The Wielder of Death Magic

“Where’s the queen?” she spoke for a few minutes,”-matters of the parliament are best discussed quietly. Have a meeting room readied, ask the nobles to stand clear from the area, for now, there’s much happening.” Unhinged by the disrespect the higher powers never thought to correct, the hunched figure nodded politely and carried her orders. Castle Garsley was but a figment of the past, it laid active and present on name alone – the structure itself had been rebuilt plenty of times, bricks replaced and ceilings were redone, a curse seemed to linger, one of constant retrial.

A meeting was soon set for the duchess and queen before the hour hand made much trouble – they found themselves seated within the monarch’s office. A minimally decorated road of a simple table, chair, and a few bookshelves. “-Duchess Goldberg,” greeted the queen, “-I do hope the voyage was peaceful.”

“Peaceful is a big word to throw,” she rebutted, “-the voyage was pleasant, same couldn’t be said of the meeting. A few days have elapsed and I apologize for not visiting sooner, my lands needed care. As was told on the news and broadcast, the king called a parle to decree his views going forward. Hidros will make its path into true centralization. Many ministers were dismissed, others left on their own accord – many of which requested shelter, thus I obliged and such the reason for the late audience. Lady Eia, I do say, if Hidros takes arms against Dorchester and by way Kreston was excommunicated, the province may be circled from three sides. King Igna masterfully played his cards – divulging information of a royal scandal, putting shame on thy name, and pushing his to the top. Also, a small letter arrived by my room later said day, reading as follows, ‘-to lady Goldberg, I hope the letter finds thee well. My identity is not of concern nor will it affect the greater picture – I write for a simple reason; a warning. Heed my word and heed the experience King Igna bore, Alphia is a corrupt nation of greedy aristocrats and business tycoons. For one to make an impact, one needs capital, if one of the richest dynasties couldn’t shake the balance of power, there’s much said in the silence. I pray thee thinks of the matter carefully, signing a deal with an empire on verge of collapse is the same as getting aboard a flooded boat. There I leave you, my lady, with this warning, allowing a stronger power into one’s kingdom will bring the downfall of everyone around. Willingly opening the gates for a foreign army, consider thy actions carefully,’ signed, W. Ria and sealed using a crest available only to those placed high in the king’s court. “-and there it is.”

Queen Eia had the folded piece of paper rolled on her desk, her focus carefully scanned lines after lines, word after word until the end where she exhaled mildly and rose to the Duchess.

“What do you think?” her arms crossed, “-the letter is valid and I don’t doubt the intention of the writer, however, there’s more to consider here, why was the letter sent, who does it address, and what is told in between the lines?”

“Oh, the latter is simple,” she said, “-to not trust a queen who’s willingly allowing a greater nation to enter her domain. Might I remind her majesty if not for nobles and their wealth – Dorchester wouldn’t have much to offer and the claim of rebellion wouldn’t stand. Which is why I ask, what have you planned?”

.....

A small moment’s delay slowed the room’s fast pace, Queen Eia shut her eyes and paused, “-letter reads true and underlines faults. However, being wise is not necessarily a good thing. Kreston is deemed unholy by the pope, we support Alphia’s new ruler and by saying so, announce our allegiance to the world. Tis no secret our faction wishes to take Hidros, and similar to us, so does the greatest empire to date, the Alwracian nation. What have I planned?” she smiled, “-the only way to make our rule legitimate is to have the pope dub Dorchester a holy province, making her cause right and just. This is why I asked for Dorchester to join the Holy Crusade against Kreston. Hidros backing Kreston against Alwracia backing Dorchester. We need but be the face of the attacker, money, weapons, manpower, and leave all to the church and its righteous ways. Luckily, nobles have strong sentiment toward the church of Lucifer, most of Dorchester is a devotee of said dogma on accounts of our, well, let’s say, fair way of doing justice. Once Kreston is gone, we’ll occupy more land, allowing for a more concrete battle against Oxshield.”

“I heard scouting forces were dispatched?”

“Yes, they should arrive no later than three days.”

“Alright, three days. I’ll relay the news to the noble factions – if her majesty wishes to fight a holy crusade, we shall join the effort and aid financially.”

“A pleasure to have you, lady Goldberg.”

“Please, majesty, the feelings are mutual.”

Thus, during the long waited week, Duchess and Queen held talks on where they stood, there was more correspondence, many kept secret and away from prying eyes. Goldberg’s estate, built within the confines of Dorchester’s infamous noble district, spanned quite a while, “-duchess,” relatively tranquil atmosphere shattered, “-trouble,” gasped a retainer dressed in formal attire, “-pardon the intrusion.”

“My,” she rose a finger, asking her massage and beauty treatments to stop, a simple towel wrapped the lady’s figure, by which she tilted towards the retainer and crossed her legs, “-should pardon the intrusion, not be first?” said a well-defined and relaxed smile.

“My deepest apologies,” knelt the retainer, a younger man, easy on the eyes and charming through the glacially blue blinks, “-I have news from Meke, my lady. King Igna was spotted inside Leonard’s home. By reports, watchers stationed opposite the house retell of the king glaring at them through the closed curtain and I quote, ‘-the king looked at us as if there was nothing in the way, he glared, we felt the killing intent from a street away. Lord Leonard seemed preoccupied when shutting the door’, lady Goldberg, since yesterday, a couple of strangers moved adjacent Lord Leonard’s house.”

Her heart dropped, no more laid relaxation, “-damned Igna,” she gritted and thought back to, “-a word of warning, keep in mind thy line of succession.”

“Duchess?”

“Forgive me, I was lost in thought. Have letter sent to the king asking for an audience,” the retainer obeyed, leaving her to retake her posture, ‘-I won’t be scared so easily, king.’

Sun rose to midday, a black car drove onto scorching hot asphalt leading into Rotherham – heat blurred the street as hot air rose, no sign of clouds in the skies either. The luxurious car pulled behind one of the three pillars, signaled a gatekeeper, and cruised into the underground parking – the driver was quick to stop and open the passenger door, from which rose Igna accompanied by Alta, “-don’t mean to pry,” he looked over, “-is it wise to be my shadow?”

“Master, is it not a wise policy to study under the best?”

“As you wish,” an elevator shortly pulled them to one of the many offices, familiar corridor, familiar arrangement, *Elvira’s office,* two taps sufficed, “-enter,” the lock clicked, he pushed the door inward to be hit by a sudden blast of air, ‘-auntie doesn’t look pleased.’

“Have the girl stand outside,” she fired, Igna turned and whispered, ‘-best wait this one out, she’s not particularly happy,’ the door closed, “-over this way,” said one of the guards, “-a rest area,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” she nodded politely.

“Pleasure is mine,” the heavily built guard blushed, rising Alta’s self-confidence just that bit higher, same couldn’t be said for Igna, room’s atmosphere grabbed his throat, ‘-who would have guessed a single lady to have so much aura,’ he walked, visible unphased by her show of strength, “-Aunt Elvira, you called?”

“Aha,” she narrowed, no visible pleasant expression or courtesy, “-take a seat, dearest nephew,” Igna obliged and was soon staring down a barrel of Hidros’s most powerful faction, Phantom, “-tell me, nephew,” she tapped her keyboard, a holographic display materialized, “-care to explain?”

A report wrote across the screen, “-4th of February at 22:54, a royal decree was issued VT10-BSQD, carrier of Pabruska V1 to conduct a bombing run of Dorchester’s port at the below mentioned coordinates. Per agreements signed by Phantom and the Royal Crown, under the direct command of the King, VT10-BSQD was deployed and outfitted with Dragna V3. Airstrike hit the coast of Dorchester at 23:10. Most of the landscape was destroyed, target – scouting party of the independent nation of Dorchester was wiped.”

“And?” he paused, “-what’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem?” she slammed her table, “-is that you went behind my back and ordered for an airstrike.”

He sternly narrowed, “-lady Elvira of Phantom, did thee not understand what I meant by centralization?”

The betrayal suddenly made sense, “-the agreement?”

“Yes, my lady, I apologize for going behind your back. Time was of the essence, do check thy phone,” he took out his and showed countless outgoing missed calls, “-I tried my hardest to get a hold of you, but it didn’t work. Such had to be the outcome – war is fast approaching, best to show a strong hand now, we’re rulers of the skies and I’ll make sure everyone knows why we focused on it. Therefore, aunt, what now?”

Last night’s memories soon flooded, her pale cheeks redden, “-my apologies, I guess I was too caught up in emotion to see the affair from a logical point of view.”

“Dragna V3’s area of effect is contained, was the best option to take out an army and not cause collateral damage. Lady Elvira, once again I must ask, doth thee wish to assist Hidros in times of war or must I look to other parties for assistance?”

“My,” she smiled and struck a toothache pose, “-Igna, you’ve grown.”

“Pardon?”

“Did you think my army would simply agree to take the king’s order without my approval?” she giggled, “-it was a test, my dear, I needed to see how you’d react. And from the response I got, it’s good, I’m glad. You thought well sending the lesser damaging option and clearly planned on a good location.”

“Easier said than done,” he sighed, “-the coordinate was a guess. Airstrikes are harder to enact – good thing the squadron are excellent pilots.”

“Tis the drawback of flying into enemy territory – I don’t personally like sending my men into the jaws of death. Seems the king had no issues.”

“They acted fast, and so did we. Aunt Elvira, it pains me to ask, I’d like full authority over the air force.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s the hardest units to control and are strategically wise to have.”

“So be it,” she smiled, “-Midas and Sotepios are hereby under the direct authority of King Igna Haggard. éclair’s already asked Phantom to be employed as mercenaries to the crown, shouldn’t be an issue.”

The stance lowered, “-my, aunt Elvira, you sure don’t know how to hold punches.”

“What can I say?” she laughed, “-tis my nature.”

“Very well, there’s much we should prepare. Raven’s sent a significant amount to aid in Phantom’s campaign, consider it a gift for access over the air force.”

“Well, the structure isn’t quite set in stone. Potential is unlimited, comes to the leader’s ability to restructure and form teams accordingly. On the latter – we need a general, someone with unrivaled abilities in the ways of war.”

He emotionlessly blinked, “-I have just the right person,” door shut, announcing the formation of a new military faction under the king’s direct order.