The Ancient World Order

Chapter 23: Wilfred Mandos of The Empire

The day was breaking; the sun was shining through the windows, lighting up Wilfred's desk. Rarely leaving the chancellor chambers, he had hardly felt the touch of sunlight for days. So for his children, he was reluctant to let them out of his sight. He had urged Alden and Milena to stick together at all times, with Sir Heim guarding them closely. To his surprise, they didn't seem to mind. When not training, Alden mostly read books at Wilfred's office, sharing interesting discoveries of history which Wilfred never heard about. Milena spent most of her time by riding her horse, at the courtyard just outside his window. It made him less distressed as it was soon time to enact his plan. They were close now to finally achieve the full mapping of his enemies every routine and habit. Not before he knew every detail of their life. He dared to strike. It was more difficult than he had first expected. The Templars kept to themselves, rarely leaving Magnus Keep. Between the palace gates and Magnus keep, it was open space, too many witnesses in case they tried to strike at the Templars there. The best opportunity was to take them inside the palace. In contrast to the squares of the city, there were many narrow hallways, at certain places, witnesses would be unlikely. The most prioritised target was Marseile. He had appeared at the palace every day as he was acting Grand Marshal in Alois's absence. He was the most difficult case to crack. "He is paranoid beyond belief, watching over his shoulder at his every turn. He appears to be able to move through walls, sometimes he just vanishes. He must know that he is followed." Wilfred's spies have told him.

It made Wilfred nervous, Marseile was just too unpredictable. Originally Wilfred had planned to take him earlier, but no clear opportunity had presented itself. But take him, they must, he is the key to it all. Wilfred felt it. If he could just capture and interrogate him, he would have the last pieces of the puzzle. The thought had struck his mind. Maybe he could just arrest Marseile, but on what grounds and with what evidence? Surely, he would just keep his mouth shut and wait until Fredric's return, if he would be officially interrogated. Then Wilfred would have to face the backlash of it all, as Fredric would condemn it. No, he had to do it in secret, nobody could know. Then Wilfred could apply some more unpleasant methods to make him talk. Wilfred tried to push the thoughts of Marseile out of his mind for a bit, to focus on his actual work. He stared down on his desk. More reports have come in by his vassal Lord Dan Morrowvale from the Western borders. Villagers had completely vanished from their homes, traces led either to the Scorched Lands or the Dark Forest. It was a mystery no one could solve, as it seemed like there were no signs of violence. As much as he tried, he could not deal with that now. Wilfred did as he always had regarding this matter, replying to Lord Dan that he should bring local matters directly to his son and acting ruler of the Westlands, Eilas Mandos. The son he recently wrote a letter too, instructing him to position the army at the border to Brad Ambeder's lands. His mind slowly returned to where he didn't want it to be, to Marseile. He went over it over and over in his mind again. With some more pieces of the puzzle, Wilfred would uncover the truth of Leland's faith and perhaps even Emma's. They had to be connected, he was certain of it.

A certain irony of the situation would soon reveal itself, it seemed. Just as Marseile had invaded Wilfred's mind, so it would appear Wilfred had invaded his.

"You fascinate me..." Marseile said as he walked through the door and slowly seated himself at the other side of Wilfred's desk.

Wilfred barely dared to speculate what his intentions were.

"I thought, you will come for me, as soon as Fredric left." Marseile said with the same indifferent tone as he always had. "Then I thought, he is waiting, it must be tomorrow, then tomorrow. After a week, I was confused. You had all the opportunities, and yet you didn't take it. What prevented you?"

"What makes you think I would come for you?" Wilfred answered, trying to wrap his mind around the situation.

Marseile looked at him with a dead face. "You know I have the answers you seek. How could I not? Your nephew died under my care, you requested an official hearing, but it was declined. Now when you are momentarily reagent, it is well within your power..."