The room was silent, no words, no sounds. Only two things could be heard, my own footsteps, and the blood still leaving my father's body. As I reached his throne, I turned around and sat on it, overseeing the room. His head had stopped blinking, eyes now wide open, never having even realised his demise. The rest of the people were still in shock. Even Lady Róisín was near shock, her emotionless state faltering more than I had ever seen before, even at my mother's passing.
I took a deep breath, then exhaled, and with the air from my lungs I let my emotions leave me. There was no point to emotions on a battlefield, which this room now had become. As I looked at them, Ailbe was the first to realise. He knelt and bowed his head. "Your Grace." The other nobles followed, some less eager than others. Only after most of them had knelt, did Lady Róisín do the same. Formal as always. With her, so knelt the guards and servants.
Ailbe looked up at me, not as the man I had known for all those years, but as Vicomte Carraig. My subordinate. He was relieved yet worried as he spoke up. "All hail the seventh Duke."
""Hail.""
I nodded. That was that, formalised. I now was Duke of Flameheart, meaning that my will was law. I gestured for them to rise, then looked at the guards. "Seal the estate. None may leave. Disguise it as one of my father's fits. Bring all the guards inside and close the gates, then confine all staff. I will provide a list of who should be imprisoned, all others must simply be kept to quarters."
My eyes moved to Lady Róisín, who I could tell understood exactly what that list would be based on. I planned to lock up every spy within our estate walls, to make sure nothing could leak to Verglas. The rest of the list would be nothing but a distraction.
"One last thing." The guards froze midway their way out. "The only people present here were me, the council, and the guards. None may ever know that any member of staff witnessed my father's death. Continue." Wordlessly, they moved out to do my bidding, while my senses followed them, covering the entire estate to verify the execution of my commands. As for my order, I assumed they understood why. Hiding staff presence was to keep the witnesses safe. Guards and nobles could resist commands from the Crown, servants could not.
Keep an eye on the estate, but don't overfocus. You need all your attention for the council.
I looked at the majordoma. "Lady Róisín. Choose who else you want as support, and have the others separate those for you. I would like for you to remain here for now, so that you will fully understand your responsibilities the coming days. As for the rest of you, take note of the following names and ensure the guards have them imprisoned peacefully." I listed the names, then let Lady Róisín send them off. Now all that was left were eleven council members, the majordoma, and my father's corpse.
One by one I looked at them, watching the discomfort in their eyes. All of them had heard my father's final words. All knew he had deserved his death. A death they should have been complicit in. But no, they had remained loyal to the end. On the list of flaws of Flameheart, blind loyalty would always be the worst one. Loyalty my father had still almost managed to lose. And now, I held that loyalty, in all its burning glory. A flaw that I would exploit to its utmost limits, to guarantee its transfer to their current enemy.
I gave the majordoma her instructions first. Those would be sufficient to make the council understand my plans. "Lady Róisín. You have served my father and grandfather well during their entire reign. I am glad you will serve me for all of mine." The first gulps and realisations set in, but she still kept her face tight and emotionless. "You will need to prepare the estate for Duchess Verglas and her entourage. Make sure to stockpile fresh ingredients, so that they can prepare their own meals. As for my father, have his body embalmed and stored here."
She nodded. "Understood. Should I have his head wax-treated?" I nodded as my senses revealed a slight fluctuation to her emotionless state. It wasn't visible, but I could tell. She secretly enjoyed her next words. "I will arrange a gift box and a silver platter." I almost broke into a smile myself at her predicting what I had been about to command her.
You can trust her, more than anyone else. She will be loyal to Eirwen. Just remember that she will not hold any of your secrets from Eirwen once her loyalty moves on.
Muire spoke first, her position as Comtesse letting her dare do so. "Just to verify, your Grace. Are you intending to invite Duchess Verglas here for negotiations?" I could tell that she hoped I did. But no, that would be too messy. If I remained in position, that would make things worse for both of us.
I shook my head. "No. And let me explain why, to ensure you all understand." I rose and walked towards my father's head, looking down at it as I nudged it fully upright. "I have murdered my father. The crown will not stand for that. They will use that not only to attack my own authority, but also to resist proper compensations to House Verglas. Anything else would require admitting they were wrong to leave her without support in the first place."
My eyes moved up, slowly scanning over them all as I took in the bitter grimaces. "No matter what solution I choose, as long as the last Flameheart lives and breathes, the crown will still interfere. And that harms not just us, or Verglas, but the entire west. An offence I have no intent of allowing them to commit. Good must come from this war. And the only way for that, is for me to surrender everything."
Several opened their mouths to object, but fell silent as I raised my hand. "I will ride to Eirwen and negotiate with her under false pretences. Have her pay me a price for my betrayal. My terms will be the lives of my personal guard, leniency for our troops, and a respectful treatment of our people. Once she agrees with those terms, I will surrender in full and forfeit my name."
Mathe scoffed, no surprise given his attitude. "And you think that will save you, after you fought her for all those years? She will kill you, your Grace. Likely with her own bare hands." I looked at him wordlessly and he fell silent. Honestly, I wished to take his head for suggesting that.
Easy. You need him alive, so that the council does your bidding. Give him rope. Let him hang himself with that.
I measured my words carefully, while taking care to still keep my emotions buried. "I highly doubt she will, but if she did, it would be justified. And even if she doesn't, I do not expect to be saved. What she needs is authority. For the people, the council, to kneel to her, so that the crown cannot attempt to get its hands on either dukedom. As such, no matter what she does with me, she might not even allow my body to return here. Remember, from tomorrow onwards, there will be no Flameheart left in this world."
Grimaces. Most of them feeling guilt. If they had helped stop the war sooner, I could have ruled. Mayhaps even have married Eirwen after all. But none of us had dared stand up against my father sooner, so all of us deserved Eirwen's ire. I hoped that despite that, she'd still let me be by her side. Not that I had any right to that.
My eyes left his and scanned the rest of the council once more. "I have three orders for you. First, take a fifth of the Flameheart treasury and use it for the people. Your territories have suffered from my father's greed, so this money can act as reparation. I trust you all to figure out a fair distribution."
They nodded, understanding perfectly fine what I was saying. I wasn't going to stay here long enough, so the division was on them. "Second. Take a fifth of the treasury for yourselves. You can take more if you compensate with your own properties. I will not negotiate with Eirwen for your fates, all I will do is ask her to treat you fairly. If you do not trust her, or do not wish to serve her as your Duchess, you can use this money to leave your territory behind."
Hard gulps at that. I wondered who of them would grasp that lifeline. I wasn't sure if enough would make the right decision, but it would still eliminate some possible threats to her rule. Give them a way out and hide that from her long enough, so that they could escape and wouldn't feel cornered.
A good choice. The less she has to exile herself, the less harsh the people will consider her.
"Lastly. As I said, there is a chance I will find death tonight. If I don't, I still do not expect to ever meet you again. Even if we do, I will no longer be the man that stands here now. Today marks the death of Aodhán Flameheart. So my third order to you is simple. Mourn me, if you must. Dismissed."
They hesitated before one after the other they left, likely towards the treasury to take their shares. Once they were gone, I sighed. Just Lady Róisín left now. But even now, she hid her emotions. "Anything else you need of me, your Grace?"
Let your feelings free for a moment. You'll have enough of a fight ahead anyway.
I smiled wryly. "A hug would be nice? Only if y-" She already moved forwards and embraced me, silently pulling me down into her arms. No words were needed. We remained like that for almost two moments, after which the approaching presence of guards meant I reluctantly had to let go. As the guards from before entered, I nodded, both of us once more without any emotions on our faces.
"Let me be clear, and make sure all the estate guards know, but none other. I will ride for Verglas now. I will surrender. I will not return. Once Eirwen arrives, she will be your Duchess, and I expect you to serve her with the same loyalty you would have offered me. If any of you cannot do so, I must ask you to hand in your weapon and join imprisonment for now."
None moved. Honestly, I hadn't expected anything else, but I still had to offer them the option. No matter how blind, loyalty still had to be acknowledged and respected. Even though this day was my last, I had no intention of repeating my father's mistakes. I had plenty of my own to make instead.
"Very well. I will now prepare before I leave with my personal guard. Lady Róisín is in charge of the estate until your new Duchess arrives. Follow her orders well, and keep your lips sealed. The people will assume my father is having one of his fits, a misconception you should subtly enforce. No need to lie, just act normal."
They nodded. It would be far from the first fit my father had during the war. And sending me away from his sight would come across as perfectly normal.
"Good. I thank you for your loyalty. Your new master will be more worthy of it."
And with that I left, mentally calling out to Darragh, warning him of what was to come. Less than half an hour later, I joined him and the others, with two simple scabbards now hiding the identity of my weapons, while I carried a gift box well prepared. One last deep breath, then we rode off towards my demise.
It was ironic, really. My father wanted the dukedoms unified by war. Now they would be. I would make sure of that, no matter what it cost me. Eirwen's rule would be stable. Even if it meant tearing apart my heart. And hers.
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