This one took me a while to write due to its complexity. I'm sure some of you are gonna raise an eyebrow.
Chapter 8 – Absolute Control (Ethereal Moon)
Ladislava had a hard time finding any of the remaining Loyalist agents in the confusion that gripped Fhirdiad. The rioters were fleeing through the streets and alleys as the guards hunted them down. The Wyvern Knight knew she had to work fast before the guards killed everyone involved in the attack.
Looking down at an alley from above, Ladislava spotted a Loyalist as he tried to catch his breath. She steered Fenix to fly over the alleyway and then leapt from his saddle, landing before the Loyalist as he let out a startled yelp. As he drew his blade, Ladislava was upon him in an instant, striking the weapon from the man's grip and then kicking him in the gut, sending him to the ground as he clutched his stomach.
Amid his gasps of pain, the Loyalist held a terrified hand up toward Ladislava and said, "N-No more! I yield! I yield!"
"A wise decision," said Ladislava. "You're going to tell us everything you know about your compatriots in this uprising."
The Loyalist struggled to give a coherent reply in his panic. But as Ladislava was about to pull him to his feet, an arrow streaked past her hand and embedded itself into the Loyalist's head, right between his eyes. He jolted for a second and then slumped over to Ladislava's shock.
Ladislava whipped around, knowing who had fired such a precise shot, and said angrily, "What are you doing, Mateus?!"
Valeska stood at the entrance to the alley as she said smugly, "What you should have been doing, Ladislava."
"I was going to interrogate him! I can't get any information if he's dead!"
"There's nothing he could've told us that we wouldn't already know.
Ladislava stopped at this, realizing the implication Valeska was making.
Glaring at her, she hissed, "You knew this attack was coming."
"What if we did?" Valeska said smugly. "If you've got a problem with it, take it up with the duchess. Though I suspect Her Majesty is already having a word with her at this moment…"
Ladislava snarled and then turned her gaze back toward the royal palace, wondering what Edelgard had to say to Cornelia.
…
As Cornelia had anticipated, Edelgard was not at all pleased as she listened to the duchess within her royal chamber, with Rissa standing outside and Hubert with them in the room.
"Edelgard, my dear, I am so sorry about all of this," Cornelia said sweetly. "To think that Loyalist assassins could make it so close to you on my watch, hidden among the servants and guards, no less! And for their agents to stage an uprising here in Fhirdiad! Clearly, the boar prince will stop at nothing to see your demise."
Edelgard was about to reply to Cornelia's theatrics when the door swung open as Rissa said, "Hey! What are you two–"
Edelgard and Hubert whipped around defensively, but eased themselves as they saw Salia and Setiawati, two faces they could trust.
"Maharani, you are unhurt!" said Setiawati. She then whispered a prayer in Brigidese, one Edelgard assumed was to her people's patron spirits.
"Rissa, did I not state clearly that no one was to get into this room?!" Cornelia snapped crossly at the grey-haired attendant.
Rissa pointed at Salia as she stammered, "I'm sorry, my lady, but this one just–"
"You have nothing to worry about, Cornelia," said Edelgard. "These two are ranking members of my Black Eagle Strike Force. They can be trusted."
"Commander Ladislava sent us to check on you, Your Majesty," said Salia as she stood at attention. "She's busy chasing down the remnants of the rioters."
"Well, you can clearly see that Her Majesty is unharmed, can you?" said Cornelia. She then strode toward Salia as she said, "But you are interrupting a private discussion between Her Majesty and I…"
As steely as Salia was, she could not help but shed a cold sweat as Cornelia glared at her, despite the duchess's congenial smile.
Cornelia then turned and said, "Hubert, dear boy, could you be so kind as to escort your elites back outside so they can get back to their job?"
"I do not take orders from you, Duchess Cornelia," Hubert said coldly.
"Hubert," Edelgard interrupted, prompting her majordomo to turn to her. Edelgard's expression was all he needed to see.
"As you wish, Your Majesty. Salia, Setia."
Cornelia and Edelgard watched as everyone else in the room followed Hubert out while Rissa shut the door behind them. Now only the emperor and the duchess remained together.
"My, my, it certainly is difficult to get some alone time these days, isn't it, El?" said Cornelia. "If it's not having non-stop appointments with ministers, it's–"
"Cornelia," Edelgard interrupted sternly. She waited a moment for the duchess's silence before she said, "Do not take me for a fool. I know you were aware of those assassins. You allowed them to get that close. I'd have to be blind not to see how quickly you, your guard captain, and your main attendant responded to the threat. And I assume you must have also known about the rioters' plan to attack the palace."
Cornelia paused for a moment, allowing Edelgard to finish her piece before she said with a sinister smile, "Very good, El. But is there a reason you wished to point all this out?"
"I want to know what kind of game you're playing here, Cornelia. You welcome me into your city only to allow Dimitri's lackeys a chance to assassinate me?"
Cornelia had to chuckle for a moment. She then said, "Are you suggesting I intended to let them harm you? Nothing could be further from the truth. But since you asked why I allowed them to get so close… it was to show you the extent of my control."
"Speak plainly, Cornelia. I have little patience for your kind's riddles."
"You could say I made them… act out of turn."
"What did I just tell you?"
"Oh, my apologies. My dear, I want to show you something."
Cornelia stepped over toward a closet at this moment and opened it. To Edelgard's surprise, there was a man inside, dressed in the light armor of a Loyalist agent. He was unconscious, but unbound, and a small sword was next to him.
"This man is the leader of the assassins sent after your life, Edelgard," said Cornelia. "Let's see what he has to say."
Cornelia waved her hand at this time, undoing a spell she had cast upon the Loyalist. Within seconds, the man woke up abruptly, his gaze darting about as he took in his surroundings.
"W-What the…? Where am I…?" the man said in confusion.
He then caught sight of Edelgard. Immediate recognition flashed across his face at seeing her, followed by a furious snarl.
"You!" he hissed.
Then, noticing the short blade standing next to him, the man reflexively grabbed the weapon and charged at Edelgard with a loud yell. Edelgard immediately drew her blade in response.
But just as the man took his third step toward Edelgard, Cornelia let out a loud, "Hmm~" as her eyes suddenly flashed a faint violet glint.
The Loyalist stopped in his tracks as his eyes filled with strange violet light, the same that Edelgard had seen in the dancer. His expression slackened as he lowered his arms.
"Lay down your weapon," said Cornelia.
Edelgard watched apprehensively as the Loyalist, who just seconds ago had been out for her blood, laid down his sword without hesitation. The emperor did not lower her stance as she eyed his every move.
"Walk up to the emperor and kiss her right hand."
The Loyalist slowly walked over to Edelgard and knelt before her. He gently took her hand in his and planted a kiss on the back of her glove.
"Tell Her Majesty your name and what you had planned to do to her."
"My name is Edric Hargraves," said the Loyalist, his voice a dull monotone unlike his previous inflection. "I am a soldier in service to Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, the King of Lions. My team and I were to kill you once our comrades in the city had gotten the attention of the guards."
Edelgard could not hide how unnerved she was at seeing all this. This man, who clearly had nothing but hatred for her, had been rendered as docile as a lamb, and was now obeying Cornelia's every command.
The implications of what she saw came down on the emperor like an avalanche.
"Now you understand, don't you, El?" said Cornelia. "I made that first one attack you much too early, as well as the second. And the third, too. The rest simply went on from there now that their cover had been blown. The only one who got close was that dancer girl. Dimitri clearly needs better assassins."
"You're…" Edelgard said in trepidation.
"That's right. His mind is mine to control. But he has served his purpose. Let's allow him to join his comrades in their failure, shall we?" Cornelia then turned back to Edric and said, "Edric, take up your sword, and smile at Her Majesty as you take your own life."
Edric turned away from Edelgard, who watched in mute horror as the man picked up his weapon and raised it to his neck. He then turned and, with a smile, swung the short blade at his own throat.
Edelgard couldn't stop herself from letting out a shocked yelp as Edric decapitated himself, his body toppling to the floor. His head lay next to his corpse, still smiling at her.
"Oh dear, perhaps I should've told him to do it in the closet," said Cornelia. "That's going to leave blood all over the floor. Rissa will have such a mess to clean up." She then turned back toward Edelgard and said, "You asked me why I was going to all this trouble, Edelgard? Because I wanted to show you just how much sway I have."
Edelgard was silent for a moment, choosing to sheathe her sword as her mind poured over everything she had just seen. While she wasn't well-versed in such dark arts, she knew mind-control spells were incredibly complex and not something one could do on such short notice, or without being easily spotted. But Cornelia had enslaved the now-headless Edric with seemingly no effort, and had done the same to the dead man's companions during the attack without anyone noticing.
She had never realized until now just how dangerous Cornelia was. If the duchess wanted to, she could probably even enslave Edelgard's mind.
But she hadn't.
It was this thought that made Edelgard speak.
"If you command all this power, Cornelia, why not simply enslave my mind?" said Edelgard. "Unless, of course, you can't. Perhaps your power isn't all I suspect it to be."
Edelgard had expected Cornelia to at least flinch at this. The minions of Those Who Slither In The Dark normally cowered first if one challenged their threats.
"Edelgard, I'm hurt…" Cornelia said coyly. "Why would I ever do that to you?"
Edelgard glared at the duchess, trying to maintain a strong outward front.
"Oh, don't be like that. I don't want this to come between us. I want us to be friends. And as friends, shouldn't you be more willing to help me when I ask for it?"
Edelgard realized what Cornelia was getting at. And given the day's events, she now had little choice in the matter if she wanted to keep the Dukedom nobles on her side.
"Edelgard, I need those troops. With them, you'll be forever rid of the boar prince and his allies. So, what do you say? Won't you please help me?"
Sighing, Edelgard said crossly, "You leave me little choice. If I were to refuse you now, just after a public attempt on my life by Loyalist assassins, it would make everyone suspicious." She paused for a moment, and then said, "I can spare you 5,000 men. You will have them within two months."
"Ah, splendid! I knew I could count on you, El."
"However," Edelgard said, irked by Cornelia again using her parents' pet name, "it would reflect poorly on both of us if you did not make good use of them. Once you have received your reinforcements, I expect to see you wipe out Dimitri and his Loyalists within four months. Understood?"
Cornelia smiled and said, "I can work with that, Your Majesty. Of course, I will first need time to place Fhirdiad and the surrounding towns under martial law, in light of this… utterly heinous attack. I'll be needing some of those troops in at least a week. I'm sure you understand."
Edelgard paused for a second and then said, "So that is why you allowed the Loyalists to attack the palace…" Cornelia smiled and nodded in response, prompting the emperor to sigh and add, "So be it. I can send you forces from a nearby garrison within a few days."
The duchess then strode to the door of the chamber as she said sweetly, "I'll send Rissa to clean up the mess. You should get some rest. Sleep soundly, Edelgard."
Cornelia left the room, leaving Edelgard disturbed by everything that had transpired. Yet the emperor would not dare show it outwardly.
It was all too clear to Edelgard what Cornelia had really wanted out of the exchange. She wanted to make the emperor believe she held total control over her.
But she would never submit to these people.
She was the emperor of the Adrestian Empire.
She would bow to no one.
Not even the gods themselves.
So… Cornelia at this point. Scary?
I have to wonder if I'm just making things too complicated, but this scene was tricky to get right. I originally had Edelgard call Cornelia's bluff, only for Cornelia to mind-control her briefly to show she's not bluffing, but that would've made things in the future far too difficult to write. I mean, how would you ever trust someone who once stole control of your mind and body? You'd either never want to see them again or you'd want them killed, especially if you put yourself in Edelgard's shoes.
And yet Cornelia's not even leader of the Agarthans. You have to wonder what Thales has up his sleeve, don't you? Well, that'll be revealed as we go.