During the third evening of their trip to the Embercrest Mountains, Phoenix, and Max held a group meeting in one of the rooms. The beds had been pushed aside, and people sat on the floors, curled up in blankets, and drank kafo to try and stay awake. The hike back to Embercrest Lodge was not only physically exhausting, but emotionally too with the death of the Duke of Fadeno.
Max wore grey sweatpants and a red long-sleeve shirt, and his entire body smelled of some weird medicine because he was trying to get the bruises to heal faster. He sat on a wooden fold-out chair next to Phoenix who was standing next to him. Phoenix was still wearing his boots, shirt, and pants he wore camping because he was too stressed out the entire day to notice he hadn't showered or changed.
For the first time, everyone was quiet because they waited for one of them to speak. It was an uncomfortable silence, and the first to fill it was Tiffany.
"He did nothing wrong, and all of you know it," she shouted. "Aster did nothing wrong!"
"THAT'S RIGHT," Kylan roared.
"Shut up," Akvo screamed. "His mistake is going to get us all killed!"
Everyone was choosing sides, agreeing or disagreeing with what had happened was right or wrong. Everyone agreed that the Duke's death was an accident, but after their arguing, the real question was what to do after his death. It didn't matter how he died, or if it was moral. What mattered was if his death was going to mean theirs.
"I know what's going to happen next, and you're not going to like it," Phoenix said.
"We're all going to DIE," Kylan shouted.
"NO! The Empire is going to lie and say that the dead Princess Martia's family killed Flama."
"....oh shit.."
Now everyone was in an uproar. No one wanted to be conscripted. The Empire had not been in a direct war for almost forty years. Most of their wars have been sponsored, but the killing of a Duke would be a conflict on a direct and massive scale.
"I don't think that's right," Max said. "Princess Rhiannon promised Aster that she would do something about this."
"That was before he died," Aster replied. "I don't know how she felt after he died. I was too...ashamed to ask..."
Tears welled up in his eyes, and he was truly remorseful for what happened. He did not want to hurt Princess Rhiannon, but he didn't want to lose a comrade.
"In war, there is us, and there's them," Tiffany said. "You chose us! You chose a brother! There is no shame in that!"
Cheers came out from some of the group but a few of them still disagreed.
"This isn't a war," Akvo said. "Princess Rhiannon didn't deserve to lose her husband."
"She didn't deserve a husband like that to begin with," Tiffany argued.
"You don't get to decide who lives or dies!"
More shouting and arguing began, and Phoenix clapped his hands to get their attention again.
"Enough! We all can argue until the sun rises about right or wrong, but we need to make one thing sure. Nobody tells anyone that Aster killed Duke Flama," Phoenix said.
"I don't think the people at Faja Temple will be telling anyone either what happened," Max added. "None of them want to be killed by the Emperor."
"That still won't stop Aria from going to war," Phoenix replied.
"But why would they lie about Flama being assassinated? If everyone knows he killed Martia on accident, and Flama died...then it's over."
Most of them nodded in agreement. Why start a war if the problem solved itself? Princess Rhiannon surely knew the consequences of starting a war or pointing the finger at Aster. They all started to perk up until someone thought of something new.
"The Empire lies. They lie so much they believe it, and people believe it, and we don't know what the truth is," Aster said. "Isn't that why we started this group? To show people the truth?"
"It is," Max said. "But then that makes all of this so much worse. Phoenix is right."
"How? People shouldn't be dragged into a false war!"
"Aster think," Max shouted. "The Empire put themselves in a hole without realizing it!"
Max stood up, and winced, his body still in pain, and tried to stand upright. The lights felt too bright, and he held his hand to his stomach, trying not to throw up while he spoke.
"If the Empire said that Princess Martia was killed by terrorists, even though her family knows the truth, then the Duke of Fadeno dies, and the Empire has no choice but to fight them. If they acknowledge that Flama killed Martia, then they have to admit that he wasn't killed by Regno."
"No one will believe another lie the Empire says if they admit what happened," Phoenix said. "But there would still be people who would stand up for the Emporer's lies to the death. It would be chaos."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Phoenix and I decided that it would be best that we stay here instead of going back home early like we discussed at Farja Temple," Max said. "We can wait out the next few days and see what happens, then decide what to do based on what the Emporer announces."
Everyone agreed it was a good plan. It would be nice to have a true vacation after the pain they had been through. Sadly that night most of them did not get any sleep. They were too stressed out, thinking about their future, their friends and family's future, and that of Aria.
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On the fifth and final day of their vacation, the Emporer decided to announce what they already knew.
The Duke of Fadeno, Flama Valeborn was dead.
Everyone in Embercrest Lodge had found the nearest holo-screen, phone, or AIA available to stream the news. It was because for the first time in many people's lives, they were going to see the Emporer's face. Very few people had seen him, because he spent most of his life under intense security, surrounded by the few nobles he trusted, most of them relatives. To see his face now would probably be the only chance his subjects would ever get in his life.
Max and the entire Adventure Club had heard that the Emporer was going to make an announcement at 11 AM. They chose one of the rooms to watch the event. Everyone sat on the floor, on beds and chairs, and Max turned on Azure and instructed her to tune into the government's local channel ARIA-GTV.
At 11 AM on the dot, a chorus of people singing played, trumpets blared. The Aria national anthem played while a video of their flag waving in the wind, and then it transitioned to soldiers stepping in sync. Max's chest burned and he knew, he just knew, that this meant that the Emporer was announcing that Aria was going to war against Regno.
When the display of patriotism had ended, the screen faded to a man with short, parted black hair and blue eyes, sitting on an old, wooden throne carved out of a tree. The Emporer looked a lot younger than Max imagined him to be, a lot friendlier as well with the kind smile on his face. He wore his black and gold regalia for the sake of ceremony, even though he would much prefer to wear business attire, and on his head was a large crown, heavy with many jewels acquired from centuries of war.
There was a crowd of people, all of them nobility, in the throne room, all wearing black clothes. The Emporer's mother could be seen, quietly crying at a seat in the front row, and the camera quickly moved out of view so she couldn't be seen.
"Hello, my loyal subjects across the Empire. It is the first time many of us are meeting each other, so I am disappointed it is under sad circumstances."
Tiffany looked at Max in confusion and he shrugged. Everyone asked each other what was going on. The Emporer's words seemed kind and meaningful, but they could barely understand a word out of his mouth. No one had ever heard an accent so strange and specific as his.
It seemed that someone had gotten word in real time about what was happening, and suddenly subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen, making a few of them chuckle.
"I am sorry to tell you this, but I have learned recently that my brother, Flama Valeborn, Duke of Fadeno, has been assassinated. His bright light has been extinguished from this world by evil forces among us, and it is my hope that together we can defeat them."
Emporer Valeborn looked sad, but Max doubted he loved him. Flama was hard to like, even when he was trying to help him.
"I want you to know, that as your Father, I have taken the first step in protecting my children from evil among us," Emporer Valeborn said. "I have found one of the assassins, and she will be punished for what she has done."
"Oh no," Max said. "No. Please no."
Aster, several feet away was shaking in fear, and a few people were trying to calm him down. Many of them had guessed what was about to happen and it wasn't going to be pretty.