THE TRASH PRINCE'S BLUEPRINTS

CHAPTER 12: THE COUNTERPLOT'S AFTERMATH

The next day, Crown Prince Alaric Vaelen Thaloria has a smug and knowing smile plastered all over his face early in the morning, as the Crown Prince, his uncle, and his mother, along with some other members of House Blackmoor gathered together in the Feast Hall of Shadowpeak Citadel to break their fast.

“ Good morning, Prince Alaric. You seem to be in a vibrant mood today. You should smile often. “

A passing servant girl named Jane Godfrey notices the change in Prince Alaric's mood that morning, while blushing when she approaches the dining table to place the platters of the rich and steaming food and drinks on the table, namely fine white bread, rich and creamy cheese bought from a high quality dairy farm somewhere in Blackmoor, deep fried fat sausages, an egg omelette mixed with onions, garlic, sliced chillies, and ripe tomatoes, a plate full of ripe grapes, a grape jam to go with the fine wheat bread, a whole roasted turkey, and a hot, steaming mug of rich dark coffee grown from Solara Province, sweetened with honey, and milk sourced from the best quality farms around Blackmoor Province.

“ Good morning Jane. “

Prince Alaric says with a wink at the beautiful servant girl, and a warm, welcoming smile, showing off his perfect white teeth, which goes along well with his wide grin.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Lady Blackmoor, the Pope, and some of their other relatives take no notice of the flirty banter between Crown Prince Alaric, and Jane, who is currently no more than 14. They are too busy eating, drinking, and discussing their plans for the day to take notice, but they are sharp enough to know that something had happened the night before, and the Crown Prince had played his hand, as an answer to the blatant mockery and irreverent blasphemy shown by the Second Prince to House Blackmoor, and the Holy Church.

Sure enough, while everyone present in the Feast Hall of Shadowpeak Citadel, the Feast Hall door opens with a loud, irreverent creak, and a group of sellswords under the employ of Sir Jeremy Kendall swaggers inside the Feast Hall as if they owned the place, oblivious to the looks the Blackmoor nobles, the Pope, and Lady Leonora Blackmoor gives them.

The sellswords directly approaches Crown Prince Alaric, and gives him a sharp tap on the shoulder.

“ Hey, boy. We fulfilled your commands. Here are the mages that you wanted captured. We also made sure that poor ordinary mages were killed the same way the Holy Mages of the Pope here were killed, and scrawled the words infidel prince and friend of demons on their corpses afterwards. “

One sellsword roughly pushes the mages, whose hands are tied together at the back to the floor, causing the mages to stumble face-first on the floor.

The serving girls and the serving boys stops what they are doing, and a ripple of laughter erupts from the dining tables but Lady Leonora Blackmoor silences them all with a sharp look.

“ We thank you for your service to House Blackmoor, gentlemen. Your efforts shall not go unrewarded. If I may, can you take these prisoners here to the dungeons instead? As you can see, the nobles here are having their breakfast, and it would be ill if the sight of these… unsightly and unpresentable demons ruin their appetites. “

Lady Leonora clears her throat, and instructs the sellswords in a clear and powerful voice.

So, the captured mages are roughly jerked up on their feet again using the flat of the sharp blades of the sellswords, and dragged unceremoniously all the way to the dark dungeons of Shadowpeak Citadel.

Without so much as a uttering a polite word asking for leave to partake of the foods and drink placed on the dining table, some sellswords grab some choice cuts of the roasted turkey, which still drip with spiced gravy from the table, ripped off chunks of meat, and lick the grease and sauce off their fingers, while the other sellswords grab empty coffee cups, and helps themselves to the hot coffee.

“ What, lady? What will you do now, will you ban us from these fancy foods and fancy drinks you consume? Fulfilling the dirty work tasked to us by that boy here, is hungry and thirsty work. Of course, you nobles who think you are too fancy to dirty your own hands will never understand. “

A rough voiced sellsword laughs and mocks Lady Martha Tudor as Martha shoots the sellswords a sharp look.

Later that day, as a large crowd of pious and traditional minded men and women, who calls themselves The Argent Watch, converge to listen to the Pope Preach inside the Conclave Cathedral, the Cardinals of the Holy Church are seated in the seats behind the Pope, along with nobility who came from House Blackmoor, Lady Leonora Blackmoor, Crown Prince Alaric Vaelen Blackmoor-Thaloria, allies of House Blackmoor, and Houses sworn to House Blackmoor.

“ Today, fellow brethren and believers, I, Pope Aurelian Blackmoor, greet you in the name of The Sanctum. The Holy Church has once again triumphed against the powers of darkness, corruption, and sacrilege that seek to taint us all with their impious and irreverent beliefs and actions. I exhort you, fellow brethren, to stand guard and watch against the nefarious influence of the Second Prince and the Third Prince, who side with these.. insidious mages, and to stay humble, pious, honorable, to value tradition and morals above all, to continuously perform the prayers and rituals the Holy Church taught you, and read the Hallowed Book, for the safety of your souls, and to be obedient and subservient to the commands and the teachings of the Holy Church at all times. The Holy Church also exhorts you all to be ever watchful and vigilant, since we live in dark times, and shadows of darkness gather together to plot, not only against the Holy Church, but also against the safety of you all. That is your duty as a loyal and pious citizen of Thaloria Kingdom. May The Sanctum be with all of us, and bless all with His guidance and teachings. “

Pope Aurelian Blackmoor, dressed in his holy ceremonial attire, stands on top of the podium, his loud, clear, while he solemnly preaches his short yet powerful and rousing Holy Writ to the religious men and religious women, and exhort them to be faithful and subservient to the Holy Church. After he finishes preaching, Pope Aurelian led them in a prayer, with his hands and arms uplifted to the air, and his head bowed, and he calls on The Sanctum to bless them, and guide them “against the nefarious influence of the Second Prince, the Third Prince, the mages, and the dangerous ideals they spread in Thaloria and beyond. “

Meanwhile in Silverfin Fortress, word spread to Prince Cain, as the third Prince visits House Silverfin to see how Lord Declan Silverfin, Lord Protector of Silverfin Outpost City, Lord Warden of Silverfin River to see how the reforms are progressing.

“ Have you heard, my lords and ladies? Apparently, Pope Aurelian sang his same old song to a group of pious people who called themselves The Argent Watch. Mayhaps they can call themselves The Deaf Choir instead. “

Prince Cain quips in a sharp voice full of mockery, his sharp viper eyes glinting with irreverence, eliciting laughs full of mirth from the gathered lords, ladies and commoners inside the conference hall of Silverfin Fortress.

In Caelora Province, Second Prince Theron anticipates the Crown Prince and the Holy Church’s counter moves, and makes a mockery of Pope Aurelian’s Holy Edict while they are eating inside Caelora’s Feast Hall when they hear the news.

“ Today, fellow brethren and believers, let us pray for good food, and even better wine. May the Holy Sanctum bless us with a plateful of deep fried Veritas Morsels with a side spread of butter, and a whole roasted shadowbeast boar dripping in gravy, with a side sauce of vinegar spiced with chillies and onions, and some Sanctified Draught to wash it all down. Let us eat, drink and make merry, for shadows of the light, wearing holy robes and fancying themselves to be clean, holy and innocent, plot in the light to take these all away from us. “

Second Prince Theron makes an exaggerated praying gesture, with his hands upraised to the heavens, his voice full of mock piety as a gale of laughter washes all over him from the gathered lords, ladies, knights, merchants and commoners nearly choke on their feast at Prince Theron’s antics and blatant quips.