“Forgetting their surroundings in pursuit of benefits is a mistake people often make. It is also quite often the last mistake they’ll ever make in their lives.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

The civil war between the princes lasted a whole month and turned most of the inner city of Abuda into smoldering ruins as the region was caught up in the fighting.

Other than the start, where the third prince and his supporters attempted to assassinate the first prince and failed, the first prince always held the advantage. He had more supporters both amongst the minister and the military, and while the third prince’s supporters were higher ranked and more trusted by the Khan, their influence largely depended on the Khan’s support.

With the man dead, a large portion of that influence was gone just like that, which was why they made the decision to attempt an assassination first since they were all too aware just how disadvantaged they were in a direct conflict.

The first prince’s larger force had immediately laid a siege on the inner city and the palace once he escaped the assassination attempt, while the third prince and his supporters fought desperately to defend themselves. They managed to last so long thanks to the defensive advantage the palace offered, but most of the inner city was lost within the first week of the fighting itself.

Once the third prince was left with just the palace – which was besieged from all sides by the first prince’s forces – the battle was practically concluded, as it was only a matter of time before the defense broke. Both princes were familiar with the various secret routes out of the castle, which in turn rendered them unusable, either for the third prince to use to escape or for the first prince to send in infiltrators. In fact most of the entrances and exits of such routes were collapsed by them just in case.

The first prince even sent some people to keep the exits he collapsed guarded at all times, just to be sure.

While the Khan’s palace was built similar to a fort, its construction had many concessions given to accommodate luxury and comfort, and thus wasn’t as defensive as a fort should be. Because of that it only took a couple weeks for the first prince’s forces to force their way through the gates at last and flood into the palace itself, where the fighting turned to the marble-floored and decorated hallways.

Blood was spilled all over the marble floors and fine woven carpets, expensive pottery and paintings were broken by stumbling people and errant strikes. The opulent Khan’s palace soon turned into a hellhole filled with corpses, with blood, entrails, piss and shit soon covering the floor. Even then the fighting did not cease for over a couple days more as the third prince’s last forces used the narrow corridors to fight defensive delaying actions with their lives.

The third prince himself was found ion the Khan’s throne in the end, having taken his own life when it was evident that he had lost and soon his elder brother’s forces would reach him. He chose to go out on his own terms rather than be publicly humiliated during his last moments, as did many of the ministers that sided with him.

A few attempted to grovel and beg for the first prince’s mercy instead, to change sides now that everything was over and done with, but all that they received was a very public hanging. Hanging was a punishment reserved for lowly criminals in Sishfa, so it also doubled as an insult. The third prince’s body was similarly hung beside them, as well as those of the other dead ministers.

It was when the first prince had just breathed a sigh of relief and was thinking about all the mess that needed to be cleaned up – the palace was unlivable after the battle and needed a thorough cleaning first – that he received news that made him go pale and nearly collapsed on the spot. News that peasants throughout the entire Khanate had risen up in arms and were already on their way towards the capital of Abuda.

By the point they received the message – which was delayed by various reasons, not the least of which was that some people kept assassinating the messengers who tried to bring them the news until it was all too late – it was far too late for the first prince to escape. The peasant rebellion had already closed in on Abuda from every direction, so all he could do was to have his people man the walls of the city in defense.

Had they been in prime condition, the armed forces might have stood a decent chance of quelling the peasant rebellion. However, they were depleted to less than half their numbers due to the civil war, with most of the survivors injured and fatigued from the constant fighting. Combined with the way they were massively outnumbered by the peasants, the results were pretty much set in stone.

While the first prince’s men fought with their lives on the line, they were simply overwhelmed by the far more numerous peasants, and Abuda itself was poorly suited for a siege defense, especially with the damage already done to the city during the civil war. As a result, the first prince only managed to claim the coveted position of Khan for no more than a week before his forces were vanquished by the rebellion.

Then he was dragged out of the palace by the peasants and hung in public much like he did his younger brother’s corpse.

From there, the victorious peasants started the difficult process of rebuilding their nation. Whether they would remain an independent nation or be scooped up into Caracan’s embrace was a question left for the future, as while Aideen and the girls had stayed to watch the revolution take place and even helped out a bit from time to time, they left the former Khanate to its people soon after as they headed out to their next destination.