The Radiant War

Chapter 30b

     The Brigadier sighed, then took a deep breath as he prepared to address the crowd. “Silence!” he roared, his voice so penetrating and powerful that the whole room fell silent and everyone turned to stare at him in amazement.

     “Princess Ardria will lead the assault on the palace.” he said. Someone began to cheer, but he fixed the man with his eyes and the cheer died in his throat to become a cough of embarrassment.

     “However," continued the Brigadier, "we will proceed in an orderly fashion. We are not a rabble. We are being led by a Princess of the royal house of Strake and we will behave accordingly. We will not just go charging off to be slaughtered by the palace guard. We must first muster our forces, become organised and then present ourselves to the King so that he can see what faces him. Then, most importantly, we must give him the opportunity to surrender himself, with a promise that he and his family will be allowed to live the rest of their lives in exile...”

     “Hang the King!” someone shouted, and many people shouted their agreement. Soon, the same words were being shouted by the whole crowd, those with weapons waving them in the air. The anger built and grew in the room, rapidly approaching the point at which the crowd would lose control of itself and attack anything within reach. A riot was being born. A monster that could only destroy and that would leave large areas of the city in flames without inconveniencing King Nilon or the Radiants in the slightest.

     The Princess tapped the Brigadier on the shoulder to get his attention, then gestured to the table. The Brigadier nodded and put his hands around her waist, lifting her up with scarcely any effort. Then he turned back to face the crowd. “Silence!” he roared.

     “The King must hang! He has to pay for...”

     “I said silence! Princess Ardria of Helberion wishes to address you.”

     The tumult gradually ended, but the Princess waited patiently until silence had fallen and she had their full attention. She was still wearing the clothes of a common working woman, but she stood with all her customary pride and majesty to that it seemed as though the drab grey and brown cotton was some kind of illusion and that she was actually dressed in a silken gown more befitting her station. Some of the people in the crowd even bowed their heads, as if they'd only just become aware that they were in the presence of royalty, the heir to a whole kingdom. That brought a disquieting thought to the Brigadier's head. Once the revolution began in earnest, it wouldn’t stop with King Nilon. Everyone in the country of noble birth would be a target, and that might mean that Princess Ardria herself might become a target. At the moment the crowd loved her, but that might change in a moment once their bloodlust was fully roused. The Brigadier forced himself to stand easy, his arms folded across his chest, fighting a powerful impulse to put his hand on the pistol at his belt.

     “The Brigadier is right,” she said, and her voice was clear and strong, carrying easily to every part of the large warehouse. “If we butcher and slaughter King Nilon and his family, we become no better than them. If we are to fight, it has to be for a just and noble cause, to achieve a righteous objective. If you want me to lead you, then we will conduct ourselves in a civilised fashion. We will accept the surrender of anyone who wishes to do so and treat them with mercy and respect. Any killing of an enemy soldier who is trying to surrender will be treated as murder and the perpetrator will be hanged.”

     Uproar erupted as everyone in the hall objected. Above the clamour, the Brigadier and the Princess were able to hear the occasional individual word, but no more. The crowd pushed forward, threatening to overwhelm the Brigadier and crush him against the wall. He drew his pistol and fired a shot at the ceiling. The crowd immediately fell silent, staring in shock.