41: On The Verge of War

The rebels headed towards the Palace.

The Royal Family had caught wind of what the rebels were planning to do a little too late, and had started preparing an army to defend the Palace.

Duke Phoenix had also started assembling his own army to assist with the rebellion against the Royal Family.

Everything was starting to get complicated in Ether, and no one knew what exactly was going on and who was pulling the strings.

Trojan, on the other hand, was simply going to wait and watch.

The whole idea of creating the confusion was to clear his own name. Now that the peasants were split between Duke Phoenix and the Royal Family, they had completely forgotten about Trojan.

It took the rebellion a week to reach the Palace.

During that week, preparations were made on all sides.

The peasants prepared everything they needed, weaponry, fires, armour. There were to many of them, and there was not enough equipment to go about.

Three days after the rebellion started heading towards the Palace, Trojan suggested something to Duke Phoenix.

Provide the peasants with some armour, light armour and some weaponry. It would improve Duke Phoenix's reputation slightly and might have been able to make the peasants work with him.

Duke Phoenix thought through the decision. Providing equipment had a few drawbacks.

Should the peasants decide to turn on them after taking down the Royal Family, they had a whole different issue to deal with. Duke Phoenix voiced out this thought.

"I know the Royal Family," Trojan told Duke Phoenix.

The both of them were sitting down with each other, speaking personally with no one else around them.

Trojan continued. "At this stage, I doubt the Royal Family would lose. With your support, the rebellion might be able to win, but there will surely be too many loses."

"You are implying that the rebellion would have lost too many men to be effective in challenging me?" Duke Phoenix asked. "That is a risk."

"It might. But I know for sure that the Royal Family will not fall easily as long as their contracted mage still exists," Trojan continued, bringing up another problem. "Alastor, the Royal Family's mage is a problem which we will have to deal with."

"How do you suppose we go about it then? I do not have much knowledge on this mage," Duke Phoenix said.

"There is nothing we can do about him at the moment. We will have to target the Royal Family themselves while Alastor is distracted," Trojan told him.

Duke Phoenix had a concerned expression on his face.

By removing the contractor, the mage had no reason to continue battle if they were no longer employed. But Alastor was unpredictable, and Trojan had no idea what he would do exactly.

Even if Alastor lived, as long as the Royal Family died, the rebellion would have won.

Alastor might go on a rampage, and when that happens, the rebellion would end up wiped out, leaving no one to contest Duke Phoenix.

It was a flawed plan, but it was the only one Trojan had.

Four days after the rebellion started heading towards the Palace, three days until their destination.

Army personnel from Duke Phoenix met up with the rebellion. They news spread that Duke Phoenix was joining their cause spread amongst the peasants.

There were some who were skeptical, but a majority of them were supportive. They got more equipment and even food to last the journey. The army was somewhat equipped to fight, though their actual combat ability remained low.

Two days until they reached the Palace, the rebellion was joined up with a part of Duke Phoenix's army.

Calvary, armoured with spears. They were to support the rebellion, and built up enough men.

Seeing the rebellion get stronger by the day, more peasants, men and women alike started joining their cause. They wanted change, they wanted to change Ether for the better against the ones who they thought to be their enemy.

The rebellion totalled to be around close to 50,000 persons, including Duke Phoenix's army.

The Royal Family received news of the growing power of the rebellion.

Alastor stood in front of the King, having just finished the report.

"Who's army is supporting the rebellion?" The King asked.

"It appears to be the crest of Duke Phoenix, your majesty," Alastor commented.

The King gripped the armrest of his throne.

"I knew that old crow was going to go against us eventually! Are his intentions clear?" The King asked.

"Duke Phoenix's intentions are still unclear to me," Alastor told the King.

"What of Duke Trojan? Any news yet?" The King asked.

"No, it appears not," Alastor reported.

The King started thinking rapidly. The country was on the verge of collapse from the rebellion, and he was stressed.

He had initially found the rumours beneficial, and had let the rebellion boil for some time so that he could eventually get Trojan on his side. However, even after a month, Trojan never once gave in. In fact, he went and disappeared.

The Royal army was ready for battle, and they were just waiting for the rebels to appear in Central Inner City.

Alastor had been spying on the rebellion, and he had been reporting to the King. It was a serious issue, and they barely had any time to prepare.

The rebellion grew, and the more it grew, the more impossible it seemed for the King.

Most of not all of the common population of Inner City was against the Royal Family. The nobles had all decided to remain neutral.

The King made an official decision.

"Alastor, I want you to go and surprise the rebellion. Go and cause as much damage as possible before they reach the Palace," The King ordered.

Attacking the rebellion by surprise, especially for a mage as skilled as Alastor, was sure to cause chaos.

The King had initially wanted to convince the rebels otherwise, but he decided it was not going to work.

The Royal Family chose violence.

The turning point of the event, that single order.

"Right away, your majesty," Alastor replied.