Earlier that day, during sunrise was when the Prefect's home was being ravaged by the rebels, and eventually, taken over by the veterans.
It was a long morning, and most of the rebels were put down by the veterans, with only a few of them managing to get away.Gregory was there when the soldiers had impaled the man he looked up to with a spear, and he was lost for words when he saw Harold get down to his knees. Against his code, against his path, against his calm judgement, he ran off.It was as if his legs had begun moving before his brain could tell them not to, as he found himself sprinting off to the far distance without looking back. And after just a few seconds of sprinting, he couldn't help doing what he always did whenever he was tensed up about anything.He began to laugh.His laugh was so loud that the soldiers who were chasing did not know what to make of him, and before they could catch him he had already ran off. His laugh mThe kick from behind was so powerful that Gregory fell face down to the ground, with his forehead clashing with the hard floor. Gregory raised his head up, feeling like he knew whose voice it was. And to his anger, it was the last person he wanted to see. The one whom Harold had formally declared an enemy of the rebellion, a traitor to the cause, and the mole in favour of the Empire. It was Emil standing behind him, dressed in black. Gregory looked at him with great disdain as blood poured flowed from his now-bleeding forehead down his face. “You traitor!”, Gregory said as he pulled out his short sword and lunged at him, wanting to plunge his sword into the traitor's gut. But Emil, being the more experienced fighter, easily moved out of the way and grabbed Gregory's arm before kicking off one of this legs. This caused Gregory to fall to the ground, and Emil got above him, resting his knee above the the young boy's back while twisting his arm from behind. Emil
By taking directions, Cyrus, Felix and Richard took the formal path leading to the Barracks. The trio walked forward, putting aside all fear and strengthening their resolve as they ignored all the warning signs that indicated for normal civilians to keep off. This was a zone where civilians who weren't on official business were warned to back off. And what made this worse for Cyrus and the others was that they weren't even civilians to begin with. They were strangers from another town, and on top of that, they were trespassing. The path was now getting dark, and the only thing illuminating it were the flaming torches they encountered as they approached the gates. But they couldn't see it since even the torches, which were put at regular intervals down the walkway, weren't bright enough to illuminate what was ahead. “Who goes there?”, came a voice from before them. “State your business!” “We are here to see the p
Richard picked up Felix's weapons as he helped his friend get back on his feet. They walked behind Cyrus, who was walking behind the tall soldier. Behind Richard and the struggling Felix were several solders walking behind them. Richard could tell that a fraction of them were somewhat disappointed that they couldn't beat them up as they wanted. Or maybe he was wrong. “Depending on how this turns out, you will either understand why this is, or hate me for the few hours you have left to live”, the soldier said to Cyrus. “Either way, the name is Walsh. Captain Walsh.” “Good to know”, Cyrus said. They walked past the gates of the Barracks and went deep inside. There Cyrus and the other two could see soldiers going about their daily lives in the dormitories. Compared to the average dormitories back at Griffindale, most of the soldiers were old. Cyrus could easily make out the grey hairs on some of them as they sharpe
While the Prefect was still speaking, there came a knock on the door. And the prefect allowed the person to come in when he identified himself as Walsh. The captain stepped inside and bowed towards the prefect, and to the other's surprise, bowed before Richard and Cyrus. “I apologise for what I did to your friend”, he said. “It was uncalled for.” Neither of them said anything until they realised the captain wasn't going to raise his head up until they did so. “It's alright”, Cyrus said. “A lot had happened recently and you were just doing your job. I can't blame you.” Then Walsh got back on his feet to face the prefect. “To prevent something like this from happening again, by your orders, I have sent out my men to purge out everything that is left of the rebellion, and just this night, they have uncovered a few of them.” “Then why are you telling me about them?”, asked Kendrick. “Punish them as the policies demand
Richard was confused about what to say. “I don't know this town all that well”, he replied. “Where do you think we should go?” “Are you scared of heights?”, she asked. “No”, he replied. “Where is that coming from?” “Let's go to the rooftop”, she said. Kendrick widened his eyes. “You really are afraid of heights, aren't you?”, she asked. “No, that is not the case”, Richard said. “It just sounds so odd. Hope do you think it's a good idea?” “Are you worried the soldiers patrolling the streets would consider two persons sitting openly on a rooftop as fleeing rebels?”, she asked. “Well, yes”, he said. “It might not be safe.” She smiled. “Alright then, how about the upper balcony?”, she asked. “There would be enough lights to show that we are harmless and aren't trying to hide from anybody. Besides it's just a man and a woman having fun time at a brothel.
Serena and her new friend, Richard sat at the balcony next to her room. The view outside was fantastic, and it was just now that he was starting to take in the beauty of Fayhold, which seemed hidden during the day. The night lights were spectacular, although the people on the streets looked uncomfortable with the soldiers walking around, investigating as they looked for the rebels. “Have they come here?”, asked Richard. “Yes”, she replied. “Yes they have. Not long before you three left.” “Wait, why was there only two of you?”, she asked. “If I remember correctly, there are supposed to be three of you.” “Good grief”, Richard said. “So it's now you realise that?” “Where did he go?”, she asked. “Let's just say something came up, and he had to stay behind while we came back”, Richard said. Then she looked down, taking note of how an unusual number of soldiers were talking the
Serena fell silent, and Richard swore within himself, feeling like he had just said something weird. “It's entirely up to you though”, he said. “I didn't mean to put it that way. It's your choice.” What came next was sudden laughter from Serena which made him even more sure that he had said something embarrassing and inappropriate. “Alright then”, she said. Richard widened his eyes. “You are serious?”, he asked. “Yes”, she said. “It'd be exciting having a person like you around when I leave for the first time.” “Mind telling me why you haven't stepped out?”, asked Richard. “It's just so odd to me.” “Let's just say that I gave obligations here”, she said while turning to look away. “Obligations that do not permit my absence for extended periods.” “I see”, Richard said while staring out to the skies. “Too bad. I wanted to go out with you tomorrow...” “Richard?”, sh
It was dawn, and things in the town were slowly returning to normalcy.Cyrus and Felix had gotten out of bed, with the Prince excited to meet Natalie, even though she had not formally summoned him yet.Each of them was sure of what Richard was up to when he left but chose not to talk about it. But would each bring it up when they felt necessary? As we were getting ready for the day, they heard a knock on the door. Cyrus and Felix looked at each other, knowing that it couldn't be Richard.Felix walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see the younger lady who looked a lot like the woman Richard was infatuated with. She looked tired like she had been up all night and craved several hours of long-needed sleep. “Are you Cyrus Theodore?”, asked the young lady. “No”, Felix said as he stepped aside, revealing Cyrus walking towards them. “I'm Cyrus”, the other man said. The young lady nodded wh