Chapter 45: Capital Invaders

The King and his daughter, Princess Sylvie, sit anxiously in the Sante throne room. It’s nearly nighttime, and soldiers from the Alarian Empire are hours overdue. Not a word is being said between them.

“Your Majesty!” a young knight calls as he enters the throne room.

The King and his daughter both startle back to the present.

“What is it?” the King asks with a piercing gaze.

“HA HE,” the knight pants, then steadies himself, “the scouts we thought dead just reported back, they found an Alarian encampment destroyed, nearly 5,000 of their knights are dead.”

The King and Princess both rise to their feet and exchange surprised looks.

“There were a number of predators from the forest found dead near the encampment, but the majority were cut down by swords,” the knight continues.

“I see.. is there anything else to report?” the King asks.

“We’re waiting for news from another scout team that went further east; they should return by tomorrow morning,” the knight says before bowing and leaving the room.

Sante’s throne room is short, and the knight is past its door in mere moments. Princess Sylvie clutches her chest as the door swings closed.

“Alfred found him..” she says quietly, “Father,” she continues, and turns to face the King. But his face is crumpled with worry.

“What is it father?” the Princess asks.

The King’s face doesn’t fit the news he was just given, but he turns it to face his daughter

“Sylvie dear.. what does the academy teach you of the time before the holy war?” he asks in a monotone voice.

“Not a lot, Father,” Princess Sylvie responds quietly while squinting at the King suspiciously, “but what does that have to do with our situation? It seems like Alfred has reached the old man and secured his assistance..”

The King’s eyes gloss over, and he stares into the distance.

“Before the great war, monsters were said to roam all across the world, including in our own Kingdom,” the King explains, “times were more dangerous, but humans similarly had greater combat power to deal with those threats.”

“There are even stories of humans with such great aptitude for magic that they started to change physically. Descendants of those people settled in the northeast of this continent after the war,” the King adds.

“The church has been taking an interest in reviving those bloodlines and fixing the derelict artifacts that various nations hold from the time of the holy war,” he continues.

The Princess stares at her father with a confused expression.

“Father, I still don’t see how that’s relevant..” she says with a sigh.

“I’ve done what’s within my power to limit the reach of the church in this country, but if they hear that a warrior with the strength to defeat 5,000 knights resides here.. they will infest the nation in search of him.”

Princess Sylvie fixes her posture and her eyes on the King.

“The old man is a bandit slayer residing in the east. We swear Alfred to secrecy, and nothing will come of this,” she says confidently. But worry has crept into her expression as well. Alfred is surely more connected to the old man than he lets on – would he be in danger if the church came?

The King takes a deep breath and refocuses his eyes.

“The church has deep ties to the Alarian Empire, it’s already too late to avoid their scrutiny,” he says, “I’ll need to make preparations for an official visit. Please wait for further updates on the war in your room, Sylvie.”

The Princess curtsies to her father and leaves the room. She walks along the castle halls until reaching her bedroom, where the familiar knight Sir Joseph opens the door for her.

“Ahem – Princess Sylvie, I have a report from the other scouting team you authorized,” Sir Joseph says from the doorway.

Princess Sylvie smiles for the first time that day at those words.

“That’s faster than I expected. Please give me their report,” she says excitedly.

“I’m afraid the scouts lost Alfred’s trail.. they spent a day trying to pick it up again, but it’s as though he vanished after entering the forest,” Sir Joseph responds solemnly.

“I see.. then he left no tracks to follow?” Princess Sylvie asks, prying for something specific.

“There are tracks from where Alfred entered the forest, but they stop abruptly. My apologies for the bad news, Your Highness,” Sir Joseph says with a bow. For a trained knight, it’s difficult to imagine losing track of someone like that in the forest. One must be inept and deserving of punishment for such a failure.

But the Princess doesn’t look upset, her eyes are almost sparkling at the news.

“Thank you for the report, Sir Joseph. That will be all,” she says happily.

Sir Joseph steps into the hall and closes the door, while Princess Sylvie starts preparing to sleep. She bounces around her room before settling in front of a large mirror with a hairbrush.

“The old man taught him how to fly.. that’s how he traveled so quickly when the news of my kidnapping reached him over the break..” she says while staring at herself in the mirror and mindlessly brushing her hair.

“But why hide his strength? Wait – he hides even more than that. Alfred’s mother said the new products coming from Count Pruss’s territory were Alfred’s creations, and the Count seemed uncomfortable about it being brought up..”

The Princess stops moving the hairbrush and sighs deeply.

“So that’s what this is.. Count Pruss is worried about losing such a valuable heir to royalty or a higher house. He forces Alfred to hide his work, and he probably forced him to train away from the eyes of others in the mountains as well. That must be how he encountered the old man and became his student..”

“I have to get closer to Alfred and push his accomplishments into the spotlight,” Princess Sylvie says to her reflection, full of determination.

The King and his daughter sleep that night in disparate moods. His Majesty is full of worry about his little country drawing attention from a church that his father warned him to keep at arm’s length. Her Highness is full of motivation to remove Count Pruss’s thumb from squashing down on Alfred’s life.

***
BANG BANG BANG

“Your Highness! I’m coming in!” Sir Joseph calls through Princess Sylvie’s door before entering.

“Huh wha-“ the Princess mumbles and blinks the dream she was having from her eyes.

Sir Joseph stands near the edge of her bed, sword in hand.

“Apologies, Your Highness, I must take you to the royal shelter. Forces are attacking the castle,” he explains quickly.

“Forces? I thought the Alarian knights we were worried about had been slain? Did knights break through the wall?” the Princess asks in confusion.

“There hasn’t been contact at the eastern wall. The Alarian Empire must have had spies working in the capital,” Sir Joseph answers with a grimace. He’s a long-tenured knight with the trust of the royal family, and he’s trained many knights within the kingdom. Some of those knights are likely perpetuating this attack.

The Princess rises from her bed and places a small dagger on her hip.

“Lead the way,” she says.

Sir Joseph leads Princess Sylvie from her room and down a large hallway inside the castle. At its end is a large staircase that runs through each floor of the main castle building. As they near the stairs, the sounds of clashing swords and yelling knights start.

“Hold the stairs! We can’t lose this line until the royals are accounted for!” a knight yells to the soldiers under his command.

Princess Sylvie and her escort reach the stairwell. Below, they see 30 Sante knights in formation to block access to the stairs and nearly double that number attacking. In preparation for war, the royal guard was trimmed, with a large number of knights being restationed to the eastern wall.

“Sir Joseph, this looks bad!” the Princess cries as she takes in the scene below her.

“They’re trained for this, my lady, they will hold the line!” he yells back to the Princess before taking her hand and pulling her down the stairs.

The two descend to the main floor of the castle, where the aftermath of an assault lies. 50 knights lay dead or dying on the stone floor that’s been dyed red. At a glance, the casualties appear higher for Sante.

Sir Joseph pulls the Princess further along to the rear of the castle, where they tuck into a small drawing room. The knight starts running his hands along the right wall.

“There’s a stairwell here.. got it.” The stone wall under Sir Joseph’s hand starts to spin open and reveals a dark staircase, “Follow me, Your Highness.”

He leads the Princess down the steps and through a winding hallway, keeping a hand against the wall to maintain the correct path in the darkness. Suddenly, a fireball illuminates the space before them.

“Halt!” a man calls to the two.

“Sir Joseph reporting in with Princess Sylvie!” Sir Joseph calls back.

“Sir Joseph?” the voice questions, and the fireball draws closer, revealing the knight and the Princess.

“Has his Majesty arrived?” Sir Joseph asks.

“The King is inside, both of you come quickly,” the knight responds.

A fireball-wielding knight illuminates the path ahead and leads the Princess to a large metal double door.

Knock knock… knock knock knock!

The guiding knight uses a certain rhythm of knocking on the door to signal that it’s safe to open. They swing open a moment later and reveal five knights with drawn swords. Princess Sylvie steps forward, causing the knights to lower their weapons.

“Show me to my Father,” she commands.

The knights part and allow the Princess to see inside. The room is peculiar, in the center is a throne with the King on it, the left side is lined with bookshelves and stationary while the right is a mix of a supply room and a kitchen. Past the throne are a number of doors leading to sleeping quarters for everyone.

“Sylvie!” the King booms and jumps to his feet. He rushes to the Princess and wraps his arms around her. It’s a rare showing of affection from a king.

Princess Sylvie startles for a moment before returning her Father’s embrace and sinking her head into his shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Father,” she says softly.

“And I, you Sylvie, word has been sent to the wall, and reinforcements should arrive to clear out the castle in the next hour,” the King explains calmly, without letting go of his daughter.

“I see, then we just wait for that time to come..” Princess Sylvie responds with a whisper.

“Are you troubled, dear? Or hurt from the route here?” the King asks while backing up to arm’s length and examining his daughter.

“No, Father, I simply dislike waiting around,” she replies honestly.

“There’s no helping it, Sylvie,” the King replies with a sigh, “though I received the second scouting team’s report, it’s as concerning as the first..”

“Concerning as the first?” Princess Sylvie repeats the words, trying to understand them.

“An army of 10,000 was found decimated on the eastern road.. there were hardly any signs of a fight, the report says it looked as though a single sword struck through the entire formation in one stroke,” the King replies.

Princess Sylvie’s eyes go wide at the information.

“That must be most of Alaria’s forces, surely, once the castle is cleared, Sante will have won this war, Father!” she exclaims.

“Hummm – the war will end for a time, but Prince Elliot will draft a new army and prepare to attack again. We’ll need to increase our military might before Alaria rebuilds, but we’ll be stuck dealing with the church while we do..” the King grumbles.

“Father, I don’t understand your apprehension.. you’ve raised me to believe in Human Divinity, and most of the country follows their teachings..” Princess Sylvie says while crossing her arms.

The King motions for his daughter to follow him towards the throne and away from the knights guarding the reinforced door.

“It’s not the teachings I worry about, Sylvie, but the church doesn’t operate as a single entity that looks to encourage faith in god. There are divisions of ideology and action,” the King explains, “when humans lost much of our magic ability following the holy war, one of these divisions thought it was a trial from god. Those who believe that have taken radical action in the past, and are doing so again to pass that trial.”

Princess Sylvie hangs on every word and purses her lips before opening them.

“What kind of trial?” she asks intently.

The King sighs again before continuing.

“There is even disagreement between believers about what it is and how to pass it. Some believe we must show even greater devotion to god. Some believe we must regain the strength we lost through our own efforts, and some believe we cannot be worthy of god until we conquer the monster continent..” he says.

Princess Sylvie scoffs.

“God gave humans a gift by separating the monsters from us.. why would anyone want to go and challenge those creatures?” she asks.

“I ask myself the same question, which is why our family has limited the church’s involvement in Sante. They’ve been happy to examine our archive of relics from the holy war and not interfere in our affairs, but they will work to become more involved going forward. And if we completely close our borders to them, we’ll lose several trade partnerships that keep our economy functioning.”

Princess Sylvie’s shoulders slouch at their predicament.

“Is there no solution?” she asks while staring a hole into the floor.

“The only solution is to maintain our path. We build the Kingdom’s military and continue improving the products we export. Count Pruss has done wonders for the Kingdom these past few years, but it’s time to invest more heavily in what we can create,” the King says adamantly.

“Count Pruss..” the Princess mumbles as she wraps her arms around herself tighter.

The King notices this and tilts his head for a moment.

“Are you worried about Alfred?” he asks.

“Somewhat,” Princess Sylvie responds honestly.

“From all I’ve heard, he has great ability and significant experience in the forests. I’m sure he will make it back here safely,” the King says gently.

“He’ll return safely,” the Princess says as she starts pacing, “but father, I think he’s more exceptional than we understand. I talked with the Countess before news of the war broke, and she made it sound like Alfred was heavily involved in the products made in the Pruss territory,” she adds.

The King hums for a moment and thinks.

“Count Pruss spoke of his high hopes for the boy since he was young. It makes sense that he would be involved in helping with his Father’s territory,” he says calmly.

“That’s not it, Father,” Princess Sylvie says with a huff and speeds up her pacing.

“I don’t understand dear..” the King replies quietly. The knights have turned to check on them after hearing the Princess raise her voice.

“It’s fine, Father. If you talk to Count Pruss in the future, please inquire about Alfred’s involvement,” Princess Sylvie requests.

“I shall. Now let’s try to relax until the castle is cleared of intruders,” the King suggests.

Princess Sylvie releases her frustration and nods along.