B2 Chapter 41: Changing hands
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Having departed immediately following the uproar caused by the assault on the Capital’s western district, House Amyntas forces managed to slip out of the city before Merlabrian guards had the opportunity to seal the gates. Both leaders of the Taureas family had been eliminated, Argades himself stabbed to death over forty times by enraged slum residents. His lieutenant slain in battle while attempting to commandeer an impounded vessel, where the remainder of their elite forces were subsequently wiped out.

The entire operation had been improvised, quickly slapped together, with Cadeyrn himself having to rush almost the instant he returned from the meeting with the Archon. With the assault succeeding smoothly only due to the assistance of Jezebela and her Scylla family, who moved rapidly to swallow and exert nominal control over the regions once held by their rivals. However, the assault did have major benefits for the Amyntas troops as well.

First was the rescue of Leucena and the large group of captive women, few of whom had a home to return to and decided to accompany the convoy back to Temrenos. Second was the tight bonds formed with the Scylla whose people, many of them foreigners to the League itself, sought to begin processes of immigration to the frontier where their rights and possessions would be guaranteed.

There was also a large monetary gain, as all the wealth accrued through the Taurean’s illicit trades was secured, courtesy of the Taureas lieutenant who had delivered it into the allied force’s arms. Funds were split evenly, and the families of the deceased soldiers well compensated for their losses, a separate fund was even set aside with a portion of the spoils to establish a food bank for local slum residents. Which assisted greatly in pacifying the populace and ensuring a smooth transition from Taurean control to that of the Scylla, though the Scyllan’s reputation for fairness also helped greatly during this process.

Yet the largest benefit from this skirmish between underground organization’s was completely unforeseen. The stalling of the war effort in the Western wastes. Unbeknownst to most, the Taureas family was a broker for outside interests providing kickbacks and funding to members of the war council central in pushing the war plans forward. The mountain of gold and precious goods that the group had accrued was in anticipation of the Ecclesia, the popular vote, which would tally the view of every citizen, man, and woman.

The funds had been for the vote efforts, bribes to prime the populace for war, to shift popular opinion in their favor. Now the source of those funds had been severed, the Scylla having no desire to involve themselves in such a process. Even the city guard’s those under the employ of House Helotis had been stalled at that moment, unable to act due to the investigation into their ranks after the assassination attempts. While House Ocealus fared little better following the actions of their subordinate, House Duris, whose soldiers had attacked the Amyntas retinue within their compound.

It was more than likely the war would begin, and the assault on the Federation would occur, however mobilization would be slowed significantly. Perhaps the enemy would get word of these plans and lead a preemptive strike, or perhaps establish a defensive line, and numerous contingencies to repel such a force. Subjects of concern that the Scholar and his forces would keep a close eye on, for any decision would have far-reaching consequences upon them as well.

All of which would weigh upon the minds the Scholar and the upper echelon of his retinue. For now, at the very least they had managed to escape and were gathered around the campfire, waiting to continue their march home.

“How are you feeling? I’ve applied some ointment which should numb the pain a little. But you should lay down and rest, give your internal wounds time to heal.” Caedyrn acceded to Leucena’s demands, a reward for her stalwart actions in the face of adversity. His personal attention and care as a physician, to the chagrin of Maatilani who was forced to keep watch as he applied the medicine directly to her bare skin.

“I’m doing fine now that it’s safe again. It was seriously dangerous, thank the gods you arrived when you and that young boy did. Luckily, we managed to avoid danger, but it has been getting worse lately.” Leucena fell forward, her head resting against the Scholar’s back, hair draped over his shoulders.

Caedyrn was worried for a few seconds until he noticed the look of irritation on Maatilani’s face. “Leucena will you stop teasing Maati, and listen seriously to my advice.” It took some time but eventually exhaustion took hold and Leucena was struggling to remain awake. However, upon the arrival of both her children, a sense of relief washed over her. Her face softened and shoulders relaxed as she held her daughter tight, watching in delight as the two unnamed direwolf pups ran around the wagon tearing up the sheets and pillows as Apollonius tried desperately to get them under control.

“I’ll let you all enjoy some time together, but you two shouldn’t be too long. Your mother needs time to rest, so if you could convince her that would be great for me as well. Have a good night and allow me to take these two out of your hair.” Caedyrn couldn’t contain the smile as he scooped up the pups, holding them firmly as they playfully tried biting his fingers to little effect. The two little balls of excitement were completely different from Khufut, Maatilani’s pup was laidback, patient, and an excellent ambush predator. Often allowing the other two to chase the prey, often a hare as she lay in wait, when the creature came within range she would pounce and succeed nine times out of ten, granting the other two wild ones a portion of her spoils.

It was fortuitous that all three pups were kept secure within the inner room of the compound which housed both the valuables and children during the assault. Had Leucena not been the primary target, and the enemies more thorough in their sacking, the three pups would not have stood a chance. At the current moment they were too small to be considered a threat to a full-grown human, a powerful strike from a thick club capable of caving their skulls with ease.

“Maatilani, follow me. There is no time for rest, we must continue to train Niko until breaking. We need him to learn how to control and project his abilities. I have an idea, but it is theoretical, and dangerous… But if successful could help in dealing with things like that walking corpse they fought and that you killed. Luckily, we have just what we need to experiment…” Caedyrn’s eyes drifted toward the rearmost wagon. It was the least covered and most damaged, as the slowly cooling air easily passed through the tears in the bonnet, causing the shackled prisoners to shiver, hugging themselves for what little warmth it provided.

The wagon circle was considerably larger than when they initially began their journey north, but it was still a constrained campground where everyone was packed close together. Making it difficult to avoid those who you may not be interested in meeting, “My Lord, if you have the time-” Malakos was not allowed to finish, ever since his failure during the assault on the western district his position had been tenuous. By allowing his troops to go wild and engaging in combat while acting in a manner unbefitting of his post, he had put not only the lives of Timeaus and the youngsters in danger, but House Amyntas’s reputation as well.

“I will speak with you when we have returned to Temrenos, until then assist those in the camp to the best of your abilities. You will know when I have forgiven you for your failure and insubordination. Remember, an officer is always responsible for the conduct of his or her soldiers. Trust is much harder to gain once lost, so go and work to regain my trust… Until then you would do better remaining out of my sight.” Because of Malakos, Niko, Mera, and Apollonius were placed in danger. The loss of Mera or Niko would be especially hard, particularly Niko, as he was central to future developments.

Caedyrn had no desire to speak any longer with the man, Maatilani had also soured on him since the battle. No longer did she take his side, she simply shook her head quietly, indicating to him that it was time to go. Malakos had always been one who acted contrary to the Scholar’s expectations, he was brash, forward, and arrogant, at least upon the surface. However, when push came to shove and battle began, he always acted properly, sticking to the plan, and holding the line. Even considering that long service record, this failure was not one that could be ignored, the hope being that he would contemplate his failures and change in time for the better.

Maatilani had wanted to speak about Malakos as they continued towards Niko. However, Caedyrn merely shook his head, indicating that he had no intention of continuing the conversation in this direction. “Focus on the task at hand… it is best we do not distract Niko’s training with internal conflicts irrelevant to him.” After a second or two Maatilani nodded in affirmation, agreeing it was best that Niko and the other younger members did not need to be bothered with such drama.

“Niko, it’s good to see that you are hard at work. Your dedication to your training each day seems to certainly have paid off. I could scarcely believe the news when rumors stated that your eyes would glow in the night. You did not discover the ability to transform into a cat, did you?” Taking his place across from the boy, Caedyrn closely observed as Niko’s eyes slowly opened.

The soft glow around the pupils was all he needed to see, knowing that Vishnamitra possessed a similar ability. His allowed him to perceive the life force of others, to distinguish plants from animals and people, at his peak he was able to visualize the shape. See how the prana fluctuated and conformed to the shape of the body in normal things. Noticing how some naturally possessed pseudo cores, individuals who by birth were capable of harnessing prana, and with a little training could be pushed onto the path of cultivation.

Such a sight ability would be a great boon, allowing the Scholar to find and train others, to cultivate them into prana wielding elites. A force of such fighters would be able to cut through armies five times their size, another tool to add to the armies of the frontier. First, the two would need to train, to better understand the benefits and drawbacks of such a power, and how to mitigate those weaknesses.

“Tell me Niko… how does your sight work? I am curious as to what you see and what effect it has on you. Perhaps-” Before Caedyrn had the opportunity to finish and to quench his curiosity, he was interrupted. A small brown sparrow landed upon his head, which quickly aroused the interest of the two direwolf pups who had been quietly napping within his arms.

Caedyrn immediately recognized the messenger bird, the same one he had gifted to the young man from the slums. It was only natural to assume that Gylippos had agreed to join them after putting his affairs in order. Yet the message tied securely around the creature’s foot was tinged red, specifically the edges were colored with a cheap red dye. Only those within the upper ranks of Caedyrn’s forces would know that it indicated danger, usually an enemy force lying in ambush or an uncovered assassination plot. Gylippos who had not even joined them, nor had any awareness of their military structure sent a message colored in the specific way which proved it was no accident.

“Maati, hold on to these two for me.” Caedyrn handed off the two pups to Maatilani who was waiting nearby, her eyes had also noticeably fallen upon the sparrow and its message. As he read the message his eyes widened, before slowly drifting towards Malakos who was conversing around the campfire in the distance.

“Maati, read this and burn it as soon as you have done so. Keep things quiet and do not speak a word of this to anyone, understood.” Maatilani answered affirmatively, placing the direwolf pups on the ground and allowing Khufut to keep them occupied. Whereas Caedyrn’s focus had switched over to the confused Niko.

“My boy, I may need your services. Your new abilities to be exact, so why don’t we go over the details.” Caedyrn reached over the flames between them and placed both hands firmly upon the boy’s shoulders. His eyes staring unflinchingly into the Niko’s, “We might just have a crisis on our hands. Although I have no doubt that we will get through it, I fear as to what cost. Perhaps you can provide a better solution, but we must get to work right away.”

_________________

Back in the city of Merlabria the council had been deliberating for the past three days. The Scholar was nowhere to be found and his forces were noted to have been last seen exiting the Aegean gates northward towards Thessala. His forces were proven to have been behind the violence in the western slum district, however the guards were unable to get any proof of this as none of the residents chose to come forth.

The informants and underworld contact’s the council had built up over the last decade had been virtually wiped out. Years of accumulated wealth extorted from residents or accrued through the slave trade overseas had disappeared. Many of those who sat upon the council were themselves involved, having amassed enormous wealth by allowing the Taureas free reign, and keeping the guard away from their section of the city. A strategy that gloriously backfired on them, for the guard had not even been aware of the localized war occurring within their own city until the fires had long since cooled. The known perpetrators long since gone.

They would now be on the hook for the war which they desired; the conflict they were pushing for required popular support. Popular support that would cost an immense amount of talens to achieve. Only then could the council ensure public support remains strong even should the war turn against them or should their army march ever further into federation territory. A notion that would now personally affect their coffers, forcing the nobles themselves to open their purses and cough up the bribes necessary, to grease the wheels they themselves mucked up to begin with.

Yet someone had to pay, to be punished for the perceived inefficiencies in the security. The perfect scapegoat to draw the ire and disdain of those on the council who now were forced to give up a fraction of their assets.

“Lord Metiochus of House Ocealus, for your failures in securing the capital city against internal assailants, you will hereby be stripped of your command within the royal guard. Rejoice in the fact that you are allowed to keep your head, bow in reverence to the crown prince and the Archon who both spoke up in your defense. Remove your armor, your helmet, and your sword before departing these sacred halls!” Councilor Anthemion roared with feigned righteousness, acting as if the proceedings were anything more than a sham.

Both crown prince Phylacus and Archon Mikkos had tried to stop the trial, however Metiochus had technically overseen security after the failure of House Helotis. The assassination attempt on Phylacus. Followed by the assault on the western district, and recent information about House Duris and its attack on the Scholar’s retinue only further eroded any confidence within House Ocealus’s abilities.

The fact that the Ocealus house could not control their subordinate house, allowing them to lay siege to a compound within the noble quarter itself had the others spooked. This was primarily the reason for their attempt at a harsh punishment, fear that House Ocealus would assault their homes.

Metiochus bowed his head without shame, unclasping the armor of the palace guard and tossing it to the ground, followed by his sword and departing with head held high. Thankfully House Helotis had also been in charge following Phylacus’s assassination, and therefore were equally responsible with the security situation in the city and around the palace. However, instead of being removed from their position they were relegated to the outer duty, they would not patrol the palace grounds or the inner palace. Even with the council’s power this was the best that could be done, as the Archon and his family, excluding Hyllos were adamant that incompetents who allowed assassins to enter the palace undetected should not be leading security efforts.

Instead, an obscure an unknown noble house, known for their martial service were elevated to serve as commanders of the guard. They were known to be steadfast and honest yet had not been involved with internal politics and thus did not possess any connections. A perfect compromise for both the royals and the aristocracy, with each side certain to make an attempt at swaying their loyalty in the time to come.

Back on the road again, clearly the aristocrats are happy to be rid of him, making sure to throw the required people under the wagon so to speak. Heads gotta roll, but in this case the assault was understandable and none of the powers that be will admit to dealing with the Taureas. Not a good look, and you're not dealing with a powerless house, the recent fights would have clearly shown that to be the case.

Unlikely that any of them are down with this, but for now the nobles are going to be busy playing their games. Seeing how they can influence the right people, or how they can worm their way into the vanguard for the upcoming war, glory is after all its own form of currency. Not like any of them are capable of even contemplating a possible defeat, so sure are they in themselves, who knows, we'll see how it works out at some point.

For now, we have a mysterious letter, and its time to undergo a little more specific training for Niko.

Hope you all are enjoying the story, please leave a comment, let me know what you think. Whether you like or don't like the story, I'm always happy to answer questions.

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