Be that as it may, when the three of them stood in front of the library, they stared at it motionlessly for a while. They all realised what the sight that presented itself to them meant. All the walls were charred black and the roof was gone. Both of his companions could literally feel Wenzel's heart sinking. Nevertheless, he took the first step out of his stupor and entered the building. As was to be expected, it had burnt down completely. Paper was known to burn quite well.... The three of them tried to find anything in the burnt out remains, that had not yet been destroyed. They rummaged through everything from top to bottom, but could only find a few books that had remained intact. But these were only on subjects they didn't need. Deeply disappointed, the mage sank to his knees. The blondie, Brahm, tried to comfort him by encouraging him, but it was of little help. The knowledge was irrevocably destroyed. The lad only had his experience to go on and build on now.
Only after this unpleasant realisation did they make their way to the palace, which was just a former temporary seat of power for the emperor, that had been expanded. In the ruined streets, they passed a number of captured enemy fighters and a few fallen soldiers. In the palace gardens, a huge group of soldiers were now simply taking a break or looking at the beautifully pruned tree sculptures. Wenzel and his bodyguards rode to the main building, where Theodor and August already were. Ascending a long staircase, they realised how much less impressive this seat of power was compared to the one in Meglarsbruck. Once inside, they learnt that the usurpers had fled. How they had managed to do so was a mystery to everyone, but August surmised that they had snuck out of the metropolis at the very beginning, before the siege had even begun. This theory made sense to everyone.
Wenzel was also informed by August that there was a royal guard who wanted to tell him something in person. At first, the lad looked very surprised. But then it piqued his interest and he allowed himself to be led to the prisoner in the next room. Only him, Brahm and Ferenc were present, since he asked everyone else to leave the room. As a result, Her Royal Majesty's servant realised who Wenzel was and began to speak. "So, you are the demon? Well then! I have a message for you from Her Highness. Do you want to hear it?" Of course, the sorcerer wanted to hear it. "All right, she's waiting for you at Münzberg Castle. Come alone, if you don't want anything to happen to the girl called Amalie!" The man almost had a stupid grin on his face. In response, Ferenc punched him in the stomach, which immediately solved the problem.
Wenzel was very distraught by what he had learnt. The other two, who didn't ask him any questions but tried to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, could also see his dismay. A pointless endeavour of theirs. "Brahm, Ferenc!" he addressed the two of them. "I can feel the emotions boiling up inside me. You've seen what can happen with me in that situation! Keep your distance from me. I'll go to that corner over there and try to calm down again." And so, he did. It must have taken half an hour, but Wenzel managed to regain his composure without "exploding". Only later would the two of them ask him who this Amalie was. The lad replied: "She used to be a schoolmate of mine. But she was nothing more than an acquaintance. But because she at least has some connection to me, these people probably think they can achieve something with me by using her." - "You don't need to fall for such a cheap blackmailing trick! They are just trying to isolate you. You couldn't make a more obvious trap," said Brahm. But Ferenc replied: "Well, the idea behind it isn't to trick him, but to lure him to them IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING, with the idea that the hostage is important enough to him, that he would still walk into a trap for her." The other two nodded in agreement. Ferenc was right. As a result, Wenzel promised the two that he wouldn't fall for it and that the girl wasn't that important to him. Well.....
Stolen story; please report.
The cleanup work in the fortress town was now progressing. As the young man learnt after the fact, a large number of men had apparently died digging the tunnels. This was not because they were incompetent diggers, but because the enemy dug a lot of "counter tunnels" to destroy those of the attackers. Apparently, there had also been direct clashes in the tunnels themselves. In general, this victory had cost many lives, which is why the Martyrs’ Brigades held a memorial service for the dead. Wenzel also took part, as he considered it appropriate. Sacrifice in the fight against tyranny was the greatest thing one could do in the eyes of the Old Believers. This mindset was also reflected in the name of their organisation.
Then a few days later Irnfrid and Petra joined them. Everyone was overjoyed to see each other again. The joy was all the greater when everyone noticed, that Irnfrid's belly had grown considerably bigger. Everyone congratulated her. Young Wenzel was a little awkward about it, but Irnfrid understood him and liked him anyway. Petra seemed a little more absent and was more concerned about August. He now did most of his work sitting down, because it suited him better. However, he was still the brains of the Martyrs' Brigades' operations, so this kind of work suited his role well.
When the city was halfway usable again, the big moment arrived. Theodor, August, Wenzel and their generals were standing on the steps of the palace. They looked down on a huge mass of assembled troops. The flag of the revolution, which was the flag of the Martyrs, and the sunflag of the former Ordanian Empire were now flying on the pole. The time had come. Theodor raised his voice and proclaimed loudly: "My comrades! Through the greatest hardships and bloodiest battles, we have made it to this place here today. Over the last few months, we have not only conquered the old capital, but also the one that the Alethics had turned into their new capital. Just a few years ago, nobody would have thought that this would ever be possible. But now here we are! We stand victorious on the steps of the palaces of those who wanted to destroy us and erase the past. But it cannot be erased! It was God's will that this should happen and with his messenger, the Chosen One, here at our side, we have been victorious and will continue to be victorious!" The crowd roared.
"God alone will determine the future of this nation, this empire and all the peoples who live in it. And we are his sword. We will not rest until all of Kaphkos is free! Thus, in the presence of all of you and in the presence of the Chosen One, I hereby proclaim the Holy Ordanian Empire! May the righteous order rise again from the ashes of the old!"
They shouted and cheered with fervour. "Praise the martyrs!" and "Hail, Melgar!" were chanted over and over again. This was a historic moment. Remarkably, it was the field marshal who had proclaimed the new empire and not the Chosen One, who was still too shy for such a thing. And the effect of this event was tremendous. Most of the southern and eastern countries of Ordania now sent declarations of support to the new rulers. The power of the old regime began to crumble. But it wasn’t finished, yet. It still had a large army and a huge number of supporters.
While all this was going on, the army of the Kingdom of Ordania had fled almost to the border with Zeemark. Only, they had’t fled, but regrouped and gathered more forces to counterattack the revolutionaries. The army moved slowly along the muddy roads, which were made sodden by the spring rains. Her Majesty and her entourage finally parted company at a certain point to continue travelling southwest to what we already know was Münzberg Castle. "Mum, how much longer until we get there?" asked Lucius, who was not used to such strains. Annoyed by his whining, Gabriela responded: "Pull yourself together! We'll be there when we get there. Besides, I told you to call me Your Majesty in the presence of others!" - "Forgive me, please!" Their escort also only made slow progress, as it was raining cats and dogs.
Meanwhile, the forces of the large Confederate Army was now being assembled and was growing steadily. One by one, the five knights of the realms arrived at the agreed meeting point with the armies they had raised in their kingdoms. The handsome Gawein was, of course, the knight of the forces from Zeemark. But now the following ones joined them:
- Melvin, the knight of Corakia, led a smaller army, due to his homeland not being very large.
- Next was Maxentio, the knight sent by the cautious Camenia with an army of mercenaries. It seemed that the kingdom in the south was very unsettled by the events, especially as it had never gotten on very well with the rulers who had come to power through the so-called "Righteous Revolution" anyway.
- Then there was Almos, the knight who represented the Kashar lands. He too could only provide a limited number of troops, as a considerable number had to remain in the Kashar lands for the occupation.
- And finally, Etzel, who was the field marshal of the Royal Ordanian Army. Technically, he was also one of the five Knights of the Confederacy, even if almost nobody ever called him that.
And that was the situation now. The armies were gathering and preparing their counterattack here in the west. The conflict was bound to become even bloodier.