High Tension

The city of Carthage was no longer calm.

The Elysean compound was under lockdown, its iron gates shut, guards stationed at every entryway, muskets loaded and bayonets fixed. Outside the compound, Tunisian soldiers patrolled the streets, their presence heavier than before. Every man inside the Elysean delegation could feel it—the growing hostility, the seething resentment.

Inside the compound, General Armand Roux stood in the dimly lit war room, his gloved hands pressed against the wooden table. Across from him, Foreign Minister Charles Dufort paced, his face lined with frustration.

On the table lay the official demand from the Grand Vizier—hand over the Elysean officers responsible for the bloodshed at the Grand Bazaar, or face expulsion from Tunisian lands.

Dufort exhaled sharply. "This is an impossible demand."

Roux's eyes narrowed. "It's a threat."