Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land
Chapter Thirty - Seven - Princess Piña Co Lada
The night was usually a friend. The stillness of the world was normally a blessing. At this moment that wasn't the case. Princess Piña Co Lada listened to the world around her, and she heard nothing. There was no sounds of guards, no sounds of the automated turrets, and instead it was an unnatural silence. It was the kind of silence that seemed to spread all over, and she couldn't even hear her breathing. She stood, looked around the room, and she saw a shadow move.
She moved toward the other side of the bed and shook Bozes. The other woman blinked awake, tried to shout, and suddenly realized that there was no sounds from her either. Her confusion led to her starting to panic. Piña Co Lada stopped her, making her take a moment, and in display of being calm she used the hand gestures that they had learned for signaling to one another when they had to be quiet during training.
The gestures didn't confer words specifically, but instead they seemed to convey situations. She held her hand up, made a small fist, and then slowly extended her fingers. The way she did almost looked like a wave. The signal itself relayed that there was suspected magic being used. Bozes nodded, and then raised her hands, formed two fists, and then pressed them together before slowly pulling them apart. That signal asking the simple question of should they arm themselves.
Princess Piña Co Lada nodded to her. There was no doubt that they should. In fact arming themselves now might be the best option. The two of them moved away from the bed, and they locked hands. They walked no more than five feet toward the door before something stopped them. It was solid, and yet it wasn't there. Whatever it was appeared to be invisible. She reached out and touched it, trying to gauge what it was, and she felt nothing but a smooth surface.
She looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. Whatever it could be had to be made by magic. She looked for the sight of something. Normally magic had a small amount of light that was produced by the caster. From what she knew of magic it had to be cast in a fairly close area, especially if it is something like this. She looked about the room, and she noticed that it was far darker than it should be. She held onto Bozes' hand, moved toward the small table near the bed, and grabbed the small lighter that Adam had given her. She flicked it open, struck the flint a couple of times, and watched as it began to glow a dulled yellow.
The light should have shown further than it was. She quickly lit the four candles on the candelabra and let the light slowly spread out. The light seemed to slightly spread beyond the small table, but not much further than that. She lifted it, and began to carry it. She noticed that the light of the candelabra began almost lean toward the direction of the window. It was also the darkest place. Her eyes widened at the implication and she looked toward the border that had formed. There was no way past it, and at this point she wasn't sure that either of them would be able to escape at this point. The only option would be to attack and hope that they could do it correctly. The candelabra was actually one that they had found in Adam's homeworld. It was large, heavy, and made of bronze. The candles themselves were made by a candle maker that designed them to never blow out. It was said that an adventurer had used it to battle a goblin before. Apparently he had used it to blind one.
She tossed the candelabra and let it hit the curtain beside the dark spot that was growing. The curtain soon caught fire, and the moment it did the sound returned. She heard shouting, and the darkness fled allowing her to get a view of the one there. It was a young man, barely considered an adult, and he was shouting. No sooner had he began shouting then the door to her chambers slammed open.
The sound of Paulson's weapon filled the room, and she watched as the young man stumbled. He wasn't killed, Paulson didn't fatally wounded him, but instead he was crying out, holding his leg, and begging for mercy. She watched as the beast woman that was with Paulson moved toward him. She knelt down near him, and took a dagger. Without missing a beat she drove the dagger behind his kneecap. The moment she did the let out a horrifying scream, "Shush, look at me," she said as she held the dagger in place, "Look at me. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions, and you're going to answer them, or I swear the Emroy that I will pop your kneecap completely off."
He nodded hard, "Yes, yes, please, please have mercy."
Princess Piña Co Lada watched as she twisted the dagger a little, "I didn't say to speak yet."
He held his tongue, "Who sent you?"
He looked at them, "Please, I'll die if I say."
She looked at Paulson who studied him, and then in a broken form of their language, "Boy, you will die if you don't talk."
He swallowed, "I was sent by…"
The words never finished forming. She watched as light formed around his neck, and before anyone could say a thing it pulled taunt. Without missing a beat it cut his head off and let it roll to the ground. It meant that he was under the control of another magic user, one that was far more powerful. They had sent him because he was expendable. She looked toward the window, walked toward it, and looked down, but there was no sight of anyone.
She looked toward Paulson and the beast woman that was with him. The two of them shared a look before Paulson looked toward her, "I figure the varmint that put this one up to what he was a doing has already skedaddled," he said as he looked down at the ground, "Don't mean that we're gonna let 'em get away with it."
She nodded, and then she breathed out, "I know who sent them," she replied as she looked toward the ground, "There is no doubt in my mind that someone set this into motion for my brother. Likely whoever it is responsible is attempting to gain favor, if it wasn't that he simply asked them to do this."
She felt Bozes' hands, "Princess, what you speak of is treason at best for your brother," she said as she looked at her, "If he is responsible then he will likely hang for it."
She nodded, "I know," she said before she looked back at Paulson, "Without a confession we can prove nothing. My brother will be able to explain that he had no connection, and he will offer his own personal guards to help attend to me. They likely wll be under orders to ensure that I do not see another sunrise."
He nodded, "Whelp, that means that his offer will be gently refused. I know that you have your knights, and the Brotherhood are paying us pretty well to help defend you. I'll make a few contacts, and see if we can't get another group out here to help. Maybe we could get Reilly's Rangers to help stand guard," he said as he looked at her, "If they could help then we'd have more than enough people to ensure that no one simply snuck in again."
She nodded, and looked back across the courtyard of her manor. The house was the smallest of her siblings. The magic user had managed to sneak past the turrets they had, but it could have been that they teleported to a point where they weren't noticed. No, that magic user that was here was gifted, but he was also someone that didn't seem overly knowledgeable. Her guess was that he was an advanced student. Likely his master had been taken and threatened. If that was the case then his master likely was dead or soon would be. It was adding up to be something that she didn't like.
The entire thing felt wrong, and it felt wrong for far too many reasons. She hated that there wasn't enough to make sense of all of it. From what she could tell she was targeted. The reason was simple enough. Her father saw a chance to form an alliance with the Brotherhood of Steel. More to the point her marriage with Adam was securing one of the most powerful armies they've ever encountered as an additional power for the empire. At this moment she was harrold as the princess that saved the empire.
She was being held as the one that willingly sacrificed her knighthood in order to bring peace to the empire with the Brotherhood of Steel. She had the support of the people, she had the love of the people, and her brother had no choice but to see her removed. He had to remove her if he wanted to gain power. At this moment she would likely be made Empress of the empire. She would be given the station that her brother wanted. Her father would likely still make suggestions, but he would see her become the Empress the empire needed.
All of that pointed to the most horrific fact of all. She would not be safe, truly safe, in the Empire until her brother was dealt with. Her brother would not be dealt with until a time that he was caught attempting to end her life. Even then he could claim that he was enthralled, or that something had happened to alter who he was. There were a myriad of ways that he could escape being killed. He could be banished from the empire, but even doing that had drawbacks. If he was to merely be banished there was the chance that he could raise an army and return. Promises of riches beyond expectation would be enough for most bandits.
Not that she was worried about an army with the weapons they currently had. The Brotherhood of Steel had taken care of an army of fifteen thousand already. They had done so in a fashion that seemed fairly easy. She had watched as they laid waste to them. There had been no glory or honor, but instead it had simply been a quick and painful death. Those that were ended by the Brotherhood had suffered for a few moments before they died.
The weapons they used had been powerful, and there was no shortage of them. If her brother came back with an army such was the one they already faced it would be another massacure. He wouldn't be given a chance to die a noble's death. Instead he would simply be gunned down like a simple bandit. His corpse would be left out for the vultures, and while she feared his actions she didn't want to see such a fate befall him. Despite everything he was still her brother.
"I will contact my father." she said as she looked at Paulson, "He will need to know what has been happening."
She looked toward the palace. Her father would be the first step. While she knew that he couldn't do anything officially until there was proof he could potentially have her brother watched. That would be enough to likely make her brother back off. He would want to have some distance between himself and anything that might befall her. He would want to remain clean, and doing so would mean ensuring that he wasn't seen with the kind that would cause accidents. Additionally she was certain that there was a chance that he would have a noble do it that was expendable. It would have to be someone that was a lower noble. A minor house that held little power. He would promise them great boons if they did. Perhaps even the chance for him to marry a daughter and make them part of the royal family.
If that was the case she knew of two families that would potentially jump at the chance. Both of them were lower nobles, and both desperately wanted to climb into the hights of their society. There had even been a small attempt to gain her interest, but that was before she had married Adam. Of course, now they wanted to be part of the royal family even more. They could be connected to the princess that saved the empire. Oddly, they would accept a post mortem connection. It was ghoulish to even consider, yet she understood the reasoning for it.
It was postering, and showing, and doing everything possible to show how they were worthy to climb the ladders of society. She feared for whichever daughter would be married to her brother. She hadn't wanted to believe that he was so sadistic, but she had seen the evidence before her. He'd raped one of her beloved's clan members. Adam had once told her that everyone in the Brotherhood of Steel considered each other family. If that was true then it was the same as if her brother had raped her beloved's sister.
He'd committed an unforgivable sin, and it was only through her begging that he was not already put to death. It was no less than he deserved. She had believed that he could be saved, and some small part of her wanted to believe that it was still the case. She felt Bozes wrap her arms around her, and she lost herself. The tears came, and she could not stop them. She had to mourn her brother. She had to, because now he was truly lost.
"Ma'am?" Paulson asked, "You okay?"
She shook her head, "Truly I am not," she replied as she looked toward him from the comfort of Bozes' arms, "I am mourning my brother. I am mourning him because as of this moment he is lost to me. I don't think that there is a way to save him, and I wanted to believe that he wasn't so lost to his lust for power and women that he would actively do this."
Paulson nodded, and he walked closer, "Ma'am, I'm gonna tell you about something that happened in the history of the world I'm from. It happened not too long before I was born. There was an inner war between the nation. People were split on how to proceed, and well, a good chunk of them decided that the best course of action was to simply separate from the rest. Problem was that the others didn't cotton to it."
He looked at her for a moment, "Now, I figure that what you're wondering is why am I telling you this. Well, my pa told me that he saw men that were brothers. Honest to God brothers, going through their towns and killing the livestock, killing the people left behind, and saltin' the earth after that so that nothing would grow," he said as he looked at her, "These were people that had been on good terms with one another for years, and suddenly they turned on one another. All because of what was happening around them. Not a damn one of them had the idea to step back and question if what they were doing was the right thing or not. I get how you feel, but sometimes things happen that changes people, and there ain't a way to save 'em. Gotta figure that's the same for your brother. I'm mighty sorry if'n it is."
She looked toward him, "How did that war end?"
He shook his head, "Bunch of boys died in it Ma'am. A whole bunch of 'em, and not a one of them really understood the reason why they were called to action either. Still, the leader at the time, President Lincoln, he managed to put the country back together. Right after he did, someone shot and killed him. All of this time, and war really hasn't changed that much."
She nodded, this president Lincoln had put his country back together after a war had broke out between two different sides. He must have found some want to achieve peace, and in the end his efforts were rewarded with him being killed. Somehow that almost sounded poetic. The man had obviously given everything, and his final act had been to become a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter.
She shivered, was that what was waiting for her? Because she feared that something similar was going to happen. That there would be a shift, a split, and she would have to help put the empire back together. If she did then would the other side want her killed out of revenge? It seemed likely. It meant that she would need to be guarded all of the time. She would go from being a knight to being a guarded princess. She didn't want it, but then what was the alternative? She had to face the fact of what was best for her country. What was best was for the country to heal, to come together, and the best way for that to happen would be to ensure that any break was brought back and secured.
She looked at Paulson for a moment, "Is there any documents about this President Lincoln?" she asked as she looked at him, "I fear that we may be facing the very thing he faced."
Paulson nodded, "I'll ask the Brotherhood of Steel for some of their books on it," he replied, "I figure that they'll be willin' if'n they think that it'll keep the peace over here."
She nodded, and she hoped that he was right. Having some books over this president Lincoln, and what he did, would help. If nothing else it would help her ensure that she could take similar steps to keep the empire from simply splitting apart. She slowly stepped back from Bozes, and once again she wished that Adam was here. Not because she was weak, but because she wanted his cool mind and gentle nature. Additionally, she liked the fact that she felt safer with him. Maybe if he was here things could potentially be easier for them.
"Thank you," she said as she looked at him, the other words hung in her throat. It would be so easy to say them, to simply let the words out that she wanted to release. She considered it, and finally, they simply couldn't be contained any longer, "Can we get word of what has happened to Paladin Jefferson?"
Paulson gave her a knowing and understanding nod, "Planned on it Ma'am," he replied as he looked at her, "If'n some vermit tried to hurt my wife I'd want to know. So, I planned on letting him know."
She felt a relief flood her. Paulson was someone that she could trust. She could trust that he would do the right thing. She could trust it because he was a decent man. He was the kind of man that spoke his mind, and he was the kind that often followed his good senses. She'd observed him being nothing but noble and honest. In truth he'd made a wonderful knight. The only problem was the lack of noble blood in his veins. Still, even that wasn't a complete hindrance. There were lower knights, more or less very honored guards, that had been of common birth.
Those same lower knights were some of the more noble knights that she knew of outside of her own order. They were the kind of knights that deserved the title. In many ways they were a reflection of the Brotherhood of Steel. Their actions were similar, and she wanted to see the rest of the knights brought under a similar connection. She wanted to see the same kind of brotherhood and loyalty in all of their knights. Knights that would defend those who needed it, and who would stand against the powers of those who would sway the masses with their might.
She wanted to see that happen in the empire, and she knew that the only way it would happen would be if she managed to survive and managed to help bring that change. She would need to spearhead all changes that were going to take place. It meant that she would need to be a focus of strength for her people. She had to be more than just a princess. She understood that she had to present the idea. A person could die, but ideas were much harder to kill. She had to bring the idea to her people.
She wanted to believe that if she did then her people would accept it. That they would follow the idea. That they would understand and see the usefulness of it, and that they would understand how following this idea would be more of a help to them than anything else. She wanted to believe it because she wanted to believe that her people were genuinely good. She also wanted to believe that her people would find their own strength. She wanted to believe that because she had no doubt that there were powers that would attempt to disway her people.
She understood all that was about to happen, and she felt the fear of it all gathering up inside of her. She felt it, and she wished that it wasn't something that she had to deal with. The fear of it sat in her chest. It was an uncertain road before her, and it had a destination, but she had to navigate it carefully. She had play a game that she was born into, and one that she was not fond of. That was part of the reason she wanted Adam here. She wanted his strength of character to help her. His assurance that she could do this.
The fact that she would like for him to take her was there as well. She craved his touch. She craved the feeling of having him touch her, be with her, and entering her. She wanted to smell him, and to know the feeling of waking up beside him. It was selfish, and she knew that. She understood how it sounded for her to wish for this, and yet she was a wife. She was married, in every way that mattered, and she wanted her husband with her. Such a thing wasn't wrong, or at least she had been led to believe that such a thing wasn't wrong. She breathed out, and shook her head. For the time being she had to hold onto her own strength.
"Princess?" the sound of Scribe Moore's voice called to her, "Deliah came and got us. She informed us that there was an attempt on your life."
Princess Piña Co Lada nodded, "There was an attempt," she said as she looked at the woman she considered a friend, "A young magic user was here, and he had cast a silencing spell. I believe it was meant as a way to ensure that I would not be heard, and that I could be killed with ease. Thankfully, his concentration was broken, and he was unable to finish casting the spell."
Scribe Moore nodded and then looked around, "I suppose that Paulson has already checked the area to ensure that there isn't anyone else."
She nodded, "He did, and while it seems likely that there had been someone, we found no one else. Likely it was another magic user, and one that was strong enough to be further out."
Scribe Moore nodded and then looked around. She studied the turrets for a moment and then gave a grunt of annoyance. Princess Piña Co Lada understood the reasoning for it. She understood that the reasoning for it. She likely didn't like the fact that magic had a way to get around their technology. For them it was a glaring hole in their defenses. It was something that they would have to find a way to defend against. She didn't envy the struggle before them. Then again it could be something that she could help with. She hadn't considered it before, but there were ruins that they had. Ruins that specifically assisted in keeping dangerous magics from affecting their more sensitive areas. Places of importance, places where food was stored, those kinds of things.
"I didn't think of it before, but maybe we can help further the protection here," she said, "And maybe it could be used inside of the Brotherhood of Steel's city near the gate."