trajan.”
“What?!” August shouted, his shock and anger at the words that had just passed Sapphire’s lips freeing him from the fearful freezing effect of her killing intent.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Roland shouted as he rose to his feet and began to channel his magic power.
“It is exactly as it sounds,” Sapphire hatefully spat. “Prince August has been indicted by the office of the High Arbiter for his connection to the murder of Prince Trajan. He will be confined to his living quarters until the trial date.”
“Those charges are nothing but slander!” Brimstone roared as a long two-handed blade appeared in his right hand, though he held it as easily as he would a butter knife.
“Then that will be proven in court,” Sapphire replied, a smile playing at her lips as she regarded Brimstone’s implied threat. She didn’t bother retrieving her own weapon from her soul realm, but the same could not be said for the rest of the knights at her back, who immediately armed themselves with an eclectic collection of weaponry. Some bore more conventional weapons, like swords, daggers, and hatchets, but a couple with less battle experience than their power would suggest had larger axes, one had a halberd, and one eccentric even had a swordstaff.
“Put down your weapon,” Sapphire commanded Brimstone. “I don’t want to have to kill a fellow Paladin, but if you give me no choice, then I will.” Brimstone still refused to lower his weapon, and killing intent began to roll off him, causing the blades of Sapphire’s companions to begin to sway in uncertainty. “This arrest order comes from the High Arbiter herself,” Sapphire repeated. “If you get in the way of justice being served, then you will be considered complicit and slain where you stand.”
Roland stood up to join Brimstone, but the stewards that were in the office remained seated, varying levels of fear on their faces. They were bureaucrats, and though most of them had relatively great magical power, they were not warriors by any means. If Roland and Brimstone were to resist this, then they would be fighting alone, and they both knew it. Still, neither backed down, and Roland even retrieved his own sword and silver armor from his soul realm.
Sapphire gave her two fellow Paladins a shallow smile, and her aura spiked as she called upon her power. Brimstone and Roland did likewise, but before any violence could break out, everyone was stopped by a quiet voice saying, “Stop.”
Everyone froze, though their auras were still raging; a fight could break out at any moment. Slowly, all eyes in the room turned toward August, save for Roland and Brimstone, who chose to keep their eyes firmly fixed on Sapphire, and ‘looked’ at August through their magic senses.
“Stop,” August said to his two Paladins. “There is to be no fighting in the Royal Palace.”
“It’s good to see you have the sense to surrender when you’ve lost,” Sapphire said, her tone still tense and angry, though with an undercurrent of mockery and smug pride. “A shame your sense didn’t stop you before you ordered the death of your own uncle.”
“You-“ Brimstone began as he took a step toward Sapphire, but he was stopped again by August.
“I said stop!” the Prince shouted at his Paladin, finally drawing Brimstone’s eyes and full attention. “I would not see blood spilled here!” the Prince said again. “If this is how it’s going to be, then this is how it’s going to be. Roland, Saturnius, please stand down. I trust your judgment, and I leave things in your more than capable hands.”
With that, and to the shock of his watching stewards, August calmly walked forward and presented himself to the Sapphire Paladin.
“I will surrender to you. Is there a need for restraints?”
Sapphire smiled at the Prince, and August was almost convinced that she was going to say yes. However, she simply said, “If Your Highness will come quietly, then I don’t see why there would be a need for that…”
“Thank you,” August said with genuine gratitude. He expected that Octavius would’ve preferred he be dragged out of his office bound in dozens of feet of chains, but at least the Sapphire Paladin would allow him this one scrap of dignity.
“Then let’s go,” Sapphire said, holding her hand toward the door in a clear indication that August would have to go first.
August spared his people one last glance, but he remained stoic and gave away none of the tumultuous shock and anxiety that was twisting his stomach into knots. He simply gave them all one last nod before departing from his office. Sapphire and her entourage closely followed, with Sapphire being the last woman out of the door so she could keep an eye on Roland and Brimstone.
As soon as they were gone, the office descended into stunned silence. They knew that this meant it was over, that they had lost. It would’ve been one thing if Octavius had personally sent over his people—which he technically hadn’t as Sapphire wasn’t his direct subordinate—but these knights had come under orders from the High Arbiter. With her name backing Prince August’s arrest order, they couldn’t reasonably do anything without being branded as traitors.
“What…” Roland quietly began, not knowing what to do or say. “What… do we do now?”