Chapter 26

The army might be resting but for Weiss there was no such opportunity. In her absence, no clear leader had been appointed to lead Chon'sin. The result was a breakdown of law and order. Some of the minor nobles had taken it upon themselves to rule the duchy, but their rule had been ineffective and corrupt. Now there was much for Weiss to clear up and little time for her to do it. Early in the morning she took to her throne to hear petitions from the citizenry. A return to business as usual would surely be a welcome thing for most of the people, and it was as good as any way of getting things started.

"We've got an interesting visitor Your Majesty." Yang announced from the door to the chamber. "A certain bar owner."

"Junior?" Weiss asked. Yang nodded in confirmation. "What could he want? No matter. Bring him in."

Junior entered the room, approached the throne and bowed before Weiss, a stack of papers under his arm. "Your Majesty." He said. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." Weiss said. "So, what is the reason for you being here today?"

"I'll get straight to it." Junior said. "Things weren't great after you left. The city was in total chaos for a while, and then when things settled down it still didn't get much better."

"Yes, so I've heard." Weiss sighed. "It's regrettable."

"I just figured you'd want to know who was to blame." Junior said. "Through my contacts I was able to keep tabs on the major players, the nobles in control, the criminal elements, the troublemakers. I figured that whoever finally took over would like to have that sort of information." He handed the stack of papers to Yang who took them to Weiss.

"I'll read them in time." Weiss said. "Thank you. Care to give me some of the highlights?"

"Sure." Junior agreed. "Well, most of the nobles that took charge spent their time enriching themselves instead of enforcing the law. Out on the street just about every criminal group in the city expanded. Beyond the city, forget about it. This duchy has had trouble with highwaymen at the best of times. When you left even some of the nobles started running gangs of them."

"These are heavy accusations." Weiss observed. "Do you have evidence to back them up?"

"All in the reports I gave you." Junior said. "Anything I got that wasn't backed up is clearly labeled rumor, and you can decide what's true or not."

"I assume Cardin and his thugs had a field day." Weiss said, looking over a few of the papers.

"Actually, no." Junior said. "I was a shocked as you are. His crew actually started taking on the highwaymen, robbing and killing them. It's not exactly civilized behavior, and probably shouldn't be condoned, but on the whole I'd say they did more good than harm."

"Interesting." Weiss said. She paused for a moment. "Junior, you've done me a great service."

"It was nothing, really." Junior said. "Just doing my part."

"Which was more than most did." Weiss countered. "You deserve to be rewarded. Just one question."

"Shoot." Junior said.

"Have you been running your underground fights in my absence?" Weiss asked.

Junior had the feeling she already knew the answer. "I have, Your Majesty." Junior admitted. "I apologize. When things got bad I really needed the coin."

"I appreciate your honesty." Weiss said. "Kneel before me." Junior stepped forward and knelt at Weiss' feet. Weiss drew Myrtenaster, touched the flat of the blade on Junior's right shoulder and then his left. "As a reward for your service I make you a knight. At the conclusion of the war you will be awarded a plot of land as well."

"Wow, thanks princess." Junior gasped.

"And as punishment for your disobedience, I sentence you to spend the rest of the day in the stocks." Weiss continued.

"I probably deserve that." Junior sighed.

"Guards, you heard me." Weiss said. "But do be gentle."

"It's a mess, an awful mess." Weiss sighed. It was evening and she was in her private chambers, reading over the reports Junior had given her. "I can't help but feel responsible."

"If you'd stuck around you'd have been killed, and the place would still have fallen into chaos." Blake encouraged. "At least now you're alive to sort this out."

"Hopefully I can stay alive long enough to do it." Weiss said. "I'm so glad I'm giving you Chon'sin. This will be your problem, not mine."

"It'll be our problem." Yang said. "We can share the load. You two sort things out, I dispense the punishments."

"That might work." Weiss said. She placed the papers down on her desk. "You know, this is very good stuff. Maybe I should make Junior my spymaster." She paused. "How did his day in the stocks go?"

"Melanie and Miltia spent most of the day throwing stuff at him." Yang laughed. "I'd say he was sufficiently humiliated. You struck the perfect balance with the reward and punishment there as far as I'm concerned. And it was hilarious to watch too."

"I'm glad I could keep you entertained." Weiss said with a smile. "I never thought I'd actually look forward to all the work it takes to run this duchy. Back before everything happened, I was always worn out by the tedium. I hated paperwork. Now though, it actually feels good. It's almost like everything's back to normal."

"Yeah, except now at the end of the day you get to share your bed with your two favorite ladies." Yang said with a wink.

"Fun though it may be, I do have a concern about our relationship." Weiss admitted. "We can't go on forever like this."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Well, for starters, if I'm going to be Emperor I'm going to have to get married, perpetuate the bloodline and all that." Weiss explained. "Ren's told me about some magic that can let me do that with one of you, but the key is it had to be one of you. I can't marry you both."

"So marry Blake." Yang suggested. "She's the one with royal blood and your kids will end the dispute between Valm and Chon'sin."

"Wow Yang, I'm surprised you're so willing to accommodate us." Weiss gasped.

"Well, I'd do anything to serve my liege." Yang said. "And I love the idea of being your concubine. It sounds hot."

"I guess I don't have to worry then." Weiss said with a sigh of relief. "I had already decided on that course of action, but I was worried you'd be angry."

"Hey, as long as I still get to spend quality time with my two favorite girls, I don't care who is married to whom." Yang shrugged. "I only ask one thing."

"What?" Weiss asked.

"I want to be both Maid of Honor and Best Man at your wedding." Yang replied.

"Deal." Blake said.

"Deal." Weiss agreed.

"And I suppose I should be there that night when you two bang." Yang added.

"Well that goes without saying." Blake said.

"Of course." Weiss said. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

The next day saw Weiss dealing with more of the troubles that had cropped up in her absence. Knowing it would be her last chance to work on the issues for some time, she did as much as she could. In the end the project was left unfinished. The next day the army would march on the capital. It would take quite some time to get there, but it promised to be the end of the civil war. Taiyang was left in charge of Chon'sin until Weiss' return, and some of her army was detached to defend the duchy, as had been done in Rosanne. In the morning Weiss marched with a gigantic army behind her, and thanks to three days of meticulous planning, that army was as well supplied as any ever had been.

It took a week for the army to reach the capital. What awaited them was a shock. There was no army standing in their way. Even the walls of the city appeared to be undefended. As Weiss and her forces approached, the mayor and some town elders came out to arrange the town's surrender. The Emperor was still inside, holed up in his palace, defended by mysterious soldiers that had only arrived a little over a week earlier. The regular imperial guards had been dismissed and fled. The Emperor had even dismissed his most loyal retainers, placing his life in the hands of the new arrivals. It was all baffling. With a huge army bearing down on him, the Emperor should have been enlarging his forces, not sending his most trusted warriors away.

Then came a messenger directly from the Emperor. Weiss recognized him, one of her father's retainers. He looked shellshocked. "Princess Weiss, your father has gone mad." The messenger reported. "He has despatched me with a message and told me not to return. He now places his trust in foreigners instead of his loyal servants. He sits locked in his throne room, doing nothing but barking orders."

"What is your message?" Weiss asked. Hearing that her father had lost his mind was a bit comforting. Crazy was certainly easier to accept than evil. Still, if he had gone mad, his actions now could be dangerous and unpredictable.

"Your father offers a warning." The messenger said. "He warns that if your army enters the city, he will turn his forces loose on the population, and leave you with no city to capture. He declares that if you wish to face him, you may bring your retinue and nothing more. Anything more will result in the ruin of the capital." The messenger shook his head. "In his current state I have no doubt he would be capable of carrying out this atrocity."

"It's clearly a trap." Yang warned.

"I know." Weiss said. "But he leaves us little choice. I can't risk him killing so many innocents." She turned to the messenger. "These foreigners defending him, what do you know about them? Where are they from? How well trained and equipped are they? How many of them are there?"

"I know not where they come from." The messenger sighed. "They appear to be nothing more than professional soldiers outfitted with decent armor and weapons, though the style is one I'm not familiar with. There are at least a few dozen of them. A small but well trained force might be enough to defeat them."

"Like, say, my retinue." Weiss suggested.

"Yes." The messenger confirmed. "I suspect a few picked soldiers can take them on, though it would be difficult."

"Why are you telling us this?" Blake asked. "Aren't you sworn to serve the Emperor?"

"The man I swore to serve no longer exists." The messenger said. "The man who currently occupies the throne is not the Emperor I knew. You'll see when you meet him."

"What will you do?" Weiss asked.

"I will not fight for either side." The messenger replied. "The Emperor has dismissed me from his service, but I cannot bear to take up arms against him. You have my word that I will not interfere."

"Very well." Weiss said. "You may go." The messenger departed.

"So, what's the plan?" Yang asked.

"The plan is we march in there, kill my father, and end this damn war." Weiss answered. "The longer this goes on the more the people of Valm will suffer. It's time to end this."

Weiss took her group and marched straight through the open gate and into the city. In Rosanne and Chon'sin her arrival had been met by smiling, cheering crowds that lined the streets. Her arrival in the capital was met by eerie silence. The citizens hid in their homes, terrified of what might happen no matter who won the showdown between Weiss and her father. Weiss had no intention of doing the people any harm, but they could not know that. All they knew was that a massive army waited just outside the walls of the city and an insane monarch sat in his palace at the city's center. No matter the outcome of the clash about to happen, it seemed a great upheaval was at hand.

There were no guards waiting outside the palace. Instead the gate was already open. As they approached the building itself, a pair of minor servants opened the massive doors. The inside was far more ornate than any of the palaces the group had seen so far. It made Ferox look like a hole in the ground and put Ylisse and Plegia to shame. Mirrors, paintings and gilded everything lined the walls. Even the ceiling was decorated with gold and gemstones. When the towering gilded wooden doors to the throne room swung open, they revealed a phalanx of soldiers standing between Weiss' group and the Emperor.

The Emperor sat on his throne on a platform raised up above the rest of the room. The soldiers formed a tightly packed arc in front of him. Their armor was indeed different, but somehow familiar. Pyrrha recognized it immediately. "Plegians." She grumbled. "Royal guards."

"None of this makes any sense." Weiss sighed. For decades her father had been a steadfast enemy of Plegia. Now Plegian soldiers surrounded him. Then she spotted Cinder, Queen of Plegia. The queen and her retainers stood to the rear of the soldiers, off to the side of the Emperor.

"Ah Weiss, my little girl." The Emperor said. "You've come so far. I'm actually proud of you."

"Just hand over Willow." Weiss demanded.

"Willow?" The Emperor asked. "That's why you're here?" He laughed.

"Yes, Winter killed herself to save her daughter." Weiss said. "Give her to us and you can leave with your life."

"She's dead." The Emperor laughed. "Long dead."

"What?!" Weiss screamed.

"As soon as my men brought her back I had her killed." The Emperor explained. "Her existence was quite the inconvenience."

"Inconvenience?!" Weiss shouted. "She was your heir! You drove Winter to her death, killed Winter's daughter, and now you mean to kill me. You really are mad! You're destroying the succession! You have no heirs left!"

"Heirs?" The Emperor said. "Who needs heirs when you have immortality?" Weiss just looked at her father stunned. "This world will soon end. I have done my part to see it happen, and as a reward I will be granted everlasting life! When Cinder raises the new Fell Dragon I shall reign at its side. All that's left is to extinguish the last of the line of Exalted Blood."

"You're a monster." Weiss said through gritted teeth. Her hand was gripped tightly around Myrtenaster, her knuckles white. She was shaking with barely contained rage.

"Guards, kill them!" The Emperor ordered. The soldiers did not move. "I said kill them!"

"We're done here." Cinder said. "Soldiers, move out, we have places to be. Don't bother with the interlopers. They helped me remove one inconvenient tyrant, now I've returned the favor." The soldiers sheathed their weapons and started to file out, moving around Weiss' group without touching them. Cinder and her retainers joined them.

"What?!" The Emperor demanded. "Where are you going? You're supposed to defend me! Kill them! I said kill them! I command you! I'm the Emperor!"

"You're dead!" Weiss screamed. She raced forward, charging up the steps towards her father. The Emperor was frozen in panic and confusion. Weiss leapt at him, sword extended. Her blade pierced his chest, and the impact of her slamming into him was enough to snap his throne in two. The pair tumbled across the floor landing with Weiss on top, kneeling astride him with her sword pinning her father to the ground. With a primal scream Weiss activated Myrtenaster's magic and fire erupted around the sword. The Emperor flailed about for a moment before falling still. The flames cut through the Emperor's body, expanding and burning out his chest until there was a hole as big as his head. The fire subsided and Weiss drew her blade back, repeatedly stabbing it back into what remained of her father's corpse as she screamed and and tears streamed down her face.

Yang approached Weiss from behind. She laid her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "That's enough." Yang said.

Blake also approached, laying a hand on Weiss' other shoulder. "He's dead." Blake said. "Stop."

Weiss kept stabbing, unable to control herself. "Weiss!" Yang and Blake shouted in unison. Weiss seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She pulled her blade back, dropped in on the ground at her side, and collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Yang knelt at Weiss' side, gently stroking her hair. "It's okay." She said softly. Weiss tried to speak but what came out of her mouth was little more than unintelligible babbling.

Blake knelt beside the dead emperor's head. His crown had come dislodged and rolled aside. Blake picked it up. Yang got Weiss to a sitting position as the two embraced. "Weiss, this is yours now." Blake said, holding out the crown.

Tears still streamed down Weiss' face but she was rapidly calming down. She took hold of the crown with both hands. She stared at it. It was just a stupid hat as far as she was concerned. She wanted to throw it away. If it was all she had to show for after all the pain and suffering she had gone through, all she had witnessed, it was not worth it. But she looked at Yang and Blake. They smiled at her. They kept telling her everything was going to be alright. Down the steps across the room the others looked on expectantly. Weiss struggled to her feet. She looked at the crown again. She took it in both hands, sighed, and placed it atop her head. "All hail the Emperor!" Yang cheered.

"All hail the Emperor!" The others said as one.

Weiss wiped the tears from her face. She steeled herself, as she had been taught to do from childhood. She strode down the steps, threw open the doors to the throne room and walked to the front doors of the palace. Servants scrambled to open those doors for her. As Weiss stepped out into the bright sunlight she was greeted by a cheering crowd. Cries of "Long live Emperor Weiss!" rose up and soon it seemed the entire city was shouting for her. It should have been the greatest moment of Weiss' life, but she found no joy.