The Fall of the Stallion

Commander Clavorius stomped his foot as he made his way into the throne room. Behind him were his men. He was assigned as a vassal to own the fertile lands on the far north close to the first ring forest. He knew King Vulhelm more than anyone else. For him, King Vulhelm was his pillar and savior.

Without the King, he was nothing. He was merely a peasant from the lower district who was only good at wielding swords.

Having to hear that the King was captured by the church caused him to storm the throne room. Behind him were his men, he was the commander of the 3rd division of Vallion Knights Army.

Seeing the King was being chained up, Commander Clavorious unsheathed his blades along with his men. They were also surprised to find that the King's guards were dead on the floor.

It was an obvious coup. They could not let this pass.

The Knights wore iron armor with blue long sleeves tunic and cape. They looked mighty and majestic. "Father! What's the meaning of this?!"

The Pope was just standing on the corner, calm and frightening. "The King is no longer qualified to lead this country. He needs to be replaced by someone who has God's guidance. He has already contracted with the devils and the church won't allow that."

Clavorious harrumphed. "I never liked you people to begin with." He posed to strike. "Men, protect the King! Protect Rezgareth! El Varde!" He then charged towards the Pope.

Two white hooded and robed men swooped in front and blocked his sword with their daggers.

"Damn you, agents!"

More Agents appeared and pounced towards the Vallion Knights. Clavorious never saw them fight, but the rumors were true, their agility was unmatched.

They were carefully selected by the church and said to be trained assassins since they were children. They carry out assassinations to the heretics or those who planned to defy the church. That's what made them powerful in the country.

The Vallion Knights were obviously more powerful in sword swinging but they were slower especially with their heavy armors. They couldn't hit the Agents.

The Agents struck them on their vital points, especially on the joints which caused the Knights to fall one by one. Blood trickled down on the floor and the bodies began to fall. Though it was mostly the Knights.

Clavorious was shocked to see his men falling like insects. "Men! Damn it!"

The Pope with cold eyes chuckled. "You could have won if we are on the battlefield, but you made a terrible mistake."

A dagger was swiftly sunk into Clavorious' neck. He croaked as blood flowed down from his mouth. "It can't be--" He then fell on the floor with a clank.

"The reign of Vulhelm is over. Now, I will lead this country into salvation." The pope declared.

The capital of Lemorio was in shambles. The country was never this divided before. The capital was devoted to the church, but some were loyal to Vulhelm. Especially, the whole order of the Vallion Knights was in chaos. Some higher-ups left the order to form an anti-church faction, while those who remained sided with the church.

Most of the nobility were supportive of the church. Those who were loyal to Vulhelm however were forced into submission. However, if they show signs of hostility they could get killed.

Others were apathetic to the whole event. For them, it doesn't matter who was on the top as long as they could keep their properties.

Regardless, the country was now heading into a civil war.

***

Inside Hervil's living room, they were now discussing.

"This is bad. King Vulhelm's execution is already set a few days from now." Melvin said.

He didn't realize that the pope could have such power. Even the church was able to shake the foundations of the country.

Currently, he stayed inside Hervil's home. This was the only location he was secure. Since the climate was hot outside with the power struggle, he avoided the streets as much as he could.

"They are always one step ahead of us."

Hervil said.

Melvin just heard that starvation was now more common since the noblemen who managed the markets stopped their operations. It was probably due to the situation.

The noblemen's assets who were loyal to King Vulhelm were taken away from them. The family of the entire nobleman in charge of the transportation was said to be killed during the commotion for defending the King.

Many noblemen were assassinated it seems after the Grand Meeting. The church was clever to make use of that opportunity. With some of the Lords dead, the organization of the military from other fiefs would be a lot harder.

No help from the forts or territory would come soon.

Those who managed to escape were doing what they could to gather their forces.

There was also a heavy demand from the blacksmith to forge iron weapons. It seems an internal war was brewing fast. Someone from the upper echelon in the Knights was gathering an army to retake the capital by force and free the King.

If nothing was done, the Capital would crumble and also the entire Kingdom.

There was indeed chaos.

Melvin was thinking. He then sighed. "This situation is kinda tough, but don't worry I have a plan." He then lifted a weak smile.

After seeing Melvin's eyes, Hervil could not help but trust him. "What is it?"

"We are gonna try to assist the King. Hopefully, we can still stop the church from advancing to its next plans. For now, just leave the rest to me."

Melvin thought he had a good plan but it would take a few days to execute since he needed those time to wait for Vulhelm's public execution. Though Melvin was worried why it was nothing for the church for a civil war to occur. Did they not care for the people?

It even gave him enough reason to save this Kingdom.

***

A few days later...

King Vulhelm with his tattered clothes walked across the street. His arms and neck were chained. He was nothing like the King from before. The mighty King that they once saw was now a fallen man who had nothing.

Vulhelm was sullen. He was staring blankly to the ground.

To those who hated him, it gave them entertainment. They were even allowed to grab a stone and throw it at the King. Vulhelm remembered the reminder of his first son, to be wary of the church, he was now starting to regret it.

Vulhelm thought that no one would save him now. The vast majority of the nobility only respected him due to fear and his title, without it, he was someone they wanted to kill, especially the commoners. His loyal followers on the upper echelon were quickly taken care of by their rivals.

There was no hope of rescue from another Lord since they don't have the military to stop the Agents and the Knights.

Vulhelm was lead to a wooden platform. His head was placed into the guillotine.

Looking in front were the commoners who he looked down on, they seemed to be glad.

The church Agents were on stand-by, they were found on the sides along with some of the Vallion Knights. They were allowed to unsheath their blades in case someone would interfere with the execution.

General Chagrin of the Vallion Knights grinned seeing the King, he was glad to see his fall. In fact, he joined the Knights just so he could hope to assassinate him one day. Assassination on the royalty was almost impossible. Even poison was difficult to pull off with the King's food tasters. Chagrin hated Vulhelm in his core.

He thought that by being loyal, he would be able to assassinate Vulhelm. For him, however, the situation turned even more favorable. After the church captured the King, without hesitation he switched sides and he now served Father Meldario.

He was the head of the Vallion Knights that served the church. "Heh, serves you right Vulhelm!" He then called out for his subordinates. "Hey after this let's celebrate and get a rum. The church gave us hefty coins after switching to their sides."

Most of all Chagrin was glad to see some reasonable money flowing into his pockets. That wouldn't occur with Vulhelm's stingy ruling. The taxing system already reflected the King's greed. The church paid him well, as well as those people who sided with them.

On the guillotine, Vulhelm was silent. He was holding back his emotions. "So this is my end, huh? I probably deserve this for abandoning my children."

One of the Bishops stepped on the wooden platform where the guillotine was located. With the white and formal robe, the judgment of the King rested in his hands. "William Vulhelm! You have committed treason, you copulated with a beast-woman which is against the law of the church. Worse, you have sided with the devils."

The mob was enraged. Since those who committed the same were harshly punished especially the commoners.

The Bishop proclaimed. "Where is justice for the people? The King who fleed Mendovian and gave up his people and land to the detestable Trimperial will receive his judgment."

"That's right!"

"Kill him!"

Out of nowhere, a horse-drawn carriage entered the scene. From it, Melvin came out, he was also accompanied by Rederick.

Melvin acted like it was the usual day with his carefree expression. "Oh, look at what we have here. It seems there is a gathering." He spoke aloud for them to hear.

Rederick cleared his throat. "Umm Mr. President, I think we need to get serious."

"I know, just play along," Melvin whispered.

"As I was saying, your highness, you seem to be in a trouble. You as well the citizens of Lemorio."

The crowd began clamoring. "Who the hell are you?"

"Must be a Vulhelm loyalist."

"Hey, Agents capture him."

Melvin was at a safe distance from the Vallion Knights and the church agents. With a bit of sprint, they could get reached. Though he was calm. Right now though they were willing to listen to him. "Now, now calm yourselves. I'm just asking you, people, if you are fine with what you are doing."

"Of course we are!"

"Are you mocking us, you idiot?!"

They were even more riled up.

In a split second, Melvin's face and tone then turned serious. "If you let the church take over the capital, your kingdom will definitely fall. You, and your children will starve to death. Some would get sold as slaves while others are killed in the battle. Your wives and daughters will be raped and defiled. I doubt the church can even contain an incoming civil war. After that, what's next? There will be anarchy. Nothing will be left soon. Every one of you will suffer. Which is why I have a proposal to make."

For some reason, they were now willing to listen to Melvin.

"Just speak it!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Melvin lifted a slow smile. "I plan to annex this kingdom with my country. Don't worry, I can assure you that you will be satisfied with my governance. But there will be some changes. I will give opportunities for the commoners to grow. As for the slavery and the nobility system, I will sure to end it!"

That's what Melvin's plan was now. Since the kingdom was in shambles the only way it could get revived into something greater was with Vesna's help. But wouldn't it better if he could also control the King.

The crowd's mouth turned agape. Most of them were commoners, hearing those words slightly swayed them. To them achieving the status of nobility was just a pipe dream. And changing the system was too good to be true.

Right now they were speechless.

Melvin stared at King Vulhelm. "What do you say, your highness?"

Vulhelm looked away. He then sighed sullenly. "Whatever, I'm tired of this job anyway. The only thing I want right now is for me to live with my daughter. The moment I had my head in the execution platform, I already lost my identity."

"Then, do we have a deal? If you say yes, I can free you from this mess."