ACT IVTHE CIVIL WAR

  CHAPTER 58THE DEAL OF THE CENTURYA brief silence stuck between the three, as if they were in a graveyard on an eerie night. “We could try…” Arat broke the stalemate, giving Hans what he wanted to hear. He continued saying, “No, we can mostly succeed if nothing troublesome happens.”

  Arat started turning his mind gears. Hans had provided a manuscript, and it was his job to turn it into a novel. “I’ll get it done quickly.” He assured as an idea flicker in his mind like a candle.

  Since that eventful day, several days have passed. That day brought about significant changes in Winters mother and daughter’s lives, particurly in Aredhel’s. She decided to temporarily resign from her position at Concordia and return home to support Eleanor. As a result, Delimira remained in Concordia as she had wished.

  However, life on Concordia went as usual. It was quite bnd compared to the outside world, especially compared to Cndor. The sparse ambushes have turned to frequent ones; espionage and assassination attempts were like flies in the dung, and in the middle of it, a rumour rose among the elves — Parv was selling their weapons of mass destruction in the war, and the price was a magic tower.

  Till now, none had succeeded in buying a magic tower. These entities were akin to moving fortresses, filled with legacies of mages from the past. Their achievements, inventions, and research still echoed in those walls. It was a relic itself, and to acquire it, one needed to conquer the nds it was in. And since they were a ridiculous source of power and heritage, the rulers protected it with their lives.

  At first, people thought both sides would reject the deal, but as Hans wished, the council was showing interest, and it increased severalfold when they heard Reina was going to make their silent partner come to light. This rushed them, and Parv succeeded in acquiring their first magic tower.

  Upon the deal, the tower was teleported to Frostspire, the forbidden grounds of Parv. It was quite hard to judge which tower was weaker and which one stronger, so the Council chose to sell the one which was strategically way far from the border that separated them and the Royals.

  The deal made quite the buzz; even a child in the street had heard about it from someone’s mouth. “Cp!” Hans high-fived Delimira. “Told you it would work.” He gloated.

  “That was a fluke,” she teased. “PRINCESS.”

  “Hey! Guys, I feel like an extra here. What are you two talking about?” Chris compined, and so did Vanir, unaware that Hans had asked the tower for him as he promised before. But he had another question.

  “Senior, stop spouting about the mage tower and answer me this. What makes this a big deal. It's just mana weapons. Cndor has it, so do others, right?”

  However, instead of Hans, Chris answered, “It’s because unlike others, Parv is the only nation that has the technology to employ sunstones in their weapons, making them small as a pebble but bringing destruction capable of levelling the towns.”

  Hans chuckled at Chris’s response. He knew Chris didn’t like Parvians. They had hunted his family even in Cndor, but when he was expining, there was a hint of pride in his voice. But the happiness didn’t stay on Hans’s face for long.

  Rudolf directly came to pick him up. “Brat, your country fucked up big time. There are several people demanding an expnation. Come with me.” He said, and before his friends and minions included themselves, he grabbed Hans’s shirt and lifted him up as he did when he was little. “Only the ‘Prince of Parv’ is required. You all wait here.”

  He whisked out of the establishment like a fsh and, bending his knees, he jumped high. Like a lightning bolt, he nded right outside the boardroom. Hans didn’t even have the time to ask what was happening, and he was brought to confront figures like Samwell, Kansas, and some foreign faces he couldn’t recognise.

  “What is the meaning of this, Uncle?” Hans addressed Samwell.

  “You… your country did something irredeemable, nephew. Now you have to clear this—”

  “Is buying a magic tower wrong? You all call yourselves allies of Cndorian royals, but you are in the civil war because of the gain, right? Is selling weapons and gaining a magic tower in return this itchy for you people that you’ve Dra…summoned me here?” Hans questioned without backing down. He wasn’t intimidated for a moment and was gring at the people facing him.

  Kansas, who found Hans annoying since day one, stood up, beating the table. “It’s not, but it is whom you sold them to. PRINCE PARV.”

  “Council.” Hans feigned innocence.

  “It’s not just council. Contact your prime minister. He had made a fool of himself by selling the Parvian weapons to his nemesis, Eclipse.” Kansas stressed.

  “What!” Hans made a baffled face. He had tried rehearsing several times with Delimira and perfected it so much that even she could be fooled. He stretched his hand towards Rudolf, asking for a communication orb.

  “Click!”

  “Prime Minister Arat. Are you out of your god damn mind?” He yelled without even greeting. It was as if he was scolding his subordinate for the mess he had made. Arat tried to excuse himself, but Hans remained relentless with his words. “You sold the mana weapons to Council. The eclipse is behind them, didn’t you know?”

  “I also got the news te. Who’d have thought that Xandor, who almost eradicated the old council, would take the side of the new one? These elves had no loyalty. How could they shake hands with the one who murdered their brethren in cold blood? I used to believe the pride Elves had, but it seems desperation undermined their resolve. My prince—

  “My prince, my foot, get them back.” Hans ordered. “Xandor might already have my father as undead, and now you’ve handed our power to them too. Get them back this instant.”

  “Do you think if I ask to give a refund, they’ll happily agree and return our goods?” Arat responded curtly.

  “Then rig those weapons somehow, can you control it or explode it?” Hans questioned, his face looking for any hope in the response.

  “No, we take pride in our inventions. Our weapons are without any fws, but I offered the same condition to the Royals too. It was they who didn’t accept it.”

  “You disappoint me, Arat. You fucked up badly. You’ll have to take responsibility—

  “I’ll resign myself,” Arat interrupted the charade, expining, “I think my age is catching up to me. I’m not as sharp as I was before—

  “You want to run away after throwing shit at my face, PM? No, I won’t allow it.” Hans also cut him off. “You’ll join the royal side and fight for them to redeem yourself.” He commanded, and it was somewhat good news for the people who came here to corner Hans. Many of them wanted the same, but their faces were baffled, and it was not because of Hans’s terrific acting but what he said earlier about the undead Samson still being with Eclipse.

  “Hey… nephew… what did you say about… your father—

  “Arat believes Xandor still has my father’s body.” Hans expined, but Arat from the communication orb interrupted. “I’ll expin to them. You weren’t aware of the dealings, so just go back and do what you were doing.”

  Hans showed some reluctance, but as the other nodded in agreement, he was forced to step outside the boardroom. “Now we are in this war business. No matter which side wins, our weapons will rain on both, dwindling their power.” He was thinking, “Pnning an armistice would be fine but not before we dwindle their powers to nothing. How is my revenge queen, Reina? I wish I could see your face right now.”

  He succeeded at the cost of Arat’s plummeting reputation. The man known for not making mistakes became a joke, but if it was for Parv, Arat was ready to bear any humiliation.

  A few days turned like the pages of an old book. Vanir was searching for Hans like a madman on Delimira’s behest, but he was nowhere to be found. Finally, he got the clue when someone said they saw him around the task hall.

  “Senior… Senior.” He gasped, “There is a big problem. Senior Winters… asked for you by the Spacedoor. Cndorians—

  Hans didn’t listen to the rest and took off with full speed. He almost crashed into the Spacedoor as his eyes met Chris and Delimira arguing with some elves. “What’s happening here?” He asked, standing up.

  His eyes reached where Delimira was looking. Several elves, probably from Cndor, were in a heated conversation with her. “You can’t take her.” She said to them, her voice loud.

  “What are they talking about?” He looked ahead and finally spotted a little girl he knew standing behind those elves. They encircled her, their stances protective.

  “We have orders, Concordia already verified. Stop getting in our way, half-blood.” A woman, a mage of Cndor who looked like the leader of the group, showed written permissions.

  Hans came by her side with long strides. “What are you doing, Winters?”

  “These people want to take Allynna back.” She answered in a hushed voice.

  “So, let them be,” He darted his eyes at the letter that woman was showing, “They have written permission.”

  “You don’t understand, Hans. This is a trap. Reina would never call her there in these votile times. I can’t contact anyone in Cndor. Some sort of jamming spells are restricting any communication.”

  “Then how did Concordia verify?” Hans asked.

  “They have the queen’s seal.”

  “Hmm.” Hans asked her in the same hushed fashion, “So who are these jokers?”

  “Probably from other…no…” she paused, “probably from the Crows.”

  “The shadow family?” Hans confirmed. “The royalties who had no cim to the throne, right?”

  “Yes.” Delimira nodded.

  “Then let her go,” Hans shrugged his shoulders. “Reina should know how it feels to lose a child too. After what she did to me, I want her to feel that. These people would try to leverage something over the queen.”

  “No, save her—

  “Are you serious? You want me to save the child of the woman who tried to murder me?” Hans was bewildered. “I’m not that big of a pushover, Deli.”

  “This isn’t being a pushover, Hans,” Delimira said, her eyes darting to Allynna. “She’ll be the next queen. Take this chance to make her indebted.” Her eyes turned to him, her face close to his. “I know Allynna. On the account of saving her, she will become a roadblock for Reina to attack you. You are missing an opportunity to sow seeds of conflict between them.”

  “That is far-fetched, Deli.” Hans shook his head. “They are mother and daughter; it’s not something I can get between.”

  “Then how about this? It would be a hard sp on Reina’s face.” Delimira tried to reason with him. “You could have taken advantage of this situation, but you’re better than her, a coward who cornered you all by yourself.”

  “I still need justification—

  “Just save her goddamnit.” She was furious at him for acting slowly.

  “Fine. Vanir, fetch my communication orb. Professor Walter, I’m about to do something crazy. Deal with the aftermath. You can even undermine Professor Aredhel with this—click.” The message ended. He inhaled hard and shouted at the elves, especially Allynna. “Hey shrimp, do you want to go back with them?”

  Delimira frustratingly interjected. “Don't dilly-dally, Hans—

  “No, I don't want to,” Unexpected, Allynna responded.

  “What are you talking about, princess?” the elf leader tried to convince her, but before she could say more, Hans intervened, “Then ask me. Ask me, daughter of Reina Cndor, to save you.”

  Hans addressed her not by name but as her mother’s daughter. Allynna was naive, but not the others who heard him. If she asked, it would be an example for the world to remember that Reina couldn’t protect her heir, but Hans did. “Yes, please, I don’t want to go back.” Allynna responded, her voice pleading.

  The powerful onlookers who heard her pleading could have stopped this but stayed silent. The votile retionship between Parv and Cndor in these chaotic times made everyone cautious. After all, to avoid getting caught up in these political dramas, they’d moved to stay in Concordia. As long as the protocols were followed, they didn’t care.

  However, since Hans had heard the plight, he was going to respond. “Zwoom!” The area quickly turned to a Void zone. He whispered to Delimira, “I don’t like to be used, Deli. This is the st time.” He then turned to the crowd, “You've heard her point. The shrimp wants to stay.”

  “It’s not her to decide.” The escort leader interrupted, “The orders were to get her back, period. By what right do you have stopping it? Even Concordia is not interfering.” She pointed at the many professors who were watching the scene. Nobody wanted to get involved when everything was going by the book.

  “By what right do you ask?” Hans grinned, “ The right of being strong. This is just kidnapping. You want her? Ask Reina to settle her score with me and get her.”

  “Woosh!” All of a sudden, she was coiled in tendrils and pulled into Hans’s hands. “You want to take her? Leave your heads here.”

  “You’d regret this, Hans Parv—

  “Get in line. Many said the same and are six feet under.”

  “Are you all going to watch?” The elven leader tried pleading support from onlookers. “We brought all official paperwork. We did every tedious procedure. Are you, highly respected professors, going to let this brat of a prince rub his filthy actions in the pride of great Concordia?”

  The words were true, and it was wrong of Hans to do this. He was breaking the w of Concordia. But before some wise person interrupted Hans cimed his ground, “The elven princess has officially asked the aid of Parvian prince. This is a matter between nations; do not get involved.”

  Whatever the elven escort woman had said got negated instantly. He scoffed, “Go back from whatever hole you crawled from, pointies.”

  Things started to heat up. Both Hans and the escorts were ready to collide, but Walter came to save the day. “Since her CastleMaster is not here, the sub-master has made the decision. Please go back and rey this to her guardian. Since this is a troublesome time, if she wants her daughter to return, come here yourself. Till then, she will be safe here.” Walter showed them the direction of SpaceDoor.

  “You are getting involved in the politics of Cndor, Warlord Walter.” One of the elves countered.

  “Please go back. That punk is not something I can control.”

  “Tsk,” regretting, the escorts stepped inside the Spacedoor, scheduled for Cndor, but found themselves in a dense forest, where an eerie presence y waiting for them.