Alcingeria Chapter Fifty Nine: The Coming War

Princess Estaire calls a meeting with The Scorpions and The Vipers.

Chapter Fifty Nine The Coming War:

Thursday July 8^th 1690

I had a nightmare. I saw an army, the biggest I’ve ever seen. Everyone in it was dressed in Vulrock’s red and black military uniform. The army was attacking a city! Each soldier was armed with a machine gun. There were numerous witches, warlocks and fairies among the ranks. I even saw a few vampires! I watched, unable to move or even shut my eyes as innocent civilians were mercilessly gunned down in the street, houses were set on fire, explosions rang out periodically. Vampires fed on the humans of the city without hesitation. In minutes the majority of the city was engulfed in flames, explosions still ringing out. The sound of machine gunfire was constant, screams of agony as well as anguish filled the air. Men dressed in the green and silver Delron military uniform arrived armed with pikes, spears, swords, muskets and flintlocks. They didn’t stand a chance. They were cut down by bullets from the machine guns. At the head of Queen Yuka’s army was Alice, using her dark magic relentlessly, killing men and women at every turn. Burning buildings began crumbling, some even crushed people beneath.

I snapped awake and gasped, sitting bolt upright. My mind was reeling from the horrific images I had just seen.

            “Just a dream…” I muttered to myself as I sat up.

I looked out my window to see that it was still dark out. An orange streak was visible on the horizon. The sun was just starting to rise. I looked around my dark room, Lawrence wasn’t here yet. I didn’t want to go back to sleep, the nightmare was still fresh in my mind. I didn’t want to relive it ever again. Not in my mind and certainly not in reality. I quietly got up and walked over to my door. I creaked it open slowly and peeked outside. No one was there. I decided to walk around a little. Maybe some fresh air in the garden would clear my head? The nightmare was obviously brought on by fear, stress or worry. Maybe all of the above.

I silently walked out of my room so as not to disturb anyone and shut the door quietly behind me. The hallway was dark. The torches that normally lined the walls had burned out, small plumes of smoke poured off of them. I walked down the hall, descended the staircase and walked out the main entryway. I saw the guards at the front gates, but they had their backs to me. I didn’t want to attract attention so I just tip-toed past them. Luckily they weren’t concentrated on someone coming from inside the castle.

I wasn’t sure if I would be in any kind of trouble for being out this late, but better safe than sorry. I walked through the garden, now past the guards. The smell of roses hung heavily on the air, it was almost suffocating. I walked through the garden, taking in the sweet, strong scent of roses. The night air was chilly, but not cold. I walked about halfway around the garden. I guessed that I was on the direct opposite side of the garden that the front gate was. I was at the very back of the garden. I walked a little more, then stopped short. I saw something that caught me totally off guard.

Standing amid the rose bushes were Don and Tabatha. Tabatha’s hands were at Don’s back, pulling him close. Don’s hands were at her waist, their lips were entwined. I grinned as I began to back away slowly. This was their time, I didn’t want to interrupt.

And that’s when I stepped on a twig. Don and Tabatha both snapped towards me, looking completely embarrassed and shocked. In the dark I could see them both blushing lightly.

            “Redmond!” Tabatha quietly exclaimed.

            “What are you doing out at this hour?” Don asked in a whisper.

            “I could ask the same to you two!” I shot back jokingly in the same low voice.

Don chuckled quietly, smiling.

            “Redmond you scared the daylights out of us.” He laughed.

            “Sorry, but I wasn’t exactly planning on finding you two out here.” I replied.

            “Well, you know what brings us out here this early. What about you?” Tabatha asked, brushing a few strands of burgundy hair out of her eyes.

            “I had a nightmare, couldn’t sleep.” I told her.

            “Do you want to tell me about it? You know you can talk to me.” Tabatha said comfortingly.

            “It was just about the coming war.” I sighed.

            “There isn’t going to be a war, because we’re going to stop it.” Tabatha said with a smile.

I nodded, grateful for her comfort.

            “I know, I’m just stressed.” I murmured.

            “We all are.” Don added.

A few seconds went by where no one said anything.

            “This is awkward.” I remarked quietly.

            “Little bit.” Don replied.

            “Well, I’m going to go back to bed. You two can just… Continue what you were doing.” I said awkwardly as I made my way back to my room.

I walked quietly back through the garden, through the main entryway and up the stairs. I silently opened the door and slipped back into my room. I just laid down on the bed and crawled under the blankets. Before I drifted off I thought about Don and Tabatha. It was good that things were going so well for them. I was truly happy for both of my friends.

 

***

 

I woke up when the sun was almost at its peak. Lawrence was sitting in the chair across from my bed. There was a metal trolley next to him.

            “Good morning, sir. Would you like some tea?” Lawrence asked.

I shook my head as I got out of bed.

            “No thanks, Lawrence. I’m going to head down to the dining hall.” I answered.

            “Very well, sir.” Lawrence remarked.

I walked over to the door, opened it and began making my way to the dining hall. Lawrence followed behind me. I came to the staircase and walked down to the grand entryway. I walked to the dining hall from there. I opened the door to find that everyone was already there, just finishing up there meal. I took an empty seat next to Francella and Stella.

            “Good morning Redmond.” Stella greeted.

            “Good morning.” I replied.

Lawrence walked off to the kitchen but returned momentarily with a plate stacked with meat, vegetables, bread and various fruits. He set it down in front of me.

            “Enjoy your meal, sir.” Lawrence said.

            “Thanks, I will.” I replied with a grin.

I began eating my meat. I cut off a few bite sized pieces and ate them one at a time. The meat had no sauce, but tasted great just the same. I ate some vegetables as well and drank some water. I also nibbled on some bread and popped some fruit into my mouth. I had barely even made a dent in the massive plate of food and I was already feeling stuffed. Walden stretched and yawned.

            “Ah! I’m stuffed.” He said.

            “Me too.” I added.

Before anyone could say anything else, a young boy, barely a teenager, walked into the dining hall.

            “So sorry to interrupt, but the Princess has requested an audience with you all. She has ordered that the servants be on standby here in the dining hall.” He said politely but firmly.

What did Princess Estaire want with us? I looked to everyone else. They seemed to be just as confused as I was. We all stood up and walked over to the boy.

            “Right this way, please. The Princess is waiting for you in her room.” The boy told us.

He then led us through the throne room foyer and into the throne room. Queen Yuka was not on her throne. Estaire’s room was also not guarded.

            “Don’t be too long. If the Queen comes back and you’re still in there…” He trailed off.

            “We got it, thanks pal.” Walden told him.

The boy nodded and walked off.

            “What do you think she wants with us?” William asked.

            “Only one way to find out.” Ceberus replied.

We all walked up to Estaire’s door. Macalister opened it and we filed in. Luckily her room was large enough to fit all of us. We saw Estaire standing by her window, looking out onto the city. When she turned to look at us, we saw that her light violet eyes had welled up with tears.

            “Estaire, what is it?” Antoinette asked compassionately.

            “Is something wrong?” Macalister asked.

Estaire nodded, fighting back her tears so she could speak. She didn’t sob, but the tears still streamed down from her face. She wiped them away, her eyes hardened.

            “I have horrible news!” Estaire told us.

            “What is it?” Macalister asked.

            “That jewelry… The jewelry you brought for my mother…” Estaire trailed off.

I remembered the jewelry. My mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario.

            “Yes, what about it?” Robert asked fearfully.

            “Did you know that it was… Imbued with dark magic?” Estaire asked.

            “Yes, but we had no choice but to give it to your mother.” William said quickly.

            “Your mother asked us to retrieve the jewelry. We found it and Tabatha discovered the dark magic within. We didn’t want to give it to your mother, but if we took the jewelry and ran, she would find out rather quickly. She would have had us executed for treason.” Ceberus explained.

Estaire nodded slowly, taking in the information. She then shook her head.

            “It hardly matters why you gave it to her now.” Estaire told us, her voice wavering.

            “Why? What’s wrong?” I asked, fearing what she might say.

            “My mother has instructed Alice to siphon the dark magic from the jewelry.” Estaire told us.

Immediately we all gasped in horror.

            “What?” Macalister asked in fear.

            “My mother, Alice as well as most of the guards are down in the research and development facility right now.” Estaire added.

            “This is bad, this is very bad.” Don said nervously.

Estaire surveyed us for a few moments.

            “That’s not all.” She told us sadly.

            “What do you mean?” Martha asked in worry.

            “My mother ordered Alice to imbue the machine guns with the dark magic from the jewelry. She’s doing it as we speak!” Estaire blurted.

My stomach dropped to my feet, fear and worry collided within my mind. We all stared wide eyed at her. No one in the room wanted to believe it.

            “Everyone, we brought Queen Yuka the jewelry…” I trailed off.

            “So that means…” Robert continued for me.

            “We’ve given Alice the power she needs to imbue the machine guns with dark magic.” Raymond added.

We all stood in stunned silence as we all took that in. No matter how you put it, we had a hand in helping Queen Yuka.

            “Everyone. As much as I hate to admit this, we all had a hand in helping Queen Yuka gain more power in the coming war.” Ceberus fretted.

Author's Note

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