Chapter 12 – The Houses of Tora, Dora and Pora
"So that's the leader of the House of Tora?" Luna whispered to Ace as she followed far behind a dark brown stallion with a black mane and wearing an eye patch over his right eye. "He's much less intimidating than you portrayed him as."
The stallion which Ace described as the leader of the House of Tora stood slightly taller than she did, had and cuts and scars across his body, and wore leather armor in the style of the soldiers she saw around the castle. He also carried a sword and even had a large spear strapped to his side. When she asked about him Ace told her that the House of Tora was one of the three founding houses that created the Castle of Toradorapora, and was the house in charge of protecting the northern borders and frontiers of the third level. He also described him as a fearsome warrior, having had to fight in the thick of battle to command the respect of his troops as was tradition for the leader of the House of Tora. However aside from the weapons he carried he seemed less scary than Ace had depicted him to be.
(Yes, please put the fact that he lives out on the frontier most of his life out of your mind.) Ace said to her in a bored voice. (Sure, just because he never leaves the frontier and fights for his life almost every other day means ABSOLUTELY nothing. He's probably as gentle as a butterfly, go ahead and talk to him.)
Wanting to find these three leaders of the Houses of Tora, Dora, and Pora as soon as possible, Luna asked Ace for help in finding them. He surprisingly gave her explicit directions to their locations as well as what they looked like. The first one she found was the leader of the House of Tora, Farel of the Carved Branch with the Broken Spine. The title referred to the fact that his great grandfather had carved a spear from a tree branch that broke and fell on his back, breaking a part of his spine.
"Well he hasn't got the strangest of names that I've heard." Luna commented as she followed behind him at a very nice and very safe distance.
(Just cause your named after a hunk of lifeless rock floating above an even bigger hunk of rock, doesn't mean we all are named after hunks of lifeless rocks.)
They continued to shadow Farel for several minutes as he passed by several guards wearing red attire, each of whom bowed respectfully to him. After a good twenty minutes he stopped next to a window and stared out at it.
"What is he doing?" Luna whispered to Ace as she hid behind a set of statues.
(He's staring out of a window.) Ace said dully. (How should I know, I'm stuck tagging along with you?)
"Well you seem to know everything else that happens." Luna whispered, thoroughly annoyed at Ace's comment.
(Just because I know what he looks like and where he happens to be doesn't imply that I know what he's thinking.)
While they argued Farel continued to stare out at the window, apparently completely oblivious to her and Ace's squabbling. Until he cleared his throat loudly and called out in a rough voice, "You can stop pretending to be hidden Guest of The Duke, I knew you were following me half an hour ago." He said. "Come out from behind that statue and talk to me face to face if you have something to discuss."
It took Luna a few seconds to realize that he was talking to her, and another few to put on her best act and calmly step out from the statue. "You knew all along?" She asked nervously.
"Of course I knew, you don't spend most of your life on the frontier fighting barbarians without learning a few tricks." He said, turning to look at her with his one eye. "It's hard to sneak up on me; it has to be hard because I am the head of the House of Tora. We Torans are always stationed at the northern frontier of the third level, and we are always the ones who must fight and protect the Endless Staircase. Given that I know you are a guest of The Duke, and through him the King, I wonder what it is you seek from me."
"I was just… asked to talk to you." Luna replied cautiously, not wanting to betray her task for The Duke.
"In other words spy on me." Ferel replied. "Yes I know that The Duke sent you to spy on me, he's very cautious with his generals. He has to be if he plans to give us control of two hundred thousand of his soldiers. However the reason you spy on me for him baffles me, for what possible reason do you have to owe The Duke your loyalty?"
"Well, none actually." Luna said, recalling how The Duke had advanced upon her. "I just need something from him and I can leave, that's all."
"If that's so then here is what I propose, lie to him for me." Ferel said, giving her a kind smile. "I am tired of being forced onto the frontier, my entire family has been on the frontier and yet again I must go to the frontier. If you do this for me I will help you however I can, once The Duke is off his high chair that is…"
"You hate being on the frontier?" Luna asked.
Ferel stopped smiling and frowned at those words. "You have no idea, yes I do hate the frontier but I have to be there for very good reasons." He whispered as he turned to look out the window again, and this time Luna saw what he was staring at. "By the King I hate those barbarians; my great great grandfather's great grandfather hated them too, even before he lost his right eye to them."
"Did you think I would be out there on the frontier WITHOUT GOOD REASON?" He shouted suddenly, giving her a nasty look and causing her to jump. "Yes… Up needs a strong frontier. No… Up does not need these unwashed Barbarians at the gates of the staircase!"
He calmed down and smiled again, but it wasn't a kind smile. "So… that is why, guest of The Duke, I am here, the leader of the Torans, to bring madness and order to these stinking barbarians." He said as he pointed at his left eye. "Revenge? That would be good too. Rest assured this war against them will not last long, I will not repeat the mistakes of my previous heads of my house. When it's done, I have plans for the future of my house."
"This is all about power, Power in Up!" He said as he walked past her to look up at a statue next to her, which she only just realized was in The Duke's likeness. "Going down that road will mean dealing with all of my rivals. The Lower houses, the kingdom vassals, and even The Duke himself, the Poran and Doran houses as well!"
"After all… the one who controls the Endless Staircase, rules Up." He whispered as he turned and looked out at the Endless Staircase in the distance. "One day… a member of my house will be King."
"King?" Luna whispered.
"Yes… one day, a new king will take over and set all right." Farel said. "Just remember Luna, my house is strong and very influential here on the third level. Do my house a favor and I will not forget what you did for me."
He winked at her and walked away.
=Twenty Minutes Later=
"So the leader of the House of Pora is that stallion there," Luna asked Ace in her mind. "the one leading all those soldiers?"
(Pretty much) Ace said to her.
"Is he anything like Ferel?" Luna asked as she eyed a chestnut stallion with a yellow mane and a blind right eye as he walked by, flanked by several soldiers in green colored armor.
(If I remember the leader of the House of Pora is typically spending most of his time in the battlefield of politics, so he isn't as violent prone as the leader of the House of Tora. As long as you are polite to him he should be willing to at least talk to you, and if you're careful you could learn a few things about him.)
"When I was told I would be leaning madness, I never imagined that I would be spying." She whispered to herself as the last of his guards passed her. "How am I going to approach this stallion alone, when he has a dozen soldiers surrounding him?"
Just as she was figuring out some kind of plan to talk to the stallion by himself, he stopped and turned to face her. Without skipping a beat all of his guards stopped as well, but they maintained their professional stance and continued looking in the direction they were walking. "Well hello there guest of The Duke." He said coldly. "Yes I know who you are, almost every being in Up has heard of you. You hail from the upper levels, of this I know and all who obey The Duke knows. I would like to talk to you if you have a moment to spare, which it looks like you do to me."
Well that was easy. Luna thought as she nodded and walked alongside him as he continued walking toward whatever destination he was going.
"You're probably wondering why I invited you to talk to me." He said. "First off let me introduce myself, I am Sir Noblesse, the head of the House of Pora. To explain why I invited you to talk with me, it is because I seek your help in a certain matter."
"You seek my help?" Luna asked cautiously, wondering what this second House leader wanted of her.
"Yes, you see I will be leaving tomorrow with a large contingent of The Duke's forces to re-secure our southern front, alongside those under the command of the House of Dora. However I want you to go back to The Duke and give him some… misinformation… about the House of Dora's motives. This way only I will be in charge of the full contingent."
"You want me to lie to him, correct?" Luna replied. "Why should I help you, I owe you no such favors and I certainly don't see any gain for me."
"You see my dear Guest of The Duke, you are in a position that no others are in." He said, putting on a wry smile. "You are not only a guest of The Duke; you are also a guest of His Majesty the King. You are quite literally untouchable. The Duke, though lord of this level, cannot harm or offend you for fear of harming or offending the King. Whoever has your influence on their side will be in a position to affect true change here on the third level."
"So why should I help you?" Luna asked again.
"You see Guest; The Duke's reign is a slow and less progressive one." He said as they passed by another statue of The Duke. "This has been going on for thirty seven of leaders of my House's generations. I am merely the thirty eighth generation of head of my house to see this. He continues to allow these threats to the Endless Staircase to exist, if he has this many troops to spare to deal with minor uprisings… why doesn't he simply end all hostilities now and be done?"
"For all that my House has accomplished and done for The Duke, we are rewarded with such pathetic and menial tasks?" Noblesse said in an annoyed tone as he turned to look at her. "We Porans are the only true House of the Third Level; we protected the Endless Staircase before The Duke. We established The Duke and his government rule, we made the foundations of Up."
"My family deserves respect for that, respect and Obedience!" He said, turning to look at his guards who all bowed their heads in unison. "We know what is best for Up, new lands, living space, more territory, SLAVES!"
"I know what must be done, guest…" He whispered to her as he continued walking. "The lower houses, they look down at us founding houses with their Hippocratic voices, and they secretly despise us. Well I'm going to give them a reason to despise us… after I've crushed them. Poran steel, that is the answer guest. Poran steel, spilling the guts of a lesser being!"
"The other founding houses as well, the Dorans… they have no respect for proper founder ways, FOR US!" He said angrily. "The Torans are no better than the barbarians they torture and destroy, warlike and violent all of them. Which is why we Porans… must… lead Up."
He turned to face her one last time, giving her a look of smugness and absolute confidence. "My family is powerful, much more powerful than the others. You help me remove The Duke… even a tiny favor in that direction… and I will not forget what you did for me. I think we understand each other, no?"
Luna nodded in understanding as he and his guards continued walking away from her.
=Fifteen Minutes Later=
"The entire House of Dora is having a meeting here?" Luna whispered to Ace in her shadow as she flew around the outside of the castle. "How do you possibly know this stuff Ace? Not even the slaves we asked new of this meeting!"
(I just know okay, just keep going until you see a big window. That should be the meeting hall.) Ace said. (And please hurry up, your shadow isn't strong here!)
"You're the one who chose to hide in our shadow!" Luna complained. "We don't want to hear about you having to struggle with our shadow, which we are still wondering why you insist on hiding there."
She continued to fly around looking for the big window that Ace spoke of. She was also carrying her cloak because she wasn't interested in finding this window and being told to go inside, without having something to wear. She also could fly because none of The Duke's forces were familiar with protecting against anything from the sky, and her being an Alicorn meant she could fly to locations where there were no guards or soldiers to stop her.
It took her a few minutes but eventually she spotted a well-lit window that was quite large enough for her to glide through, which she did. She was able to glide into the meeting hall, and was just able to control her flight so she landed on the scaffolding for the roof of the room. This was a good thing because thirty feet below her was a large room full of tables, chairs and rows upon rows of ponies all wearing blue uniforms. Decorating the walls were blue banners with white dagger insignia's adorning them.
"I'm guessing this is the right room?" Luna whispered as silently as she could to Ace.
(Yep this is it, now stay quiet or we'll be caught.)
"Surely this house has no ill intentions toward The Duke?" Luna whispered to herself. "The other two houses both plot against him, but surely the third house has no intentions of attempting to overthrow The Duke, there must be ONE good leader among them right?"
Ace merely chuckled as she spoke to herself. (Just remember, keep your voice down, if we are caught it will not end well for you.)
She didn't need to be told that, she was being as quiet as she could while the entire House of Dora conversed and spoke below her, completely oblivious to the fact that she had flown in through the open window and was spying on the from above. While she hid she looked around for the head of the House of Dora, and it didn't take long to spot him or listen in on him.
The head of the Dora family strode to the forefront of the room, wearing a white plumed helmet with his House's insignia on the front. Immediately the other members went quiet as they waited for him to talk.
"Welcome my fellow family members!" He declared. "As you have seen fit to declare me as the new head of our family, and as The Duke has seen fit to entrust us with a large contingent of his soldiers for our campaign against the rebels in the south, it seems only natural for us to pay our respects to one another. Let us take a moment now to offer a prayer to His Majesty the King for those who do not stand with us, and ask that they forever be remembered by us and our offspring's offspring for years to come."
Well he sounds reasonable. Luna thought as she watched him and the others bend their heads and close their eyes in silence. Surely he has respect for The Duke and his rule.
Three minutes later after they finished having their moment of silence the head of the family spoke again. "Now then let me first thank you all for coming here this day, for indeed as my intelligence in the southern provinces reported that uprisings once more plague our lands. We have our duties to perform, each of us, and mine is no different than any of yours. Tomorrow I will lead The Duke's forces south to quell the uprisings alongside those commanded by the House of Pora. I may be young to be head of this family, but nevertheless I will fight as fiercely and with just as much cunning as though I were my father!"
"Let me assure you that our family's legacy, our prayers will be answered." He said to them all, looking at each of them in the eye. "I swear that I will keep our family name respected and we will bring about a new era for the Third Level! I promise to uphold our house's name, and it will be our banner that adorns this castle, and our name that all will speak for years to come!"
He walked down between the first rows of his family members and spoke to them personally. "I remember our family and friends, I remember each and every one who should stand among us here yet do not because of the injustice done to our house. I promise you we will have vengeance, and we will have justice!"
"Our family, The House of Dora is beloved of His Majesty the King!" He declared, and all around the other members of his family nodded in agreement. "It's a proud boast to admit but it is true all the same! In return for our favor by the king we have served Up, ruled well as a founding family of The Duke's regime, and have always led his armies to glory!"
His voice turned sour as he turned to them all once more. "It has cost us dearly, despite the favor of our king, and sometimes a family's hatred is stronger than their madness. Our dead lay in many a grave, put there by barbarian swords and spears, and even a few from the lesser houses. Even blades who serve The Duke and the other founding houses have taken Doran lives, THAT WE WILL NEVER FORGET… or forgive!"
As one they all cried in agreement with that statement.
"So… this latest campaign marks that our time has come my fellow family members." The head of the House of Dora said. "The spirits of our dead cry out for blood!"
He returned to the forefront of the room and stood below his family's banner and looked upon it with deep respect. "I will lead our family in this undertaking my fellow Dorans. By the grace of the King we will be granted vengeance. When the southern rebellion has been crushed, when the northern frontiers are secured, when the other founding houses are gone, and finally when the Endless Staircase is under OUR control… then even if I do not live to see that day come I will gladly stand before our king and FINALLY be worthy of his gifts."
He turned to face his fellow family members one last time. "And we will be worthy to RULE Up!"
After that lovely speech Luna had to wait fifteen minutes before the entire room was empty enough for her to sneak out and begin making her way back to The Duke. "Well so much for the idea of any of these houses being loyal to The Duke." Luna whispered to herself. "They are all mad, how can they possibly believe that their plots will work, The Duke isn't a fool is he?"
(It took you that long to realize it my pupil?) Ace chuckled as they continued walking. (They are all mad, it is how things are. When you fight battles against enemies and nature you go mad. When the seas of politics force you to perceive all around you as enemies, you see strangers as allies. When you are raised all your life to seek vengeance for the departed, you forget what really matters in life.)
Luna nodded in agreement as she continued walking. Twenty minutes later she turned a corner and entered the chamber where The Duke said he would be waiting. Sure enough The Duke was there, sitting on his dais watching her approach with a focused eye. It was only as she noticed a sudden breeze float into the room did she realize that she was not wearing the cloak she was still carrying.
As hastily as she could she wrapped the cloak around her, her cheeks blushing as she watched him grinning at her. "Oh please don't let my eye watching you influence you in any way guest," He said. "By all means keep your cloak off, I prefer it that way. It really accentuates your beauty beyond anything."
"Whatever." Luna hissed as she properly dressing herself. "I have the information that you requested I find."
At these words his grin deepened as he stepped off his dais and walked closer to her. "Tell me…" He whispered gently.
"All three of the houses of Tora, Dora, and Pora are plotting against you." She said. "Heard it with my own ears, they each want to destroy each other and turn your own army against you."
The Duke didn't even flinch or respond at these words, he merely nodded and walked around Luna toward the door. "Just as I calculated, all I needed was outside proof." He said again, still grinning as he looked back at her. "Thank you my dear… you've done well by my book. Now I can go ahead with the execution without any reservations. Good thing too, because I had all three of them arrested just now, and brought outside."
"Wait… what?" Luna said incredulously. "You already arrested them? But how could you have known?"
The Duke merely beckoned her with a hoof, telling her to follow him. "I will explain if you accompany me to the execution square." He said.
=Five Minutes Later=
"You see Luna, as Duke of the third level I must know all and that is how it is for me." He whispered as they entered a long hallway, well lit so that the portraits of him adorning the wall could be seen. "This is not the first time they have plotted against me… but they forget one simple lesson. They forget who I am."
"Who are you?" Luna whispered as she heard the sounds of screaming and yelling from outside as they neared an open balcony.
He grinned as he looked at her, a cruel grin that indicated how mad he truly was. "My enemies are many little pony… but my equals are none!" He said with utter conviction. "On the northern frontiers of the third level, they dared say that the Toran family would never submit. In the south where rebellion is common and subversion is second nature, the Poran family claimed they would never submit. Under the dirt and broken spires of castles across this level, the Doran family dare say that it would never fall to me."
They neared the window before he stopped and turned to look her eye to eye. "Now… they say none of these things. They all fear me; the proof is that they all plot against me. They know me as a dealer of death, and torture. Their females hide from me because they know what punishments I would force of them. My rule… IS LAW HERE!"
He looked out at the open balcony just before them and said in a voice full of authority. "I say, I am the true ruler of this level. I am…THE DUKE!"
He walked out onto the balcony and Luna followed him, and looked down to see thousands of soldiers in dark grey attire in formation before the castle. Nearest to where she and The Duke were standing stood three piles of wood, with three stallions tied down, completely helpless. She recognized them as the heads of the houses of Dora, Tora and Pora.
"CURSE YOU DUKE, MY FAMILY WILL HAVE VENGENCE ONE DAY!" The head of the Doran house yelled defiantly as he squirmed to get a better look. "YOU MAY KILL ME THIS DAY, BUT MY FAMILY WILL HAVE VENGEANCE ONE DAY, I SWEAR!"
"THE PORAN'S WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS DUKE!" Noblesse, of the Poran family shouted angrily. "YOU MAY RULE TODAY, BUT YOUR RULE IS NOT INFINITE!"
"YOU THINK TORA WILL CRUMBLE BEFORE YOU, PLUCK ONE WEED AND IT WILL SPREAD A HUNDRED FOLD!" Farel shouted with all the fury he could at The Duke. "ONE DAY YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE MY HOUSE, YOU CANNOT PREDICT US FOREVER!"
The Duke merely chuckled at these responses before he raised a hoof up and pointed down at the three trapped stallions. "BURN THEM!" He shouted imperiously.
Instantly a thousand, if not more flaming arrows flew from the soldiers before Luna and rained down onto the three piles of wood. The wood caught fire and screams of pain and agony filled the air, while The Duke merely laughed in response.
"As promised my dear, here is the key." The Duke said as he tossed her they key from earlier, wrapped around it was another golden strand of memory fragment that she hadn't noticed before. "Now leave me, I wish to enjoy this scenery for a little longer alone and undisturbed. Such beautiful sounds they make as they scream while dying."
Luna didn't even wait to hear the last part, the moment she took the key she pocketed it and ran away, not wanting to remain with such a mad pony any longer than she needed to
If this is merely the third level, I shudder to think of what awaits me on the second. She thought as she turned the corner and kept running.