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| Volume name idea: Polarized Authority
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| ===Epilogue - The Stage Is Set===
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| The weather was cloudy over Caernarfon Castle, as it often was during the winter season.
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| Standing on a hill at the entrance to the capital's harbor, the impressive fortification featured two layers of curtain walls molded from milky white quartz. It was the only castle of its scale cut entirely from one gigantic slab of rock. Its central citadel towered high above the surrounding city, a legacy of just how high the crystal once grew.
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| The Faerie Lords didn't believe in 'construction'. They cultivated and shaped buildings instead.
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| Today, this ancient citadel tower -- reaching over twelve stories into the air -- served as the apex of human power in Ceredigion. Home to the 'Perennial Court', it featured a sprawling indoor gardens surrounded by clear-crystal windows, which took up the entirety of the eleventh floor.
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| The glass, ''Levitation''-powered elevator opened its doors into the gardens. Out stepped a lady of surprisingly common bearing, except for the gold-bejeweled phoenix standing on her shoulder.
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| Two squads of guards stepped aside as she strode through them like the wind. Two dozen aristocrats and courtiers bowed in a wave of motion before her approach, despite their intricate garments that would put her green-and-white dress to shame.
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| Not even King Elisedd of Ceredigion would sit in her presence, as he stood up from his crystal throne and descended the platform to greet her.
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| "Queen Mother," the astounded, youthful King spoke in awe. Though it was more like his Great-Great-Great-Grandmother.
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| Elisedd ap Gwladys was thin-shouldered and tall, looking no older than his late twenties at most. Fair skinned with delicate features, his appearance held an elfin quality that the elegant, flowing robes and shoulder-length hair accentuated. Although unlike the ancestor who stood before him, his straight locks were a light-blond dipped in spring-green tips, while his chin held high enough to not just be regal, but outright pretentious.
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| "Your Majesty," Gwendolyn stopped before him and bowed in a perfect curtsy.
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| "This is... a most unexpected event..."
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| The King looked speechless. He clearly hadn't recovered from the abrupt announcement of her entrance. Nevertheless, his political training soon kicked in and lit up a beaming smile worthy of any family reunion:
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| "But it is a joyous one nonetheless, Queen Mother! For after centuries, you have returned to us at last!"
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| The secret diary of the Rhodri royal family was the only record of her truth: that their former queen left to 'travel the worlds', to return one day when her people needed her most.
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| "I wish I were so optimistic, Elisedd," the Gwendolyn's smile vanished as she jumped straight to informalities. "I'm back on business, and not the most pleasant kind."
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| The King frowned, clearly unsure of what she spoke of.
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| "You allowed the Caliphate into our lands without so much as moving a single battalion to block them," the Oriflamme Worldwalker challenged. "I demand to know why."
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| Elisedd sighed as though Gwendolyn just resurrected a horse that had been beaten to death for discussion.
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| "Queen Mother, the days of the Independence War is long past us now," the King gestured as his legs paced back and forth. "Both the Imperium and the Caliphate seeks only peace with us. There is nothing to gain from upholding ancient, outdated promises to march to the Empire's banner -- especially when the Gaetane throne sees us as some backwater region only remembered when they need us."
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| "You cannot ''seriously'' be that short-sighted?" Gwendolyn's brows furrowed as contempt's shadow grew in her gaze. "The Gaetanes leave us alone because out of the four Kingdoms, we have the smallest population and is the most geographically isolated. But do you really believe that the Caliphate would just sidestep us once Avorica falls? Or have you forgotten those years when Imperial magistrates could rape even the chieftain's wife and daughters with impunity?"
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| The King spun around, his lips pursed:
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| "Queen Mother, you've been gone for centuries. Do you even know what the Empire has become? For the past sixty years Emperor Geoffroi has expected us to support his wars -- to retake Lotharin lands in Avorica and Garona, to extend the Empire east until Weichsel's borders. We've paid in blood and money for his conquests, and for what? So he could dump the treasury building crown roads in the heartlands and boosting his fame and revenues? What benefit does that serve us!?
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| "Meanwhile, the Caliph has offered us not only peace, but gold, and ''trade'' with the whole of the southern continent! I even have a guarantee of our neutrality from the Caliph personally. And until yesterday when that exiled princess lured them into battle, the Caliph's armies have not molested a single Avorican village!"
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| "So tell me!" King Elisedd strode back up to his throne and plunged down in an ungraceful manner. "Why should I risk my neck for a liege that gives me nothing, over a better man who actually respects me in return?"
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| Gwendolyn took a deep exhale as she nodded, slowly.
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| "Sure, the Emperor's policies may seem biased," she began. "But the Lotharin heartlands also connect the four Kingdoms and serve as the breadbasket of the Empire. Not to mention the crown's own demesne in Southern Lotharingie Mountains was one of the least developed yet the most resource-abundant. It benefits us all in the long-run to have cheap food and cheaper materials. And while trade with the south is tempting, it cannot possibly surpass those with our neighbors who are bound not just by proximity, but a common cultural heritage!
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| "So even if -- and I say ''if'' -- the infidels could uphold their promises a century later when new Caliphs sit upon the throne, just how do you expect Ceredigion to prosper when rest of the Lotharin people lay in ruins under a foreign yoke?"
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| "I do ''not'' accept that," the young King thrusted a gloved finger at Gwendolyn. "I will not be bound to some ''obsolete superstition'' that our fate must be tied to the rest of the Lotharins!"
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| "Obsolete?" the former Queen's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. "Have you not checked in with reality lately? Why is there a world of difference between us and the Inner Sea regions? With our dirt roads and wooden guild halls to their paved highways and marble hippodromes? How is it that even the Imperium's beggars could marvel at wonders, while our peasants outside the capital remain scratching--"
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| "Enough! Queen Mother!" King Elisedd bolted up to declare. "I shall have you remember that it is ''I'' who is the King of Ceredigion, not you!"
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| "Then act like a King!" She hissed back. "And not some ignorant child tricked by cheap sweets and promises of more candy!"
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| Elisedd's nostrils fumed. His knuckles clenched and twisted atop the throne's armrests, struggling to suppress royal impulses. Despite his youth, it was clear that the King had not suffered an insult for decades now.
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| "For your information, it is precisely my ''vision'' for the future of Ceredigion that mother chose me over brother to succeed her!"
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| "Yes," his Great-Great-Great-Grandmother raise her eyebrows, unimpressed. "I can see that somehow, stupidity has managed to settle into the family."
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| "This audience is over!" The King snapped at last.
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| "Sit your rear back down," Gwendolyn berated, summoning the clan matron of old. "This audience is over when I say it is!"
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| "Guards!" He yelled, seething. "''Kindly'' escort the Queen Mother out!"
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| The Oriflamme Worldwalker didn't move a muscle. Her glances to each side told her that even the royal bodyguards looked hesitant as they advanced, their faces full of 'are you kidding me?'
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| "You're even a greater fool than I had thought, Elisedd."
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| "You will NOT address me in that way!" King Elisedd yelled as he strode down the throne's platform. "I am King, 'Your Majesty' to you!"
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| "Yes, you are the King," Gwendolyn gave a tilted nod at the young man, his twisted face barely an arm's length before her own. "But I am the mother of all true Rhodri sovereigns... which makes me, the ''Kingmaker''."
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| His eyes suddenly bulged from their sockets. His lips quivered and a trail of blood dripped out.
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| The King looked down, and saw his ancestor's clear crystal sword buried straight into his chest.
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| The entire court was frozen in shock as King Elisedd's trembling eyes looked back up at his Great-Great-Great-Grandmother.
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| "Y-you would kill..."
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| "I once killed my husband to save my country," her spring-green gaze stared in, emotionless. "What makes you think you're more ''special''?"
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| "To the King!" Gwendolyn heard the cry emerge from the royal captain of the bodyguards, awoken from his stupor just a few seconds too late.
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| She pulled her sword out with a splash of blood, dumping the King's body on the steps to the throne.
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| ...And that was when the slaughter truly began.
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| To change a nation truly, it was not only necessary to replace the sovereign, but the entire senior administration as well. Otherwise, the interests of the old guard -- power-brokers of the crown's authority -- would simply carry over to infect new blood. Therefore to reset Ceredigion's state policies, Gwendolyn saw no reason to keep any of the current court alive.
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| ...Not even Elisedd's pregnant wife. Especially not her. The last thing Ceredigion needed was a seed who would germinate into civil war.
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| Before Gwendolyn departed from the citadel, she would also send out several ''Farspeak'' spells. She had kept her entrance as low key as possible, but several castle guards and staff nevertheless met her on her way in. She had planted a triggered memory manipulation spell on each of them. Now, without their accounts, any rumors that spread would remain nothing more than mere conspiracies.
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| Thus, with a deep sigh, the founder of modern Ceredigion strode into a tree on the eleventh floor. Her final thought recognized that ''this'', was the reason why the Worldwalkers have rules against interfering in the world.
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| <nowiki>----- * * * -----</nowiki>
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| Leaning over the war room table in the palace at Avis Avern, Duke... no, ''Emperor'' Gabriel examined the Empire's map and its shifting war fronts.
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| The Central (Mountain) and Southern (Garona) Fronts had been deadlocked for weeks now, as exhaustion and supply problems forced both sides to encamp for the winter. Only in the Western (Avorican) Front did the Caliphate push forward and lay siege to Roazhon. The army of Lady Edith-Estellise -- no, it was Sylviane's now -- had retreated into the Ceredigion Forest. Then news arrived this morning that they had scored two costly but resounding victories.
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| The Caliphate's western thrust would never take the fortress of Roazhon by assault, not with their reinforcements routed and their elite troops annihilated. The city's supplies could withstand a siege for years -- more than enough to hold out until a Lotharin counteroffensive relieved them.
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| In other words: the Cataliyan juggernaut that had caught the Lotharins completely off-guard had been stopped, at least until Spring when the war renewed itself.
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| It was news that completely changed the political climate of Rhin-Lotharingie by afternoon.
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| Until today, only King Alistair of Gleann Mòr and Duke Raymond, Co-Regent of the Kingdom of Garona, had denounced Gabriel's worthiness as Emperor. Neither of them even mentioned Sylviane -- not even Alistair Mackay-Martel, whose clan always proved a friend to the Gaetane dynasty in times of need.
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| Meanwhile, the Oriflammes Cosette and Gervais, respectively in charge of the Central and Southern Front forces, had been sitting on the fence for weeks. They were neither willing to declare their allegiance for Gabriel, nor ready to denounce him and lose all future military support from the crown. The pregnant Queen Katell of Avorica, depressed by her husband's death in the opening battles, had also dodged all political questions in the face of invasion.
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| Now, all five of them, plus the Crusader Saint Estelle, declared their public support for Crown Princess Sylviane's succession to the throne. That gave her backing from all of the front-line armies, plus three of the four kingdoms who paid homage to the Emperor.
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| Emperor Gabriel still retained control of the Lotharin heartlands and support from the northeastern Belgae lords. But even if his courting of Duke Hugh de La Tours -- whose family influence dominated the southeast, Haut-Rhône region -- succeeded, he would still be an emperor with only a third of his empire.
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| In one afternoon, the balance of power had shifted against him.
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| ''You've done well, Sylv,'' Gabriel nodded at the map in solemn acknowledgment. ''Better than anyone except your father could have guessed.''
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| He opened the locket hanging around his neck and smiled.
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| People always assumed that he looked upon a shrunken painting of his wife when he did this. It certainly played into his 'devoted husband' image which earned the Church's approval. But the portrait that hung closest to his heart was not that of his devout wife. Instead... it was an image of him being hugged by his little brother, both still in their late-teens.
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| Even back then, Geoffroi was bulky enough to dwarf him. The Second Prince -- just months before summoning the phoenix Joyeuse -- had one arm around Gabriel's thin shoulders. The two of them smiled with heartfelt joy, innocent without a care in the world.
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| Emperor Gabriel felt his eyes moisten as he thought back to those childhood years.
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| ''What wouldn't I give to live those day once more...''
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| Snapping the locket closed in his palm, Gabriel spun on his heels and strode out from the war room. This was no time for sentimentality. He still had a mission to accomplish, an empire... no, a continent's future to change.
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| It was his divine calling, even if the Devil would approve more than the Lord.
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| But then what?
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| ''Come and get me, Sylv,'' the Emperor grinned to himself.
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| <noinclude>
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| |-
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| | Back to [[Daybreak:Volume_3_Chapter_18|Chapter 18]]
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| | Return to [[Daybreak_on_Hyperion|Main Page]]
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| | Forward to [[Daybreak:Volume_4_Chapter_1|Volume 4]]
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| |-
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| |}
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| </noinclude>
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