The Union

"Don"t mind me." Leopold said as he approached the table. "Just the King b.u.t.ting in."

"Come on, Your Majesty" Skall smiled and offered Leopold the seat beside his. "We have been waiting for you"

Leopold did not take Skall"s offer and instead went to the seat beside his son. Braun was the one who sat beside Skall instead.

"So, what are we talking about?" Leopold asked. He looked at Ivan and demanded an explanation despite already knowing the reason of the gathering.

His son was dressed in a thin tunic. He was wearing a turban on his head and three of his fingers had golden rings. Ivan looked more of a Wismarine compared to Skall.

"Father, this is our chance. Ashkara had given us a way to destroy Timothy" Ivan excitedly said.

But Leopold only paid attention to the latter half of his answer. Ashkara was the G.o.d of the Wismarines. They say that the deity was a half-human and half-falcon being.

Leopold smiled bitterly. Ivan had been living in Wismar as an amba.s.sador for the past years. He was the one responsible for opening the trade between Wismar and Castonia. Although Leopold knew that the Wismarine customs had already influenced Ivan, he was still shocked by its extent.

Leopold ignored Ivan and instead met Skall"s eyes. "You promised me twenty thousand troops. Where are they?"

"Father, it is rude to talk to Prince Skall like that. He is our guest." Ivan reprimanded.

Leopold was unfazed. Why should he show respect to a scoundrel like Skall? He continued staring at the scoundrel Prince and pushed for an answer.

Skall scratched his head. "Your Majesty, you see… There are complications in our logistics. Sending twenty thousand soldiers is no joke. But the soldiers are on their way. A little bit delayed but they will arrive soon"

"Delayed?!" Leopold almost shouted. "It took the Vanadians just a little more than a week to reinforce Timothy. Thirty thousand mercenaries and hundreds of warships! Now you are telling me that Wismar can"t even handle the logistics of twenty thousand? No wonder the Vanadians are defeating you in trade. Great and powerful, that was the impression I had with regards to Wismar in the past. Now I just discovered that you are weak and terrible."

"Father!" Ivan stood from his chair. "Prince Skall is doing everything. We must be thankful to him. He had already done so much for Castonia. This is not how we treat an ally"

Leopold"s frowned. Thankful? For what? The Wismarines caused all of this. He conspired with them once, but that was a mistake of his. The Wismarines were merely fixing the trouble they caused. Why should he be thankful?

"Leave us" he said. "Leave me alone with my son"

When Braun, Skall and General Peyton didn"t move immediately, Leopold"s anger blazed.

"Out! All of you!" he roared.

The three men hastily stood up from their seats and went outside.

Leopold ma.s.saged his throbbing head. A few more outbursts like that would probably pop one of his veins.

"Why are you defending that b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" he asked Ivan.

"Because he is our ally, Father. We should treat our allies with respect. Isn"t that the right thing to do? He is our friend."

Leopold sighed. The man Ivan referred to as their friend was the one who damaged their reputation. He pointed at the map on the table. "Ivan, what do you see?"

Ivan looked at the map and his face showed signs of confusion. "A map of Castonia?" he guessed.

"No Ivan. A map of Western Castonia and Eastern Castonia. They call us Eastern Castonia now. And who do you think caused this split?"

Leopold didn"t give Ivan the chance to answer. He pointed towards the door. "The scoundrel Prince you are defending. Skall caused this, Ivan. He is a moronic Prince who destroyed what we have built for decades."

"No Father! Prince Skall only freed us from the shackles of our fake allies. The one who caused this is Timothy. That is why we must destroy him. Send the order now to attack. My army is ready to strike."

"No, we must wait for the rest of the Wismarines. We should then defend Nirvana. The great walls of the city will break Timothy"s army." Leopold said.

"And what? Wait until Timothy rejoins the rest of his army in Solon? The Hadean, Cantonese and Inkish armies will also arrive in Solon soon. We must attack now!"

Leopold laughed mockingly. "Do you think that you can defeat Timothy? You can"t! Timothy is dangerous. He is smart and his soldiers worship him. In the battle of Knightsend, he destroyed the Tulosans utterly. He will also destroy you."

Leopold doesn"t know why, but he felt a little proud talking about Timothy"s exploits. Even though Timothy was his enemy, Leopold respected his son"s abilities.

Ivan lowered his head. "Why are you talking as if he is your son? He is not your son."

Leopold"s heart skipped a beat. Does Ivan know? But he kept Timothy"s true ident.i.ty as secret even from his two real sons.

"What are you talking about Ivan?"

"I know father" Ivan looked at him. "Timothy is not your son. While he is mother"s child, you are not his father."

Leopold was shocked. "How.. how did you find out?"

"I have connections. Also, his face is different from ours. It"s alright, nothing really changed after I knew about it. I had always hated him. How dare he claim the throne? He is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Ivan then went closer to him. "Father, we must let the people know about this. Timothy will lose his claim to the throne. He will be weakened by this. I will personally.."

"No" Leopold interrupted him. He then grasped Ivan"s arms. "You must keep this a secret, do you understand? Our family will be destroyed if word of this gets out. Timothy is beloved by the people not because he is a royal. He saved the western region and he is a hero to them. His power comes not from his legitimacy, but from his charisma. Revealing this will do more damage to me, Ivan. The people will mock me."

Leopold tried to sway him but Ivan was adamant. "You don"t have to worry about getting your image destroyed father because it already is. But how about this. Pa.s.s your crown to me and I will lead our armies."

"Pa.s.s my crown to you?" Leopold repeated to confirmed that he heard right. "You mean, abdicate?"

"Yes. Make me the King of Castonia and I will protect our family from Timothy. I am the heir anyway and you are just hastening the process."

Leopold was speechless. After seeing Ivan wag his tail to Skall, he couldn"t give his son his crown. Under Ivan"s rule, Castonia will become a puppet of Wismar. Things will be different if he was the one leading the Kingdom. He had fallen into the sweet promises of Wismar once, but that will never happen again.

"No. You are still too young. Maybe in a few years, Ivan."

Ivan wrinkled his forehead. He was breathing heavily, probably from hiding his anger towards Leopold. "Fine" he said. "I will wait. I will also not reveal Timothy"s secret for your sake. But I will take my army and attack him."

"I told you, that will be dangerous. Even if you outnumber him and even if most of his army is composed of untested mercenaries, he could still defeat you. It"s better to let him come to us. I will not give you my permission."

"Who said I need your permission?" Ivan sneered. "You are King in name only. My army follows my orders. The people hate you, the whole world hates you. I can do what I want without your permission. You have no power anymore."

For the first time, Leopold was smacked in the face by the truth. He had been avoiding this truth since the riots in Nirvana.

He had no power. A King"s power was an illusion and he can"t do magic tricks anymore. He had lost the respect of the people. The soldiers mocked his incompetence. Aside from a few loyal souls, he had nothing except his crown.

This could change in the future though. His sins will be forgotten after many years. He was confident that he could recover. But for now, he had no power. He can"t stop Ivan.

Leopold nodded. "Do what you want then. But I already warned you that attacking Timothy is dangerous."

"It"s decided then. Turns out, we don"t need those three." Ivan stood up. "I will prepare my army now father. Skall and I will destroy Timothy."

He walked towards the door and left Leopold. But Ivan stopped just a few steps from the door. "And I need him"

Leopold raised his head and looked at Ivan. "Who?"

"Erik"