Army of De Crescen

Her older brother followed her like a lost puppy up the stairs and along the corridors, with Blanche on the other side and Olivia two steps behind.

"I'm very sorry, my Lady," muttered the maid the first chance she got. "He insisted a lot and wouldn't calm down..."

"It's alright. … Raphael, do you still hear those voices you spoke about? Where is it coming from?"

"I-I'm not sure... It's very confused, I think... I really think someone is dreaming..."

Dreaming? As in, they’re asleep? Milena frowned. She would have expected a traitor in their house, perhaps even someone with a different appearance like what had happened with Sofia, but this just didn't match. So, what was her brother hearing now? There was no telling what distance he could actually hear other people from, or whatever he was doing; perhaps he was picking up on something far from here, or something close she had no idea about. It was just too hard to tell right now, and while she was curious about his new skill, Milena was most concerned about his safety. She couldn't decide how much she should involve Raphael or not in the battle. He literally had just woken up, and knew almost nothing of their situation, of this house. He seemed so different, so lost... Hell, he is still walking around in his pajamas! Yet, she didn't have time to evacuate him, and without her father, she was going to need all the help she could get. Milena stopped, and turned to him with a sigh, considering his situation for a second. He was looking at her with those large, glowing, golden-bright eyes, full of questions.

"Olivia, get him some clothes."

"Yes, my Lady."

While her maid disappeared, dragging Raphael along with her, Milena and Blanche kept climbing up the stairs, aiming for the highest floor of the Manor. The aisle they were in had been spared by the previous fire, and shortly, they reached the attic that was used for storage. The two of them crossed the perfectly clean and well-managed storage rooms, getting to the very end of the floor. On the left, a small door opened onto a balcony that was really only ever used to get a unique view of the domain's surroundings.

Milena's purple eyes circled the domain, trying to make sense of what she could through the snowstorm. If only the snow wasn't falling so hard right now, she could have seen much farther ahead. Her vision barely got beyond the domain... Luckily, it wasn't just about the obvious. She saw vivid lights, through the foggy white veil of the snow. The signals from the other houses! She sighed in relief. They had received her call, and were responding; at least, those she could see. She had been afraid her allies might miss it in this weather, but if the closest to the domain had seen it, no doubt they'd relay it further away. She was sure the Duke De Nova would jump on his feet and get ready for war the minute he heard the news. She tried to see all the way to the Castle. The building was the biggest, and its silhouette easy to spot, but it was harder to see anything but the road leading to it.

"Blanche?"

Her friend jumped on the rail and shape-shifted into an eagle. She then quickly took off, high in the sky but keeping within a short distance from the mansion. Milena followed her flight with worried eyes. Things were escalating so quickly. Although she had expected so, she wondered what had been the real trigger. And what had happened to Ellias? She regretted that Raphael hadn't been there earlier to read the King's thoughts, if that really was his ability. Milena just couldn't believe the events of the past hour. No, she couldn't believe the changes in Ellias. He had sounded so different, as if he had aged so much in such a short time, and his eyes... his bloodshot eyes. Was that really from lack of sleep? Or something more... dangerous, and frightening? She tried to breathe in some icy air, to calm herself, but just as she did, a very faint smell hit her. She coughed a bit by reflex, and turned her head in the northwest direction. … It smelled like ashes. It was extremely faint, perhaps even a hint of luck for the wind to have flown her way and brought that whiff to her in a split second, but Milena was sure. It smelled like ashes, and far, far away, if her eyes could focus enough, for sure, she recognized some very dark smoke.

"Oh, hell no," she groaned.

Right then, Blanche came back, landing next to her.

"Blanche..."

"Fire. In forest. But snow too heavy, too cold. Trees fine."

Then, she shape-shifted back into her wolf form with a shiver. Milena nodded, and followed her four-legged companion inside. She couldn't blame Blanche for wanting to go back first; it was freezing out there, and barely past sunrise too. It was a cold, cold morning in the Kingdom, and the two of them hurried back downstairs, carefully closing the doors behind them. When she was sure they found themselves in an empty corridor, Blanche shape-shifted again.

"Army coming.  For Millie and Quack-quack, too. Lots and lots of humans and horses."

"They are all headed here?"

"Yes."

"I don't know if that's good or not, but at least that's following the plan..."

Milena's heart and head were all over the place. Why had they decided to try and burn the Emerald Forest all of a sudden? Why now? She had no answers and little time to prepare herself. The plan, she had to stick to it. It wasn’t much of a plan, actually, just a full-on battle that was meant to happen on their lands... She kept walking down the stairs, trying to keep herself from visiting the room her father was in, once again. Raphael reappeared, though, this time wearing his clothes, Olivia following him like a shadow. Her brother was visibly only gravitating to Milena alone. As soon as he saw her, he ran to her as if it was the natural thing to do. She was still feeling unsure about Raphael. It was her brother, but his appearance and his scared, cautious demeanor was so unnatural to her. She sighed.

"Raphael, I told you, there's going to be a fight coming here. I don't think you should stay with me, you understand? It's too late to send you somewhere, but you can stay with the servants, they will know what to do."

"No," he declared. "I'm staying with you."

This was the first time he had a clear, self-made decision since he had woken up. Milena sighed. Her father was already badly wounded, what if something happened to Raphael now too? She would never be able to endure having both her dad and her brother on the verge of death! She bit her lower lip, tortured inside.

"... Fine. But promise me, you're sticking with me, and if I tell you to go back inside, to stay with Dad and you don't come out unless I call you, alright?"

"I understand," he nodded.

Milena sighed, wondering if there was any chance he'd actually keep true to his word... There was no time to argue, anyway. She turned around, heading outside; the knights that had been guarding the entrance since the King's departure stepped aside and followed her right away. Most of the mess from earlier in the entrance hall had already been cleaned, almost magically, but truthfully, they were just gearing up for the real fight to come. Those among their knights who were injured during the previous battle had already been sent to be treated inside, and those by her side were completely fine, aside from the blood on their armors.

"You did well, my Lady," said one of them.

Milena didn't answer them, because she couldn't tell if that was true. The answer would come much, much later, whether they are victorious or not in this battle... She opened the doors of the Manor wide. 

In the pathway to the terrace, all of the available Knights were gathered, which was pretty much all of the Knights of the De Crescent Manor within the Capital. It amounted to two hundred of them, and never in her whole life had Milena seen so many of their Knights assembled in one place. It was the sight of that small army in her garden that truly seized her heart, making her even more nervous, if possible. Of course, she showed none of that, and instead, directed her eyes further in the gardens, where horses and their riders were arriving at the Manor. She nodded to the guards to let the people come in. Soon, all of the De Crescent domain was flooded with riders in full battle gear, most of them being vampires. She took a deep breath, letting the icy cold air fill her lungs once again. It was going to be something like never before... 

Many eyes were already observing the strange, white-haired man behind her. If some seemed to recognize her older brother, none dared to even ask the question, too absorbed in preparing themselves for battle. Milena immediately spotted the Duke De Nova, Alexis De Carseus, and the Head Knight of the House De Boreal crossing the crowd to get to her and greet her.

"My Lord apologizes," said the Head Knight dressed in a white and green cloak. "For he actually found an urgent matter to attend to."

"An urgent matter?" Groaned the Duke De Nova; "What could that coward have found more important than this!"

Instead of answering the Duke, the Knight glanced at Milena with a cryptic expression. She frowned, confused. What could be so important for him to elude this battle, and that his Knight could not say in front of the Duke De Nova...? Still, she decided not to investigate any further. It wasn't as if Henry would have made a huge difference anyway, his military skills were reportedly average, and Milena had witnessed for herself his lack of tactical strategy. She sighed, and turned to Alexis to dismiss the matter quickly.

"Are you up for this?" She asked.

"I survived a war already, Grand Princess," she stated. "I am not about to see a Civil War arise before my Commander-in-Chief gets here."

"A war there will be!" Exclaimed the Duke. "We should take over the Kingdom this very instant and end this!"

"The question isn't to gain any ground," Milena retorted. "But to make this place safe for all of us. Duke De Nova, I am warning you. If any citizen or outsider to this conflict is used, our agreement will be over. I refuse to stand for the barbaric methods we are trying to condemn our enemies for."

"Fine!" Groaned the Duke. "My main interest is yourself, anyway. As long as the Grand Princess lives, the vampire Prince will be able to return and take his claim on the throne. Which is only a matter of days now!"

"Did you see the fires?" Asked Milena. ".... Is that what got the King agitated?"

"For sure!"

"Our scouting units reported several fires coming from the other side of the forest," said Alexis, nodding. "I wouldn't want to make any quick judgments, but my best guess would be that His Highness is trying to force his and his troops' way out of the Forest this way."

"... He's using Ellias' idea in his own interests," said Milena with a wry smile. "... Does it hold any chance to work?"

"I'm not sure, my Lady. Truthfully, the fire and the daylight could chase the Wendigos away temporarily, but I don't see the whole army extracting its way through a fire. I think His Highness is trying this to signal that he's still fighting, or perhaps sending a smaller group to come back. There is no way the chariots and full troops could come out any other way than the Forest, and burning it is a huge risk of agitating the Wendigos more than anything..."

"... Could His Highness Prince Rayan have any knowledge of what is going on here?" Suddenly suggested the Knight De Boreal.

"... There's no way to know for certain," declared Milena, whose heartbeat had gone insane. "Either way, we can't rely on him coming back to help us for now. We're on our own."

"I'd say otherwise, Grand Princess," smirked the Duke De Nova. "Every single vampire in the Kingdom will willingly fight against His Majesty for your sake, as the one who belongs on the throne!"

Milena ignored the Duke once again. He was way too happy to fight, and she did not like being wielded as a pawn or flag. On the other side, both Alexis and the Knight looked a lot more worried and serious than the old vampire.

"... Is it true, My Lady?" Asked the Knight. "His Majesty issued an order of arrest against you?"

"Not only that, he came to deliver it very personally," hissed Milena.

"The nerve!" Exclaimed Alexis de Carseus. "Any noble with half a brain can tell there is no foundation to your arrest, other than political schemes and one-sided manipulation! His Majesty should be ashamed to death for even going along with such an idea, if he didn't come up with it himself! Never before had a member of the Royal Family been arrested in their own homes like this, not even for a murder! And as far as I know, your hands are cleaner than most!"

"... I wish I could say the same for His Majesty," bitterly muttered Milena.

"What do you mean?"

"He shot my Father."

The Duke De Nova's joyous expression sank. Despite all their conflicts, the two vampire Dukes had a lot of respect for each other. Hearing that Anton had been shot was a shock even for the vampire. While his anger immediately appeared on his face, and he didn't even ask Milena's permission to rush inside, Alexis and the Knight were still stunned.

"... He didn't?"

"Oh, he did," scoffed Milena. "And I swear he's going to pay for that."

"I-is the Duke...?"

"He's holding on."

She knew Digory and their staff would explain the situation to Rachael's father, and truthfully, Milena herself didn't feel like dealing with the old Duke right now. She felt more like preparing for a battle, the one thing she could actually keep in control. Considering the truth that had arrived, not only behind those three but also sent by all their allies, an army was literally starting to gather on the De Crescent Domain. According to any military book, this would have hardly been considered an actual army, but given the ratio of trained soldiers and knights still present in the Capital, Milena had half the available military power of the Kingdom gathering on her family’s land right now. She had no doubt that the large crowd of perhaps three or four hundred people could be seen from the Royal Castle. She could imagine Ellias trembling in anger, and while it didn't make her feel better, it at least felt somewhat right. They were bigger in number. The Church's power came from money, not military power. Ellias, Arseus De Winter, and their allies wouldn't be able to gather this many people so quickly. Not only that, but not all of her allies had gathered their people here. Milena knew the Duke De Nova had probably reserved some of his troops for himself. Perhaps he was even preparing to raid the Royal Castle the first chance he got... Milena, however, was hoping for a quicker resolution. She couldn't march to the Royal Castle; if she did, it would truly be considered treason against the Kingdom this time, and the other nobles would probably rally behind whatever terrible blame the Church was going to put on her for that. No, she had no choice but to wait here for the King to come and try to attack her on her family homeground, so she could use self-defense as a reasonable excuse for capturing the King, and throwing over the current power; if she did, Ellias' life would become a point of negotiation with the Church. 

As much as they were using the present King, the Church currently had no replacement for him. If anything happened to him, Rayan would automatically be made King. His daughter hadn't yet received her title as Crown Princess, and she was way too young to become the sovereign. Philomenie would also most likely yield her power in Milena's favor, so even if her husband was away, the Grand Princess would legally become the acting ruler of the Kingdom.

The most fatal flaw to this plan, though, was that for it to work, they actually had to capture the King on the De Crescent Domain, without killing him, and preferably, not even harming him... 

Milena turned her eyes to the Royal Castle while the troops were preparing for the war. She had managed to contain a Civil War to her family domain only. While she still believed it was one of the better options, she couldn't help but feel the anxiety growing in her stomach, like a cold monster trying to eat her up from the inside... This was it. Either she could turn things around for this Kingdom, or she was about to become the weapon that destroyed her own family.