28 A Coup of Convenience

The shutter of a small window, barely eighteen inches square, opened in the loft of the warehouse and Joric peered out onto the scene of chaos below. Soldiers and dock workers continued to run away from the carnage as fast as they could manage, but it was only a matter of time before they regrouped and returned to fight the fires... and then they would find him. Joric fumed in frustration as he removed his jacket and discarded it so no one would see the emblem of the Royal House of Elydonia emblazoned on it. If only there was a boat nearby that was small enough for one man to sail, but there was none that he could see, and fleeing deeper into New Loran seemed like a foolhardy errand.

"Of all the hopeless situations..." he began to say to himself when his luck suddenly changed dramatically.

Down among the crowd of fleeing people, Joric saw a man who was also headed for the warehouse; his clothes were badly burned his hair was half singed off leaving his head badly scared. Joric closed the shutter and hurried down to hide behind the huge sliding wooden door in wait for the man as he approached. He held his breath when a shadow appeared in the doorway, then he sprung into action.

"AARGH OOFF!" the man cried in pain as Joric grabbed the front of his robes and spun him around; slamming him against the back of the door.

"Hello Scias; it's good to see you again."

"J-J-J- Joric... how did you..."

"Never mind all that for now; you my friend... are my way out of here" the King grinned.

"I seriously doubt that" Borges declared as he entered the warehouse; dagger in hand.

"BACK OFF... or Scias dies" Joric pulled the Emperor away from the door while holding the gold hilted sword to his neck.

"Oh... I don't think so" Borges stepped forward.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING BORGES" the Emperor cried "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

"No he won't Majesty; Joric knows that if he harms you in any way, I would kill him on the spot; and when I throw my dagger, I'm very... accurate."

"Then what do you suggest I do Borges?" Joric asked sarcastically as he continued to back away.

"Release the Emperor and run" came the simple reply.

"And you expect me to believe that you will just let me go?"

"Oh no Joric... but consider this; if the Emperor dies, then you die. But if you release him and run... well... who knows how far you may get in all this confusion; you may even get away completely."

"But if I don't, you'll still kill me."

"True, but it will be quick and maybe... just maybe... you might make it."

"ALRIGHT" Joric snorted "MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR."

Joric dragged the Emperor around in a large arc back to the doorway while Borges just turned on the spot and kept facing them. When he finally reached the opening, Joric removed the blade from Scias's neck and pushed the Emperor towards Borges before running. The Emperor assumed he was safe at last as he fell towards his adviser, until he saw Borges smiling face as he raised his dagger.

"Don't worry Majesty; I've got you" Borges voice dripped with malice as the blade was twisted into the Emperor's gut "and I will make sure the Elydonians reap the reward of what they have done to you."

Scias fell to the ground twitching in his death throws, until he at last expired.

"Maybe I'll send them some flowers" the new Emperor thought "in appreciation for their service."

The farm was the perfect place to take the dragons; an expansive area not too far from the capital, but still a long way off the main road so it was doubtful they would be seen. Astrid directed everyone to land down on the northern side of the old barn but as she flew in, she noticed something was slightly out of the ordinary. Guiding Stormfly closer to the remains of the house, she dropped to the ground and rolled before her dragon had even landed. Astrid crouched and tensed herself as she reached back for her axe, but then she just stopped, stood to her full height and smiled.

"You know how much that annoys me, don't you?" a voice drifted out from the rubble that was once a farmhouse.

"Sorry to upset you Darius" she smirked.

"Oh stop patronising me" he huffed as he climbed out of his hiding place "I am happy to see you though."

"You won't be when you hear what I've got to tell you" she sighed "Darius... I'm sorry but... Fotherington has been killed."

"What?" his voice was nothing more than a whisper and his legs gave way from under him "no... ... ... how?"

"He was posing as an imperial sailor on the ship my friends and I were captive on" she informed him as some of the others gathered around "When the Dragon Riders came to rescue us, the order was given to put us all to death..."

"Yes... the Imperials like to do that" Darius noted "it stops you from joining the fight... and spoils the rescue for the attackers."

"He was killed protecting us from the man sent to carry out the execution" Astrid sat with Darius as she continued "and he succeeded too; he saved my life and the lives of my friends."

"A hero's death" Darius noted; a tear running down his face "such a rare occurrence... for a spy."

"Astrid... is this the man you and Hiccup told us stories about last winter?" Kara asked.

"Yes; this is Darius Gershwin."

"And... and he was on the ship with you too?"

"He was on the Pigg" she corrected "he raised the alarm on that ship when the Imperial fleet first attacked.

"VICTOR" Darius suddenly realised "WHERE'S VICTOR?"

"Victor's fine sir" Starkard informed him "I got him off the ship myself before it blew up; he's with Hiccup now."

"With Hiccup? Good; he's safe then" Darius was relieved "Wait a minute... the ship blew up?"

"We'll tell you about it later" Astrid smiled as she stood up "We've got to rescue some very important people from the dungeons of the Imperial Palace."

"Also... I have the body of your friend... he's on my dragon" Starkard added.

"You brought him back?" Darius was touched "Thank you... thank you for not leaving him behind."

Astrid started back to address the Dragon Riders but as she looked out into the small crowd, she saw a familiar face that should not have been there and next to him, was a young lady on a dragon."

"AGNAR!" Astrid yelled "You and Freya were supposed to stay on that island until we got back; Hiccup's orders were clear."

"Yes... I know" Agnar tried to explain "but she was bored, I was bored... hell, even the dragons were bored so we... decided to watch the battle."

"We did stay well out of the way" Freya noted.

"You keep quite" Astrid pointed at the young girl still sitting on her Nadder "you're gonna be in BIG trouble when Hiccup gets back. Oh... don't look at me like that."

"I'm sorry Astrid" Freya lower lip protruded as it wobbled "I didn't mean to make you angry."

"Ohhh" Astrid whimpered and held out her arms "come here then."

Freya dropped down from Swiftwings back and threw herself into Astrid arms.

"Awwwww" the Vikings all sighed as the two hugged.

Hiccup and Victor chose that very moment to return from their short recon of the city; he slid off his saddle, walked over to Astrid and slipped his arm around her waist.

"Hello Freya" he smiled "did you see much of the battle?"

"HELLO FREYA?" Astrid pushed him away "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT TO SAY?"

"I... wha... huh?" was all he could think of as the love of his life stormed off.

"What just happened?" he asked confused.

"I think Astrid assumed that you would be much angrier at me and Freya than you turned out to be" Agnar informed him "she certainly was."

"Angry?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Dunno."

"Well... since you're here Agnar, see to any wounds and then check the dragons too."

"I'm on it" Agnar nodded then left.

"Umm... Starkard" Hiccup tried not to look too distracted "get Kara and Ack; Victor can fill you in on what we found. I'm just going to... umm... have a little chat with Astrid... for a minute... I hope... oh... hi Darius."

Hiccup found her sitting on an old bench on the far side of the burned out farmhouse; he approached her slowly, but made a little noise so as not to catch her off guard.

"Umm..." he began.

"I'm sorry Hiccup" she said softly "you just... surprised me that's all; I didn't think you'd be so... cool about them disobeying your orders."

"I just wanted to make sure Freya was safe during the battle; I knew that if I told her to just watch, she'd be tempted to get involved so I figured..."

"Tell her to stay behind... and then she'd only disobey you to the point you wanted" Astrid realised "Clever."

"I thought so" Hiccup said smugly "the thing I don't understand is..."

"Why I got so upset?"

"Exactly; what's wrong?"

"It's been in the back of my mind ever since we got captured... and I guess it's just been festering inside my soul while I was sitting in that dragon pen day after day with Ruff and Legs."

"What has?" he sat down and took her hand.

"We lost Fjori, Grison and Halfig in the initial attack... not to mention some of Jorics men... and I don't even know who... or how many of them died."

"Well that's not your fault" Hiccup pointed out.

"I know" she squeezed his hand "but what if Little Freya..."

"Well it would have been tragic, but it still would not have been your fault..."

"But it would have been" she interrupted "It was me who put the idea into Big Freya's head; 'Why not take your daughter' I said. 'It'll be fun and a good learning experience' I said. And I even helped her talk your father into letting her go... so if she'd been hurt... or killed..."

"It would have been tragic... but not your..."

"YES IT WOULD HAVE!" she punched his arm "It would have been so my fault."

"Astrid... listen" Hiccup said sternly as he rubbed his arm "this was the perfect trip to take Little Freya on her first long distance flight; surrounded by her tribe, going to a country full of friends, it's not your fault things went wrong. My Dad is probably asking himself what he could have done better, Joric will be wishing he sailed more to the north, Sigrid will be thinking it was a mistake to not let Dad just sail off home instead of taking her little holiday at sea... no one is going to blame you."

"I blame myself though" she sighed.

"Astrid... I know you like to rib Snotlout about how you will be second in line to be chief when we're married and he will slip down to fourth..."

"OH NO" she stood up "Yes it's true I like messing with Snotlout, but don't make me think about being chief... especially not now."

"Calm down Astrid... don't you remember how you helped me when I felt this way after Ivar's death? Well it's just like you've told me many times; you're not alone... and you never will be. That's why I wasn't too angry with Agnar and Freya. Yes I was still a little miffed that they disobeyed... but you helped me long ago to see that I can trust them... and I trust you too."

"As Snotlout is fond of saying..." Astrid said as she picked Hiccup up by the collar and kissed him "I hate it when you're right."

The robes of the Imperial Ruler were somewhat singed and tattered, but it was not their condition that surprised the soldiers; it was who wore them.

"DID ANY OF YOU SEE THE MAN WHO JUST CAME RUNNING OUT OF HERE?" Borges called out.

Several of the men just looked at each other in confusion, but a few acknowledged having seen him.

"That was the prisoner; King Joric the Fifth of Bolthorn... and he has just murdered our beloved Emperor."

The entire group cried out in indignation; they shouted for revenge and they shouted for Jorics blood.

"WAIT!" Borges cried and all fell silent till the only sound, was the roar of the burning ships.

"Before he died in my arms, His Imperial Highness told me what I should do. He said to let that coward go; let him think he has gotten away with his crime. Then he named me as his successor and said 'Build up the Empire and make it strong... then... make all of Elydonia pay for the crimes of their King'... and I intend to bring Emperor Scias's last words to pass."

The new Emperor stood among the destruction and revelled in the accolades of his people as they chanted his name. His short speech had worked perfectly and so, with a little polish, he would give it again back at the capital the next day.

Scias and Karoc were dead and the entire empire was now his; life was good.

I usually right between one hundred and three hundred words per day on average, but something happened on Sunday May 17th 2015; I finished off the last five hundred words of chapter 27 and wrote this entire chapter (with rewrites) in one day.

Man... my butt is sore.