Chapter 1: Turning point.
Lyon walked towards the temple, last time he was there was three months ago when he requested father McGregor permission to experiment of the sacred stone of Grado in hopes of finding a cure for his father's disease, father McGregor refused and the conversation quickly devolved into a shouting match, the two men have not been in speaking terms ever since, however, in those three months emperor Vigarde's condition worsened, so Lyon now had no other choice, that to try again to gain control of the sacred stone, this time determined to get it by whatever means he had available.
He entered the temple, followed by his friend Knoll and his personal guards, there were greeted by a young woman with long blonde hair.
"Your majesty, what brings you here?" she asked.
"I need to see father McGregor, it's extremely important" he answered.
"Father McGregor went on a pilgrimage to Rausten a month ago and has yet to return, he put me in charge for the time being, what do you need ?" the priestess said.
"I want you to give me the sacred stone" the prince demanded.
"I'm sorry, but father McGregor ordered that nobody is to have access to the sacred stone, even you" she retorted.
"The stone contains the means to cure my father, I need you to give me the stone" he demanded again frantically.
"I'm sorry, but father McGregor ordered that nobody is to have access to the sacred stone, even you" she retorted again.
"My father, your liege is dying, give me the stone, now!" the prince shouted angrily.
"I'm sorry, but father McGregor ordered that nobody is to have access to the sacred stone, even you" she said again, this time with a hint of fear in her voice.
Lyon lost his patience and pushed the priestess aside, he walked towards the altar and grabbed the stone, he looked at the stone for a couple of seconds and yelled: "This is a fake, where is the real one?"
The woman remained silent.
He then ordered his men: "Search the temple for the sacred stone, leave no stone unturned"
For hours they searched frantically and found nothing.
"Come on, where is it?" he whispered.
Suddenly, a messenger came running and shouted: "Prince Lyon, emperor Vigarde, has passed away".
Lyon fell on his knees after hearing the news, after a few moments, stood up and walked towards the priestess with a vacant expression in his eyes.
"I'm sorry for the grievance I have caused, I'll take my leave" he apologized.
He and his men walked out of the temple and headed for the castle.
...
Later an emergency meeting was called, the ministers, generals and high ranking nobles of Grado where in attendance, the room was filled with whispers and mutterings, prince Lyon entered the room and announced: "Emperor Vigarde has passed way this afternoon, I have called this meeting to decide the course of action from here on out".
General Duessel said: " We must organize a funeral for our liege and the coronation ceremony for prince Lyon"
Knoll replied: "Emperor Vigarde wished to keep his condition in secret out of fear that other nations would perceive it as a sign of weakness, we should keep this as a private affair and limit it to the capital"
For the rest of the evening the nobles discussed the details for the funeral and the ceremony, at the end general Glen stood up and said: "Emperor Vigarde is dead, long live emperor Lyon"
Everyone in the room followed suit and shouted: "Long live emperor Lyon"
The meeting was finished and everyone left for the night, everyone except Lyon and Knoll, Lyon clutched his face and began to cry.
"What am I going to do, Knoll?, What am I going to do?" he wondered. "My father is dead, Grado will be destroyed by a cataclysm in a few years, how am I supposed to handle all this alone" he wept.
"My liege" Knoll answered, while placing his hand on his shoulder "you are not alone, the generals are loyal and will help you to the best of their ability, despite what your father said our allies in Renais will not abandon us, and I will always stay by your side, we shall pull through, Grado will endure this ordeal.
"Thank you, my friend, I depend on you far more than you know" Lyon said as he grabbed his hand and gave him a weak smile.
The doors opened and an old man, dressed in religious attire entered the room, "Prince Lyon, since we failed in our efforts to save the emperor, you know my situation regarding the theocracy of Austen, I have no home to return to, I was wondering, what is going to happen to me now?" he asked.
Lyon smiled and answered "you have served my father well these last months Riev and your efforts are greatly appreciated, I will see that you are re compensated generously, feel free to consider Grado your new home and continue with your research as well.
Riev then said "Heh, heh, heh... you're far too kind my liege and I'm touched by your generosity, thank you"
"You're welcome" answered Lyon.
"I wanted to ask you another thing" Riev said "these last months have been really exhausting, I was wondering I could be allowed to visit Carcino, visit its mountains and relax for some time"
Lyon answered: "Very well, you have my leave"
"Thank you, again, you're really kind my liege" Riev said "Heh, heh, heh... I hope I'll return soon enough to see your coronation"
...
A month had passed, Vigarde's funeral came and went and now was the day of Lyon's coronation, the news of Vigarde's demise were limited to the capital of Grado and a few nearby towns and villages, father McGregor still hadn't returned from his pilgrimage, rumors said that he was seeking refuge in Austen to avoid Lyon's wrath, the prince however held no grudge towards him and, in fact, wanted to apologize for his past behavior.
As the archbishop of Grado was in the middle of crowning of Lyon as the new emperor a figure emerged from the crowd, it was Vigarde, yet something about him was off, his skin was pale, like that of a corpse, his hair was now completely gray, his eyes were sunken.
Lyon stood up, shocked at the sight of his father and gave a tearful smile, but his joy didn't last long.
Vigarde pointed at Lyon and with a hoarse voice he ordered: "guards, arrest prince Lyon, he conspired with other nations to have me killed and seize power for himself"
Lyon just froze in place, not knowing what to do or say, however, before the guards could apprehend Lyon a burst of dark energy knocked back all the guards and suddenly a voice said: "Lyon, come with me"
The voice belonged to Knoll who then alongside a few of Lyon's loyalists tried to help him escape. He grabbed Lyon's hand and fled the castle along the remaining loyalists who managed to avoid capture, they ran west towards the woods.
"This is a conspiracy" Knoll said as they fled "Riev is the leader, he tried to kill me, I barely managed to escape, we must seek refuge in Rena is"
...
A few hours later Vigarde gathered his generals and ministers in the throne room and said: "My loyal servants, today we have managed to avert catastrophe, my son's treasonous plot has been foiled, yet he seems to have escaped west towards Rena is, we must assume that they are involved in the plot as well; general Duesell, Mobilize the troops as soon as possible, and prepare to march to the border"
"It shall be done" Duessel responded.
"General Selena, march east to Johanna and hire as many free companies as you consider necessary to reinforce our troops" Vigarde ordered.
"Yes, my liege" Selena said.
"General Glen, set sail to Carcino and arrange a meeting with councilman Pablo, his help will be instrumental in the upcoming war"
"As you command" answered Glen.
"Very well, you all have your orders, carry them out" Vigarde finished.
Author's notes
This is my first fanfic ever, I'll await your feedback, and I will consider any constructive criticism that you might provide, thank you for reading my work.
I have uploaded this fanfic to my AO3 account "Prince_of_terror" should for whatever reason this story become unavaliable here, try checking on AO3. I will upload the next chapters in the coming days.