Chapter 10: Smoke

  The Month of Noel, Day 16, Year 681 of the Second Holy CalendarWhen you found yourself standing in the middle of an empty void with no memory of how you got there, you were either dead or dreaming—that was a cssic fantasy trope. And Dominic knew what death felt like, which certainly wasn’t this.

  After waiting five minutes and seeing nothing happen, Dominic sighed. “Am I going to have to wait all night?” he asked the void.

  “You are quite arrogant. You’ve been summoned here by some unknown deity, and yet you show no fear or deference.” A feminine voice echoed around him, then ughter—familiar ughter.“Well, I think it’s rather cute.”

  Dominic felt his temper fre but remained calm.“You call yourself a deity. Some might call that bsphemy.”

  “Asking to look upon a goddess’s face? My, my, you really are quite bold. Well, fine then. Since you are my cute little descendant, I’ll give you the opportunity to see me in all my glory and beauty.”

  A figure appeared before him. She had glistening silver hair and gleaming golden eyes—she was nothing short of pure beauty. A second ter, he realized he was standing before a god, someone so powerful they could think him into non-existence. An overwhelming desire to kneel consumed him, a need to worship at her feet. He found himself lowering his head before snapping back to his senses.

  Overwhelming rage filled him—rage at himself for momentarily succumbing to some form of mental pressure or psychic attack. Fuck this shit. I bow to no one and nothing. Definitely not some harlot bitch just for fucking appearing in front of me. He straightened his spine and gred at her, filling his head with nothing but rage to repce any fear or subservience.

  She gazed at him steadily before ughing.

  “You really are arrogant.” She reached out and poked his forehead with a finger.

  “Survive for just a few more years, and then I’ll be able to help you more.”

  When Dominic woke up, he found himself wrapped in the arms of his sister—an all-too-familiar occurrence. Drenched in cold sweat. He didn’t know if it was part of his new biology or something to do with magic, but when he woke up, he woke up immediately—no grogginess, no rolling over in bed for another five minutes.

  He attempted to roll out of bed, only for Nora to open her eyes groggily and pull him back into her embrace. Her habit of sleeping naked was strange for an eight-year-old, but Dominic had long since grown accustomed to it. His next escape attempt was more successful as he quickly shoved a pillow into her grasp to repce him.

  As he slid out of bed, he noticed the ten knights standing around the room in full body armor, but he wasn’t bothered by it. He had been accompanied 24 hours a day since his rebirth and quite literally couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever been alone. Eventually, you got used to it.

  He headed to Nora’s closet, which conveniently had clothes for him since he stayed over so often, and grabbed a change of clothes before moving into the bathroom—only to find another guard waiting there. Dominic ordered him to leave before getting dressed.

  When he emerged, he saw Nora sitting up in bed, stretching.

  “You should wear night clothes, big sister,” he said while walking over to her closet.

  “You’re starting to sound like Luce,” she joked.

  Dominic was gd his back was turned so she couldn’t see the relief on his face. She was still shaken from the assassination attempt. From what he had been told, it had been a close call—she’d even had to pull out her sword and defend herself personally. No matter how mature she acted, she was still an eight-year-old inside.

  “It’s not Lady Luce anymore,” Dominic said, only half-jokingly.

  He tossed some clothes at Nora and gnced around. None of his retainers were present. That was odd. They were supposed to be accompanying him at all times. His previous attendants had been with Jane, but he hadn’t even seen her.

  As he moved toward the door—guarded, of course—ten more knights silently fell into step around him, some moving ahead. Dominic wasn’t sure if he should acknowledge them or thank them, so he chose silence, same as them.

  Exiting the hallway, he entered the living room of the detached pace and immediately frowned at the toxic stench of alcohol and smoke. Seated around a table, drinking and gambling, were four men and women.

  His frown deepened when he saw the ringleader: Valerius, slouched in his chair with a cigarette in his mouth and a gss of whiskey in his hand.

  The others were officers and generals under his father’s command, all dressed in their military uniforms and pying cards.

  This—this was why Dominic and Nora had no respect for their father. At best, he was an alcoholic; at worst, he was a drug addict. When he wasn’t high or drunk, he was screwing Luce. Dominic seriously doubted his father’s famed military prowess. It seemed more likely that one of his generals had been the real mastermind behind their victories, with Valerius simply being the guy in charge.

  Sighing, Dominic was about to take the long way to the dining room when Valerius called out, “Flick, come over here.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he reluctantly approached, the stench of alcohol and cigarettes growing stronger. “Yes? What do you need, Father?” he asked stiffly.

  “Why are you being so formal? I’m your father.” Valerius was already tipsy.

  Dominic was already gring at him. He allowed only his sister to use his nickname. If Luce or Jane started using it, he wouldn’t mind, but he had already sworn internal vengeance against Queen Veronica for using it. There was no way he was going to let this alcoholic cim it like he had any right to it.

  Before he could express his rage, someone else interrupted. “It’s important to maintain distance, cousin. My children don’t treat me with the respect I deserve as head of the household.”

  Dominic turned to the speaker: Charles Cornelia. His golden hair was neatly waxed, his red eyes clouded with drugs.

  Who gets high this early in the morning? Dominic thought with disgust.

  “My lords, I am rather busy and have important matters to attend to,” he said. Like my breakfast. “If you’ll excuse me—”

  Dark spots clouded his vision.

  “Jane,” he instinctively called for his loyal retainer before remembering she wasn’t there. Then, he sank into unconsciousness.

  When he regained consciousness, Dominic mentally cursed himself. The past few weeks had been good for his health—probably just a streak of good luck—but he had assumed it was a permanent change, possibly due to his Awakening. He had been told that mana would help him overcome his sickliness. As a result, he had pushed himself too far. He had exhausted himself yesterday, followed by an assassination attempt. His body had reached its limit.

  He stewed in his frustration as he overheard Valerius’s raised voice. “And then he just fell down all of a sudden—colpsed ft on his face. It was creepy. One minute, he’s looking at you like you’re garbage, and the next minute, he’s just lying on the floor.”

  “That happens often. You get used to it,” Luce’s exhausted voice replied.

  Dominic opened his eyes. Valerius was sitting worriedly by his bedside, while Luce stood by the window, smoking.

  “How long?” he croaked.

  Both of them turned sharply toward him. Valerius sagged in relief. Luce flicked the ashes off her cigarette.

  “Five hours.” She walked over, helped him sit up, and brought a cup of water to his lips. After drinking, he wiped his mouth with a towel.

  “It really is normal,” Valerius muttered in shock.

  Neither of them responded. Luce returned to the window and lit another cigarette.

  Dominic coughed.

  “Bed rest and healing magic,” she informed him. “The priest says you’ll be better by tomorrow.”

  *****

  An emergency council meeting was held on the 16th of Noel, a strange occurrence as they usually only have one meeting during the month of Noel. However, two pieces of news made that completely impossible. One was the attempted assassination of Dominic and Nora Bck. The militant faction requested that martial w be decred in response to the assassination attempts.

  When martial w was in effect, the minister of military affairs had complete authority to do what was deemed necessary to restore order to the nation without the fear of consequences. Obviously, the traditionalist faction voted against this. Still, the militant faction had gained an absolute majority in the council following the Golden Stallions' invasion, and the neutral faction voted with them as well, as the assassination of two members of the Royal Family was obviously crucial.

  But the second piece of news was the fall of the Galia Citadel. During the Golden Stallion’s Invasion, the Kingdom of Redtowers, which formed in a marriage Alliance with Anttur, unched an invasion of the Kingdom of Bck, which was preempted by Valerius bck, who defeated them at the Battle of Erinvale. Although prisoners were ransomed, no peace agreement was officially reached as the kingdom of bck demanded the entire Western Bank of the Great Alloro River, which is unacceptable to the Kingdom of Redtowers.

  The Kingdom of Bck dispatched multiple cavalry units to raid up and down the River, even managing to cross the river and reach the capital of the Kingdom of Redtowers. Their raiding parties did severe damage to the Kingdom of Redtowers; however, they were unable to overcome the walls of Cachexia city, which belonged to the Kingdom of Redtowers on the West Bank.

  A strange situation emerged in the entire Great Alloro River region, which was essentially uninhabited except for military units and Cachexia city. Thus, the Kingdom of Bck began moving its migrants into the area, settling the Northwestern part of the valley. Although legally not ceded to the Kingdom of Bck for all intents and purposes, the region had become a part of the Kingdom. They protected it, occupied it, and they even collected taxes on the nd.

  Obviously, this would mean another war with the Kingdom of Redtowers; they couldn't allow squatters on their nd. At the same time, the Kingdom of Bck was unwilling to concede this newly established territory. The excess grain helped boost the local economy by lowering the price of food significantly, which resulted in the average citizen having more money, much of which was reinvested in more livestock. All this resulted in more buying power for the citizens which resulted in them purchasing more luxuries rather than just bare minimum necessities, and increased business throughout the country. The national treasury finally got a little bit of leeway due to all this economic activity and increased taxes throughout the nation, no one was willing to let that go not even the traditional faction.

  The Kingdom of Bck had already begun preparing for a war with the Kingdom of Redtowers to seize their new territory and hopefully capture the city of Cachexia. Hearing of the Fall of Galia Citadel, the kingdom only became more eager for war. They had initially suspected Redtowers would easily defeat the army of the Dawn. Still, they have changed their opinion entirely and even decided to send an Envoy to congratute the army of the Dawn and propose an alliance. Other nations would be hesitant because the army of the Dawn was just that, an army led by a warlord, but the Kingdom of Bck was also treated simirly. It was more interested in benefits than the pride of a nation.

  Regardless of the results of their Envoy, they were more eager for war than ever, and we're pnning on attacking even if Redtower is focused all of their efforts on the army of the Dawn once spring comes.

  The council decided to send the first division and the Redtowers border regiment as their army and appointed Charles Cornelia as the commander. Although some proposed that Paul Asicot, Leader of the Redtowers border regiment, take command instead due to his Superior experience, Charles was the general of the first division, which was a proud group of men who feared that they would cause a riot if they heard their General was passed over for another. A counter proposal was made to make Varius the new general. However, he was the governor of Grastide and Veronica refused to move him.

  Charles requested the aid of the second division to capture the city of Cachexia, which reportedly had at least 10,000 soldiers garrisoned. However, his request was denied by Queen Veronica, who didn't want to move the second division from the southern border, as Anttur might take the opportunity to break their truce agreement with the Kingdom of Bck.

  Instead, the queen ordered two new brigades to be trained over the winter, much to the chagrin of the minister of finance, Bruno Bck. Livia Tallwood is requesting that additional soldiers be trained with the increased finances, multiple times. Still, Bruno had permanently blocked as he was both the Queen's brother and the Minister of Finance for over two decades; no one could oppose him, except for his sister.

  She also ordered that if the attack on Cachexia failed, Charles was to prioritize securing the Northwestern territory rather than additional conquests.