Heir to the Empire

38. Civil Unrest - Ethelston

Placing a soldier piece on the vast map of Ravenscourt had always brought a tinge of excitement to Ethelston. He recalled the days as a child, when his father, Edric, would allow him to organise the positions of the city guard as part of his teachings.

The moment he picked up the wooden city guard, he would revel in the smoothness of the carpentry. The piece, almost as big as his hand, used to dwarf it as a child and its weight was challenging for any youth of six winters.

Leaning over the vast map, Ethelston carefully placed a piece in the upper market, smiling as he did. Another part of the Black Knife Syndicate puzzle had been removed and replaced with his own.

Jarendrud's plan to locate members of the Syndicate by protecting members of the city guard had worked wonders. With the assistance of Aryya and her mercenaries, the Syndicate numbers had been whittled down, and some parts of their organisation had been crippled. The piece placed on the map had signified another victory throughout the city.

Ethelston stood upright and smiled, studying the pieces and where they were located on the map. Identifying patterns that could detail more about the Syndicate's dealings. "We finally have them on the back foot."

Jarendrud edged himself closer to the table. His eyes narrowed, his forehead furrowed, for him, the rooting out of the biggest crime syndicate in the city had only just begun. "My Lord, I fear we celebrate too early. While we have caused our enemy to step back and pause, I believe that is all they are doing. We have given them a serious beating recently; it would be foolish for them to continue working as they had done before."

A chuckle echoed from across the room. The dark-skinned Aryya sat casually next to the window looking out towards the Castle gardens. "Your friend is cautious two swords, " her heavily accented voice boomed across the room.

Ethelston looked towards his mercenary compatriot. A woman he had fought and bled beside, who he feared and respected in equal measure, and then he looked towards his spymaster. A man who had never been directly involved in combat, but his knowledge was vast and beyond anyone who he had met before.

Wisdom rarely fought in battles but still often won them.

"Aye, cautious he is, but we should listen to him nonetheless," Ethelston replied.

The grunt from Aryya echoed across the room, but she regarded Ethelston as profoundly as he did her.

"Attacks on the city guard have almost dissipated, but the mercenaries show of blood will only anger them further," commented Jarendrud.

Aryya's face turned quickly to anger, "and what do you have to say of my mercenaries?"

"They are reckless and stupid!" Jarendrud spat loudly, with a little more passion than he intended. "To execute the Syndicate's men as they had done to the city guard drives them to anger, and the people unnecessarily to fear."

Aryya stood to her feet, the scowl on her face caused even Ethelston to be on edge. "If you have some issue with my men, then out with it!"

Jarendrud subconsciously took a step back and raised his hands in surrender, "I have no problem with your men, just their methods. While I can't complain about their results, I have to think about what is good for Ravenscourt. We're trying to restore order, not create more chaos."

The comments seemed to drive Aryya more feral as she took a more aggressive step forward, "Little man happy for Desert Viper's help, then complains because we're too efficient!"

Ethelston quickly intervened, stepping in between Aryya and her prey. "Jarendrud means well. Without your help, we would not have crippled the Syndicate so severely. Please my dear, can we not discuss this peacefully?"