Warnings: Some poor sod gets shot (and dies). There is a brief mention of blood.

Chapter 1: The Fall of the House of Tildrum Part 1: A Coup D'État

It was now a month later and the day of Evan's Kingsbond Ceremony had finally arrived. It was a ceremony that would see Evan joined in a kingsbond with the mighty Oakenhart, Kingmaker of Ding Dong Dell, officially making him the new king. In the week leading up to the big day, a strange tension had begun to descend on the castle. Now that the day was upon them, instead of dissipating it only intensified.

Evan jumped, ears pricking and tail fluffing at the knocking on his bedroom door. Even without the atmosphere in the castle he was tense; From today onwards he was going to be the ruler of an entire nation and so many people would be counting on him. There could be no mistakes, and there would be no going back. "Come in?"

It was Aranella. She smiled as she approached him. "Good, you're up. I just came to check on you. Today is a big day after all."

"Yes." He looked back out of the window. "Today I become king," he stated unnecessarily.

Aranella placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You'll be a fine king, Evan."

"You really think so?" He asked without turning back.

"I do," she nodded. "King Leonhard raised you well, but so did I. That's why I know. And I'll be right here if you need me."

He managed a small smile at that and turned to face her. "Thank you, Nella. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

"You'd manage. You're a lot a stronger than you think you are, Evan. One day you'll realise that."

His smiled faded and his ears drooped a little as he lowered his gaze. "I hope so…"

"You will. Now I've got to help with the preparations. Do you have the Mark of Kings?"

"It's in my secret room."

"Well, make sure you have it on you by the time I come back to get you, all right?"

He nodded. "All right."

"And the seamstress will have your ceremonial clothes brought up when they're ready," she looked away for a moment as she said, "which should hopefully not be too much longer. So make sure you're wearing them by the time I get back as well."

"I will," he replied with a nod. She nodded back and then left, and he turned back to gaze out of the window, nerves soothed a little but not eased.

Later that day, black clouds rolled in overhead, blotting out the sun. A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder heralded the first drops of a downpour.

"A storm on the day of the Kingsbond Ceremony?"

"It's an omen," some whispered. But an omen of what they couldn't say.

As the rain pounded the glass roof, filling the throne room with a pattering sound, Mausinger approached the throne of Ding Dong Dell Castle with Vermine, his footsteps filled with purpose. A contingent of mousekind soldiers followed, lining up along the pathway to the throne as they did. Mausinger stopped before the throne itself and paused for a moment in silence.

Silence that Vermine filled. "It is almost time for you to take your rightful place upon the throne, my lord. We have only to wait for word from the Black Knight."

"Indeed." Mausinger turned to face him. "We stand upon the precipice of a great change, Vermine. This day will go down in history. Not just the history of our people but of all of Ding Dong Dell."

He nodded in agreement. "Indeed it shall. But such… actions were taken to get to this moment." He titled his head in curiosity as he asked, "Do you have any regrets, Lord Mausinger?"

"No, I have none," Mausinger replied, with a determined shake of his head for emphasis. For a moment purple flames flared to life around him and his eyes took on a sinister red glow as he continued. "All that I have done was for mousekind. I would do it all again without hesitation." He punctuated the statement with dismissive gesture. And just as quickly as they had appeared, the flames and the sinister glow were gone. Vermine smiled. The sound of clanking armour heralded the arrival of the Black Knight. He stopped short of the steps leading up to the throne and knelt. "Well Matthias, old friend? Are the preparations complete?"

"Yes, my lord," the Black Knight drawled in a sonorous voice. "We are ready to move on your command."

Mausinger smirked. "Excellent. Then let us begin."

"Are you all right, Nella?" Aranella realised she had zoned out for a moment as she returned to reality. "You seem distracted."

She sighed. "I don't like the atmosphere in the castle, Ratja. Everyone's been getting so worked up lately just like you said."

Ratja was a mousekind maid with white fur and brown hair, and was dressed in the same uniform that Aranella was wearing, only instead of lilac, her blouse was a pale yellow, her skirt was a dark orange, and her waistcoat was yellow. "And you said," she gestured towards her, "that it wasn't surprising considering Master Evan's ceremony was approaching. So maybe you were right after all?"

She placed a hand on one hip with a mild frown. "The ministers don't seem to be so tense, in fact if anything they seem to be inordinately happy these days."

Ratja sighed at that. "They're probably thinking about all the ways they can turn things around for themselves. Master Evan has a good heart, but…" she shook her head, "he's so young." Aranella shut her eyes and hummed in agreement. "Do you worry for him, Nella?"

"Perhaps a little. But he can be very strong when he believes in himself."

"Then I'll lend him my strength if he needs it, and I'm sure Chancellor Mausinger will lend him his as well."

Aranella smiled. "You are kind as always, Ratja. And I'm sure Evan will appreciate your support."

"I hope so. But I also hope he starts to believe in himself as well, because he's going to be under a lot of pressure from now on."

She grimaced. "Yes…"

Suddenly Ratja gripped her arm. "Nella! What's that?"

"What-?" A sound like the crackling of electricity filled the air and all of the hair on her body was standing on end. Ratja being a mouse had dense fur that was bristling already so it was no wonder she had felt it first. They both turned when strange runes began to draw themselves in the air, hanging there for a brief moment before winking away. These runes heralded the arrival of a brilliant ball of light. It pulsed and a figure began to take shape within. "… In the Gods…" Aranella muttered.

The ball of light dissipated, dropping the figure to their knees. The stranger had long dark hair tied into a ponytail and was wearing strange clothes. He clutched his head and groaned. "Wh-? What… happened…?" Roland looked up and froze at the sight of a dagger being pointed at him. It was being held in the hand of a young woman who despite her youth looked very capable of using it as well as very willing. Clinging to her arm was – he couldn't believe his eyes – a mouse? Or at least another young woman that looked like a mouse. They were both wearing the same uniform albeit in different colours and his brain instantly jumped to the label of maidservants. And judging from a quick glance around, he was inside an ornately decorated building with a strong fish motif. His brain thought castle. This had to be some kind of wild dream he was having, or perhaps it was the vivid hallucination of a dying man. Given the circumstances, the latter seemed more likely. As for why, well. He'd been a fantasy nerd in his youth, so perhaps his brain was retreating to a place of comfort in his final moments. "Ow…" He mumbled as he pinched himself. Could you feel pain in a hallucination? What was going on?

"Identify yourself," the woman holding the dagger commanded, drawing him out of his musings.

"I'm, uh… Crane. Roland Crane," he replied as he got to his feet, skipping the title for the moment, after all presidents probably didn't exist in this fantasy land.

"And what manner of spell was that just now, Mr Crane? I've never seen magic of its like before."

"Uuh, sorry. But," he shrugged apologetically, "I don't know anything about any magic." Ratja and Aranella exchanged baffled looks, so he continued. "Look, I don't know how I got here, and… the last thing I remember was..." A brilliant flash of light and a rain of fire. He swallowed a sudden surge of nausea. "Something bad happening. But I… I won't know how bad until I get back. Do you…?" He looked from one to the other. "Do you know where I am?"

Ratja and Aranella exchanged looks again. "This is Ding Dong Dell," Ratja replied.

Ding Dong Where? "I… I see… I must be very far from home then…"

Aranella quirked an eyebrow. "And where is your home, Mr Crane? You have such strange clothes and a strange manner of speaking."

Roland glanced down at his clothes. It was the same outfit he'd put on that morning and was a stark contrast to the medievalesque attire the two maids were wearing. Which was to say nothing of his Usonian accent to an accent that sounded very much like the one spoken in Albion. "Yeah, I… I guess I do… I'm from Usonia. And I really need to get back home."

Ratja and Aranella exchanged looks once again. "Usonia?" They chorused. "I've never heard of such a place," Aranella continued.

"Maybe it's part of that nation across the seas? The one with strange magic." She raised a hand to her chin, trying to recall the name. "Tealeaf? Greenleaf?"

Aranella looked to Roland. "Does that ring any bells, Mr Crane?"

"Uhh…" He shook his head, "Can't say it does. Sorry. And…" He scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, "I can't say Ding Dong Dell rings any bells either."

Aranella's expression became a contemplative frown. "He couldn't possibly…?" The sound of distant screams and the clashing of swords derailed her train of thought and drew alarmed and puzzled gazes from Ratja and Roland. "Drat!" She cursed. "So this was their plan then." She turned to Roland. "Can you fight, Mr Crane?"

"I have some self defence training, it's kind of a necessity in my line of work."

"Can you wield a sword?"

"I've not picked up a sword in a very long time, but I can shoot."

She frowned and spoke more to herself. "I suppose that will have to do. At any rate we don't have time to be standing around." She was about to dash off but Ratja stopped her.

"Nella, wait. What did you mean "this was their plan". This was whose plan?"

"Yeah," said Roland. "It sounds like you knew this was coming."

"I don't have time to explain!" Aranella replied, desperation lacing her tone. "We must get to Evan!" She shot off without giving either a further chance to protest.

They exchanged looks. "I guess we should follow," he said, shrugging. And follow they did.

They caught up to her fighting off a small group of mousekind soldiers. Roland regarded her for a moment, impressed – she was smaller and lighter than the soldiers and was practically dancing around them like a one woman fighting machine – before pulling out his handgun and counting his shots. Only twelve, so he would have to make them count. But then he spotted a sword lying on the floor a short way away from the hand of one of the soldiers Aranella had downed. He picked it up. It felt real and heavy in his hand. Was this all actually happening? Had he really somehow wound up in a strange fantasy land? He didn't have time for further contemplation because one of the soldiers – after muttering aloud, "Who the heck is this guy?" – had shifted his attention onto him and he raised the sword quickly to block the incoming strike. The blow jarred his shoulders but not nearly as painfully as he had been anticipating. And as he blocked the next flurry of strikes, half of him was thanking the gods for muscle memory while the other half was wondering how he was moving so fluidly at nearly fifty years of age. He slipped past the mouse soldier's guard, doubled him over with a sword hilt to the gut, then dropped him with the application of the hilt to the back of his head. The last soldier hit the floor – unconscious or dead, he wasn't sure – and Aranella turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Non-lethal, Mr Crane?"

"Look," he placed a hand on his hip, "I don't know exactly what's going on, so I'm not gonna go around killing anyone unless I have to."

She blinked. "I see." Suddenly another, much larger group of soldiers – all mice of course – burst into the hallway through one of the doors further on, blocking the way ahead. "Blast it!" Aranella cursed more fervently this time. She turned to face them. "Ratja, I'll hold them off. Take Roland and find Evan. And Roland? Gods I hope I can count on you…"

"You can," he replied with a nod.

"But Nella-" Ratja began to object.

"Go!" She commanded, with a gesture for emphasis.

Roland took Ratja by her arm and pulled her away. "Come on, let's go. Show me the way."

"Y-yes… all right." She lead the way through another door. As they ran down corridor after corridor, each looking identical to the last – if not for the occasional corpse of a fallen grimalkin soldier lying here and there – Roland asked. "So who's Evan? Is he Nella's son?"

"Master Evan is the future King of Ding Dong Dell. Aranella is his Governess."

Roland frowned at that. "How old is he?"

"Well… His father, King Leonhard passed away from an illness a month ago… As his only son and heir, that makes Master Evan the next in line to the throne. But he… He's ten…"

"… Oh… I see…" Poor kid, he thought. They continued, narrowly dodging groups of roaming mousekind soldiers – or sometimes groups of mice in combat with grimalkin – along the way.

"This place is like a maze," he commented. "All the corridors look the same."

"Yes, it was built that way to confuse anyone trying to invade the castle."

"I see. I guess it's too bad outside forces aren't the ones attacking right now."

Ratja didn't comment. She was running ahead of him and he nearly plowed into her when she came to abrupt stop and hastily doubled back. "In here! Quickly!" She urged and they ducked into a storage room. She held up a hand indicating they should be very quiet and he nodded. As the sound of booted footsteps passed by the door he looked around. They had ducked into what looked like a small armoury. There were a number of uniforms as well as boots of various sizes, a row of shelves with… small rings on them? What were they for? And a handful of weapon racks with an assortment of weapons on them with a cat paw motif unlike the rat motif his ratslicer had. He glanced down at his clothes. Perhaps he should…? Yes, he decided, he should and hunted through the uniforms until he found a set that was in his size. "Ratja, could you…?"

She blinked. Then. "Oh. Of course." She turned away and he got dressed as quickly as he could. They weren't a perfect fit of course, especially not in comparison to his tailored outfit, but they fit well enough. As he looked around for something to put his clothes away in, Ratja picked something off one of the shelves and held out her hand. "Here. Take this."

In her hand was a small ring. "We've only just met," he joked.

She smiled. "It's an arms band. You can store all of your items and weapons in it."

"That's handy. But how would I get them back out again?"

She looked briefly surprised by the question. "Well uh…" But she wasn't sure how best to explain it, especially while they had more urgent and pressing matters to attend to. "Perhaps it would better to explain later?"

"Yeah… I'll just put my clothes in here for now." He placed the clothes on top of the ring and jumped when they vanished, then he put the ring away in one of the pockets of his greatcoat and finally hooked both sword and gun through his belt. "All right," he said. "This oughta make me less conspicuous while we're running around."

She smiled again. "It suits you."

He gave a lopsided smile in return. "Thanks."

"You should pick up some more weapons while you're here."

He looked at the available selection of weapons. "I'm more of a sword person myself." Then again he now had a place to store them that wouldn't inconvenience him and having a selection of weapons on hand wasn't going to be a disadvantage. "On the other hand…" So he picked up and vanished into his arms band another sword, a spear, a battle axe and a crossbow.

Ratja had peeked her head outside to check the coast was clear while he was occupied, and looked back to say, "I think it's safe to leave now too."

"Let's get going then."

They finally arrived at a set of double doors that, to Roland, didn't look any different to the other sets of double doors they'd already passed. But they were ajar prompting Ratja to gasp Evan's name in horror and barge through them before he could stop her. "Ratja!" He called after her, instinctively throwing out a hand to catch her even though she was well out of arm's reach, but she ignored him forcing him to pursue. He found himself running up a long flight of stairs and was once again thankful for his mysteriously renewed stamina, as if he was twenty years young again. But Ratja was similarly spry, and so by the time he'd caught up they were both standing in Evan's room with the young prince nowhere to be seen. Roland spared a quick glance around.

A large red rug with gold trim covered the floor, and the walls were painted white. Two cat statues carved from white stone and wearing gold collars framed a large window on the far wall. Red curtains with a gold trim hung over the window and red drapes hung from the ceiling. On one side of the room was a fireplace with a mirror set into the wall above it, and a round white and gold table on which stood a tall blue vase bearing a selection of various flowers, with a gold chair with white pillows tucked away underneath it. On the other side was a four poster canopy bed set onto a dais. The canopy bed had teal drapes and curtains that were decorated with a white and gold pattern with a fish motif, and a matching duvet.

Voices drifting up from a hole in the floor right next to the canopy bed drew their attention, and Roland noticed drag marks on the stone indicating that the entire dais had been moved aside to reveal it. They both went to stand over the hole and peered down, but all that could be seen from this angle was a ladder leading down to the stone tiled floor of a passage leading further into the wall.

"I'll go first," he said, before Ratja could think to take a step. He descended the ladder as quickly and quietly as he could and pressed on without waiting for her to catch up. Up ahead, Evan was being held fast in the grip of one mousekind soldier – though he was struggling valiantly to break free – while the other was raising his sword to cut the young boy down. "Dammit!" He cursed and whipped out his pistol. There wasn't time to line up for a non-lethal shot so he took aim, fired and hoped for the best. But Roland's shot was true and the mousekind soldier jerked, mouth hanging open in a wordless scream before slumping lifelessly to the stone floor, sword sliding from his hand. The sound of the gunshot had startled Evan and the other mouse soldier into looking in their direction and Ratja gasped audibly from behind him. "Pippin!"

"Let him go, and you don't have to die," Roland growled, gun pointed at the soldier's head.

"… That was… my brother…" He threw Evan aside, conjured a sword into his hand out of thin air – what the hell? – and charged Roland with a wordless battle cry.

Ratja intercepted him before Roland could react. "Chip, don't!"

"Out of the way, Ratja!"

Roland dodged flailing arms as they struggled and brought the butt of his gun down hard on the back of Chip's neck. Chip's sword clattered to the floor and he wilted into Ratja's arms, his unconscious weight dragging her to the floor with him.

"Oh, Chip…" She sniffled as she cradled him.

"R-Ratja?" Evan was cowering to one side looking nervously from Roland whom he'd never met, to Ratja. And now that the danger had passed, Roland was fully able to take in his appearance. A pair of cat ears poked through Evan's golden hair and – lord help him – was that a cat tail as well? Was this kid part cat or something? But when he looked past all of that he saw a distressed and terrified ten year old boy, and was forcibly reminded of Will. Will. God he hoped he was all right.

Ratja gently lay Chip down before hastily wiping away her tears and standing. She held out her arms. "It's all right now, Master Evan." Evan ran to her and buried his face in her chest. "Everything is going to be all right now," she soothed as she stroked his hair with one hand.

He pulled away. "But what's going on, Ratja?" He glanced down at the two brothers as he asked, "Why did those two soldiers want to hurt me?"

"I…" She swallowed and looked away, "I don't know, Master Evan."

"And where's Nella?" He glanced at Roland, "And who's this?"

"Last we saw of Nella, she was holding off a group of soldiers so Mr Crane and I could get to you."

Evan turned to face Roland. "So… you're Mr Crane?"

"Call me Roland… Your Majesty."

He looked Roland up and down as he said, "You're wearing a guard's uniform but…" he tilted his head, "you have such a strange way of speaking…"

"Yeah, I'll bet," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's just say I'm from somewhere far away."

"I think we can trust him, Master Evan," said Ratja. "He's helped us so far after all."

Evan nodded. "Do you think Nella will be all right, Ratja?"

"I'm sure she will be," Roland replied. "But we should get moving. Someone will be wondering where these two are…" He added, gesturing to the deceased and unconscious mice on the floor.

Ratja's expression became pained and she dropped her gaze to Pippin, now lying in a pool of his own blood, and Chip who had yet to regain consciousness. "Yes…"

"Why did they bring you down here, by the way?" He asked of Evan.

"They-they wanted… they wanted this." Evan showed them the item he had clutched in his hand. It was a green and gold pendant with a cat paw emblazoned on it and little cat ears.

He placed a hand on one hip. "I'm guessing that's important."

"It's the Mark of Kings," Evan explained with a nod. "It's been in my family for generations. It serves as proof of the right to rule and is a key to certain secret places."

"Can we use it to escape?"

He shook his head. "Not… not from here. Once upon a time we would've been able to escape the room via that aqueduct by use of a spell." He pointed to one edge of the room from which the faint sound of running water could be heard. "And that chest was were we could keep things we would need, like weapons and clothes. But unfortunately…" he dropped his gaze, "the spell's been lost for a long time."

Roland folded his arms. That was just their luck. "That is unfortunate. I'm guessing they didn't see that one coming when they built the place."

"No," he agreed. "Nowadays it's mostly used as a place to keep things of great importance."

"And keep things secret." Evan hummed his agreement. "Do you know of somewhere else we can go?"

"Yes," he nodded, "but… not without Nella."

Roland frowned. "Your Majesty… In order to ensure your safety, we may have to leave her behind."

"No!" He ran off in the direction they'd entered. "I'm not leaving without her!"

"Evan!"

"Aranella's been his Governess his whole life," Ratja explained almost apologetically. "She's like… she's like a mother to him."

Roland just sighed and shook his head. "Let's just go after him."

"You on ahead, I'll catch up."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Uh, all right." He was momentarily confused until she went to the chest and he remembered that Evan had explained not a minute before that it contained stuff that he would need. So he went on ahead. When he emerged into Evan's room, he was greatly surprised to find Aranella had already caught up to them. Evan was clinging to her tightly as she gently consoled him. She smiled when they made eye contact. "Roland. Thank you for proving I could count on you."

"Nella!" Ratja exclaimed as she joined them. "You made it! Thank the gods!"

"Yes, and thank you for taking care of Evan when I couldn't, Ratja."

"I'm just glad you're both safe now," she replied.

"Yeah." Then Roland caught sight of himself in the mirror. "What in the-?" He rushed over and began examining his reflection with a mixture of incredulity and disbelief. "What happened to me?" No wonder he'd been moving around with such ease, he was younger by nearly thirty years!

"Is… something the matter?" Aranella asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you."

"I see." She decided to drop the subject and instead turn to Evan. "Evan, there is… there's something I must tell you."

But Roland was stepping forward. "Aranella, wait. We really should get moving first."

"Yes… Yes, you're right." She took Evan's hand. "Let's go." They jogged down the stairs and peered out through the double doors.

"I'll check to see if the way is clear," said Ratja. She stepped out and looked up and down the corridor. "It's clear."

"For now at least," said Roland as they joined her.

"We'll have to move quickly," Aranella agreed.

"Where now?"

"There's a hidden passage that leads to the sewers. It exits a little way past the city gates so if we can get to that we'll be able to escape Ding Dong Dell entirely."

"Is it safe?"

She shook her head. "Not from monsters, but it can only be opened by the Mark of Kings, so only the Royal family knows of it's existence."

"And you of course," he said, gesturing towards her.

"Yes." She turned to Evan. "You do have the Mark of Kings don't you, Evan?"

"I do."

"Thank goodness." She looked ahead to the double doors opposite the set that lead to Evan's room. "That way leads to the throne room. It will probably be crawling with soldiers."

"Wait," said Ratja, raising her fists in hope. "That might be where Chancellor Mausinger is!"

"If he is, then he could help us," said Evan, mirroring her posture. "Or we could help him-"

But Aranella shut them both down. "Chancellor Mausinger is the one leading the coup," she said, her eyes closed in reluctant resignation.

"What?!" They both exclaimed. "But-but he can't be, Nella," Evan continued. "Chancellor Mausinger was my father's most trusted advisor… He… he wouldn't…"

"Not so trusted anymore, it seems," Roland commented.

"There must be some mistake!" Ratja objected.

Aranella shook her head. "There's no mistake, Ratja. You're the one," she gestured towards her, "who noticed that something wasn't right. But I didn't tell you that I did some digging of my own. Up until recently, it seems that Mausinger has been sending out all our best grimalkin soldiers on monster culling missions far from the castle…" She closed her eyes. "Many of those soldiers did not return…"

"That's probably why all the mice were doing so well in all the fighting we saw," Roland remarked.

"Yes," she nodded. "And… with your observation that all of your mousekind friends were getting all wound up over something, that suggested to me that something was going to happen and something bad. But I could not," she shook her head for emphasis, "have known exactly what they were planning or when they were going to pull it off."

"Well you sure do now."

"There's more. I was able to beat out some answers from one of the soldiers that had been attacking me. It turns out…" She swallowed and looked away for a moment to regain her composure. "It turns out King Leonhard didn't die of a rare incurable disease… He was poisoned…"

"Poisoned?!" Ratja and Evan exclaimed in unison.

"It was slipped into his meals a little at a time to make it look like an illness…"

Roland looked grim as he said, "He must've been planning this for some time then…"

"Yes…" She replied reluctantly. "It… looks that way."

"But that can't be," Ratja near sobbed.

"But why, Nella?" Evan asked. "Why is he doing all this? Why did he…?"

A fifth voice joined the conversation, one that made them startle and whip around. "Ratja… Ratja…?" It was Chip. He had recovered consciousness enough to pursue but was still woozy from the blow and was leaning on the door frame, bracing himself with one hand. "How could you… how could you take their side?"

Ratja clutched her hands together as she countered, "How could you do this?"

"We've had enough… of the way things are going. We've had enough… of the way things still are. Lord Mausinger has decided… to take matters into his own hands… and we have chosen… to follow him… Don't you want better… for our people, Ratja?"

Ratja's eyes watered. "I do, Chip, I do." She shook her head, "But not like this."

Chip hung his head in turn. "Then… you leave me no choice…" He began shouting. "HE'S HERE! HE'S HERE! KING EVAN IS HERE! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!"

"Blast it!" Aranella cursed again. Roland drew his pistol and contemplated shooting him to shut him up, but she was already running. "This way!" Besides Chip's shouting had done it's job. He holstered his pistol and followed, bringing up the rear. When he glanced back over his shoulder, mousekind soldiers were pouring in through the door leading to the throne room.

"Lord Mausinger! Lord Mausinger!" Mausinger, Vermine and the Black Knight turned to face the soldier sprinting through the throne room towards them. He paused to catch his breath before continuing, his tone urgent, "The boy, he… he's escaped!"

"What?!" Vermine exclaimed, stepping back and throwing up his hands in shock.

"He was last seen heading for what we believe is one of the escape routes that can only be opened with the Mark of Kings."

Mausinger stroked his goatee. "Then he must have the Mark on him." He smirked. "That is most convenient. For I know exactly where he is headed. Or should I say, I know exactly where we will find him."

"There's more. Rodellia is helping him."

The chuff of metal against metal could be heard as the Black Knight clenched a fist, and the smile vanished off Mausinger's face and he closed his eyes. "… I see… That is… disappointing…"

"What should we do, Lord Mausinger?"

"I shall deal with this personally." He strode down the stairs leading up to the throne and paused once he'd reached the bottom. "Vermine. Matthias. Come. We must pay our respects to King Evan."

"Yes, Lord Mausinger," they chorused and fell in behind.

A/N: Since everyone and their mother does the coup in more or less the same way as the game, I thought I'd shake things up a little. Dropping Roland in front of Ratja and Aranella wasn't intended as a fix-it but boy did it end up working out really well.

That being said there was no reason Evan couldn't have had the Mark of Kings from the beginning. So I fixed that.