The Revolution Spreads!

I walked with Xiulan towards the dining hall. Cordelia was reading some letters at the table, but she turned to face us and smiled a little. I smiled back, hiding my doubts about the fact that we probably still had a traitor on our hands.

“What are those letters?” asked Xiulan.

“These are today’s agenda!” explained Cordelia, struggling to contain a smile. She handed me one of the letters, and I read it.

“The City of Ramilles declares its support for Queen Cordelia and the ideals of the Revolution… this is incredible!”

Cordelia leaned over with an impish grin. “Right? And that’s not all! Look at these! The City of Zelle, the Town of Isar, the Town of Soussons…”

Cordelia placed the letters with the corresponding town seals as she rattled the names of all the different towns that changed sides.

Jovik, Cassel, and Zeya entered the room, and Cordelia eagerly recounted the news to each one as they walked in. She looked as gleeful as a child opening their birthday presents as she inspected every new letter.

“Wait, did you say the City of Zelle?”, asked Zeya, grabbing the letter from her.

“Yes… Why?” asked Cordelia.

She scanned the letter with panicked eyes, and then breathed a sigh of relief as she got to the bottom of it. “Oh, thank goodness, the Lord-Mayor changed sides of his own free will. I thought there had been a violent revolution or something.”

Cordelia shook her head. “That’s what amazed me. Of course, some of the towns had people chase out their barons and lords… but a lot of the minor nobility also decided to join us.”

“Don’t they know we’re banning magic?”, scoffed Cassel. “They’re going to lose their power.”

Cordelia smiled. “After we showed the world what happens to mages who get in our path, they’ve probably decided it’s more important to be alive. You can’t forget that we crushed the flower of Leyth’s nobility in one grand battle.”

“How are the rebellions even happening?”, asked Xiulan. “How did they defeat their nobles?”

“According to the letters, the nobility started to flee their lands to head to the capital for safety. Without any mages to enforce order, the citizens stormed the palaces and town halls.”

Zeya nodded. “If the nobility are getting scared and fleeing to the capital, that’s definitely a good thing. We can link up with the other rebel cities, and arm them with guns.”

Cordelia, who had been opening some of the other letters, suddenly raised a hand. Everyone went silent.

“Wait, everyone. There’s a letter here from Archmage Audra.”

She raised the envelope so everyone could see it. It was marked with the wax seal of the Hydromancer, the very same that had been on the charter that had been used to condemn Ichabod to death.

Cordelia cut it with a letter opener, and pulled out the contents. She started to read.

“Dear citizens of Leyth,”

“With the death of Lord Treysel and Prince Alessandro, and the treasonous betrayal of Duke Sylvanus, there are no other Archmages to act as co-rulers in the realm.”

“Furthermore, Princess Cordelia has committed treason against Great Leyth, and has been thus disqualified from the line of succession. With this, the oligarchy that rules Leyth shall be disbanded.”

“As the only living Archmage still loyal to the nation, I hereby declare myself Queen Audra of the Kingdom of Great Leyth.”

“As Queen, I recognise that many of the other Archmages and nobles acted cruelly, and am willing to accept some rebel demands if they are willing to send an ambassador to negotiate with me.”

“Anybody who allies themselves with Duke Sylvanus the Bloodletter will be committing treason. I also ask that the rebel armies lay down their arms so that we may negotiate in peace.”

“The letter says ‘long live Queen Audra’ at the end”, grumbled Cordelia, who spat out the words with disgust. “What is she thinking? She’s trying to steal my momentum and pretend I’m not the rightful queen?”

Zeya pushed up her glasses. “It’s a clever trick, Your Majesty. It seems she’s trying a divide and conquer strategy to separate the republicans and the monarchists in the rebellion.”

“Who does she think she is?!” yelled Cordelia, as she smacked the letter with her hand. “She just declared herself sole ruler of Leyth because all the co-rulers failed in battle! She just sent them to their deaths to take their power, didn’t she?”

Everyone went quiet, except Xiulan, who nodded.

“Indeed. I imagine Duke Sylvanus figured out what was happening and abandoned the battlefield. I suppose this would make a three sided civil war in the country?”

“What do we do?!” cried Cordelia.

Xiulan stroked her chin. “Well, judging from the letter, it looks like Audra wants to deal with the Bloodletter first. I say we send Sera to negotiate a potential peace. If she’s willing to abolish the nobility and outlaw magic, then she could keep power as one of our ministers, perhaps.”

“What a terrible thought, letting Audra stay in power?!” cried Cassel. “We fought to remove those demons… and besides, there’s no way she’d give up her throne!”

Jovik stroked his chin. “Then again, if we agree to help her fight Duke Sylvanus, then perhaps in return she can promise to join us. It’s not like we have to fear the Archmages anymore when we’ve learned how easily they can be killed with an arquebus.”

Jovik bowed to Cordelia. “Your Majesty, I beg you, let me act as the ambassador for the revolution! I hope my duties before this battle have been sufficient for your approval!”

Cordelia stroked her chin. “Well, I suppose you did a lot of excellent work before the last battle. Yes, Jovik, you can negotiate a deal. But remember! You can’t offer a deal where Audra is more powerful than me, or a deal which doesn’t end the nobility!”

Jovik bowed deeply. “I wouldn’t dare, Your Majesty!”

Zeya then spoke. “We can’t just put all of our eggs into one basket, though. If we deliver a shipment of guns to the rebel cities, they’ll be able to defend themselves in case Audra or Sylvanus attack. We can’t spend all our time in the town of Kassora!”

“We don’t have enough guns for that,” said Cassel. “I would know, I made them! We have some surplus, but only enough for one other militia.”

Zeya took a sip of tea. “Well, my brother is the Lord-Major of Zelle. It has a big castle to protect against the Salier Empire, and I’m sure we can trust them there.

Cassel grumbled. “I forgot that you’re a noble. Still, I guess it makes sense.”

“It’s probably the only well-fortified city on our side… I suppose we can prepare to move our operations there eventually.” Cordelia said.

“If we move our army to Zelle, won’t it be seen as a threat? We should probably negotiate with Audra before we do, so she won’t send her troops,” replied Jovik.

“Hmm,” grumbled Cordelia. “Negotiations take time, Jovik.”

Jovik bowed deeply. “Of course, Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to delay you! If you want, I can ride off to the capital as soon as this meeting ends! If I don’t come back after two weeks, move to Zelle without me!”

Cassel stroked his chin. “In the meantime, we can transport the spare weapons to Zelle, and I can make more. Now that I’m not leading any troops, I can focus on manufacturing weapons again.”

I nodded. “Me too. I could even make some cannons with wheels, so we can send them over with horses.”

Xiulan smiled. “I’ll lead some soldiers to defend the shipment just in case it gets attacked. We don’t want something like the bandit incident happening again.”

Cordelia stood up, clapping her hands. “Excellent! Everything’s been agreed, then. I never thought I might ally with the demon who locked me up for a decade… but I suppose I need to rule for the good of the people, and not just myself.”

“In the meantime, let’s get those weapons shipped, and give the people of Leyth some hope! If they’ve risked everything to turn on the Archmages, the least we can do is throw them a lifeline!”, cheered Kassel.

Jovik stood up, and gave a brief bow to Cordelia.

“Your Majesty, I’ll take the fastest horse and make my way to the capital. If I don’t come back in time… Assume the worst!”

Jovik walked over to Cassel.

“Cassel… Before I go,”

Jovik smiled.

“Even though we’re going to be leaving Kassora soon…I hope you never forget how much this town has changed history. I feel that once I leave here, I’m truly going to become the hero I’ve wanted to be.”

“Me too!”, replied Cassel with a cheer, patting him on the back. “We’ll move our headquarters to Zelle, and we’ll crush those nobles!”

Jovik smiled. “See you on the other side.”