I forgot today is Xmas dinner with the family since some family are going on hols, or have their own dinners later, etc. Urp. Going to have to write this one freaking fast!

My Christmas time off begins 22nd December and I'll be back 4th Jan

That means no update after this one for about three weeks. Wishing you all a merry Christmas in the meantime.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 46

It was a sombre procession that made their way back to the ship, then up the coast to the town Neptune had mentioned. Ren and Nora spoke not a word to anyone but each other, and Ren excused himself from any training, which was rare enough given it was the answer to so many of his wishes for revenge and freedom for Mistral. The news, and the mood, had spread to the crew, who moved around as if on eggshells and scanned the horizon for enemy ships. There were none. There never had been any. Not a one galleon had bothered to pursue them since the first he sank off Vale, and now that he considered that it made the lack of any concerted pursuit from Salem and the church even more suspicious.

When the town's walls rose on the shore, everyone moved to the deck, and Jaune rushed up the steps to the helm where Neptune was manning the wheel. There was an excited chatter as sailors pointed to the multitude of ships in the town's harbour and outside it. Small vessels, medium-sized vessels. There were none as large as the Seaspear, but it was unusual all the same.

"I thought you said Mistral under the Schnee didn't have any ships."

"They don't," said Neptune. "There's something off here. I'm hoping it's rebels."

"What if it's the church?"

"Not in ships that small. They like to make a show of their arrival."

Neptune's assumption was all but proven when they drew closer, and the ships made no effort to challenge them. More than that, they had various flags raised, some just colourful mashes of bright bands and others more reminiscent of the old Mistralian flags he'd seen in Kuroyuri. There were people on the walls moving about quickly, and crowds on the stone harbour. The Seaspear was forced to moor off it, and then they crowded onto one of the wooden rowboats to get closer.

It was strange that no one recognised him when he stepped ashore with the others. Ruby, Adam, and Blake he could understand, but Ren and Nora should have been recognisable, and he was fast becoming the same thanks to his actions. He'd have assumed every village and town in Mistral would know his face by now, if only so they could report him to the nearest huntresses.

"What's happening?" asked Neptune, speaking loudly to be heard over the ruckus. He received no answer and grabbed a passing sailor by the harm. "Hey," he repeated. "What's happening here? What's going on?"

"Town was abandoned when we got here," said the sailor. "We're trying to figure out where they've all gone."

"To Mistral, surely," said Jaune. "That's the news we heard. That the Schnee are pulling everyone back to Mistral and purging the villages."

"Yeah, we know that. It's why we came here." The sailor indicated the crowded ships. "But, I mean, everyone is gone. Not just the Corps and the Chosen and the people running this place. Everyone. Men, women, children. The whole town was empty when we arrived."

All of them?

"All of them?" asked Ren, stunned.

It was the question on all their minds. He'd thought the news from the mining village would mean that the Schnee were withdrawing all their people to the capital, not every single person on Mistral. Was the capital city even large enough to take them all? Did it have the supplies? What was the plan here? Why pull every single person away? Willow couldn't believe they'd fight for her.

Neptune had his men split up to search the town for anyone from the Kuroyuri sect while Ren and Nora returned to the ship. Even if he didn't know what to look for, Jaune joined the search party with Ruby and the two of them meandered around the small town, walking between stone and wooden homes that lay barren, and past empty marketplaces and still parks. The tavern and a few homes had been taken over by the rebels, who had their pick of wherever they wanted. Some had even taken over the walls and gatehouse, holding it open, but ready to close and defend if the Schnee mounted a counterattack.

"Do you think this is happening in every other town in Mistral as well?" asked Ruby.

"I don't know. This doesn't add up. It's not a good decision if Willow Schnee wants to win the war."

"What do you mean?"

"Retreating back to Mistral puts her in a siege situation," explained Jaune. "She and her people are going to have to defend the city and the walls while the rebels encircle them and either assault the city or starve them out. The problem is the latter. The time it takes to starve a castle depends on how many people are inside it, which is why you don't want to take too many people in there who can't fight. It's bad enough with the population of the city, but of every town in the country as well? Their stores of food will run out within weeks." He shook his head and continued, "That wouldn't be so bad if it was winter because the rebels might starve too, but it's not winter. It's late spring. There's food aplenty and they can live off the land. This is just a bad tactical decision no matter how you look at it."

Ruby had been silent as he spoke, but touched his arm and asked, "And how do you know all that?"

Jaune looked back. "What? It's obvious."

"Is it? I don't think I knew all that, and I don't see how a hunter's child would either."

He shouldn't. Maybe his father did, as a former mercenary, but he'd never once talked about that life before Jaune's departure. The realisation sent a chill through his body and had him stop in the middle of the road. "I… I don't know how I knew it. It must be Ozma. His memories. I… I'm not sure when I started getting those." Or when the boundary between his memories and the Dark Lord's had begun to slip. It was hard to tell where one started and the other began. "I'm still me," said Jaune, desperately. "I'm still me."

"You are." Ruby gripped his arm tighter. "Maybe it's just knowledge bleeding over. That's not so bad."

Maybe it was. Maybe. He didn't know. There had been genuine frustration in there, as if he couldn't quite accept how stupid Willow's move was here. Her Generals must have been spitting man, but unable – or afraid – to say anything to her. And yet again, he wondered how he knew that or could have any sympathy with a role he'd not once been in.

He had to change the subject.

"I'm not sure we're going to find anything of the Kuroyuri sect…"

Ruby balked. "You think they're all dead?"

"Even if they were on foot, they should have made it here before us. Kuroyuri had to be destroyed days ago by the time we arrived."

"What about those escape routes Nora mentioned?"

"Only useful if they could make it out them and safely to somewhere. If the Corps were already in the process of purging every village in the region, where would they go? The whole area was teeming with Deterrence Corps. I wouldn't be surprised if the fleeing rebels were caught."

He hadn't said it to Ren or Nora, but he was sure everyone was thinking it. They just didn't want to be the first to bring it up. "There's still a chance they're alright," said Jaune, "but every day that goes by without us finding them makes that a whole lot less likely. I also don't think An Ren would sit by and do nothing if villages were being massacred. I think they'd be drawn into a fight."

"You know them better than I did," muttered Ruby, biting her lip. "I never met her."

"I didn't know her that well. It's just…" More context from Ozma, without words. Jaune winced but continued either way. "The whole basis on which a group like hers operates is dependent on convincing people they will fight against the Schnee's oppressive tactics. An would be forced to intervene because the sect would lose all credibility if they didn't, and then it would fall apart as people start to think fighting the Schnee is hopeless." He winced. "And no, she didn't tell me that. It's more stuff I shouldn't know."

"Then what can be done?"

"I don't know."

They could use the Relic of Knowledge and ask it if An Ren was alive, but that would require taking it off Adam and Blake or convincing them to lose a question. They'd never agree. Plus, it would be a complete waste if Jinn said she was dead. Or if they could have found her another way.

"I guess we'll wait and see what is decided here," said Jaune. "Let's go back and see what the others have found."

/-/

It turned out that while the others hadn't found An or her group, they hadn't been idle either. The rebels who had come to the town had decided to call a gathering, free for all to attend, to discuss what was going on and pool knowledge. Jaune and the others attended, everyone crowded shoulder to shoulder in the open market as several people stood on raised wooden wagons, balancing on the back to use them as stages. There were no instructions and no wasting of time; they got right into the matter of the missing citizens.

"-and not only are they missing, but the storehouses are untouched," said a muscular woman on the back of a cart. "They've taken some food, but they left the rest behind."

"Maybe they took what they could carry," said someone in the crowd.

"No." Jaune surprised himself by speaking out loudly. "She means they should have burned the storehouses down." There were murmurs and gasps, but the woman looked relieved and favoured Jaune with a pointed finger and a nod.

"He has the right of it. They must know we'll follow them to Mistral, so why bother leaving us all this food to keep us going? It'd have been the work of ten minutes to start a fire and leave it going but they didn't even try. The goods are still sealed in barrels and sacks, and there hasn't even been enough time for rats to go at them. What's more, they've left tools and even weapons behind. That just doesn't make sense."

"Is it a trap, you think?" asked someone.

"We considered that," said a different man up front. He was older and wore a robe that covered him to his shoes. "We've tested the food for poisons and haven't seen anything. Furthermore, the buildings haven't been tampered with to make them a risk of collapse, and every building has been searched now so we know there isn't an army waiting in ambush."

"The town is well and truly abandoned," said the woman. "The Schnee have pulled out. Only question is, why are they taking the citizens with them? The capital isn't big enough to house everyone. Not if they've repeated this across other towns as well."

"What do we do then?" shouted a voice in the crowd.

Jaune answered again, "We move on Mistral."

The immediate response of shouting, complaints and calls of madness swallowed his words, and those on the raised platforms tried to shout for calm before one of them gave up and slammed a mallet down, cracking it and causing the sound to ring out.

"Enough!" he shouted. "Enough! We do have to move on Mistral – he isn't wrong – but it's to find out what is happening. I expect every sect and cell in Mistral is facing the exact same questions we are now, and they'll be coming to the same answers. If the Schnee are taking everyone to Mistral, then we need to follow and figure out why."

"We'll move as one," said the woman. "Together. And we'll band with every other host we come across. This isn't suicide," she stressed. "If we lack the numbers then we will back away, but we can't mill around here if they have some plan in place. If they're trying to hold out for reinforcements from Vale and Atlas then this may well be our last and only chance to deal with them. With every village being purged and families slaughtered, you all know full well we won't be spared if we're caught. It's now or never."

Jaune had hoped for more enthusiasm, but he supposed that was unrealistic. Everyone was on edge. As the crowd dispersed back to their ships to pass on the messages, Neptune caught his arm.

"Why didn't you reveal yourself? You could have rounded them all up and united them if you had."

"Would that be a good thing? An Ren hated the idea."

"An Ren is dead. Or likely dead. And it'd be better than this disorganised rabble. Look," said the pirate captain, "not everyone in Mistral thinks of you as she and those in the Kuroyuri sect did. The older people might remember how you let them down, but the younger know only that you tried your best and failed. They'll see this as you coming back to finish what you couldn't last time. It'd be a good thing."

"You do realise I am only doing this because of an agreement, right? I don't have any claim here."

"That's bullshit and you know it. Are you telling me after all you've seen and all you've done that you're not at least a little invested in this?" He drew Jaune away from the mob. "You've seen families killed and children orphaned. Tell me that means nothing to you."

"It doesn't mean nothing. I'm just…" He looked back. "This isn't supposed to be my fight. I can't help but think I've made things worse, too. All this has to be because I'm here. Willow never caved to the rebellion before, but now she's committing mass slaughter across the countryside because I've put her on edge."

He wouldn't accept this as his fault because he hadn't wanted to be involved in this. If anything, it was An Ren's fault. He didn't believe that, either. Blaming people for wanting better was ridiculous, and the actions of another were their own choices. No one should be held responsible for what the Schnee did or didn't do. On the same hand, even if he didn't take the blame, he had to accept his involvement had exacerbated things.

Anything less was naive.

/-/

Sailing in an armada was a new experience for sure, but they couldn't reach the city along the coast and had to abandon their ships at some point, moving instead to a long column winding its way down the to-narrow roads. They were joined here and there by others who had the same idea, and at one point they merged with another force some few thousand strong, doubling their numbers.

Ren was excited about it all and kept talking about how it was "finally happening". That seemed to be the general sentiment among many, who sang and cheered and chanted old songs and quotes from Mistral's past. When they camped, it was in grand circles with hundreds of campfires burning like little stars. The leaders would gather, and time and time again Neptune would look to him and silently ask if he was going to reveal himself.

Jaune kept his head down and his cowl up to hide his hair.

When they drew close to Mistral, the cheer evaporated. They crossed over a hill and the head of the column came to a halt. Instantly, a wail rose, loud and wild and frantic. The panic spread, and people rushed forward as those at the front fell to their knees. There was screaming, crying, pointing, and shouting. Jaune shouldered his way through the mass with Ruby at his side but froze when he reached the front.

"What is it?" demanded Ren, hanging onto Nora's arm. "What is it? I can't see!"

Nora's voice cracked. "It's a field of people…"

They had been planted like crops, or more specifically like trees. Hundreds – no, thousands – of people hung suspended on wooden poles with their faces swollen blue and their necks clasped in tight rope. They were a few kilometres from Mistral, and the farmland from where they stood all the way to the walls in the distance was dotted with corpses. They'd found the people taken from their homes. Some of them, at least.

"Why?" asked Ruby, eyes wet. "Why? What's the point?"

"Riders!" shouted someone.

There were three horses approaching, but more than three people on them. The lead rider had two others on his horse – children, by the looks of things. One before them and one behind with arms wrapped about their waist. The rebel at the head of the column waved down the few weapons that were raised.

"Corps!" spat someone, noting the two men riding with the leader. "Kill them!"

"Let's see what they have to say," said the leader, physically holding the man's spear downward. "Even if it's a waste of time, we're better than them. We'll listen."

The riders came to a stop about twenty feet away and then dismounted. The two Corps members stood back as the cowled leader strode forward, a hand on the backs of the two children. He, or she, was short. Only a little over five feet. They stopped a safe distance away and raised their voice.

"I have a message for the Dark Lord."

There was silence for a moment, shock most likely, and then laughter. It died all too quickly as they were reminded of the bodies, but the man who had put himself in charge answered for them. "There's no Dark Lord here. Is that what the Schnee are claiming? We finally push them back, and the only way it could happen would be at someone else's hand. You can talk to me."

"I'm afraid my message is for the Dark Lord. And I know he is here."

Neptune's elbow was almost digging under Jaune's ribs. He sighed, disengaged himself from the man and Ruby, and marched his way out past the rebel leader, who was at that moment about to reply in the negative. Jaune locked eyes on the newcomer and drew his hood back to reveal his blonde hair and blue eyes. "I am the Dark Lord."

"What!?" The leader rounded on him, snarled, and reached for his shoulder. "Enough with the games-" His words cut off as Jaune's left arm rose, and a ball of orange light danced above his palm. "Goddess!" whispered the man, and those around him. "He's here. He… Goddess protect us."

The rider with the children laughed weakly. "I knew you would be here." He brought his hands up to his hood and drew it back. Pale skin, icy blue eyes, short, cropped hair. "I am Whitley Schnee, son of Jacques and Willow Schnee. And I have come to-"

"SCHNEE!" roared a man, raising his bow. "KILL HIM!"

The boy tensed, but Jaune swiped his hand out and buffeted the few arrows, bolts and even a thrown spear away. The powerful blast of wind carried them far into the distance and sent the people who had lunged forward back onto their rears. Just to be sure, he traced a thin line of fire like a wall between the army and the Schnee, a clear warning of a line not to cross.

"Down, you fools!" howled the leader. "Do you want to get us killed? And the Schnee has children as hostages. Down!"

Jaune kept his eyes ahead.

Whitley Schnee laughed awkwardly. "You're as terrifying as the stories make you seem."

That annoyed him more than he cared to admit. He didn't think he was intimidating.

"And they're not hostages. These were the only ones I could save." He ushered the children forward. "Go on. They will keep you safe."

The children balked at being pushed forward, turned, and hid behind the Schnee's legs, gripping at his knees desperately. They were afraid. Of him, or of the mob, Jaune wasn't sure. He hoped it was the latter, but any goddess-fearing person would have been taught he was the devil incarnate. It was just as likely he was scaring them.

"You said you had a message," said Jaune. "From Willow?"

"I do not speak for my mother. No one does. Not anymore. I come from myself and my sister." He gently pried the children off his legs, then lowered himself onto one knee. The two Corps members flanking him did the same, and a shocked murmur ran through the crowd. "Dark Lord, I beg of thee to kill my mother, release my sister, and let us leave these lands."

Jaune was stunned.

"Spare you, you mean?" shouted the rebel leader. "We'd be fine with that if Willow surrendered, and you two agreed to leave Mistral forever."

"As I said, I do not speak for my mother." Whitley kept his eyes on Jaune but spoke loudly to everyone. "And she has gone mad. That will be clear to you once you draw close to the walls. She will demand you surrender yourselves to death, or every hour one thousand people will be pushed from the walls to their deaths. This," he said, gesturing to the field of corpses, "was meant as a message to you of how serious she is."

Goddess. Jaune felt his entire body shake. It wasn't his fault, and yet, so many-? How could he face that prospect? The army was thinking the same, shaken to their core and with many no doubt wondering if they should fight at all if it was going to prompt such a slaughter.

"What will happen if we surrender?" asked Jaune.

"It will be no different. That is why you must not. Willow has… She has lost her mind. She's convinced herself that the reason Mistralians rebel is not because of her – our actions," he admitted, "but because of some taint or infection of their blood. Tainted by the Dark Lord, she calls it. Her belief is that the only way to keep Mistral pure and in service to the Goddess is to purge that infection by killing each person born of Mistral blood."

"Madness!"

"That's insane!"

"And I do mean everyone," said Whitley, stressing that. "Your deaths won't stop her killing every man, woman, and child on Mistral. It's already begun."

"There's no way the Goddess would want this," said Jaune.

"I agree. My sister felt the same way and challenged mother, and now awaits execution for blasphemy. I would have been taken myself but for members of the Corps more loyal to my sister and I than mother, who smuggled me out. The other Chosen saw fit to take issue with this also, and they have been rounded up and killed. The Church clergy of Mistral as well."

"That's against the Goddess' own law!" shouted a voice in the crowd. "Even a king cannot overrule a Chosen, let alone harm them!"

"Mother sees herself as beyond kings and queens. She has convinced herself that since she was chosen for this role by Salem, that any action she takes is blessed by her. Willow sees herself as a prophet of the Goddess and accuses the Chosen and clergy of working with you." He pointed to Jaune. "On account of their failure to capture you."

Equating failure with guilt. The Chosen had tried to find him, and they'd had to cover a whole country while he ran up and down the coastlines. Most of them wouldn't have even been anywhere near him, let alone had the chance to face him. To say they were all complicit just because they weren't bringing in results was ridiculous. It was crazy.

"She's lost her mind," said Jaune. "Hasn't she?"

"Completely and utterly. Willow is convinced this is a test of her character sent by the Goddess, and that she alone understands what the Goddess wishes. Anyone who disagrees with her, even on something small, even by showing the slightest hesitation in slitting the throat of a child, is considered a blasphemer. The punishment for which is death." Whitley closed his eyes and lowered his head. "These two were the only ones I was able to save. Two among almost half a million people living within those walls currently. They are crowded shoulder to shoulder, starving and afraid, and they do not yet know that Willow intends for them all to die."

The army stood silent. Horrified.

"So," said Whitley. "I ask of you again. Take the battle to Mistral, defy her demands, breach the walls, and put those who would defy you to the sword. Kill Willow, save my sister, and I will offer whatever I can. My life, my service, or even my pleas to the Goddess that mother had gone mad, and that Mistral should stay in the hands of its own people. I will do anything."

Okay, got this finished basically 30 minutes before I'm expected to be there. Off to drive now! Merry xmas to everyone.

Next Chapter: 8th January

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