?[…He was discovered in his bed in the afternoon. Lifeless. Causes not immediately determinable.]?

  ?[Well, that is…unfortunate. And very irritating. I quite liked that one…]?

  ?[Sir, what do we do? There aren’t many down-chamber orators on the streets. This is going to set us back.]?

  ?[Hm… Well, this is an evident pattern, when you consider the other cases. And it is no coincidence this began when it began. It is obvious who is behind this, and we do happen to have been told her physical details.]?

  ?[But, sir, isn’t that Raven—]?

  ?[A necessary tragedy, for which I shall give my condolences to both him and madam de Relevancia. The Bureau is prodding the ocean during these crucial talks, and they obviously want to keep de Relevancia with a monitor. Eliminating her will force them to find a replacement, keeping de Relevancia here longer to our advantage in the talks, in addition to removing her as a nuisance.]?

  ?[Two stones to crush a single skull…]?

  ?[Yes… Although, this is no grand necessity for us—merely a light gambit… Thus, leak her description to Abigail; let her handle it. Oh, and I want checks on Castrada; I have an…inclined feeling that is likely to be the next target. To slander the queer.]?

  ?[Oh… Well, that is troublesome… And quite the setback.]?

  ?[I do not know how our intelligence failed.]?

  ?[Yes… Unfortunate we weren’t able to deprive the Bureau of that card either, however that Raven is unlikely to be a problem anymore at the least. She likely believes she has been compromised and should fall into obscurity for some time consequently.]?

  ?[Sir, but… Abigail… They are going to blame us for this.]?

  ?[Oh, no doubt. Although, all we did was give Abigail the description. She is the one who opted to handle things the manner she had opted; this proves her naivety.]?

  ?[Without her, the entire—]?

  ?[Will continue on regardless. Abigail’s death is a tragedy, but penultimately a sacrifice for the greater future, and I have full confidence in her sister.]?

  ?[I know these people, and I know her. They are going to retaliate and lash against the eastside elves at the worst… If there is a massacre, you know exactly—]?

  ?[Oh, yes, no doubt… I do know exactly. As I said, this is quite the setback.]?

  ?[So, what do we do?]?

  ?[The only thing we can do, leftenant.]?

  “…Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! We’re supposed to do nothin’?! Nothing at all?! I don’t get it! I don’t get it! We have been gaven all these weapons; all these guns, ond ye don’t wanten ous to do anything with them! Oh, but everyone else seemeth to be armed… We’re defenseless!”

  “Now isn’t the right time, you know that. Right now, nobody knows you have them and that gives you the advantage. If you start brandishing them, you’ll lose that card.”

  “Losin’ cards… I need thee to give me one good reason why we shouldn’t arm ournselfs ond take that elfish-freaks head! Why we shouldn’t go ‘round ‘nd off-cutten the ears of every single pointy-eared forsaken elf in eastside!”

  “Because you’re better than that. That’s why we are working with you.”

  “Thou dostn’t get it! She’s dead! Abby’s dead! He killed her… He actually killed her! How could he?!”

  “Calm down.”

  “Calm?! My sister was murdered! Ond we cannot even retrieven the body… Oh, but yes! Ye be the ones who set ous for that!”

  “We gave you the intelligence of who the culprit for the murder strings was. Abigail was the one who acted the way she acted; she was the one who got herself killed.”

  “…”

  “How… How dare thou! She was doing her best, ond ye be knowin’ that!”

  “Yeah, and she also got herself killed. That is the reality.”

  “Fouck thee! Fouck thee! FOUCK THEE!”

  “Hitting me won’t change that…”

  “Stupid man! Stupid man! Stupid man! Stupid schemes, stupid… ARGH! Had ye told her that they had guns, then she wouldn’t have…”

  “We didn’t know. But now we do.”

  “How could they have even gotten guns?! The city’s prohibition, neither guns nor powder be in-allowed!”

  “The Council’s prohibition was import-specific. The sale and circulation of whatever was already here is…technically legal, and there are vendors. That’s probably how.”

  “Oh, ond I can only be a wee bit wonderin’ whence they gotten such! Ye be the only ones in-hither with such a supply of guns! Always lookin’ for a wee crotch-tinglie profit to chasen, even when people get hurt! Even when people die!”

  “We aren’t the Company, and you know that.”

  “Really?! Aren’t the Company, yee be? Yet ye senden that fouckin’ deliverie bitch! Brandishing that armband like ye wanten ous to be caught as wee tinsie widdle-dibble foucked puppets!”

  “That woman is… She’s something different. Don’t worry about her.”

  “ ‘Don’t worrie’… Bah!”

  There was silence.

  “Fine. Whatever. I know ye be playin’ games and games and games… But if those elfs were just buyin’ from the wee gun shops, how the fouck did they get the coin?! They’re fouckin’ slum elfs!”

  “Trickster is supported by the Guild. You do the math.”

  “Maths… He didn’t teach ous maths… He didn’t teach ous maths… He helped ous from the streets, only to shooten her in the…”

  “Don’t cry…”

  “Fouck thee, insincere bastard. I need a…”

  A long moment passed.

  “What do we do now?”

  “Same course. They’ll be looking to you now. You can’t keep yourself locked in here; people already are walking away.”

  “…me? Me? I can’t…lead this? They won’t follow a measely girlie like me.”

  “They followed Abigail.”

  “That be because Abby was…Abby. She was different! I am not like her… I cannot even compare myself… I am not her.”

  “Yeah, you’re different. Abigail was too trusting; you aren’t.”

  “…she talked tough, but she had a good heart…”

  “Too good.”

  “…I tried to warn her…”

  “You did.”

  “…even after he abandoned us, she still looked up to him…”

  “Abigail is dead now. It is up to you to make sure none of this was in vain.”

  “I can’t…”

  “We are confident that you can.”

  “Abigail never cried or…up-locked herself aways; she never showed weakness… They won’t follow me. In just two days, we’ve already lost many… All of their confidence be just…”

  “We have known each other for a while, and you two really aren’t too different. The colonel believes you are suited for leading them.”

  “Why not findeth a man? Someone easier to followen… Someone easier to taken seriously…”

  “We could, but a man isn’t what we need. We need you. Because unlike most in this continent, you actually see that things in this land can actually be better. You actually believe in the cause. Your sister did, and you do too. You have conviction. You have willpower. You have the ambition. That is why the colonel entrusted Abigail, and that is why he is entrusting you.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Peh… Surely, there be someone easier to be his wee wincie puppet? We be just pawns to yee…”

  “You aren’t pawns. You’re the rook. Which is why we have to wait until the end of the game.”

  “…end of the game. Ond what even beth that end, huh? What even be the point… I can’t even…”

  “A better future.”

  “She always said that, didn’t…she? …thou sayst I have belief, but… I only followed along with what she did… That was how it always be. She always led; she always guided… I always followed. I can’t even thinke clearly without her… I am not whom thou…”

  “You are exactly who I know you to be, Emily. And I trust you to lead.”

  “…thou trustest me? Not just thy colonel, but thou…?”

  “Yeah. There is no one else I see fit for this.”

  There was silence; there was reflection.

  “…she wanted to die in the fire, thou knowst that? It is unfair that she won’t…”

  “Abigail was a sacrifice for the greater future. History is paved by names it barely remembers. You’ll be carrying what she started and finish it.”

  “…ond if I don’t? If I can’t? If I…die, just like she did? Havin’ not completed a single…”

  “Then you will be the forebearer to whoever will. Abigial had you take the reign; you will find someone who will take yours. This cycle continues until it is finished. That is how this works.” There was a pause. “For you, this is fresh, but for us… We’ve been at this for twenty-eight years, longer depending on who you ask. The people who started this are dead; my father being one of them.”

  “…but the ambition remaineth, thou carryst his flame which bethn’t extinguished…”

  “This is beyond any individual.”

  A moment of thought ensued.

  “…will it work?” She looked at him. “Will this…work?”

  “It will. If you let the pieces fall.”

  “…but it feeleth that what we be doin’, it beth tearin’ this citie down…”

  “Pieces that you’ll pick up and rebuild into something better. You cannot build the new without tearing down the old; you know that.”

  “Not all of the eastside compatriots are with ous…”

  “Which is why you have to rally them…or defeat them.”

  “…the westside won’t supporte ous, ond the citie will be divided; they’ll supporte the count when he cometh to take the citie back.”

  “The Westside Restorationists aren’t organized the way we’ve made you, and you’ll have guns that neither they nor the Council know you have. Chances are, they won’t even try fighting.”

  “…ond if they fight ous?”

  “Then you fight them. Until you win. Until you have taken this city.”

  “…ond if the people don’t supporte ous?”

  “They will. They just need to starve longer.”

  “…ah, ye be intentionally starvin’ ous, then?”

  “No. Not us. Your council. Your count. Those who claim to be your rulers by birth or coin. They are the ones starving you. We are just accelerating things to their natural conclusion.”

  “Hm. Ond what of the elfs? If the hungrie people start the ruckus, won’t they just burn the elfs like they did the last time…”

  “Which is why you’ll be there to protect them.”

  “They don’t want ourn protection…”

  “They’ll have it anyway.”

  “Ond if Tricksie ‘nd his wee elfs shoot at ous with their guns?”

  “Then you shoot back.”

  “The elfs won’t supporte ous ond thou knowst it…”

  “They will. When you empty the slave cages. When you give them bread.”

  “Ond why should we? Hmm?” She looked into him. “Feed them. Give them protection… Why should we fight the Westside Restorationists—ourn own compatriots—for those wee flimsie fayrie-lovin’ elfs?”

  “Because you are better. Because it is the right thing to do. Because you support what we support. Liberty cannot coexist with inequality. Freedom cannot exist alongside oppression. Prosperity cannot coexist with poverty. You cannot have rights while depriving it from others.”

  “…but how many people moste die?”

  “As many as it takes.”

  She was quiet. “…how many died…in your revolution?”

  “It depends. Do you mean how many died in the streets? How many died trying to throw the king out the window? Or how many died when the great powers of the old regimes assembled five coalitions to try to put a stop to us, only to be beaten back and sent to the brink; we nearly won the whole mainland.”

  “…but you lost in the end. Your revolution failed…”

  “A failure for you to learn from. We made mistakes. But now we know better. This land is different. Things will be different.”

  “Hm. Ond if the count does besiege ous? This citie will not out-hold for long, not if-when we be fightin’ ournselfs whilst starvin’ too. Ond it won’t just be him… It will be the whole bulge. Nothin’ like this hath happened in all the thousand realms’ histories. It wouldn’t be surprisin’ if the Gods intervene too.”

  “You know for a fact your gods have stopped caring. And there won’t be a siege; you’ll have an army to beat them back.”

  “…an army?”

  “Yeah. We didn’t give you all those guns without the intention of training you to use them.”

  “Training? At-whither? Here? We might be farways, but eastside will heare the shots!”

  “Which is why we brought this.” He unveiled his cloak, showing what he had with him underneath.

  “…ond what be that? A gun? How were thou even hidin’ that within-under thyself?”

  “An air carbine repeater, a highly expensive specialist’s weapon. Uses air to fire, not powder. Very quiet.”

  “Quiet…?”

  “Yeah. Uses a tubular magazine too; this one stores up to ten, but the rifles can have up to twenty-five. The colonel got the idea after…hearing the recounting of what happened.”

  “…so, thou be implyen, then, that this beth what killed the others? A gun…without smoke or sound.”

  “Yeah. The Trickster’s shooter had to have been using an air gun. Now you will have one too. We’ll be bringing more from our inventory, but for training only; we don’t have many either. My platoon and I have been instructed to remain here and begin drilling. We’ll use regular firearms for shot loading, but these for target practice. Nobody far will hear.”

  “Hm… So, thou sayst that thou shalt…remaine in-hither?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hm… But even with this training of yours, ye won’t have enough of ous to be an armie.”

  “No. But we’ll have a battalion, a regiment at the most. People trained by us—some of the best—who can train others and build your army.”

  “Hmm…”

  “And rest assured, when everything begins, you won’t be alone; the Thirteenth will have your back… And not just us… There are still many within the Exiled Legions who haven’t forgotten. Once word of a tricolor flying reaches them, I promise you, they will come to your aid.”

  “…but what of the Companie; your shackle holders…”

  “The Company won’t matter, even if they are still around by then—and that’s a big if… But, either way, for now all you have to do is—”

  “Is to holden and waiten…until the time be right…”

  “And then we will strike.”

  “…like the rook at the end of the game.” She took a brief moment. “Fine… I can do this; I will do this. I will lead them…” She looked at him. “For the better future.”

  “For a world better than this one.” And he looked at her.

  long_HEADLINE: [Deerton Breaks with New Wellington! Something’s Amuck in Centralish Lands?]

  [The controversial New Wellington Withdrawal Act and the Renegade Enterprises and Prohibition Act passed last Artemsday through the narrowest margins in Parliament’s history, votes splitting down thorough oppositional lines. This puts an end to months of parliamentary turmoil and hails a slim win for the beleaguered Whig government facing mounting criticisms and growing divisions.

  “A great, necessary step,” spoke Folk’s Speaker […] during his address to Parliament. “The testimonies were damning, the accusations unignorable: The United Central Trade Company has unmistakenly deviated from its charter’s obligations.”

  The Dissenters meanwhile decried these measures as “yet another indication of the Whigs’ Jamesian corruption” and as an “unadulterated betrayal of the very ideals of free trade.” Shadow Minister […] had plenty to say. “The New World Trade Enterprise has them bought out like whores. This move is nothing more than appeasement to their overlords and has nothing to do with the concerns of the United Central Company’s alleged activities.”

  Artemsday’s vote precedes a months-long parliamentary investigation into the alleged activities of the United Central Trade Company and its private armies over the last […]

  “A grave mistake,” said Folk’s Secretary of Foreign Relations, […] “Elkland tried to warn the Aprodisan Congress. Valeria was partitioned, an uncountable were hanged, yet they stopped short at anyone with enough aristocratic heritage. But now it appears that […]’s government has been vindicated. Two million lives and a generation of war, but the snake has been allowed to regrow six new heads from its original four.”

  The Congress’s 1779 Ordinance of Expulsion and Honourable Exile […]

  “The United Central Company was negligent in their handling of the exiles.” War Secretary […] offered his remarks. “While the pragmatism of using veterans hardened by the Coalitionary Wars is recognizable, they should have never been given any military positions, let alone positions of officership, and let alone have been allowed to organize their own mercenary enterprise.”

  […]

  First Minister … made Elkland’s new position loudly clear during his formal Speech of Announcement Hydresday morning, transcribed by the Tribune.

  “The Establishment Declaration of 1715 … laid the stones for a Union of Centralish Trade Companies to be the combined, entrusted voice and representative of the vested powers’ interests in the central continent, a status ratified and declared by the Treaty of New Wellington of 1717, after two extra years of exhausting negotiations … Unfortunately, New Wellington has completely forgone its role and obligations and can no longer be trusted.”

  […]

  “Declining returns, failure of justifying growth, the mismanagement, now met by frivolous arms projects hidden away from scrutinizing eyes and more worryingly wanton militarization that far overstretch the boundaries of its permissions. It is no coincidence that all of these began in the last decade, concurring with the mass exile … The United Central Company has allowed itself to become captured by fanatics who are radicalizing their members and using its resources to export propaganda rather than profitable returns.”

  […]

  “Accordingly, the Folkwealth of Elkland hereby withdraws our signature to the Treaty of New Wellington and our recognition to its established charter. Hereinafter, the United Central Trade Company shall be designated by my government as a renegade corporation, prohibiting all business, transactions, commercial contracts and activities within our folkwealth, as well as the purchase and sale of their stocks. We will be demanding that the Congress of Aprodisa initiate an enforced inquisition into the United Central Company and the activities of its armies. The testimonies of those who spoke under Sworn Trust of the Folk’s Parliament were both damning and clear: there is a conspiracy unraveling in centralish lands, and the Valerian exiles are its architects.”

  Following the First Minister’s Hydresday speech, the Anti-Colonial Society was quick to publish a statement declaring the Whigs’ initiative a “lengthy list of fabrications masking the simple aim of initiating the imperialization of the Central Continent (to which the United Company and the New Wellington Treaty have been an obstacle)” as part of a “continued century-held ambition of restoring Elkland’s lost colonial empire”.

  Other non-parliamentary parties chimed their own scrutiny. “The Whigs should self reflect,” remarked […] of the Free Radicalist and Labourist Movement in a letter to the Tribune. “The government refuses to acknowledge that many of these so-called Valerian extremists are Elkland’s own citizens who willfully flighted off. Many of our own flocked to the continental revolution then as they flock to its exiles now; driven by disillusionment with the deterioration of our folkwealth and by disgust for what it has become.”

  The embassies of […] have refused to provide commentary. Although, ambassador […] of Provincia has called Elkland’s withdrawal an “overreaction” to “unsupported claims and unsubstantiated hearsay”. Representative to Elkland […] of the United Central Trade Company lambasted these moves with heavy words, declaring them “lunacy of the highest caliber” and that they “shall be challenged at every imaginable level, through every conceivable channel across the known world”.]