Herald of Steel

847 Theony's Love (Part-1)

When Menes decided to leave Perseus alone and instead target the capital, some of the officers, particularly led by the bellicose Grahtos felt it was a mistake.

But outnumbered at the negotiations table and unable to provide a decisive argument, they at last chose to obey the general's decision.

Which was the correct decision as when the army finally got to the outskirts of the city, it soon received a jovial messenger sent by Lord Theony, who then invited them inside the city, with the urging that they do not sack it.

This Menes had no problem agreeing to, as he was more than happy to make this concession in return for being able to entirely bypass the city's sturdy 6 meter wall.

That fortification might not have been as formidable as Thesalie's but it was still significant and Menes preferred to avoid bashing his head against it.

Thsu courtesy of Lord Theony, the army was allowed to waltz into the capital without any resistance

But then the question arose- 'How Lord Theony was able to take control of the city and decide to let Menes in so openly?'

And to know that one had to travel to two days after Lord Theony had arrived in Parthenigh.

"My lord, we have stationed the men along all the points you asked. The keeps housing the gate's mechanisms, the city guard's quarters, the various local gangs, as well as the quarters of the few nobles still living in here, we have eyes on all these places."

"The men only need your command to start!"

Around noon of that fateful day, Lord Theony's right hand man and the field commander of his forces, Jupiter came with this report, delivering so in a deep, martinet voice.

"Good." And Lord Theony, who was gazing at the mighty Diannu through the window in his third story room solemnly nodded in acknowledgment.

Before turning to ask the battle hardened man, "And the guards of the palace? What about them? Do we also have eyes on them?"

"That… no my lord… I'm afraid," To this inquiry, the commander replied with a slight hesitationto his answer, reasoning,

"His Majesty left a few hundred royal guards protecting the place. It is very secure."

"There is no way we can place our men between them like we did in the other places with the excuse of bolstering manpower."

"So no infiltrating the various keeps and taking the palace down from the inside."

"And there is also little hope of convincing them to stand down either."

"So if we are going to do this, we are going to have to fight through them. It will be bloody my lord." Along with the detailed assessment, the fully garbed military commander made this grim prediction.

"..."

Lord Theony only pursed his lips with a slightly frustrated expression but initially said nothing.

It was an answer that Lord Theony had already expected, but still, if possible, the man would have preferred to do it with as little bloodshed as possible.

Those palace guards were good men.

However, since that was not possible, well,

"Then we will have to spill blood, it seems. " Lord Theony thus steely declared, as turning to face his man, he ordered,

"Jupiter! The king is already close. So we will do it tonight!"

"You will command the forces in the city and put down any resistance. Take control ofthe gates and capture or if they resist, kill the nobles and officers."

"I will personally lead the attack on the palace." Lord Theony waved his sturdy fist as he declared.

And hearing this order Jupiter accepted in instantly with a military salute, although he would have much preferred if his lord did not have to personally lead such a dangerous frontal act, and rather delegate that to one of his subordinates.

But he knew there was really no other way.

As, in order to keep the plan as secret as possible, Lord Theony did not even tell the officers of his army about this planned coup, much less the ordinary soldiers, fearing a leak and thus alerting the other side.

Instead, he kept the entire thing entirely confined to only him, his son, and the head commander of his forces.

Which also meant that as far as the men in his contingent were concerned, they were really here to defend the capital.

And it would take a commander of the very highest echelon to convince them otherwise.

Someone like Jupiter and Lord Theony.

Thus they needed to be on the front lines, heading the attack.

And with that division of labor decided, the sun quickly set on a promised sanguinary night.

Dinner was finished quite quickly, and soon afterward, both Lord Theony and Jupiter arrived at their respective stations, preparing the men for the act.

As for the last person who was aware of Lord Theony's plan, his son Theony- well he also had a very crucial job to do, even arguably the most vital.

For he was tasked with killing the crown prince Philips!

The reason for this was of course plain and simple.

If Philips were to be gone, the biggest obstacle on Lord Theony's side would be removed.

And then with no one else to rally around, all the neutral soldiers and remaining low ranking nobles would be rendered incapable of making a decision, thus letting Lord Theony easily step up to fill that power vacuum, and grasp Parthenigh in the palm of his hand in one fell swoop.

As for how Theony was to go about that macabre act, well, Lord Theony left the choice largely up to his son, though he did provide him with a vial of poison, a clear indication of his preferred way.

And currently, Theony was exactly in the process of deciding that, as he restlessly paced back and forth in the crown prince's bedroom, the poison vial literally in his hand.

As for how he got in that bedroom, well, it was easy, the man had full time access to the place courtesy of being Philips's lover.

And it was also this one fact that made the deed so hard for Theony, as he felt like his body was being literally torn between his duty to his family and his love for Philips.

He had been trying to reconcile these feelings for days now, but till now, Theony was ultimately unable to make a decisive decision.

He did not want to face his father's wrathful face, but neither did he want to see his lover's dead corpse.

*Creak*

When suddenly, while the man was amidst this intense rumination, the door to the room was slowly creaked open and a smartly dressed Philips stepped in.

"RH! What's wrong?" And as soon as Philips laid his eyes on him he could tell the other side was in a great deal of pressure, for Theony flashed a very panicked face the moment he saw the crown.

And then, suddenly seeing Philips's face, it was like something suddenly came over Theony, as his heart swelled and the decision that had haunted him for so long was instantly made for him, for he instinctively burst,

"Philips! You have to run! My father wants to kill you! Quick! The men are coming!"

Even Theony himself did not know why he said what he said, but he did not regret it.

For the moment he said it, he instantly felt a surge of relief wash over him.

While the other side, Philips was naturally totally confused, as with an agape mouth he blurted., "Wha… what?"

Even to the usually fast man, this sounded too incredulous.

"It's true! Look I was given this vial of poison to kill you!" So to quickly convince the man, Theony produced a small, bronze tube as evidence, before opening the cork and letting Philips get a small whiff.

And as that pungent smell hit Philips, it was like that hit woke him up from his slumber of doubt and confusion, for he recognized this smell.

It belonged to a type of deadly poison that was extremely lethal in even small doses, and highly dissolvable in drinks with almost a noticeable taste.

"Wha… why?" And then following this realization, the next question was naturally why, why Lord Theony would be doing this, as turning to Theony, Philips then asked with a bitter, almost wounded face,

"Is it just because of what happened at the court? Is Lord Theony going to betray us over only that? How could he abandon the ancestors just because of that petty nothing?"

"I even promised to compensate him! Was it not enough?"

To Philips- what happened regarding Lord Theony at the court was simply part and parcel of the game played in the royal court, and assumed the other side would be mature enough to easily understand it.

To him it seemed too insignificant a thing.

While standing opposite to him, Theony very much had the urge to tell him that what seemed like a trifling thing to the royal family was actually very significant to most other families, even to one as powerful as them.

But instead of poking Philips at that, Theony very succinctly summed up his father's reason

"His Majesty has lost three consecutive battles. Father believes he has lost the favor of the ancestors."

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