Note of the 10th Generation - well, yes unfortunately Red needs to be sacrificed. Once more, thanks for reviewing - I'll try to get this done in two or three more chapters :)

Lance swept away the piles of paperwork, picking up his cloak and sweeping out of the door. Finish the damn thing later. He was still suspicious of Shadow's slipping in this morning, offloading this lot of 'urgent' stuff, then disappearing. What was she was up to?

Mounting his horse, he briskly trotted his way through the cobblestone streets, heading towards Red's residence. The morning sun shone brightly in the sky, shedding warm rays of a city beginning to wake up.

"Where is the king?" the redhead questioned a servant at the gate.

The guard raised his head in surprise. "'E's gone, sir. Left earlier on wi' another gentleman."

Lance started in surprise. "Who?"

"Another redhead like you, sir. What's-his-name - Silver, was it?"

"Silver? What the - " Lance turned his horse around sharply, speeding in the direction of the Senate. Silver had fetched Red? Why? What for? What was Silver up to? What were they planning? There was that uneasy creeping feeling seeping into him that he wanted to ignore...

Despite it still being relatively early in the morning, and it being an ordinary morning when nothing important was going on, the outer chambers of the Senate were bustling. Lance hurriedly dismounted and swept past these politicians - most of them fat beleaguered old fools or young upstarts - making a beeline for the inner chamber. The doors had been shut tightly. Locked? No, thank God.

He threw them open as someone on the inside yelled, "Liberty! Democracy! The tyrant is gone!"

The sight that greeted his eyes was one he would never forget.

Surrounded by senators - mild, harmless creatures they had seemed, only a day ago - the white marble of the Senate floor glistened wet and red.

Blood. Lots of blood.

And in the middle of it lay Red.

Dead.

A lesser person might have fallen to their knees in silent shock. A lesser person might have backed away, horrified, and called for help. A lesser person might have rushed over to take a look at their fallen sovereign, gently picking him up and despairing.

Lance did none of these. Instead, he calmly lifted his eyes to look at the perpetrators. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen."

His impassive tone chilled the veins of some of those under his gaze. Winona turned away slightly, wondering how someone could act so unfeeling. Steven stepped forward and bowed deeply, saying, "Lance, please do not misunderstand our motives. This is not for personal gain; rather, for the people. For the people's sake, for democracy, we could not allow a dictator or tyrant to rule."

"I see." Lance's sharp amber eyes gave nothing away. No anger, no sorrow, nothing human.

The room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Beyond that, in the outer chamber, was chaos, screaming, shouting, running, calling for help, yelling, panicking and terrified squealing, the typical behaviour of frightened politicians. Gold, who had been preoccupied with talking to Emerald, took one look of the bloodied corpse and ran. All the good men and women - all those who had sworn absolute loyalty, only a few days ago, to their king - emptied the Senate.

Stiffly, Lance turned around and said, "Go. Please."

"You let them go?" Cynthia exclaimed, pacing furiously. "How could you let them go? They should have been arrested, tried and executed! They should have been!"

Lance narrowed his eyes. Little upstart. He did not enjoy being reminded of the day's events, especially not during the evening, when the shock and headache were finally setting in. "It's not that easy. First, they had all means of committing bloody murder on a number of people. Could I have just physically hauled over ten people into court?"

"You could have called for the army. It's treason, they would definitely have caught the murderers."

"As if I could have! It was utter chaos," the redhead snorted. "Useless lot, those politicians. Besides, the killers aren't going anywhere."

"You don't think they'll flee - " the third person in the room began.

"Don't be daft, Green. In any and all possibility, they'll try to seize power. Which means they'll stay where they are," Cynthia responded. The youngest of the trio sat down heavily in a nearby chair, running her fingers through her tousled blonde tresses. "At least we know who they are, and we've got them dead cold for treason and murder."

"We'll have to act swiftly," Lance murmured. "If only we knew for sure what they were planning. You do realise the crowds are furious - a good thing for us, mind you - so furious that they nearly murdered some innocent sod who happened to have the same name as one of the conspirators."

"At least that'll ensure they never get to rule," Cynthia said.

Lance nodded. "And we'll have to get our hands on Red's will. Somehow. Green, can you please go to his palace to fetch it?"

The brunette hesitated for a moment, then bowed and left. Cynthia watched him leave with a sly smile. "Don't pretend," she said, as soon as Green had exited. "You got rid of him deliberately."

"Maybe I did," the redhead replied noncommittally.

The blonde shook her head in response. "Ambitious, as always. Perhaps he's not fit to share power, from your perspective. But he's a tried and capable soldier."

"So is my horse."

Cynthia merely smiled. There was something - some sort of quality - about her that Lance did not like and did not trust. A kind of hunger, a kind of raw ambition. Power-hungry girl. He'd have to deal with her later on. For now, they needed to rely on one another to achieve their ultimate goal.

Lance rose from his seat. "Send a message to all generals to be prepared. We'll nail them as soon as dawn comes. If you want to find me later, I will be in my chambers."

Cynthia revealed another of her unpleasant sardonic smiles. "Efficient as ever, aren't you? With you handling this, I would have committed suicide if I were them."