It was night. The capital was shrouded in darkness, the moon completely obscured by thick clouds. The city was eerily quiet.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
The slow, steady sound of horse hooves broke the silence, the light of torches carving out a small circle of light.
"Dammit! That Ezra actually dared to throw me out!" The Second Prince, Grenna, snarled in anger.
He had been making rounds today to recruit nobles for his cause. He had barely been inside Marquis Ezra's home before the man began showing him the door. It was a clear sign of disrespect.
"Your Highness, there's no need for anger. It simply means that Ezra has already joined the First Prince," The Red Overseer of the Black Iris said calmly.
She was cloaked in black, riding beside him. She sneered, "This is a good thing. At the very least, we now know who stands with the First Prince. It saves us from being backstabbed later."
"Hmph! I'm just furious at that old bastard!" Grenna seethed. When he first tried to recruit Ezra, the man had claimed he would just follow the King's arrangements. Now, he had defected to the First Prince. Did he think Grenna was going to lose the succession?
"Your Highness, Marquis Ezra is not worth this trouble. He doesn't even have a fiefdom. Losing him means nothing," The Red Overseer said lightly.
A noble without a fief was, in her eyes, two ranks lower—no better than a viscount, with a limited number of knights.
The Black Iris organization had fully allied with the Second Prince and had already clashed with the Luminous Creed several times in secret. She was under orders from her leader to help Grenna gain the upper hand, but today's recruitment efforts had been a failure. She suspected the Luminous Creed was the one who had pulled Ezra over to the First Prince's side; otherwise, he wouldn't have flipped so suddenly.
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound of urgent footsteps approached, making both the Red Overseer and the Prince frown.
"My lady, bad news!" A man, his face covered in blood, ran up to the Red Overseer.
"What happened?" The Red Overseer asked coldly. This was one of her spies in the capital.
"My lady, there's an ambush ahead! They're targeting His Highness the Second Prince!" The scout said urgently.
"What?" Grenna's face paled. He stared at the scout in disbelief and barked, "Explain! What's the situation?"
"A short while ago, just as Your Highness was leaving the Marquis's residence, a large number of knights poured out of the First Prince's estate! They've sealed the nearby streets and are 'cleaning out' anyone in the area. This subordinate was attacked..." The scout quickly summarized.
"Fake intel." The Red Overseer's expression changed. She instantly understood. Marquis Ezra was bait. They had been lured here, and now an ambush was being sprung. She gritted her teeth. "Those bastards at the Bounty Guild! They actually sold us fake intel. They may have the guts to take our money, but we'll see if they live long enough to spend it."
"Deacon, what do we do now?" Grenna had already ordered his men to halt. Any further, and they'd be in the trap.
"We withdrew. Leave the capital," The Red Overseer said, taking a deep breath. "The capital is lost. The First Prince, with the backing of the Luminous Creed, has too strong a hold. I can't even get assassins in to deal with them."
"Now?" Grenna asked, unwilling to accept it. He still held out hope of fighting his brother directly.
"Yes, now. All of Your Highness's supplies have already been moved. Staying here is a waste of time. Even the Fourth Prince has withdrawn. He's probably already reached the western territories by now," The Red Overseer said, frowning. She suddenly felt the Fourth Prince had more sense than this brute she was stuck with.
"Tsk... That coward. He ran before I even had a chance to deal with him," Grenna scoffed.
"Your Highness, the Fourth Prince is not to be underestimated. He will be a future enemy," The Red Overseer warned. "This will be a three-way struggle, and even if the Fourth Prince is the weakest, he is still a player."
"He is nothing compared to Lucia. He's a poor imitation of a schemer, only capable of petty tricks," Grenna sneered, clearly looking down on his younger brother.
"My lady, the knights are closing in!" The scout warned.
"We must leave," The Red Overseer urged. She had no desire to stay. The First Prince had solidified his control over the capital. He had won over most of the nobility, even the neutral Duke Kerrac. There were even rumors he planned to marry Catherine to the First Prince, to make her Queen.
"Go!" Grenna gritted his teeth. He drew his longsword, slapped his horse's rump, and charged toward the city gate.
He knew it was over. The First Prince even had the palace under control. Grenna hadn't seen his father, the King, in half a month. The King had not held court in that long. It was obvious what had happened.
Thud-thud-thud-thud...
Grenna led his hundred-plus knights in a desperate charge. Before they even reached the gate, they clashed with the First Prince's ambush. The ambushers had not expected such a decisive, sudden breakout.
"Kill them! Stop the traitors!"
"Clang! Clang!"
"Argh!"
"Dammit! Charge! Don't stop!"
"Kill!"
In the end, the First Prince's trap was torn open by the Second Prince's sudden charge. Grenna and his men burst out of the capital and rendezvoused with their main cavalry force, which had been camped outside.
From outside the city walls, the Red Overseer flicked the blood from her sword. She scanned her knights, then looked back at the torches and shadows on the city walls. She thought to herself: As of today, the Siacan Kingdom is officially fractured. The horns of war have sounded. No one can say who will be the final king.
"Let's go. To our territory," Grenna said, leading his remaining knights in a full retreat.
"Send word: keep your eyes on the capital," The Red Overseer ordered the scout.
"Yes."
Thud-thud-thud...
And with that, the capital now belonged to the First Prince.
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