Enlightened Empire

Though first, there was another matter to sort out.

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"Yes, honored lady. Prince Corco is deeply grateful for your a.s.sistance."

Fadelio looked at the thin foreigner girl from the Verdant Isles.

*Pretty, but not worth the wait,* was his evaluation.

It had taken him some time just to reach this point. Because of the dead body found close by, the servants around the former Raven Yard had been stricter than usual. Even so, the girl in his front hadn"t suffered any hardship. At this point, Fadelio would have been a fool to believe in Corco"s weird tale of a "combat maid". Rather than a servant, the girl should be someone of high status.

"Is that a fact? I wonder why your prince would not come and retrieve his things himself then."

"Unfortunately, Master Corco is currently on a visit to his father, so he could only make the trip later. However, Master Corco found it prudent to a.s.sume that honored lady would be relieved of her burden as soon as possible. Thus, this servant was sent."

In truth, he would rather not stay longer to figure out the girl"s ident.i.ty, his mind already at the general"s mansion, already home. Still, he would have to be patient for now.

"Prince Corco"s belongings, was it? One moment, they have already been prepared." With deft movements, the girl leaned into the room she had covered with her body and retrieved a large cloth bag. Even though she tried to make herself taller, Fadelio could spot the blood stains on the floor boards behind her slim back. "Tell your prince that I would rather he visit someone else next time," she said.

Fadelio grabbed the items, offered a deep bow and splendidly ignored the accusation.

"Prince Corco is in honored lady"s debt," he said before he turned and left.

__________________________

"Prince Corco, this old man still believes that Prince"s actions are too drastic. The dead should remain undisturbed."

While the Pachayawna was proselytizing, Corco looked down on the wax-encased finger segment he had cut off his father"s corpse.

"Even when he was alive, my father would have been alright without a third of his pinky. Why should it matter now?" The prince"s eyes left the finger and stared at the old priest.

"How did you miss this anyways? How can a priest not know who he is burying?" He had not even considered it up until now, but his current disagreement with the head priest made him realize that not even the Pachayawna should be above mundane problems. The old priest was a suspect as well.

"Prince should take great care in his thoughts. If Prince begins to suspect anyone without abandon, it may become a habit." Corco still looked at the priest, unsatisfied with the fortune cookie of an answer. Until the old man had explained himself, he wouldn"t let up.

"Prince should be aware of the rites himself. The deceased is prepared by his own personal warriors and then delivered to the priesthood for the ceremony. This old man was only present for the rites themselves, as is tradition. This matter is a shame upon those very rites and traditions and it is an affront to the great Pacha itself. The Pachayawna will clear the path to the afterlife and guarantee Emperor t.i.tu"s safe journey. Prince has my word."

"So then who was responsible? Which warriors were doing the preparations?" Corco looked to the old politician who was sweating cold rivers even in the musty environment.

"Prince, this..."

"Who, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!?"

"Lady Ichilia and Prince Amautu were held responsible to prepare the journey."

"Wait, what? What about my grandfather? What about Pachacutec?"

"Elder Caelestis and Prince Pacha were out of the capital when the emperor pa.s.sed, in search of an old expert medicus who was rumored to travel the mountains. Unfortunately, they came too late."

"And Amautu?" How could one prince charge through the lands and show off his filial piety while the other simply waited at home? Corco doubted his brother would be this content, not with how ambitious he had shown himself to be the previous night.

"Second prince trusted his Chutwa doctor and believed that no Yaku could ever exceed him."

"So he stayed at home?" "Because he had no respect for the Yaku rites and traditions", Corco added in his head. He hoped his brother"s infatuation with the west hadn"t gone too far.

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Out of the palace gate and down the stairs, Fadelio reached the inner city. In his attempts to prepare the new courtyard, he had been maddened by the servants of the royal castle for a while, but had soon abandoned his work. After what had happened last night and this morning, he doubted Corco would want to spend much time in the palace. Thus, it had become important to secure other accommodations, another excuse to visit home.

As he walked down the old-familiar path, he thought back to his family. His father Atoc was a fair man, but harsh. Even for his own child he would not make exceptions, as one would expect of the head general of the empire. Fadelio had always suffered under his father"s draconic training. However, after such a long time had pa.s.sed, he remembered the days out in his home"s training yard with fondness. Even all the blood and sweat of years past did nothing to deter him. Though there would be no corresponding tears. Tears were not allowed with the general. Of course, wails and complaints had been fine with his mother, who would chide the great general whenever he had overburdened his only son with his expectations. As his sisters had grown, they had sided with mother and had done their best to get exemptions for their big brother. They would beg for Fadelio to get longer breaks or easier training sessions, until the general would get annoyed and chased them away.

He hadn"t seen home in seven years, but unlike Corco or Atau, he had never felt like an exile. Since General Atoc had been the emperor"s closest confidant, they had received a treatment beyond many of the great n.o.bles of Medala. As the general"s only son and heir, Fadelio had always been close to the crown prince as a result. From an early age, he had known that he would become the next emperor"s attendant, and he had been educated as such. While Corco might have been bitter about Emperor t.i.tu"s decision to send him away, Fadelio"s presence alone should have clued him into just how much the emperor had expected of the young prince.

Unfortunately, now there was no way for Emperor t.i.tu to tell his true feelings to his son anymore. Fadelio hoped that his friend would come to terms by himself. Maybe in death, t.i.tu could provide answers to his son.

__________________________

At this point, Corco couldn"t trust either of his witnesses, but bad information was still better than no information at all.

"What about the servants? There"s no way anyone truly loyal to father would have agreed to this sort of burial," Corco said to the prime minister.

"As I understand it, none of Emperor t.i.tu"s close servants were involved." Corco was about to blow up again, but the politician raised his hand to preempt the eruption. "However, this choicewas based on the emperor"s personal instructions before his death."

"Bulls.h.i.t."

"It seems possible, from the rumors of the palace," the priest said.

"The emperor was not right of mind. Sometimes, it felt as if an evil spirit had entered his body. That was the reason he locked himself away: To make sure no one could make use of his weakness," the politician added.

"Are you saying that my father was crazy?" Corco stared down Chaupic, whose forehead"s floodgates opened even more in response.

"With the son"s current appearance, the actions of the father do not seem unlikely," the Pachayawna said from the side. Corco realized that he had been far too touchy. While it was easy to see why he would be, it wouldn"t help to confront anyone and anything in his path. The prime minister had been a lot more helpful than he had expected, after all. While he took a few breaths to try and calm down, Chaupic continued his tale.

"The emperor had been forgetful for a while. He once called Prince Pacha by Prince Corco"s name. Later, he began to see thingss others could not. Ghosts and spirits, some servants said. Yet Emperor t.i.tu still persisted in his work. This old servant was fortunate to see the emperor in his great persistence and helped as much as possible. After a meeting between the emperor and his closer servants, he decided to let some lesser warriors fulfill the rites."

"And where are his close servants now? I have a few questions for them," Corco asked.

As he looked around the dark mortuary, the old man shifted his weight between his feet.

"Prince Corco should not be upset-"

"Where!?"

His hands shot up as Chaupic took a step back, away from the prince. Then he took a deep breath to prepare for his answer, and for what would come after.

"After the emperor"s pa.s.sing, the ancestral hall determined that there were many problems during the last days of the emperor"s reign. The cause of death itself was suspicious. Thus, some even speculated on poison or a curse. Further, great amounts of wealth had disappeared from the treasury. The ancestors concluded that many of Emperor t.i.tu"s old servants stayed away from the funerary rites because they could not bear the weight of their conscience. Thus... they were punished."

"What do you mean? What does that mean!?" Corco"s eyes widened as he stepped towards the politician again. Soon though he stopped, so as not to spook the old servant too much. Although he already knew the answer to his question, he still had to hear it.

"Many were reduced to commoners or slaves. The closest servants were either salted or allowed to commit suicide."

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For a while, Fadelio just stood in front of the old-familiar mansion as he soaked in the atmosphere and thought about the past. He was still trying to find the right words for his return, when someone tugged his sleeve and pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Deepest apologies, young master, but the lord of the house would punish young master if he were to remain here for much longer." With large hazel eyes, a servant girl, or slave, in simple brown robes looked up at him.

"No need to worry," Fadelio answered with a calm smile, "I am the heir of the house. In fact, my arrival should have already been antic.i.p.ated."

"But young master... the house has no heir yet. Please do not make things difficult for this servant or the guards will have to step in." The girl moved back half a step and threw a nervous glance at the mansion"s entrance, where two watchmen with simple spears stood ready to get involved should the need arise. Fadelio frowned, more out of confusion than out of annoyance. With their shabby equipment and poor posture, those two guards reminded him of the nitwits who had blocked their way back in Porcero. There was no chance the general would allow someone like that to guard his doors.

"This is not Great General Atoc di Pluritac"s mansion?" he asked.

"No Lord, it has not been for quite some time now," the girl said as she took another step back.

Before Fadelio could process what he had heard, a man in expensive robes laden with silver came out of the house and towards him in great strides.

"Haha, Fadi my old friend! What a pleasure to see you again!" Fadelio raised his brow at the nickname he hadn"t heard in years, ever since they had lost their honor and become merchants in Arcavia. Still, he looked over to the voice and managed to put an old-familiar face to the old-familiar name.

"Quirinu di Pluritac. What is your business at my family"s mansion?" Despite his disdain for the man in his front, Fadelio managed to keep his voice calm. Qirinu had been one of the warriors under Corco who had crossed the Weltalic Sea with them. He had also been the first to run away once they had met with trouble.

"What my business is? This is my home, did you not know that? I thought that was why you were here? To talk about old times. Honestly," he grinned, "it was quite surprising when I heard that Corco was home. I was convinced that with all the selfish naiveté, you and your master had long kicked the bucket. It"s a shame, I was so convinced of his demise that I may have made a mistake when I recounted Corco"s fate to the court. How unfortunate, losing his t.i.tle just like that. Well, at least you still have your life, right? With that brutish strength of yours you will make a fine silver miner, I"m sure. As for your father?" He moved his head around Fadelio"s stony face as he probed for an opening.

"That one wasn"t so lucky. The old man"s incompetence caused the emperor"s death, that"s what has been decided. The fool thought he would save his honor when he cut open his own arms, but after his death, all his achievements were still erased from the imperial records. Now, it is as if there never even was a General Atoc of the Medala Empire."

Quirinu paced around Fadelio as the taunt in his voice grew ever clearer. However, one look at his former companion"s clenched fists and he increased the distance. The snake wouldn"t be willing to die here.

"As for your mother and your sisters? Their wealth was taken and they were degraded to mean commoners. But surely they"ll be fine. With how pretty they are, they"ll be able to sell themselves on the streets for an excellent price. Unfortunately, I haven"t found any of them yet. I have been looking, you know? I could buy their bodies with their own money and have them service me in their own home. Do you want to come inside by the way? I"m sure you will appreciate my refurbishing."

"No, that won"t be necessary. Good day."

With stiff movements, Fadelio turned around and left.

__________________________

His head in an absolute mess, Fadelio slowly looked down and looked into the crawling stream of water at his feet. In his confusion, he had almost stepped into the river. After he had left his home, he had wandered in a daze, his soul pulled from his body. He couldn"t even remember how he had gotten here.

First, orient yourself.

The lively street around him should be one of the two main roads which lead along the Argu River, which meant he had somehow left the inner city without even realizing. A look up at the sun showed that he had walked for a considerable amount of time, while the same look down showed his hands encrusted in blood, freshly drawn from the crescent-shaped wounds his nails had left in them. Only through pain could he prevent his urges and not rip the head off of that rattling c.o.c.kroach. He knew it wouldn"t help any and would only get them into trouble. In fact, that might have been the whole idea behind the provocation.

"Good sir." A figure dressed in a robe, black and covered in stars, talked to him from the entrance of a small tent. "Do you wish to have your fortune read? The master sees greatness in your future and invites you inside."

"I don"t believe in wasting money," he answered with a frown. Rather than worry about the scammers here, he had to go back to the palace and make an urgent report. He also had to plan for his revenge, just another point on the list.

However, the owner of the tent wouldn"t let up. From inside, beyond the first robed figure, came another voice.

"Fadelio di Pluritac. This one reading is for free."

In response, Fadelio raised a brow, looked around and went towards the tent.