"This explains why lord Fridh is not with you, your highness." mumbled the archbishop as he turned to face the children, his bells now up in the air, silent.
Francis saw the man close his dark eyes and pray, his forehead touching those awful and loud golden bells that played in tune with the man's whispered words. They shone like bright little stars, surrounding the room with light, which flew out of the window with a silent and gentle explosion. It formed a dome around them, a delicate barrier that was opposite to the rough and stony face of the person who had cast it.
"Is the end archbishop. Father, our glorious sun, soon will send his troops here. Stop at this instant. Let us leave and avoid bloodshed. Think of our people, who would face the misery of such a fight!" Francis walked to the side covering the ladies from the archbishop, who, while calm, had the eyes of a predator. On the prince's hand was his sword, now pointed at the priest, while he pleaded for empathy and sense from a man whose actions showed very little of those.
He knew his chances, yet he pleaded, as one would do to a priest bound by the Goddess's promise.
"Ah... poor child..." he smiled, almost kind. "Sad. Do you think that a mere emperor could stop the voice of the Goddess? I am her envoy and here to straighten our Empire, whose light we are losing!" the unexpected yell shook the prince, who protected himself by raising his sword higher. "My men are many, hidden in the shadows. My supporters will help me and not even that tainted prince of that bleak land will prevent my will. Or my barrier." the man said with a smirk and a tranquil voice.
Francis watched him walk close by, stopping first on the man that laid he the ground, unmoving. Using his feet, the archbishop turned the fallen man upside, the movement showing a young and harden fellow, white as snow, with an open mouth and cloudy eyes. A dismissal sound left the priest lips, who walked past the man, not once glancing back.
In slow steps, the archbishop approached a desolated Lady Beatrice, who continued to cry for her lost cane. He touched her arm, nothing happened. So he let it go and went for her chin, making sure she looked at him.
"Lady Beatrice recompose yourself! You have come here with a mission. To take what is yours. Do it." he smiled as her cry stopped. Aligned with is wicked laugh was her crazed one, as she got up and went for the desk. Francis followed her with his eyes, unsure of what was going to happen.
His eyes grew as he watched the lady pick a sharp silver letter opener, uttering frenzied words like a chant.
"With you gone, he can finally see me, love me... like it was meant to be!" she walked slowly and with purpose, her smiled crooked. The prince shielded the girls, as Lady Jennifer did for her sister, while Lord Joshua continued hidden under the desk, ears covered, eyes swollen.
Francis was about to strike the crazed tutor but the sound of bells rendered him immobile again, destroying his balance and ears. Everything was deafening and blurred out. He noticed Lady Beatrice strike an unmoving Lady Jennifer, who refused to let the crazed woman have her way with Lucreatia. The prince heard nothing except the loud laugh of the priest who stayed behind him shaking the sceptre with those hurtful bells.
He laughed until there was no more reason to laugh.
Out of nowhere, everything grew silent. A cold wind surrounded the warm protection of the room. Icing it in every corner, turning the air heavy and uncomfortable. Francis started to feel control of his body again and looked around, his breath white and warm. Archbishop Feranibiche was shaking violently, his arms in the air, the bells going in the rhythm of his prays as they were shout from the man's twisted mouth. Lady Beatrice recoiled herself afraid, the letter opened with blood rushing through its shiny blade. And Lord Joshua was now silent and recoiled under the shadows of the desk.
The only one who didn't seem to show any expression, even with her hands bloody, was lady Jennifer. The girl just looked at the door expectantly. She knew, what the others didn't.
Francis turned to the door and saw the archbishop out of breath, sweat falling like rivers from his forehead and arms. No matter how much he prayed, how much he tried to shake those bells, the air that surrounded them became colder to the point that the barrier broke and with it those bells. They hit the ground and their last sound rang through the room, a loud screech. Powerless the archbishop collapsed on his knees, defeated.
The door exploded, the wood that once stood in pride, now thrown with such strength, it flew over Francis's head, crushing the window behind him and falling on the outside ground.
And coming from the darkness, blood splattered from head to toe, with only a few stubborn blonde strands peering out, was the duke. Those blue eyes of his, famous and deadly, had a glint of fury that made Francis, step, not once but twice, back. While he knew that those cold constraints that filled the room were not for him, his instinct feared it and told him to run.
But no one could run from a crazed Mountnero.
Nothing could stop them unless it was death itself.
Here we are!! And the karmic retribution starts!!
The Duke has come and we will see what a Mountnero is really capable of!
Hope you loved this chapter as much as I did! But be free to tell me what you think about it!!
And I am really excited about the next chap, are you too?