Chapter 12: Upheaval

The sounds of footsteps and swishing fabric moved through the royal bedroom, reaching Galvin’s ears as he slowly awoke. He sat up in bed, looking at his hands as though he hadn’t seen them in months. His mind was racing, like his thoughts were trying to make up for lost time. Seeing him rise, the maid rushed over. Young, pretty, and sweet, she spoke with concern.

“Your Majesty, you’ve finally awoken! Please, is there anything I can get you? Food? Drink?” He looked at her, her beautiful face the image of kindness and innocence. He wanted to see it twisted in despair. With a crazed grin stretching across his face, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her onto the bed. “Your Majesty, what—” Her words then became a fearful scream as he began ripping away her clothes. “No! Please!” He silenced her with a smack across the face, just the first of many.

Up in her tower, Ziradith was going over paperwork as part of her official/unofficial duties. Berholm and a few of the royal court, now made aware of her presence and power over them, were trying to keep the wheels of governance turning, even if she was the one controlling them, and were doing their job of running everything through her. Most of her subjects had no idea they were her subjects and simply believed that the royal court was operating things while Galvin was indisposed.

As the duchess of the Herald territory, paperwork and bureaucracy were nothing new to her. The scale certainly increased, but she was more than up to the task. Being the puppet master behind the scenes of Uther left her very busy, especially with her spawn pawn lying uselessly in bed for the last few days. However, that changed when she felt a fluctuation in her manacle. As her greatest defense against usurpation, she wore it at all times, as did Galvin. It kept her cued to the Wassengel and her control over him. She could sense that he had woken up, yet when she tried to reach out and reaffirm control, he defied her like a bucking bronco.

She left the tower and everyone she passed was shocked to see her. She arrived at the royal bedchamber to find knights and soldiers standing outside the shut door, likewise bewildered at her arrival. None of them had seen her in over a year, not since the Knight’s Sheath incident. However, they had more pressing concerns. Inside, they could hear the maid screaming as Galvin raped her, and all had looks of uncertainty, wanting to intervene but too afraid to.

“What are you all doing just standing there?!” Ziradith barked.

“Uh ... uh ... Duchess Herald, your son, um ... His Majesty announced that he wasn’t to be disturbed, and anyone who opened the door would be put to death,” one guard stammered.

“Useless shits, all of you! Hurry up and go prepare his tea.”

Ziradith shoved past them and opened the door, seeing her son slamming away at the beaten maid. She strode over and slapped him hard enough to knock him to the floor. “Disgusting little wretch, always embarrassing me.” She glanced at the sobbing maid, curled up and trying to conceal her naked body, covered in welts from Galvin’s beating. Tears soaked her bruised face, and a mixture of blood and semen oozed from between her legs. Ziradith scoffed in disdain and turned back to the knights and guards. “Get her out of here. I don’t want to see her in this castle or city again. Not one of you says a word about this, or you’ll find yourselves rotting in the dungeon.”

“Mother,” Galvin growled with a sneer.

“Shut your mouth. Pathetic failures have no right to speak.”

He bolted to his feet. “I’m the king! You can’t talk to me like that anymore!”

“Your father, for all of his failings, he was a king. You? You’re not even fit to be a jester. Every day, you make me regret giving birth to you. Now, hold your tongue before I cut it out.” As the maid was carried away, a guard arrived with a cup of fragrant tea. “Hurry up and take your medicine. It’s been too long since you last drank it.”

“No, I’m done! I’m done with you and your rules! I’m in charge now!”

“That tea is going in you one way or another. You think it feels hot on your tongue? It’ll feel like molten lead when you take it the other way.”

Galvin scowled and grabbed the tea, staring for several moments before forcing it down. The effects were quick, weakening his mental defenses and making him more susceptible to Ziradith’s control. She extended her influence with the manacle, and Galvin spasmed as he tried to resist, before finally calming and standing with upright posture.

“My apologies, Mother. I won’t disappoint you again.”

“You’re right, because I’m not going to let you.” She spoke the words, but with uncertainty. Though she had regained control over him, her hold felt weak, like she had him on a rope, but it was frayed and tattered. Was this because of how long he had gone without the tea? Or was he developing a resistance?

She turned to the guards. “Spread the word that the king is going to address the public this afternoon. The citizens need reassurance that the kingdom and its rule are secure. Go now, and remember that nothing awaits but pain and death for anyone who speaks a word of this to anyone else.”

Following Seraph’s speech, rumors about Noah spread like wildfire. The knighthood and royal court tried to keep what happened at the castle secret, but all it took was a few soldiers and knights, their lips loosened by booze, to let slip all the juicy details about his stroll into the palace. They spoke of his manifestation of the basilisk in awe and terror, believing it to be the long-mysterious art of summoning magic that populated the world with life. They were half-right, and its sudden disappearance was just as bewildering as its arrival.

With nothing but its scream, it subdued every single soldier and knight in front of it. The basilisk unleashed in Welindar had been too deformed to utilize its voice in such a way, proving just how lucky Lupin and his men had been. To have such a mighty beast at his beck and call led to speculation that if Noah wished it, he could have destroyed the entire city. After all, the knighthood and military were clearly no threat to him, especially considering how he had shrugged off all their attacks.

More details then began to emerge about how he dealt with the royal guard, cutting them down without spilling their blood. A warrior capable of such a mysterious feat was what legends were made of. It was the kind of tall tale that people loved, cementing Noah’s status as a sword master of equal or even greater standing than Valia Zodiac. Galvin’s bedridden condition also confirmed that Noah had managed to strike deep into the kingdom’s defenses, and the only way he could have done that was if he somehow managed to get past the legendary Adwith Tarnas. Whether he defeated him in battle or simply snuck behind him didn’t matter. The country’s greatest paladin was bested.

Despite all the support Galvin had cultivated since the fiend army’s annihilation, these rebellious acts won the hearts and minds of countless people. The Wandering Spirit, both hero and outlaw, a gold-rank knight and an unstoppable terrorist; he naturally captured the imagination. His message also garnered a great deal of attention, his message of unity among the races and sympathy for the poor souls of Welindar, which ran contrary to Galvin’s position. As it had been since his enrollment in the knight academy, his name was being passed around throughout the city, with facts and fiction blending together into whatever would make the best story. And, of course, his sudden disappearance just added fuel to the flames of speculation.

At the Knight’s Sheath, business was booming. It seemed that whenever Noah did something outrageous, people would come flooding in, seeking confirmation if the stories they heard were true. Today was no different, and Cyrilo had decided to capitalize on the excitement by naming a drink after him. People were lining up for a glass of Wandering Spirits. Noah’s fame at the Knight’s Sheath and his message would hopefully continue protecting them, but there was no telling what the future held.

“Have you heard? Galvin’s awake,” said Sophia, standing in the doorway to Cyrilo’s study.

“Wonderful, just wonderful,” Cyrilo sighed while rubbing her forehead.

“They say he’s going to give a speech this afternoon. Should we go?”

“As much as I hate every word that comes out of his mouth, we should. Since we’re aware of what’s really going on, we have a responsibility to remain informed and aware of how things progress. I want to make sure he and Ziradith follow Noah’s rules.”

That afternoon, Cyrilo set out with Sophia and Alexis. Alexis was garbed in her blue battle dress and openly carried her sword and bow as a warning to anyone who might give them trouble. She was wise to do so, as Cyrilo’s feline ears drew indignant glares from many people in the street, which Alexis would always return, ensuring that potential troublemakers knew that only pain awaited if they acted foolishly.

They arrived at the palace, where crowds had swarmed below Galvin’s perch. His fans were chanting his name, and though he was under Ziradith’s control, Alexis and Sophia felt like they could see his true self hidden within. It was his smile, shaped by Ziradith for maximum charisma, but there was the undeniable hint of a self-indulgent smirk. That smarmy gleam in his eyes made them both shudder.

“Presenting His Majesty, King Galvin of Uther!” Berholm announced. The audience cheered while the three women tried to ignore the bitter taste suddenly filling their mouths.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Uther! My citizens! My friends! So much has happened these past few months. We’ve all been exhausted by the highs and lows, left drained by these heart-racing spectacles and heartbreaking tragedies. It is time...” Galvin paused, blinking and contorting his face as though suffering from a migraine before continuing. “It is time for us to all get on the same page, to unite under a shared goal and common belief. While I was indisposed on Knight’s Day, my brother stood where I stand now, taking on my responsibilities to address you all. For that, he has my gratitude. His message of unity and forgiveness, of embracing the beastmen and working together...”

He again stopped, slowly turning his head back and forth and twisting his face. This silence confused the crowd and the knights, with hushed whispers bouncing back and forth. In the back, Cyrilo, Sophia, and Alexis felt a knot forming in their stomach. Something was wrong. Observing the speech from a castle window where she wouldn’t be spotted, Ziradith scowled and cursed as she channeled more and more energy into her manacle, yet no matter what she did, she felt like she was hanging on by a thread.

“Say it, you little shit.”

As much as she hated Noah, she wasn’t foolish enough to break his rules. Though scapegoating the beastmen was originally a crucial part of her plan, keeping Noah from coming after her was far more important. She needed Galvin to recant all of his earlier anti-beastman rhetoric, but keeping his mind under her control felt like wrangling a greased pig, and as hard as she gripped him, he slipped free.

“He was dead wrong!” Galvin then boomed, drawing cheers from the crowd. “My father, King Leonard, was killed by a crazed beastman whore wielding Profane might! My oldest brother, Prince Lupin, was killed by an army of unholy beastmen! And Seraph, my older brother and greatest friend, was humiliated by a beastman in the arena and then spread that humiliation to the rest of our family and nation by taking their side! I am not like them; I will not be defeated and shamed by these savages who seek to undermine and destroy us for their Profane masters!

The beastmen hate you! They hate us all! They want us to wallow in the mud like they do, to live like filthy animals because they’re too inferior to build anything of their own! Our strength! Our freedom! Our nobility! They are jealous of all that we’ve worked so hard to accomplish, and in their jealousy, they sold their souls to the Profane! Lupin, may he rest in peace. He foolishly tried to civilize them, thinking that they could be redeemed and live like us. He suffered for that mistake! He died because he put his faith in them! They are fit to be our slaves and nothing else! Take their collars off, and they’ll do nothing but ravage and destroy!

I used to think that my brother Seraph was blessed by the gods and would lead us to salvation, but he has shown his true colors! His weakness, his cowardice, his willingness to submit, his eagerness to abandon us! Once again, he has fled this city, forsaking his duties to save his own skin! He has betrayed us, choosing to submit to the beastmen and their ally, our country’s greatest enemy: Noah, the Wandering Spirit! The man who attacked his fellow knights, who tried to assassinate me, who has sabotaged and humiliated this country over and over again! He is a terrorist and a false idol, worshipped by heathens and traitors to our country, including my brother!

Now I know the truth, I am the one who is truly blessed. The Wassengel, the power of the gods, bows to me, answers to me! Where everyone else in my family has failed, I have succeeded! I am the one with divine protection! I am your savior, your protector! I am the one who has been chosen by the gods to deliver you all to the promised future! Uther is our holy land, a land blessed for mankind, and we will not let it be tainted by these filthy beasts and heretics! This is not just a war for our lives; it is a war for our souls! My loyal subject, my proud patriots, which side are you on?”

“GALVIN! GALVIN! GALVIN!” the audience chanted.

“We need to get out of here, now,” said Alexis.

“There’s one!” a man shouted, pointing at Cyrilo. “Kill her! String her up!”

As one, the crowd turned on the three women, and Alexis drew her bow. “Get back! All of you! We are knights of Uther, and anyone who—” A man came charging towards her with a knife, and she put an arrow in his leg. Killing would only worsen things, but the man’s cry of pain angered the crowd further. “Run! Now!” Alexis shouted.

Cyrilo and Sophia took off sprinting, fleeing the castle grounds with Alexis taking up the rear. The mob didn’t need orders; they swarmed after the three women. As they raced through the portcullis, Alexis turned to the oncoming horde and loaded another arrow. “Chain Shot,” she cast.

She released the arrow to the side, away from the mob, with a series of mana bolts flying after it. She swung her bow like it was a machine gun, scattering the bolts and mowing down the first wave of the mob. She kept the power low, each bolt hitting like a thrown punch rather than a piercing arrow, but it knocked down everyone she hit, causing them to fall and trip everyone behind them. This was her magical dissertation from the academy, the technique she cultivated to earn Elyot’s approval to enter the knighthood. It was the perfect technique for dealing with multiple opponents in formation, and she’d always wanted a chance to use it, but not like this, not against her fellow citizens.

Cyrilo, Sophia, and Alexis climbed into the first taxi carriage they saw, paying the driver extra to get them home as fast as he could. He cracked the reins and set the horses off, racing through the streets. Now, they had a moment to catch their breath.

“This can’t be happening. This can’t really be happening,” Sophia gasped.

“Ziradith’s betrayed us, that witch,” Cyrilo cursed.

“No, Ziradith wouldn’t do that, at least not now, not after Noah paid her a visit,” said Alexis. “That was Galvin. He’s off his leash.”

“But even he has to realize that Noah is going to come back and kill him for this,” said Sophia.

“Galvin is crazy; he always has been, you know that. He’s incapable of considering the consequences of his actions or anticipating things not going his way. Now he’s somehow gotten even worse, if that’s even possible.”

“This isn’t going to simply blow over,” said Cyrilo. “Galvin has declared a holy war against beastmen. Now, just about everyone who attended that rally is going to want us and everyone at the Knight’s Sheath dead. What happened with Melinda is going to keep happening. The church, for all the trouble it gave us, at least they had some notion of keeping things covert, but this? This is going to be loud and bloody. We should expect a lot of trouble tonight.”

Berholm stormed down the castle corridors, every breath a growl of fury. He arrived at Ziradith’s tower and forced open the doors.

“What in the world are you doing?” he barked, finding her fiddling with her manacle.

“Watch your tone, you stumpy little shit,” she shot back. “You forget, I’m still in charge.”

“Oh really? You’re in charge? Tell your son that. Noah warned you that this would not be tolerated, that punishment would come swift and brutal if you didn’t reverse the country’s beastman stance. Now Galvin is shouting for them to be burned at the stake.”

“He slipped free of my control, but I’m working on getting it back.”

“Oh, so you’re not betraying Noah; you’re simply incapable of controlling your child! Even with brainwashing magic, you can’t keep Galvin in check! What kind of mother are you?!”

“It was working fine until the bastard strolled in here!”

“Because of YOU! What YOU did! I passed along Noah’s warning of retaliation, but neither you nor your son listened! I tell you now, Ziradith, I will not participate in Galvin’s slaughter of the beastmen. I will not be a pawn in your sick game!”

“Then you relinquish your title and your authority.” Ziradith got up and strode towards Berholm. “Go ahead, you won’t be missed. The Royal Adjudicator? Ha! You were nothing but Leonard’s dog. He only kept you around because you were at the perfect height to kiss his ass. The church operated in the knighthood under your nose for years, and I orchestrated Galvin’s rise to the throne without you ever knowing. You couldn’t even save the king when he needed you. Your career is nothing but a charade of ineptitude. Face it, you’re just a banished dwarf who got lucky one time and has been riding that single accomplishment for decades.”

“This coming from the conniving bitch who sucked and fucked her way up to the rank of duchess. Tell me, how many men did you screw for political gain before Noah showed your true colors to the world? How many people did you bribe and blackmail to get what you wanted? How many innocent lives were secretly snuffed out because they happened to be in your way? How much money did you pump into the Profane operation, betraying your country and your people, just so you could rule over them? You’re full of nothing but greed and bile, just like your son. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree, especially when both are rotten.”

“Get out, and don’t ever stand in my presence again.”

“Gladly.” Berholm turned and left, but stopped when he reached the doorway. “Just know this, Ziradith. You’ll inevitably get what’s coming to you, and when you do, the only tears will be your own. I want to be there to see them fall, but let’s face it, I doubt you’re even capable of crying.”

“So Galvin slipped off his leash, huh?” Noah asked, sitting in Cyrilo’s study. Technically, it was just his clone projected through the harkonen gem, but he was able to see, hear, and speak through it from all the way in the countryside. This was all part of his experiment to test the jewel’s range.

“The speech he gave chilled my blood. He’s completely lost it. I can’t help but wonder if it’s all for political gain, or if he truly does hate my kind. I wish you had killed him when you had the chance and put Seraph on the throne right then and there.”

“If I did, my alliance with Uther would be terminated forever, and no pardon could undo it. Even if the knights feared me, they’d never follow me. Besides, the Wassengel is likely to annihilate the city if Galvin dies.”

“True. Ironic that the thing that saved our lives is now our greatest threat.”

“Perhaps we should turn around and come back.”

“No. Seraph has been completely demonized as a traitor and beastman sympathizer. If you return him without his powers, he’s likely to be killed. The public already loves Galvin, and now that he’s proclaimed himself chosen by the gods, he’s injected religious fervor into the situation. Seraph needs to become Light’s Emissary once more to compete with that.”

“That certainly puts a lot of pressure on me. Let’s hope that Lumestada delivers. So what’s your plan?”

“Hunker down, that’s all we can do. For now, we’ve sent all the customers home. I know things will get violent tonight, and I don’t want any of my patrons caught in the middle. I’m not abandoning the Knight’s Sheath. We’ll just have to wait it out until either you return with Seraph restored, or Galvin does something to lose the public’s support. It’s days like this that I’m glad you sent Alexis and Sophia my way.”

“Do you have any other allies you can call on?”

“A few knights are here to protect us like Holmes and Frigga, and they say that there are several more that oppose this ... what did you call it? An ethnic cleansing? But they also say that most of the knighthood is taking Galvin’s side against the beastmen. We also have plenty of loyal customers and those who took your message to heart, but we are severely outmatched and outnumbered.”

“Madam Cyrilo!” Sophia burst into the study. “There is a mob approaching!” She looked at Noah, partially relieved to see him, but also disheartened that it was simply an illusion. “Noah,” she merely whispered.

“I’m sorry, Sophia. I wish I could be there for you, but—”

Cyrilo stood up. “Noah can’t help us, dear. He’s already done enough for us. This is a problem that we have to solve ourselves. Come on, let’s go greet our neighbors.”

Noah’s clone vanished as they left the study, going outside where Alexis, Holmes, and Frigga were waiting. Down the street, an angry mob could be seen approaching with torches and pitchforks, all shouting in unison, “Kill the beasts! Kill the beasts! Kill the beasts!”

Holmes stepped forward. “Citizens of Colbrand! You are out after curfew! Disperse and return to your homes, or you will be arrested!”

“Traitor!” “Beastman lover!” “Coward!” The indignant citizens shouted their insults and hurled rocks and garbage without slowing their approach. “Shit, this is not good, they called my bluff,” said Holmes. “Daniel, get out here!” Alexis shouted. Daniel emerged, and seeing the mob, he was understandably nervous. The last time he tried to stand up for what was right, he took a rock to the skull. Still, he gathered his courage and began to play his nameless song from the Red Revelry two years prior. As his mana swept over the crowd, dulling their hatred, they slowed to a stop. However, that changed when a handful of male and female paladins filled the air with holy light, countering Daniel’s music and negating its effects. When exposed to it for the first time, paladins and their magic were susceptible to the power of his music, but once they were aware of it and prepared to counter, their magic could fight back against the melody.

“Your heathen magic won’t work on us!” an old woman sneered.

“There is more coming!” a courtesan shouted from a window up above. Down at the other end of the street, a second mob was converging on the Knight’s Sheath. The noose was tightening around them, and at the head of the mobs, knights could be seen emerging to lead. They formed a perimeter around the building and brought the crowds to a halt.

A gold-rank knight stepped forward, a man with dark hair. “Stand aside. We’re going to rip apart this house of degeneracy and godlessness.”

“We can’t do that, Sir Rall! These are good people, your people! You should be defending them, not hunting them like animals!” Frigga shouted.

“They are animals! One of them killed our king, remember? After she slaughtered countless members of the knighthood, our brothers and sisters! Now you stand there, defending them!”

“She was infected by the Profane! She turned against us because the darkness stole her sanity!” Alexis shot back.

“Beastmen, Profane, there is no difference! They’re all monsters that deserve to be enslaved or put down! Now, you can either do your duty as knights or die as traitors!”

Alexis nocked an arrow and aimed it at Sir Rall. “My duty is to protect the people of Uther, not take part in their slaughter. I’m ready to die for that cause. Are you ready to die for your loathing?”

Rall drew a claymore. “I’m ready to kill for it.”

At that moment, an arrow, wrapped in lightning, struck the ground in front of him and set off an explosion, shocking everyone and drawing their eyes up to a nearby building where Aithorn stood with another arrow loaded. “You would die before your sword fell!”

“Typical, an elf standing up for his fellow nonhumans. Of course, you would have no loyalty to our race or country.”

“Enough of this! Kill them all!” a knight from the second mob shouted. They were about to charge, but a wall of fire surged up and blocked their path.

From a nearby alley, Elyot emerged. “I’m loyal to both, but I, too, cannot stand for this injustice.”

“Traitors! Both of you! You’ll be stripped of your rank, if not executed for this!” Rall shouted. Then the sky lit up, with a brilliant beacon of radiance floating above the Knight’s Sheath. Adwith Tarnas descended, held aloft by his wings of light, and landed in the center of the mess. “Look, a true hero has come!” Rall laughed. “Uther’s most powerful and loyal knight is going to deliver the punishment you monsters and traitors deserve!”

Tarnas turned to Rall with a scowl and fired a nameless blast of light, knocking him off his feet and shocking everyone. “Enough of this, all of you! I will not tolerate bloodshed happening in city streets! There has already been so much death and suffering, yet you fools demand more! Well, the next person to throw a rock or a curse will feel the might of divine radiance!

Now listen, if the Wandering Spirit has a single merit, it’s that everything he told us on Knight’s Day was the truth. This is the horror he was warning us about! This is the pointless violence he was trying to prevent! The demons of wrath have seized control of your minds and turned you into their slaves! I did not fight for this country to see it become this! I don’t care what the king says; I will not let this mindless violence take place! So go, all of you! Leave this place and go home! Behave like this again, and I will personally burn the darkness from your hearts. I guarantee you, it will be painful.”

He then released an omnidirectional blast of light, swallowing up the entire area. It was like his Divine Sanctuary spell, but instead of calming peace and security, it seared everyone for a moment, just painful enough to let the mob know he meant business. After only a second, the light faded, leaving everyone rubbing their eyes and panting from the full-body burning sensation they just experienced.

“All of you, get out of my sight.”

Fearful of more pain, the crowds dispersed, retreating back into the night. Tarnas, Elyot, and Aithorn all joined up with Cyrilo and the other knights.

“I can’t thank you enough for coming to our aid. If not for you, we’d probably all be dead by dawn,” said Cyrilo.

“Before leaving, Lord Noah revealed the details of the situation with Galvin and Ziradith,” said Aithorn. “He warned us that mass violence and civil unrest would likely happen in his absence and that the Knight’s Sheath would be a prime target. Though I very much did not appreciate his actions against his fellow knights, especially since I was among them, considering what he was trying to prevent, I can see why he abstained from pulling his punches.”

“I remember him telling me that he’s the man nobody listens to until it’s too late. Now I understand what he meant,” said Tarnas.

“Regardless, we will not allow this city to become a bloodbath,” said Elyot, “not when we need to cooperate now more than ever. However, I do find it amusing how often your brothel seems to become the center of attention and controversy.”

“With the backing of three gold-rank knights, we should be safe from another massive swarm,” said Alexis, “and I can handle individual threats and small groups. Still, the streets are going to fill with carnage, and it’s going to wash over us with the relentlessness of the tide.”

“There is the possibility that you all will be stripped of your rank for this,” said Cyrilo.

“We’re too valuable to this country’s defense for Galvin to do away with,” Tarnas assured her. “Sir Elyot’s expertise, Sir Aithorn’s link to our elven allies, and my power and reputation make us untouchable. If he tries to arrest, discharge, or execute any knights for opposing this madness, he’ll receive my resignation, and his public support will plummet.”

“With how spiteful Galvin is, I think you’re overestimating your protection from him,” said Alexis.

“Hopefully, he’s at least smart enough not to make an enemy of us gold-rank knights,” said Elyot, adjusting his glasses.