Chapter 74 - The Highest Call of the Royal Eagle

The day had gone as Carlos Dai Cortana had hoped for. Many merchants and nobles approached the Governor's manor and put pressure upon pressure on House Vanilla. Most threatened to issue complaints to the House of Lords, and even the Army's High Brass. Not only for rejecting the exit of caravans and the curfew and other restrictions imposed, but because they had failed to show anything for all their troubles.

The issue kept escalating from simply harming the benefits of the nobles and the populace by shutting down the caravans, to accusations of frank incompetence. Carlos Dai Cortana himself went to the Governor's manor alongside many of his friends and business partners, and openly berated Saras. This, Carlos would be the first to admit, gave him a hidden sense of delight.

Normally he would have to be deeply respectful and even fearful of the Vanillas, since they were the local tyrants, and were actually very most respected in the County and had a lot of subordinate clans and families in the County, even when they were not the ones in the Governor's post. However, now was an excellent chance to kick them while they were down. Even their closest allies seemed to guard silence, which emboldened House Vanilla's detractors.

To make things worse, Serena Dai Vanilla had gone to the Military Camp inside the city and had refused to go to the Governor's manor. Many people thought that she was running away from the responsibility of her failures.

Being led by Rudolf Dai Salento, and Carlos Dai Cortana, then, a plethora of letters of complaint were sent to the governor's house and their backers in the House of Lords. As the day went by, and in front of the excuses and evasions made by the elders and patriarch of the Vanilla Family, Rudolf decided to strike while it was hot and taking this chance, he had used his influence to call upon an emergency meeting of the City Council, to depose the Vanillas as the ruling governors. Since the emergence of the Kingdom this kind of thing had barely happened once or twice in the past thousand years.

Carlos could smell the blood of the Vanillas, and he more or less regretted not being able to be present when House Vanilla was publicly humiliated. However, he had a mission to accomplish, and things were about to come to fruition. So he quickly left the city with some of his trusted men towards the ruins of the Dukedom of Gad.

When Carlos arrived at the ruins, he reunited with Sombra and Alistar, in one of the few rooms that was still standing. "Is everything good to go?".

"Everything is ready. We actually have one more child than needed. We have already taken one drop of their blood, which will allow them to link to Dagan during the ritual. The first step will be complete, and Dagan will be able to send an avatar that will take over the ritual. Then we will immolate the children. Then Dagan will bestow upon us his blessing and we'll get our due." said Alistar. He had gone through the ritual over and over, as specified by Sombra.

Actually, Sombra did not tell them the ritual per se, he lent them the partial copy of an old book, filled with information about the secrets and history of the olden Land of Philistia. The origin of this book was unknown, and even Carlos who had traveled several places around the world failed to even have heard of such information. The book itself was flabbergasting to them, and even though it was incomplete, the rituals and arcane knowledge within made them tremble from the deepest place in their soul. Just the copy itself nearly made them mad, they could not fathom what reading the actual book would be like.

However, this, instead of making them back up, filled them up with more confidence to proceed with their plans.

Right when Carlos was reuniting with his two accomplices, a small emerald bird flew at maximum speed towards the city of Syracuse.

…

Dusk was approaching ever slowly. In the encampment of the Royal Army of Ansem, some of the soldiers were chit chatting about the events that had transpired in the city during the day. Even though the current highest officer was Serena Dai Vanilla, that did not mean that all of the soldiers were her subordinate. The person who was previously in charge, was a Major of the Army, and was actually a member of the Salento Family, Lambert Dai Salento.

Lambert was obviously displeased that Serena had taken over the army once she got to the city, but right now, he was filled with schadenfreude, since Serena was probably going to take a very big hit to her reputation once this failure spreaded and he would make sure it would.

"Man, I mean, I know we are supposed to obey orders, but that the Lieutenant does not even have the courage to take responsibility for her mistakes, actually leaves a lot to be desired. At least she should have confronted her accusers in the Governor's manor instead of hiding here. Major Lambert is right, we are the proud Army of the kingdom, and the way she is doing things will besmirch the name of the Army, and the Royal House itself." said one of the captains to his friends.

"Shhh… Don't let the men that came with the Lieutenant hear you. They could court martial us. Still, it's quite refreshing, they call themselves elites, but they still let the man get away under their nose." answered his companion.

Conversations such as these repeated themselves over and over. Some of the Elite soldiers were actually fuming, but most kept it together, especially when they noticed how calm Serena was during the whole situation. It was like she was waiting for something. The men that knew Serena for several years, sensed that the Lieutenant was not like herself, and she made some "blunders" that she would have, normally, never made. And even if she did, she would be the first to admit to them and make up for it. This alone made them feel that there was something more to the whole debacle, that they had yet to figure out.

The answer was not long in coming. A blinding light was shown in the command center. The command center had a Transmission Plate that was able to pass important documents and other information quickly among the different Army Encampments. It used alchemical means and was one of the most advanced technologies currently in existence. It was quite expensive though, and in Ansem, currently, only the Army and the different Governor's Manors in the Counties had access to them. Not only was building them expensive, but the exchange of information was quite costly as well.

When the blinding light disappeared, Serena left the command center with a radiant smile on her face. Many of the soldiers who saw her were flabbergasted, particularly because of the whole pressure that House Vanilla was enduring right now. Lambert Dai Salento quickly got out of the office when he noticed the bright light from the Transmission Plate. He had been in a very good mood, and was just waiting for the meeting in the Governor's manor to end, to apply for the disciplinary committee to evaluate Serena's incompetence, however, seeing Serena's confident attitude, he suddenly got a very bad feeling.

Right there and then, an emerald bird came flying at maximum speed towards Serena. One of the soldiers quickly reacted and said: "A Magical Beast. Quickly, shoot it down!".

"Hold!" said Serena right then and there. The bird approached Serena, who was quite confident, because of her very own power. The Magical Beast was a beautiful green bird, with a small beak. There was a piece of parchment in its beak and it flew circles around Serena as if it was asserting that she was the person it was looking for. Serena simply raised her arm with a badge and a strange runic symbol drawn on it. The bird saw the symbol and let the piece of paper go into Serena's hands, right before leaving with a speed that left any other bird feeling like turtles.

Serena opened the note and the smile on her face got even more radiant.

"Men, follow me to the Governor's Manor. I know most of you are feeling doubtful about the events that have transpired during these days. It's time to clarify everything, and I'm sure the answer will more than satisfy you." commanded Serena.

"Lieutenant Dai Vanilla. Even though you are the person with the highest rank right now, you have no right to command me or my men on your expedition. I'm afraid that without a proper explanation and command from the high brass, what you've done so far could only be called irrational, and me and my men want nothing to do with this situation. As Army officers we do not meddle in the business of the Nobles." retorted Major Lambert. He thought that Serena was trying to make a show of force on the nobles, and help her family, and he would not make things easy for her. He did not know what Serena had in store, but he was adamant in opposing her.

Serena turned to him, and stayed quiet. All the soldiers stood still and waited for the likely confrontation. Nevertheless, the "fight" they were expecting did not happen at all. Serena simply smiled, and showed Major Lambert a metal plate with a symbol carved on it. When the Major saw the symbol, he went on one knee immediately. The rest of the soldiers, also looked at the badge, and recognizing the symbol, imitated the Major. They all shouted in unison:

"HONOR BE TO THE KINGDOM!"

All the soldiers, including the major, then donned their armors, and quickly left the encampment towards the Governor's manor. The soldier parade sounded like thunder, and announced the proud movement of the army.

In the Governor's Manor, the City Council was currently in session. Yells and accusations kept going from one side to the other, however it was clear that the tide seemed to be in favor of the Salentos and their faction, as well as their request to discharge the Vanillas from the Government.

Rudolf Dai Salento was a taciturn looking man, with long sideburns and a hooked nose. He was currently on cloud nine, though, and as the reunion was coming to an end, he took the stand, and was already prepared to end this charade and give the Vanillas the final blow.

"Dear fellow citizens of Syracuse. It is with great pain and uneasiness that we find ourselves tonight in this great building, symbol of the honour of the County government, trying to clarify what has happened in these days.

Not only because of the terrible kidnappings that have shocked all of us, but also because of the terrible decisions that the current government has taken to deal with the situation. It is not just the lack of results, no, which in itself would be more than enough reason to bring this vapid government to account.

It is that they have done irreparable damage to the County's economy, and they stubbornly persist in not taking responsibility for the mistakes they have made, making it even easier for the hijackers to act. To date we have no idea what their objective is or the whereabouts of our children. And to add salt to the wound, the few clues we had and the children we had rescued have been taken again.

In the end, I am afraid I have no choice but to call for the repeal of this useless government, as well as the rapid opening of the restraining measures, which will allow us to request prompt assistance in finding the children. Even so, I fear that due to the delays caused by this government, we are very likely to face the worst case scenario."

As Rudolf was saying this, Saras' face was getting gloomier and gloomier. They had tried to calm the mood of the people, but riled up by Rudolf and his cronies, things were looking worse and worse. Many members of the City Council, as well as many nobles present, especially those that saw their interests compromised started yelling, asking for the deposition of Saras and the Vanillas. Oliver kept a cold face all throughout the hearing, and said nothing at all.

When one of the members called for a vote, and everyone was about to put the final nail on the Vanillas' Coffin, the hooves of the Army Cavalry sounded like thunder to their ears.

Some of the nobles got a bit scared, and suddenly Serena entered the hall without asking so much as permission, followed by Major Lambert, and her captains. All of them had serious looks on their faces, save for Serena who looked quite calm.

Rudolf had a bad feeling about the Army's appearance and started berating Serena before she could say anything.

"Ma'am Lieutenant. While we appreciate that you have finally decided to show yourself during these trying times, I have to remind you that this Hall of the City Council is the representative of the House of Lords, in the Kingdom, and it's not a place that you can come and go as you please. It's unfortunate you had decided to not appear until now, when everything is already done"

Rudolf wanted to make the rest of the noble oppose Serena before she could even defend herself. He was prepared to ask her to leave the room, therefore, whatever she had prepared would be too late to actually affect them. However, his words got caught up in his throat, when Serena, nonchalantly, took a metal plate from her bosom and raised it up high.

Rudolf's eyes constricted immediately, and he could not help but tremble imperceptibly. Saras and Oliver on the other hand lit up. They knew that Serena was planning something, but they had no idea what it was. When they saw the Metal Plate, they looked at each other and saw the pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. I apologize for my intrusion, and for not coming earlier, but unfortunately I was under orders previously, and I had to work against the clock, in order to prepare everything for tonight's operation. I ask for your comprehension." started Serena quite calmly, and a bit smugly. She was quite happy to see the dumbfounded expression on Rudolf's face.

"I can see that most of you recognize the metal plate in my hand, for instance, Marquis Rudolf here who stopped his previous harassment. This is the Highest Call of the Royal Eagle. Which means that from now on, you are to heed my command as if you were in the presence of the king himself. I expect your complete and utter support from this moment forward. Any objections?"

The room went eerily quiet from that moment on. The sun had still not set on the horizon.