Empire Reborn
The first signs of dawn were beginning to crack through the tall ornament windows of the palace. Golden light danced through the stained glass, reflecting images of war and valour onto the inner stone walls of Unan's throne room. The late Emperor, Eoleo thought.
He stood in the room with Sana's most powerful people, the royal family and their most trusted advisers. Hou Ju sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her face buried in her hands. She was still dressed in the ceremonial dress she had put on for Unan's speech but now it was wrinkled and her hair was disheveled. The remnants of the Sanan water lilies that decorated it could still be seen.
Ryu Kou paced the room, back and forth. Deep bags were under his eyes and a gash on his bicep bleed through its bandaged and dripped down to his fingers. He didn't seem to notice. Their mother, Hinechou, stood blankly at the wall. No tears or bags ornamented her eyes, just shock. Eoleo looked at each of them deeply. He wanted to speak, he wanted to help his friends. Too many words had already been said.
After the assassin escaped Eoleo took Shui's body to the city where chaos was everywhere. He had to tell the royal family about his encounter. There was no one to take Shui's body, no one to bury him as he deserved. The boy stood up against his Emperor's killer and died for it. Eoleo brought him to the palace. The guards, the ones that were left protecting Hinechou's family, pounced on him and Shui.
It had been difficult convincing the guard's he was a friend of Hou Ju's and Ry Kou's. It was even more difficult convincing them he needed to see them. All the Sanans saw was a foreigner in the city at the time of the worst Tonfon event in a generation. Blame was thrown around like darts.
Eoleo spent most of the night in the cold wet cells beneath the palace. It was after midnight when Ryu Kou finally came down and released him. Eoleo would never forget the look on his face. Ryu Kou was never the type to show weakness. His father had died in the Morgal War and his family torn apart. He fought through it, and he saved his sister. Eoleo recalled Ryu Kou on the day of Hou Zan's, his mentor, funeral. He was like a stone. Not ready to be rolled away in the tide of the darkness.
But that night when he saw Eoleo rotting in the cells with all the criminals and suspects of Unan's murder, the Sanan prince broke down. He took Eoleo to the palace, to Unan's throne room where Eoleo had been before. Where the Emperor had been so kind to him and his companions during their quest to stop the Grave Eclipse. Eoleo didn't know the man well but he mourned for the loss of a great Emperor. An Emperor of peace.
Now Eoleo stood in the throne room with the royal family as morning came. He looked at Ryu Kou, still pacing from one wall to the other.
"Will you do it?" Hinechou said to her son without breaking her blank thousand yard stare. She was asking him what they had all been asking him, all the Sanan generals and politicians and advisers, since they met there in that room: Would he be the next Emperor? Sana was a young nation, and it had no set rules of succession yet. Unan was only the second Emperor ever. Eoleo remembered the first Emperor, Ko, very well. He had only died a few years ago. He had no sons and no daughters. Noone to take his place as Emperor. Ko thought he would live forever, so he made no succession laws.
Predictably when he died Sana erupted in civil war. Before it even happened Eoleo's father would say the war was the sleeping dragon, ready to cause catastrophe when it inevitably woke up. So Eoleo and his father kept well off the seas in those days. War galleys from both sides controlled the entire ocean. There was no easy pirating for Champans.
Eoleo worried the same thing was about to happen. Unan left no succession laws either. He had been working on drafting familial laws. Since he had no children the laws would have made Ryu Kou, the eldest of his late brother's children, the next Emperor. But Unan died just hours earlier, and the laws were left as unfinished documents on his desk.
Sana was in the same state it was when Ko died. A state where an individual with enough strength could seize the throne. Eoleo looked around the room. Besides the royal family all he saw was yes people. Men and women eager to be directed, not willing to lead. Eoleo saw faces of frigid dread. And they all looked to the young Ryu Kou to save them. So Eoleo looked at Ryu Kou, and waited for him to answer the question: would he lead Sana? His eyes widened like moons at the question and he tapped his fingers wildly against his steel forearm armour.
"Ryu..." one of his advisers started.
"I don't know!" Ryu Kou burst suddenly and slammed his hand against the desk.
The adviser looked down at the papers he held in his hands. They were the unsigned, unstamped papers indicating Unan's wish for Ryu Kou to succeed him. They quivered as the adviser struggled to keep his hands steady. Ryu Kou eyes darted to and fro eventually landing on the papers and the adviser said, "You know what they say."
Ryu Kou just shook his head silently. Eoleo was terrified. Not just for Ryu Kou but for Sana. He knew that these moments, the brief hours that passed like lightning after the Emperor's death were critical to the future of the nation.
The sound of horns blasted through the silence destroying it and any thought that might have been in their minds. The horns didn't have the same high breezy sound that Unan's trumpeters had. This was no fanfare. They were deep and loud and grim. They burst through the stale palace air without harmony. All in one unwavering low heavy note. War horns.
Ryu Kou's eyes met Eoleo's. Eoleo saw all his fear leave him in the span of that single moment. His eyes became dark and determined and the Sanan prince strided confidently out of the come. Eoleo and some of the advisers followed. They pestered Ryu Kou with useless questions that he ignored. At the grand doors of the palace Ryu Kou ordered his advisers to stay put and grouped together a vanguard of twenty guards. Strong men and women with pikes sharp as razors.
Ryu Kou turned to Eoleo with the same steady look of determination. "You're a powerful warrior Eoleo. Will you fight for us?"
"If it comes to that," Eoleo didn't have to hesitate. Ryu Kou was a brash person and sometimes stupid. But Eoleo had no doubt that he would be a kind ruler, one like Unan. Moreover he cared about the boy, and his sister.
Ryu Kou didn't smile but he nodded and went on with his entourage in toe. It seemed to Eoleo that Ryu Kou was done smiling. Before the group arrived at Tonfon's western gate it was already opened. A group of guards, palace men, stood at attention as if ready to greet some esteemed guest.
Ryu Kou addressed their captain, "Who authorized you to open the gate?"
"King Wo," the captain said curtly.
Eoleo looked down the road to the west. Tonfon's elevation allowed one to see miles from the gate. Only five hundred yards away was a massive procession of cavalry. At the front was a king plumed in elaborate feathers with burly war horse.
He's not dead, Eoleo thought and his face flushed with anger. The warlord had attacked Amiti's city mercilessly. He had held his friend's captive in Koacho. Eoleo snapped at the guard, "You mean Wo the tyrant? You're letting him to your city? Do you have a death wish Sanan?"
The captain looked Eoleo up and down with astonishment, "What concern is it of yours squid?"
Eoleo drew his sword and pushed the blunt end against the captain's breastplate, forcing his back into the stone wall behind him. "Close the gate."
Three guards immediately drew pikes and pressed them at Eoleo's throat. One nearly broke the skin. "Stand down," Ryu Kou said, "this man is a friend."
The guard's glanced at their captain who nodded and they pointed their pikes back in the sky and away from Eoleo. Eoleo whispered to Ryu Kou, "You have to close the gate."
Without looking at the pirate Ryu Kou said to the captain, "Why have you opened the gate?"
"Wo brings your uncle's killer prince. All he asks for in return is an audience from Tonfon. He wishes to reunite the Empire in peace," the captain said.
"He has the assassin?" Ryu Kou asked.
The captain nodded, "I have seen the body myself. It was equipped with the same arrows as this one, the one used to kill the Emperor." Sure enough from the captain's pack he drew a black bloodied arrow.
Ryu Kou looked at the other guards for confirmation. They nodded. One of Ryu Kou's own guards spoke up, "This is the arrow Ryu Kou. I recovered it from the Emperor myself."
The Sanan prince nodded. He gave a motion to the his guards, the ones he had brought with him from the palace. They joined the line standing at attention for Wo's arrival. What on earth is going on here?
"Ryu Kou, you can't let him in. You can't do this. This is lunacy," Eoleo said.
Finally Ryu Kou met Eoleo's glare, "I will see the body for myself. And you encountered the assassin right? You can confirm is identity."
"I didn't get a good look. It was dark. Please Ryu Kou. Close the gates," Eoleo said.
Ryu Kou shook his head, "You're my friend Eoleo, so I'll allow you leave the city untouched. But do not meddle and further."
"Meddle?" Eoleo was exasperated.
"Leave Eoleo," the prince said.
Without looking back the pirate stormed away from the Sanan procession. But he did not leave the western road, the road where Wo would meet with Ryu Kou. He couldn't leave. He had to see what would happen next. He had to protect Ryu Kou if he could. Eoleo rounded the block until he was out of eyesight. He rounded the block and approached Ryu Kou's location from a narrow alleyway. He selected a well hidden spot from behind crates to witness whatever would come next. I'll stop the tyrant myself if I can.
It wasn't long before Wo marched into the city surrounded by his cavalry. Eoleo had never seen the man in person before. He had only heard the tales of Matthew and his other companions of their time in Kaocho. Of how he trapped them to die in the Ourobros beneath his colony city. Not a man I ever hoped to have to deal with, Eoleo thought.
Wo had mustache that hung lowly on either side in the west Sanan style. He had thick eyebrows and hair cropped short. A scar marked his forehead. He was dressed elaborately with feathers and silks, as an Emperor would be garbed.
Ryu Kou spoke first, loud enough for everyone on the street to hear. A large crowd had gathered but were held back by the guards. The rooftops of the buildings that lined the streets were full of Sanans wishing to catch a glimpse of Wo, who had been their enemy only a few years earliler. "Would you parlay in peace King Wo?"
Wo rose he head and looked around the street and its crowd before saying, "Of course my prince. Cavalry! Lay down your weapons!"
His many soldiers drew their swords and spears and bows and dropped them to the ground at their horses' hooves. Crashes of metal hitting stone and dirt filled the street for a while. Ryu Kou ordered the guards to do the same and the crashing commenced again before finally dissipating.
"Where is my uncle's killer? Where is the assassin?" Ryu Kou asked.
Wo rose his right arm and without looking back said, "Guard, bring him out."
From behind Wo a tall strong soldier jumped off his horse. Behind him was a mass wrapped in many blankets and rags. The soldier lifted the load off his horse and held it in front of him in his arms. As he approached Wo and Ryu Kou, Eoleo could make out its shape: the shape of a corpse.
The guard lay the corpse at Ryu Kou's feet and uncovered it. The first thing Eoleo saw was the long beast ears. A beastman. The crowd gasped. They began shouting and some began to press forwards against the guards. Profanities and curses against the beastmen seemed to come to the Sanan tongues very easily. The peoples were the harshest of enemies. The beastmen hadn't exactly been friendly to Eoleo in the past, but when the pirate thought of his friend Sveta and his blood crawled at the Sanan bigotry.
Wo got off his horse and retrieved an arrow that the beastman was equipped with. He motioned to the guard that had Unan's arrow. He held one in each hand, the arrow that had killed Unan and a fresh arrow from the beastman's pack. He spoke not to Ryu Kou, but to the entire crowd gathered there, "We found the monster outside the city. He bears the same weapon that killed Emperor Unan. The arrow's of the beastmen army. Morgal has disregarded our peace treaty. They have murdered our Emperor in bad blood! This is an act of war, and we must retaliate!"
Our Emperor? Eoleo thought. He hated Unan. He fought a war against him. Why is he pretending otherwise?
Wo's army began to chant, "War! War! War!"
Ryu Kou looked as if he wanted to speak but he couldn't. The state of things were spinning wildly out of control when finally one of Ryu Kou's own guards shouted, "Emperor Wo! Emperor Wo! Lead us to war! Emperor Wo!"
Wo struggled to look stoic as a smile crept onto his cold lips. But it didn't matter. All the guards, all of Wo's soldiers, and all the Tonfon people gathered on the rooftops eyes were glazed over with blood lust. All together they chanted, "Emperor Wo! Lead us to war!"
The new Emperor of the united Sana climbed back on his horse. In an instant everything changed. In a moment all the bad blood from the Sanan civil war washed away as cold rage against the Beastmen took its place. Wo rode slowly into the city and as his horse passed Eoleo got a good look at the Beastman who lay dead. Suddenly he realized he knew the man. He was a messenger's of Sveta. They had met after the Grave Eclipse in Belinsk just weeks earlier. That's no warrior! No assassin! Eoleo thought wildy, It's a trick!
He had to tell Ryu Kou. But what good would it do? Not even he can stop the tide of war now. But Eoleo had to do something. He had to warn Belinsk. He had to warn Sveta. So he ran back out of the alleyway from the direction he came.
He sprinted to the docks by the most bizarre way he could think of, taking only abandoned streets to avoid being detected and caught by Wo's men. When he reached the docks it was full of Wo's cavalry. Flames from burning ships flickered and the morning sun hang low providing an irritating glare making it difficult for Eoleo to find his ship.
"Burn them all! Burn all the foreigner ships!" one of Wo's captains shouted. Eoleo felt dread fill the pits in his stomach when he saw it. His ship, his very old ship, was caught in massive flames. The ship his father stole from Alhafra so many years ago. The ship that had sailed Eoleo and Matthew and all their friends around the entire Eastern Sea. The ship my father died on, Eoleo thought. Gone.
He still had to get to Belinsk. Sveta would never be expecting the attack. And Morgal was only still recovering from the Grave Eclipse. A surprise attack would be devastating. He had to warn them. Eoleo couldn't reach Belinsk by land, except by taking Passaj cloud pass that Matt had taken before meeting Eoleo. It will be a long journey. I might not make it in time, Eoleo thought. But he had to try.
He hid behind barrels at the dock while all around him ships burned and Kaocho horsemen road up and down the boardwalks. Eoleo spotted a soldier riding a strong horse trotting slowly towards his hiding spot. A horse would help.
When the soldier was close enough Eoleo shot a massive psynergy snake of flames at her and she careened off her horse into the water. The horse neighed wildly in fear and stood on its back legs. Before he charged off Eoleo bounded out from behind the barrels and leaped onto its back.
"Hiya," he shouted and the horse galloped down the dock with it's hooves clapping loudly against the wooden boardwalk.
"Foreigner!" a soldier shouted as he spotted Eoleo.
But it was too late, in the chaos of Wo's sudden take over there was no catching Eoleo. As they chased him through the city streets he disposed of the few soldiers on his tail with sudden bursts of flame. Finally he made it to the western gate and to the road beyond. He didn't slow down to look back. He pushed his new steed forward. I have to warn Sveta.
