Tbate: Starting Anew

Chapter 42: Revolution Brewing

Floria Erdal POV

After finishing up my duties at the unsettlingly quiet royal palace, I proceeded through the grieving streets of the once happy Zestier. After the prince's execution, the whole nation fell into despair. The Leywins never came back to Elenoir after the execution. For the already down struck nation, the princess's suicide came as a huge blow.

The other nations had already started mocking the elves since everyone believed this was the end of the royal bloodline. It was still possible for their Highnesses to have another child, but after losing both Tessia and Arthur nobody believed they would try. To be honest, what parent would?

Noah was devastated. He had seen the young prince as a brother. They trained together quite a bit, although I suspected they weren't alone since, if they were, what reason would there be to not let anyone into their training? Since Eleanor left, he has only had one thing on his mind: Revenge. And he wasn't alone. The whole of Elenoir and everyone who cared about the ones we lost wanted to get revenge on the Council.

Not only have they unfairly accused our prince, but they also dismissed every testimonial that sided with him to be false. Their reason was that it was either said by a person too close to him to be objective or that the witness was bribed. This was the reason we formed the revolution.

After leaving the city gates, it didn't take much time to arrive at the underground lair made for us by one of our dwarven members. Most were reluctant to have dwarves and humans join us at first. Or that was until we learned who they were. Almost all of them were parents of the students Prince Arthur saved during the Xyrus Attack.

Entering the room, I saw my son with a person whose mere presence sent shivers down my spine. He was in the room with one of the human lances. Thoughts of why he would be here ran through my mind, but there was only one conclusion that made sense. One I didn't want to believe.

Noah, the boy I raised as my son after his own family abandoned him, betrayed us. He brought a lance to have him squash our movement before it even began.

Before I could do anything the lance turned towards me.

"You're Floria Erdal, correct?" he said, his voice softer than I had expected.

Still, I could only nod in fear of how he would kill me. Then, something I never expected to happen happened, again. Instead of driving the majestic spear sitting on his back into my chest, he bowed to me.

"I came here to thank you for what you've done for my brother. After my idiotic father threw him out, you became the loving mother he never had. You gave him a real family: something no one else could. I looked all over Dicathen for him after he disappeared. But after learning where he was taken... I had to give up." As he said this, tears started hitting the dirt floor.

"As a lance, me entering the forest could've been taken as a declaration of war and I knew my father had already made precautions against me getting permission. My mere name was enough for him to be sure I wouldn't be welcome here. So, as Bairon Wykes, I thank you for all you've done for my brother, and I hope you'll continue being the mother he's always wanted... And deserved."

When he finished I was stunned. Noah didn't betray us. And the lance was not here as a lance, but as my son's biological brother. The relief that rushed over me felt refreshing. Now I knew that Noah had a brother he could rely on again. After calming down, we all sat down at the table and talked. The first thing I asked that was unrelated to Noah's past was about his spear.

Its shaft was made from a black steel that reminded me of the prince's armor. The small golden linings also strengthened the similarity. The tip was sharp and longer than an ordinary spearhead making it able to slash easily. But its color made me most certain It was somehow connected to Prince Arthur. It was a translucent purple, just like the swords he was rumored to wield.