Enlightened Empire

With a bang, the shabby door to the secret room burst open. Almost ripped from its hinges, the door crashed into the wall behind it. The first noise had already been enough to let Fadelio and his sisters look up in shock. The second seemed nothing less than excessive.

"What the actual fuck is going on here?!"

The warrior could hear the shouts of the uninvited guest long before he could see him. From the upper floor of the Stone’s Throw, there was still a long corridor to go through before he would reach here, into the heart of Emperor Titu’s shadows. However, the rising staccato of stomps told him that he wouldn’t have much time to prepare before he had to face the intruder.

"Don’t say a word," Fadelio implored the girls he had just discussed future plans with. Half turned to the door, he remembered something and swerved back over to Tamaya. "That goes especially for you," he added for his unpredictable sister.

It was all he could do before their inevitable doom arrived. Another bang and the final barrier burst apart to reveal their master, First Prince Corcopaca Titu Pluritac, in the flesh, and mad as anything.

"Triumvirate?! What made you think that was ever an option!?"

"sorry- I- couldn’t- couldn’t stop them..."

Short on breath, Olacu the rat was shoved into the room as well. There was a swelling under his right eye and his clothes were torn at the sleeves, held down into an uncomfortable posture by Dedrick, the mercenary knight. At least the bartender had put up a token fight, though of course there was no way the two would have found this place if they hadn’t been led by someone, not before someone would have informed them of Corco’s arrival. In the end, Olacu had been quick to give in to the threats.

"Laqhis, calm-"

"Calm!? You wanna see fucking calm!?"

Fadelio stood up and approached his lord. As he got closer, he bent his knees and showed his open palms. A vain attempt at peace, he was sure.

"This helps no one. What if this place gets discovered?" he asked his friend as he tried to make himself sound as reassuring as possible.

Even though there was copious sources of light within the luxurious hideout of Emperor Titu’s shadows, none of it reached the prince’s lowered face. Dark shadows lingered, to prove his deep seated anger. He breathed audibly, in and out, in an attempt to regain control, something he had always desired, even back in Borna. In the end, Corco’s trust for his friend won out over the suspicious nature he had trained over a lifetime of betrayal.

"Right. You get five minutes to explain yourself. You best have some great fucking answers for me."

Fadelio looked around the congregation of onlookers in the room. He knew the talks would be rough. This talk wouldn’t be something for bystanders to witness.

"Leave us alone, please."

"Brother..," Tama began cautiously.

"Out. Now." The stern reply made his sister come to her senses. She returned a short nod before the two sisters left the room without a word.

Meanwhile, the still wordless Dedrick looked towards Corco, who nodded as well. At least there was still enough trust between them for Corco to allow a conversation without any backup. A short time later, everyone else had left and the two friends were by themselves.

"Please have a seat first."

Fadelio showed the prince to the large conference table he himself had sat on before. The heavy oaken furniture was a recent addition, still fresh enough to emit a pleasant smell. It was, in fact, a simple assembly of four smaller tables, in imitation of the one they had set up back in Arcavia, in their days as the Fastgrade Merchants.

"Nah, I’m good here." The terse Corco crossed his arms.

The warrior just nodded at his friend’s insistence. He knew that Corco had a habit of walking off his anger. It helped him think as well, strangely enough. Back in Arcavia, Corco had worn down a neat circle within the floorboards in his study, just by marching off the same track every time he got lost in thought. For now however, he just stood there and afforded his warrior an expectant frown, ready to hear his excuses. Unlike his master, Fadelio had taken a seat again before he answered.

"You might think that the compromise on offer sounds remarkably like the one Chaupic offered us before the funeral, but none of this was planned by the prime minister. It was my idea."

"Okay, so then how does everyone think it came from me?"

"Of course they would. After all, I handed them letters containing the ideas, written and signed by you personally."

"Ooh, is that how it was. Strange that I can’t remember any of it. Is this what amnesia feels like?"

Corco stared him down with narrowed eyes, but Fadelio remained calm, despite his outrageous answer.

"...the letters were forged, by me."

A second of uncomfortable silence, before Corco lifted his foot. Fadelio knew what would be coming. As the prince began to walk circles around the table, he prepared himself for the inevitable firestorm.

"Are you fucking serious!? You knew I’d never agree to any of this, right? That’s why you did it behind my back! Why betray me like this, now that we’ve almost achieved our goals!? After all we’ve suffered over these seven years!?"

Fadelio didn’t react. He only stared back. He knew what he had done was nothing short of betrayal and that there was no way to excuse it, no matter how noble his reasons might have been.

After the prince had raged through the room for a while, he stopped stomping around and accusing his attendant. Instead, he looked over, from a distance, a dull pain in his eyes.

"Why?" His voice didn’t sound angry anymore. He sounded bitter, and he sounded hurt. Fadelio knew that this would hit his friend hard, but it was something he had needed to do. If they wanted to reach their goals, there was no other path than compromise. He would need to make Corco understand that. For that, he needed to be blunt.

"You will not be emperor. Everyone in the capital knows that, and you know it as well. Viribus hates you. His motives don’t matter either. The truth is that you can’t compete as long as the old man is still alive."

"I’ve been doing pretty well so far, right? Last night, the old man had to risk his reputation to suppress me. Once he loses that, the path is clear. We can just drag things out, keep fighting-"

"Viribus can do this forever if he has to. His reputation isn’t going to weaken that quickly. He’ll still be the great defender of Medala after a month, but our position is weakening already. When Lord Saqartu gave his final speech, it was a lifeline for us. It’s the only reason the lords stayed united under your command, but words are cheap, even your uncle’s. Sooner or later, the first will defect, and then the next. After that, we’re right back where we were when we reached the capital. Plus, twice already Viribus tried to push the idiot Pacha to become emperor, and twice you came up with outrageous plans to prevent him. Just how many more of these can you pull out of the lake before you run out? Can’t be too many left, right?"

Corco’s hardened face turned into a sneer.

"You have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you even understand just what I have seen in my visions, my past? The knowledge and power beyond any mortal man? With this treasure, it should be simple to-"

"I know. You already told us the tales, more than once. Buildings as tall as mountains, flying machines, talking outhouses. That all sounds very nice, but where is it all? You know it’s a bad idea to be too reliant on the knowledge anyways. Without a solid foundation, there’s little we can do with it. You can maybe fool the ignorant lords and officials, but you can’t fool me. You’ve spent five years teaching us the basics. Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Math... the damned Math. I know what can be done, and I know that there are very real limits to your knowledge.

"Even if all you learned back then was true, which we still can’t know, it’s all just in your head, and in all those books in the bowels of our fleet. Are you just gonna build a flying machine in a day to win the succession? We need time, land and resources to make these things a reality. All I did was provide that for you."

"There has to be a way, there always is!" Corco barked back.

"And what if there isn’t!?"

Fadelio stood up with a shout, his eyes turned large and his jaw jutted out from his frustration. Corco returned a defiant stare.

"What if you can’t come up with another way next time? Do you understand what’s at stake here? For all of us? It’s not only your head on the line here, y’know? I’m not just talking about me either. Atau, Brym, the merc, all the people in this chess shop, anyone still loyal to the emperor. You wanna risk everyone’s life, just because so you can win, to satisfy your stubbornness?"

"I’m not stubborn," the prince insisted, "How will we change the world if we can’t control a country?"

"What’s the point in taking the entire country? We don’t have the resources to change the empire all at once. You said so yourself. So we would start in a smaller region, attempt the improvements and then go from there. Let the rest grow out by itself, after the first, successful example. That was the plan. All we need to start is enough money, which we have, and a piece of land we can control. The compromise changes nothing in the plan. So why not go for it?"

Corco still looked defiant, but his voice had grown quieter already.

"We can do both. Once I’m emperor, we can clean up the palace and get to work on the future. It’ll be easy."

Fadelio’s eyes turned large as saucers, a reaction to the absurd claim.

"’Easy’? If you become emperor now, how will you control anything? Are you trying to tell me you can control Arguna? This festering pond? You’ve seen what has happened the past two weeks. Even if you make it to emperor, against all odds, we won’t achieve anything, not in this place. We’ll only get caught up in the details, forced to deal with random court bullshit, until the day you die. But I knew you would never agree to compromise. So I had to do it, in secret."

"So, what? We’re just gonna move back and let the hyenas take over two thirds of the country? They’ve committed every sin under the sun and they’re not getting a reward for it. Not if I have a say! It’s not fucking fair!"

"Has anything that’s happened these weeks seemed fair to you? The world isn’t fair! How are you getting confused by that? It was you who told us: The path to a fair world is made by force. That’s the path we’ll take, even if I have to drag you along to do it! You’re getting caught up in your own pride again, just like in Borna. ’The start needs to be perfect’. ’All criminals need to be punished’. It’s not realistic!"

"We should all strive for perfection!" Corco refuted.

"Not if it happens at the price of everything else. At this point, your insistence only serves your pride, nothing else. The longer we wait, the more the people suffer and the harder it will be to achieve anything. So you have to ask yourself: What’s the most important to you: The Yaku people and your family’s legacy, or your own pride. That’s why I did it, my duty as your warrior attendant. I saved you from yourself, your own arrogance. Sure, I went behind your back. I betrayed you. But I’m not gonna stand here and watch you destroy everything we have been working for over the past five years. Maybe that makes me a bad servant, and it might even make me a bad friend, but I will stand or fall with that decision. If preserving your dream means you won’t trust me anymore, even if it means you’ll have Dedrick and his men take my head right now, I’ll accept it with a smile on my face, because I know I did my duty. So do what you must."

Fadelio had stood up, with an eerie calm in his heart. He wasn’t lying: The servant was ready to accept whatever judgment his friend and master would pass. After a stand-off which felt like an eternity, Corco sank onto one of the seats with a heavy thud. Tired, he held his forehead in his hand, brushing the strands of loose hair out of his face.

"...you’re right. We can’t win like this, but I still held on, for that sliver of a chance, to reduce the white noise later, get rid of the disturbances early. I should have let you talk, should have listened to advice, but I didn’t, because of my own stubbornness. It is something that won’t happen again, I guarantee it. However," When Corco looked up to his attendant, the sharpness in his eyes had returned, and his body rose again, ramrod straight to match his voice, "that changes nothing about what you did. You went behind my back, and made your own decisions. On policy, the last word will be mine. Always! I will look past it, this one time. But know this: Should anything like this happen again, ever, I guarantee you that I will not hesitate to do what I must."

Fadelio bowed deeply and said, "as master orders," while he listened to Corco’ storm out of the room. He knew that after this, things wouldn’t be the same, not for a long time. He just hoped that it had been worth it.

__________________________

Pacha stared at the bearded warrior in his front. Like his master, the servant had short hair with a neat beard and wore a white robe. He didn’t look like much. Pacha was sure he could take him down within seconds.

"What is it my dear brother’s servant wants? This hero is preoccupied with preparations for tomorrow’s assembly."

Of course that wasn’t true. Pacha had no idea what he would do in the assembly. All important decisions had already been made by Elder Viribus. Now the lords would just have to cast their votes. Pacha understood that they would never vote in his favor if they had to pick only one of the princes, so with gnashing teeth he had agreed to the compromise. As far as he was concerned, the lords should just pick the one best suited to rule them, but they had been blinded by the lies of his clever brothers. Pacha was just as angry with Amautu as he was with the southerner. As his brother, Amautu should have just supported his clearly superior claim.

"Prince Amautu sends a message and hopes that Prince Pacha will consider."

The servant tried to find comfort on the tiny chair, to Pacha’s amusement. His father had said it would reflect poorly on him to provide such a rickety seat to his guests, but Pacha had specifically asked for the chair. Cheap people should sit cheaply.

"...go on." Pacha frowned. He really couldn’t think of a reason to throw the servant out or he would have done so. For now, he’d just listen. In reaction to Pacha’s answer, the servant nodded his head in gratitude and made his offer.

"Prince Amautu is opposed to Prince Corco taking power, just as much as Prince Pacha must be. As members of House Ichilia, the princes should stick together to unite against the southern usurpation of the throne."

"That’s right!" Pacha jumped from his seat and hit his fist on the table. The mighty blow sent a quake through the table and into the ground all the way to the servant’s rattling chair. After a moment, Pacha caught himself in his excitement. Don’t show your true emotions. His father had taught him that. A lesson he was determined to learn. With the inborn talents of a ruler, he cleared his throat to gloss over his shout and spoke with all the calm and gravitas of a true noble.

"An interesting view, continue."

"Since compromise can no longer be avoided, Prince Amautu has hedged a plan to eliminate Prince Corco and convert the rule of three into a rule of two. However, my master believes that Prince Pachacutec would be much more suited to implement the plans."

Pacha frowned. With his intellect, of course he would spot the devious nature of his brother’s offer within moments.

"Wouldn’t that make this hero the scapegoat? This hero does all the work, takes all the risk and Prince Amautu would reap all the rewards? Why would brother not try his plan himself if he is this confident?"

"Prince Amautu would love to. However, the plan includes a challenge to a duel, and Prince Amautu cannot guarantee his victory over Prince Corco. The second prince believes that the young hero, undefeated in a hundred bouts, would be much more suited for a martial contest. In addition, all land ruled by Prince Corco would go to the victorious hero. All Prince Amautu asks for in return is Prince Pacha’s friendship, a reconciliation between brothers."

Bellowing laughter exploded as the elated Pacha reveled in his brother’s submission. The servant couldn’t suppress a smile either, though he did his best to hide it within his beard. He thought back to that corpse with the hole in its chest. If the peacock prince thought his oldest brother was useless in a fight, he would be in for a nasty surprise. His master was betting on it.

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