Valerian, The Legendary

189 Game Of Chess.

Time passed and a week flew by in a blink, Valerian had killed seventeen warriors and mages in the city, sending the security into chaos, the people were shocked and troubled, the people backed by the Duke’s son had some inkling, but they did not know who was doing all this.

Valerian had witnessed him being inside the hotel room for rest, as he would call for food around the time of the assassinations, and the person who would send it over was a girl from the city. This girl was arranged by the Lily auction house to help the prince cover his tracks with ease.

On the seventh day, Valerian gathered all the team members, and asked, “Amile, did you complete your task?”

The young man nodded and said, “The guard captain at the gates told me that the soldiers change shifts at midnight. When the new guards come over to take the post there are only a scarce number of soldiers will be present. That way, we can sneak out with ease, the condition is that we will have to secure a place closer to the wall.”

Valerian nodded and said, “This can be managed, ask the shadow to pass on the message. Amile will leave the city before we leave, if things get chaotic and we encounter unexpected trouble, it will be troublesome. Sir Quies will be responsible for Her Excellency’s safety. I will hold the rear with Ryker.

Lady Ensis will take care of Lady Consano. The process will be quick and smooth, I do not wish for any trouble. Sir Quies, I need you to take the Empress away with the help of Linea. We will retreat slowly behind you to make sure that you are not tailed.”

The unexpected danger mentioned by the prince stood for things like a grand master or an archmage being alerted by the patrols here, and these experts could be waiting in the shadows, ignoring the deaths of the soldiers to see when the Empress came out and then attack her.

...

While Valerian was planning his move to get out of the city, the Stellan Imperial court was going under a storm. The Duke’s son, Lux, had stepped forward to claim the throne. A few days ago, when the royal family was holding a banquet, Lux came to the palace unannounced and created a ruckus.

.....

He stood in the center of the banquet hall and looking at the Emperor he asked, “Your Excellency, for how long do we have to give in? Your son, Our prince, the hope of our nation went on to collude with a savage to deal with the Verus Prince.

Please answer me, is it correct for him to deal with the very people that we and the countless soldiers in our army are fighting to keep out of our borders? Do we have no self-esteem, or do the younger generation of the Stella Empire want to end up being slaves to those barbarians who have no culture at all?”

His words triggered the pride of many people and even some of the supporters of the emperor had doubts about the capabilities of the youth of the royal family. The incident was widespread throughout the nation and many people began to support the young duke when his words reached the masses. The people were drawn to him like ants to honey.

The young duke also started to show the power by stabilizing crime and many disputes in different regions. He did not need the Emperor to issue a decree, and the most exploited fact in his support was the alliance of the Stella empire with the berserk nation.

The citizens did not know about this and when they heard this, they were all surprised and shocked. More than that they were disappointed in their emperor, after all, the dispute between the two nations was not recent, it was a history spanning hundreds of years.

How can they put all this behind them all of a sudden and then become allies with those pillagers? These people saw hope in young duke, Lux. On the seventh day of the ploy, the emperor was told that countless letters have been flying in from all over the nation, and the citizens were demanding he abdicated the throne and hand it to the Young Duke.

This was not all just based on a few words from the Young Duke. He also used dark means to bribe people and speak for him. Since the human world was driven by the interest of the self, he exploited this fact. He spread out a network of spies with the help of Fragrantia throughout the nation and instigated this organized rebellion.

The emperor was left with no way out, in just one week the pressure he faced increased by a thousand folds and he wanted to announce that the next emperor of the nation will be the Young Duke, however, at this moment, his people got him the information that the Empress of the Lumen Empire was hiding in a city and she was injured after being attacked by the young duke when she came to propose him with a helping hand.

This news was the last straw that broke the back of the camel. The rejection became a heroic act in the eyes of the people and they all started to celebrate their new emperor’s rule. They did not even care if the Emperor abdicates the throne.

Lux had become the people’s emperor and they loved him so much that the government defied cooperation till they had the old guy walk off the throne and have Lux sit down on the peak and help them improve their fates.

At this point, Valerian and the rest had already escaped the city. The throne was occupied by their chess piece and they had won the first move.

...

In the Centaur nation, a palace stood tall at the peak of the mountain, as if an abode of gods who look down on the mortals. The palace was a classic victorian piece of architecture, but the glamor it had could not be looked down upon. This was the residence of the royal family.

At this moment, the Centurian royal family was gathered together and they were thinking about the changes in the surroundings. The discussion was heated and the people were thinking of ways to regain the initiative, but an old man in the high chair sighed as he looked at the scene in front of him. He shook his head and said, “Fools, do you not see that we have been discovered and the game of chess that we started is now being played by two players?”

The entire hall fell silent. There were ten people from young to old, men and women. These ten people were members of the royal family of the Centaur nation. The old man was the current emperor, Jamal Centurian, hailed as the best-mounted knight of the western continent.

On his right sat his sons, sons-in-law, and grandsons, while on his left sat his daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters.

A middle-aged lady said, “Father, who is the second player?”

The people caught on the crucial problem here, they were all neglecting their enemy. Jamal said, “Who else could it be but the strongest warrior of the west, Libra Verus.”

Libra Verus was the strongest warrior of the western continent, he was a grandmaster at the age of twenty-nine and his skills were anything but shabby. He was not only strong, but even his mind was also sharp when it came to politics.

A young man from the right side of the table frowned and said, “Grandfather, should I assassinate him?”

Before the old man could reply, a middle-aged man smacked the young man’s head and said, “Do you think that his title is for a show? Shut up and do what you are told to.”

Jamal gazed at the young man rubbing his head and said in a calm manner, “We cannot let them ruin our plans.”

He paused and then looked at the girls sitting at the end of the table on the left, and said, “Morgana, go find me the real mastermind.”

The girl seemed to be a doll, her eyes and face had no expression, she heard what the old man said, and with a nod, she left the room. A man watched this and sighed, “If only she was able to smile. Her skills would have been more terrifying.”

The old man said, “Is it not because of you injecting her with that poison when she was a child?”

The man shook his head, “You know very well why I did that, Father.”

Jamal waved his hand and said, “Leave, tend to your duties and I will warn you all, do not dare cross Morgana. If she suffered because of any of you, I will have your skins peeled off.”

The people around the table shivered and then walked away after bowing to the old man. After the room was empty, Jamal said, “Snare, go watch over my granddaughter, and if anyone hinders her, kill them.”

A man walked out from the shadows and bowed as he said, “Yes, Master.”