Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, Day 12.

He ended the call right after, expecting me to know where to find him; of course, I knew exactly where he wanted me to go. The home of all Lendenburgs, right in the heartland of the entire coastal province. One would expect it to be a luxurious, perhaps opulent, palace but no, it was simply a small, modest house set around farmland. Family history would point to the third Duke of our family, making this the home of us all. No matter, I quickly made my way to Ts’yvelir as he was resting upon the roof. Augustus and my home were slightly far away, but nothing that I could not handle with Ts’yvelir. Ts’yvelir seemed to be able to feel the emotional instability inside me; for the first time since I saw this great beast, his eyes showed some form of… empathy? His eyes looked more intelligent than ever, showing some real sadness inside them as well. A chirp, unlike anything I had heard before, came out of his beak — and he positioned himself lower to the ground, so I could get on easier.

“Thank you, Ts’yvelir. You know where to go.” And indeed, like he was reading my mind, he raced off straight towards my home. I looked down and noticed my phone was gone, I must've dropped it. A few minutes later, I noticed a small wet patch upon the Griffins back; it was right near me. A small droplet of water fell down from me onto his back, was I crying? I took my quivering hand up to my face and wiped it around the eyes. A stream of liquid was there, along with a bit of snot. What did I look like now? I still had my dress on, it was a bit crumpled due to Ts’yvelir’s feathers, but that was no matter. A mirror, I don’t have a mirror at the moment, but shaping a rudimentary one shouldn’t be hard. A small amount of my mana was used to create a water mirror in front of me, it wasn’t perfect; my control over it was not good enough to fully recreate the properties of glass.

Looking at it, the proportions of my face and body were off slightly; but it was the best I was going to get. My tears wiped off some makeup on my face, a slight stream of snot was also there. Any regal bearing I had half an hour ago was completely gone, only a husk of a girl about to lose her father. HAHA, the media would be in a frenzy if they saw me in this state; ah, the beautiful future Duchess of Lendenburg that now has snot running down her face. I could see the headlines already, HAHA, it would be hilarious. I looked down at the mirror in my laughing fit, only to see how ugly I truly was at the moment. Streams and streams of tears went down my face; the snot was more noticeable now, and I looked hideous. ARGH, the water mirror disintegrated back into mana; it faded into the air. I need to fix up how I look before I get to the house; looking over the side, we were above a golden field of wheat.

Huh, we are closer than I thought we were. Ts’yvelir landed after a minute, his gigantic body dwarfing the slightly small house. I didn't even feel the tears streaming down my face as I ran towards the small abode. I rushed through the door, wanting to go straight to a room and fix how I look — only to see my father right at the end of the hall. He had a sickly green appearance to him, with red, bloodshot eyes and a hunched back. Disregarding all etiquette, I rushed towards him and nearly crashed into his body. He hugged me almost instantly, his skin was leathery and pale; and yet, there was something about him that gave me instant comfort. My tears fell down readily, “It's ok, you're ok.”, he said repeatedly in a rocking motion. The motion brought me back to an old childhood memory, I was just six and fell down while playing on the field. He was still young then, and looked normal — the golden fields around us had been here since I was a child.

The vivid image of him hugging me back then came at me like a tsunami, “You're ok. It's ok.” He kept repeating these comforting words for some time, after who knows how long, I stood up from my position and so did he. My father handed me a small syringe filled with blood, “Take it, clear your head. I know what you saw, you'll need this.” Gingerly, I accepted the syringe and quickly jabbed it into my bloodstream; suddenly the world seemed a bit brighter. My head felt clearer instantly, and there was something very, very, very intoxicating about it. “This jab, do it once a month, Laizi will have the master list on what to do, when to take it, and what to take.” With my thoughts clear, I had a whole host of questions.

Before I could ask anything, he pulled me up and started to walk to a different room. I followed in his stead quickly, making our way through to a small side room. It was a cozy little room, with a small burning fireplace and a table at the center. He sat down, and so did I, we both looked at one another for a second. “Ask away, I know you have many questions.”, he said. I nodded and tried to speak, “I- Uh-. I-”, even though I had a whole host of questions, it was hard to say anything. I took a deep breath and cleared my head of any distractions. “What would you have done if I didn't find the pamphlet?”, I asked him. He nodded, seeming a bit disappointed, “Tell you here.”, “and what if you died before that?” He laughed a bit, “Laizi knows everything.” My eyes widened like saucers, “She knows… everything?”

He nodded subtlety, “Yes, if I were to die then she would tell you everything. If she were to die, then you would have instructions given to you by me. If you died, your brothers would be given the news. If they were to die, your sister would be given this news. If everyone were to die, then it seems like we weren't meant to continue.” I looked down at the table, tapping at it slightly with my fingers, “Father, what happened to mother?” His demeanor changed from a grim acceptance to sadness.

“You are not ready to know.”, he said curtly. “What do you mean I'm not ready? I don't even know her name. I'm ready to inherit all this wealth and power, but not her name or what happened to her!?” My voice grew increasingly louder as I kept talking, it felt like I was a small child. That he saw me as that small child he once held in his arms. “Your brothers will tell you when the time is right. It is up to their discretion.” I looked at him grimly, the mood in the air turned sour, “I barely know my brothers.”, I have not seen them in over eight years. They were a distant memory for me, and that was it.

“Any other questions?”, he asked me, trying to change the topic. Not wanting to dwell on this any further, I obliged. “Does anyone outside the family know?”, I asked and quickly added, “Besides Laizi.” He grimly nodded, “The Emperor.” I muttered a quick, “Fuck.” under my breath, and he heard it. “Yes, it is a precarious position we are in. If the Emperor leaks it, then our position is challenged. If he does, though, then we can take out half of Iabrun with us. Unless he is in a particularly precarious situation, there will be no reason for him to leak that. It is, of course, a loose end. And you know what we do to loose ends?” I said, “We take care of them cleanly, and efficiently.” His eyes looked at me warmly, “Yes, we do. And that leads me to my next point, there is a way to cure this.”

“Of course, the treasure somewhere on our property.”, he laughed at my statement and shook his head. “We would have found it long ago, that isn't the answer. I'm sure you want to know it, I doubt you want this curse to continue on from you to your children, or your brothers and sisters' children. The answer is pretty simple, get someone of our blood onto the Throne of Iabrun.” I laughed a bit after that, “Easier said than done.” He agreed with me readily, “Yes, easier said than done. But this new Constantine seems like the perfect opportunity.” I nodded my head, Constantine was good, but he wasn't the current Emperor we have now. “Father…, why didn't you try to get on the throne?”, I asked him.

He looked down at the table, “I found out too late. By the time I figured it out, I was already over the age of fifty. I didn't have much time, nor energy, to go for it. After all, you were barely a two-year-old then.” He looked to be reminiscing now, thinking of a bygone time, “Yes, you were only two.” He said with a tinge of sadness in his voice; he looked to be a normal old man at the moment, none of the prestige of a Duke. “It is time I get going.”, he said that and started to stand up. No, no, “No, no. Stay here for a bit!”, I yelled out at him. He smiled and shook his head, “My time is running out now, my child. It’s time that I go, and pass the mantle onto you.” He fully stood up and smiled, putting his transforming claws into his chest. I see…

A small golden crown was pulled out, it was barely larger than my thumb. He put it in my hand, and it gave me an instant warmth as it melted into my skin. “With this, you are now the true Duchess of Lendenburg. Goodbye, Arianna.” Without any other word said, he turned around and walked to the door, leaving me. I chased after him immediately, “No, no. YOU CAN'T GO, I STILL NEED YOU.” Outside the door was nothing, as if he was never there to begin with. There was nothing there, nothing. Tears came flooding out readily, but I heard someone call me. Oh, who is it now? I'm going to kill this person if it's a dumb reason, “Arianna, you want to meet up with the whole family?”, said my younger sister. “The whole family?”, I asked. “Not our sister, but our brothers are on leave at the moment. Meet us at the normal estate, will you?” I agreed and hung up on the phone.

This place, this home, I'll revisit it someday; but as of the moment, might as well see my brothers again. Ts’yvelir looked towards me again and tilted his body so that I could get upon his back easier. “Thank you, Ts’yvelir.” He chirped a bit from his beak, “Go to the normal estate, It's near here.” I got comfortable on his back and he quickly took off, another chirp came from him. “Yeah, I'm ok boy. No need to worry about me.”, he chirped after what I said. “Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, boy.” Ts’yvelir fell silent after that, and it was a smooth flight all the way over to the estate. I jumped off his back and quickly rushed to my room in order to change.

I saw my sister in black, mourning clothes, “Hey, wait up!”, she yelled at me. I stopped for a second and looked back at her, “What? I need to go change.” She said, “Oh, sorry.” and then left. I guess I'll wear a black suit then, it should be appropriate. Inside my room, I quickly took off my clothing and changed into a black suit fit for mourning times. I need to thank the beauty director for stocking up all of these locations with every piece of clothing imaginable. I left the room quickly, arriving in the dining room only to be met by my sister. “Where are our brothers?” She replied, “They have yet to arrive, they should be here soon enough. What time is it?” I looked down at my phone, “It’s 5:37 pm right now.” She said, “Good, the cooks will be done by 5:50, and our brothers should be here by 6:00.”

“How’s that Griffin going?”, I asked her while sitting down at my seat across from her. There was a tray of a variety of bread on the table, I took one and smeared a bit of butter on it. It was dark-colored bread that had some seeds in it and contrasted with the light color of the butter on it. “That butter you’re eating is from the Marquis’ Griffin.” I nodded, “Right, how did he let you milk his Griffin? That must have costed a load of money.” She nodded, “Yeah it was, 500,000 pounds. The flavor is more than worth it, though.” That, I had to agree with, the butter was great and worked exceptionally well with the bread. “Ari, why did you kill the director?”, she asked me. Hmmmm, I didn’t think she would know already, “He was treasonous towards the state, I saw him try to give some information to Solarian authorities.” She seemed to be content with my answer and didn’t try to pry more into the reason.

“You still didn’t tell me what happened to your Griffin.”, I said to her. She seemed a bit surprised, her emotions were always on her sleeve, and didn’t hide anything. “Ah, I’m sorry. She has been useful so far, but she is a child at the moment.” It was now 5:43 pm, “Could you get me some wine?”, I asked of her. It was, technically, illegal for me to drink alcohol at my age, but no one really enforced it — especially not to me. She obliged and quickly left the room, leaving me alone. I stood up and left the room as well, it would take her at least five minutes to get to the cellar and get the wine.

What to do in the meantime, though, is the question. I walked out to my room and noticed Ts’yvelir laying down upon the grassy meadows near the estate. “Ts’yvelir!”, I shouted out at him, and he perked up immediately, “Come here,” I said. He quickly rushed over to me, “Ts’yvelir, you’ve done me a great service. You can go on and get yourself a basilisk as a reward.”, his eyes conveyed his gratitude. He swiftly leaped up into the air and flew off, soon becoming only a dot in the sky, 5:47 pm now. Then, I made my way back to the dining room and took my seat, acting as if I had never left the seat in the first place. She came back in carrying a bottle of Solarian wine and put it on the table.

I poured it out into a glass of mine, she raised her own, “No, you’re too young.” I told her, “And you’re not?” she snapped back. “Oh come on, father always allowed me to drink.”, she implored me. “Well. I’m not father, now am I? You’re not allowed to drink until the age of eighteen, and that is final.” Begrudgingly, she put down her glass, as I finished pouring the golden liquid into mine. Just as I took my first sip, there was a knock on the door. The knockers came in a second after, “Brother?” I asked, they came earlier than expected. The two walked in the door, looking like carbon copies in their uniforms, one of them sat down immediately. The other one picked up my sister, Catalan, and gave her a great big hug.

“You-You’re choking me. I can’t breathe.”, he laughed a lot and put her down, before sitting in his own seat. “It has been quite a long time since we met like this, we should definitely meet up some more times.”, said my brother — Miles. He looked down at my cup, and without any warning, swatted it away from me. It nearly fell down on the floor, but my other brother, Phanes, summoned a beam of light and put the cup back on the table. “You’re a bit too young for that.”, said Miles as he chugged down the entire glass of my wine. My sister looked at me, giggling a bit at my misfortune. “So, anything exciting going on?”, asked Phanes as he slowly poured himself a glass of wine.

“I plan to launch a coup.”, I said in the most serious tone I could muster up. Phanes, who had just drunk his first glass, nearly spit it out. “Wait, wait. What?”, asked Miles as he cleaned up the spilled wine. I signaled to the two of them that they should follow me, “Stay here.”, said the three of us to our little sister at the same time. “Wait, WAIT. What are you talking about, why does no one fill me in on these things!” she yelled out, Phanes made a cup of pure light and handed it over to her. She was easily impressed by many things and didn’t bother to ask us again. Outside the dining room, and in the hallway, my two much larger brothers followed me into a secluded room.

“You know the curse we have?”, the two nodded gravely, seeming to understand the gravity of the situation. “The only way to get rid of it is to get someone of our blood onto the throne. Normally, I would wait and try to get myself nominated by the other nobles for the position of Emperor. Now, that can not happen. Constantine is still very young and is set to be the next Emperor. Who knows how many years we would have to wait until Constantine is removed for the next Emperor. I can’t wait that long, I plan to have children, and I certainly don’t wish to give this curse to them either. A coup is the fastest way to get me on that throne.”

Phanes was silent, Miles said, “You’re right, but that could kill millions of people, if not billions. You know that as well as I do, Solaria is also just waiting to pounce if they see any hint of instability in our rule. This is far too risky.” I nodded, “It would be, in normal circumstances, but this time is different. The people in Solaria are getting ready for war, the upcoming negotiations will only delay it. It is the same for those up above and down below, they are getting ready for a massive engagement that we have not seen since the start of The Last War. If I ally myself with one of them, I can use their weight as a deterrent for Solaria. Even if Solaria declares war, they know that at best, it would only be a Pyrrhic victory.”

Miles fell silent at my ramblings, Phanes looked down at me, “Well then, Arianna, if you truly are going to embark on this path. I will help you, on one condition.” I looked up at Phanes, his white eyes and hair stared back at me, “I wish that you try to defeat Solaria at all costs.” he said. I gulped, “I will try, but I can’t say for certain.” Defeating Solaria would be a troublesome task, but I may be able to probe some weak points in the upcoming negotiations. Miles looked at Phanes, then back at me, “Looks like I have no choice, then. I’ll help you with this, Arianna.”, he said while turning his back on me and walking out of the room. I followed him as fast as I could, and Phanes was right behind me.

The three of us made our way back to the dining room, to be greeted by my sister gorging down on the plentiful food on the table. “You’re a pig.”, I said to her immediately. “I am not one!”, she yelled out; her plate stacked high with every piece of food on the table didn’t help her argument. “Look, the chefs did an amazing job, it would be a waste to not eat them while they’re hot. And, what were you three talking about?” The three of us sat down and didn’t answer the question, skipping over it in its entirety. Phanes constructed a construct of light and made a little light show with it, “How much money do we have now?” asked Phanes as he concluded the little light show by weaving a necklace and putting it on the neck of my sister.

“Our liquid cash is not much, only around fifty trillion left in our vaults. As for the worth of everything else we own, I do not have the exact numbers now.”, he nodded at took a sip of black tea. “So, what are you two doing that requires you guys to stay in the Capitol all the time?”, asked my sister. Phanes and Miles looked at one another, “Iabrun plans to secure its natural resource mining in the small island nations inside the straits of the Twisting Ocean. Our ports have to be secured.” I nodded and asked, “What natural resources warrant this much attention?” Miles replied, “The mages procured by the Iabrun government are strong, brutally strong, and with strength comes the energy that they need to supply it. Usually, their own mana is enough, but in times of war, they’re going to need more. Just a precaution.”

I stood up and said, “Excuse me, I need to go do something.”, as I walked out the door. Inside my room, I took a call from Laizi, “It’s done.”, she assured me and I hung up the phone immediately. Phanes walked into the room, smoking a white cigarette that had a pleasant aroma to it. “I thought you quit a long time ago?”, I asked him. He laughed and shook his head, “I did, for a while. Father’s imminent death brought me back to them, they’re horrible for you, but feel good. Anyway, enough about me. What is your plan for this coup? We both know that you can’t simply barge in and launch this coup.”

I nodded, “First we need to know who is on our side, and who isn’t? The public is already tentative about Constantine, and love me, the Noble’s are wary about him as well. It all comes down to how he does in the first year of coronation. If he does poorly, then I’m laughing. If he gets support on his side, then he’s laughing. Any upcoming events to test this new Emperor?”, I asked him at the end. He thought for a second, “Iabrun plans to annex the two neighboring countries of Gawain and Tils. Constantine is opposed to it, but it is too far gone now in order to be stopped. His handling of the situation is going to be the main deciding factor for his legitimacy.”

That was perfect, “Good, thank you Phanes. All we need to do is annoy the public, Nobles, and mages. The public is a proud people, Iabrun is gigantic, and they know we can throw our weight around. If Constantine fumbles with this annexation and doesn’t strong-arm it, the people will perceive him as weak. If the Nobles and mages don't get any rewards from the new land, then he will be seen as greedy by the two. This is perfect.” Phanes nodded and started to walk away, “Good luck, Ari. Oh, and just remember. If a gentle coup is not appropriate, then you can always start a civil war. I am not like my brother, I do not shy away from the more blood-soaked side of these things. Me and him, we can win this one for you.”