Book 1, Ch. 44 - The Future (Patreon)

 With a bang, the shabby door to the secret room burst open. Almost ripped from its hinges, the door banged 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. However, the faster and faster 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. 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 him...” 

Short on breath, Olacu the rat rushed into the room. His clothes were torn at the sleeves and there was a swelling under his right eye. At least the bartender had put up a token fight, though of course there was no way Corco would have found here if he hadn't been led by someone. 

“Laqhis, calm-” 

“Calm!? You wanna see fucking calm!?” 

Fadelio stood up and approached his lord. As he got closer, he went in his knees a bit 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 calm his voice as much as possible. 

Even though there was copious light within the luxurious hideout of Emperor Titu's shadows, none of it reached Corco's 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. 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.” 

“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. Sat along the table, Inti bowed her head in respect, while Tama gave a wave and a smile, completely unimpressed by Corco's imposing entry. 

“Nah, I'm good here” The terse Corco crossed his arms. 

Fadelio 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 Borna, in all his thinking Corco had worn the floorboards in his study down in a neat circle he would march off every time he got lost in thought. For now however, he just stood there afforded his warrior an expectant frown, ready to hear his warrior's 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 that was a coincidence. This has nothing to do with the prime minister. It was my idea.” 

“Okay, so how does everyone think the idea was mine then?” 

“Of Course they would. After all, you sent them letters with the offer through me.” 

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

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

“Of course you wouldn't remember. I forged the letters.” 

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, his attendant covered his ears with his palms. His right hand was already injured. He didn't need any burst eardrums on top of it. 

“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!?”

“Prince Corco, this really is inappropriate,” Inti chimed in with a frown. 

Corco gave pause to his march, only to answer the girl with a deadly stare. It took only a moment before she quietly pulled in her head and sank back into her seat. However, the girl had still achieved her goal. The prince stopped stomping around and accusing his attendant.   

“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 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. 

“You will not be emperor. Everyone in the capital knows that, everyone except you. Viribus hates you. Whether or not you're correct about his motives doesn'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? We can just drag things out, keep fighting-” 

“The old man can do this forever, if he has to. He'll still be the great defender of Medala after a month, but our position is getting weaker already. When Lord Saqartu gave his final speech, it was a lifeline for us. It was 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 of ideas? 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've heard it. You already told me. Buildings as tall as mountains, flying machines, talking outhouses.” 

He heard Tama's snicker from his right, but chose to ignore it.   

Not the time. 

“That all sounds very nice, but where is all of that? In your head, no where else. I told you it's a bad idea to be reliant on the knowledge anyways, but even if all you learned back then is true, which we still don't know, it's all just in your head, and in all those books in the bowels of our fleet. Are you just gonna quickly build a flying machine to win the succession?” 

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

“And what if there isn't!?” 

Fadelio stood up as he said, his eyes turned large from his frustration. Corco looked at his attendant in confusion. 

“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. Atau, Brym, the merc, all the people here, anyone still loyal to the emperor. You wanna risk everyone's life, just because you're being stubborn?” 

“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 to 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 for that is enough money, which we have, and a piece of land we can control. The compromise changes nothing in the plan. Why not go for it then?” 

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 start on our plan. It'll be easy.” 

“Easy?” The warrior shot back in disbelief, “If you become emperor now, how will you control anything? Are you trying to tell me you can control Arguna? We'll only get caught up in the details, forced to deal with random bullshit, until the day you die. Even if you make it to emperor, against all odds, we won't achieve anything. But I knew you would never agree to a compromise. So I had to do it. Sure, I went behind your back. You can call it betrayal too. But I'm not gonna stand here and watch you destroy everything we have been working for over the past five years. It's not just your dream anymore, you know?” 

“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 caught up in that? You told us: The only path to a fair world is power. That's the path we'll take, even if I have to drag you along to do it!” 

Finally, Corco sank onto one of the prepared seats with a heavy thud. Tired, he held his forehead in his hand, brushing the strands of hair out of his face. 

“...you could've just told me, you know? You know I would have listened.” 

Fadelio wasn't too sure about that, but he ignored his doubts and grinned in response. “But where would the fun have been in that?” 

“You really are an asshole sometimes,” the prince smiled. It seemed like the worst was over. Soon, they could get to work. 

“I'm aware. By the way, now that I have your attention: I'm sure you remember my sisters.” 

During their heated argument, the sisters had already walked around the table and towards Fadelio, though he didn't know if they had tried to support him or simply wanted to see the elusive prince from up close. Inti looked skeptical, but Tama was already waving again. The battle with his master was finally over, but an even harder challenge awaited him now. 

–

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 off the princes, so with gnashing teeth he decided to compromise. As far as he was concerned, the lords should just pick the one best suited to be emperor, but they had been blinded by the lies of his clever brothers. As such, 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 lord 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 calmly head 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 Amautu 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. In addition, all land ruled by Prince Corco would go to the victorious hero. All Prince Amautu asks for in return is honored prince's friendship.” 

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

Author's note: Wow, formatting on Patreon is a pain. This is the first advanced chapter I guess. I'll post at least another two today.