SS - Chapter 35 - The other side

Next week is the start of fanfiction crossover! I know we've been left on a bit of a cliffhanger, but we'll be back.

“Keep moving, past the maids and up the hill. Don’t stop, or you may block the people behind you!” I shouted. 

“There are far more than I expected,” Camille muttered. “Either something happened and your mother needed to evacuate more people, or we’ve got leeches coming through.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” I replied, quietly. “Our first priority is getting everyone clear of the gate so I can see what’s happening on the other side.”

Even though my mother had said she hadn’t finished preparing, I couldn’t help but be impressed by what she’d done so far. I’d originally been worried that I’d be unable to support all these people, but for every ten to twenty people there was a wagon loaded with supplies. Food, textiles, seeds, and more. 

It took about ten minutes for everyone to pour through, and once the people on foot were clear, there were two last wagons, each escorted by half a dozen of my mother’s knights. When I saw who was leading them I immediately jumped down from my perch. 

“Angus, what are you doing here? Where’s my mother?” I demanded.

“My lady ordered me to escort these across, and told me to signal her once we were through,” the massive knight commander reported as he took off his helmet and swept his sweaty hair off his face. “I tried to argue with her, but…”

“She wouldn’t take no for an answer, I know,” I muttered. “What was so important that you needed to bring an entire squad of knights?”

“Well this one is full of artifacts, and magic stones,” the big man reported, “but the other one…”

While he was talking I saw the curtain of the second wagon part just a bit, and a tiny eye peek out. Ignoring the captain I sprinted over, bound up onto the front of the wagon, and ripped open the curtain.

The little figure behind it staggered back in surprise, before smiling warmly. 

“Emil,” I sighed at the little boy.

“Sister!” he squealed as he rushed forward and grasped me around the neck. Emil was ten years my junior, and unlike me and my mother had a mop of ash grey hair. He’d inherited his looks from his father, my step father, more than my mother. 

“Where’s your father?” I asked quietly.

“I dunno, when mother called for the evacuation he didn’t come out,” the boy whined.

I glanced up at the only other two people in the wagon, Anna, Angus’s wife and Emil’s nanny and their infant son. Anna subtly shook her head no. Something bad happened then,

“I’m glad to see you, but I need to talk to Angus for a minute. I’ll leave Camille with you and your nanny and come find you once I’m done, okay?” I asked.

“What about mom?” the boy whined. He was on the brink of tears, I couldn’t imagine what he’d been through today, so I gently pet him on the head. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring her back,” I replied quietly, before giving him a quick peck on the forehead and gesturing for Camille to come over.

As soon as Camille was ready to take my place, I jumped down and returned to Angus. “Sorry about that. I now understand why you’re here instead of someone else.”

“It’s quite alright, I understand,” he replied, grinning broadly.

“Now, what happened to my mother, why isn’t she here?” I asked.

Angus put one arm around me, gently directing me towards the gate while signaling Gabriel and the others to get closer. On the other side of the portal I could see Ashvale, the dutchy’s capital. The streets were quiet, and the area around the portal had been trashed, all the merchant stalls had been crushed and several nearby buildings had broken doors and walls. It looked like someone had thrown a tantrum.

“She knew the Gilded Knights would be an issue once she severed her connection to Iskel, so she sent her contingent to the outskirts, so they couldn’t intervene when we tried to leave. However, first thing this morning she caught Sir Ashborne talking to the king with a stolen message orb. Before she could capture and interrogate him, he killed himself,” Angus explained.

“Fuck… I knew it was an arranged marriage after my father died, but I thought he and my mother loved each other,” I hissed.

“I think they did, he just feared the king's wrath more,” Angus muttered. “He’s in the wagon with the crystals.”

“I’ll look at him later,” I whispered. “Now, my mother?”

“We found out that Duke Landorous was marching an army down to investigate, which was a concern, but the real problem was the Gilded that were sent to the border. They started showing up about half an hour ago. Your mother suspected that their primary objective would be to capture her, so she took Lady Amber and a handful of other knights to lead them away from the civilians.”

“Ran away? Why didn’t she fight back? She can take a Construct or two,” I growled.

“Because she hadn’t swapped allegences yet, which meant she would have suffered immense pain for betraying royalty if she tried, and if she DID change allegiances it would have created an inter-kingdom instance which Iskel could have used to make demands against you,” Angus explained.

“Vultures,” I hissed. “How were you supposed to signal her?”

He pulled out a short, plain looking wand with a crystal embedded in the end. “Signal rod.”

“It’s time to use it, I don’t want her to risk her life any longer than necessary,” I declared.

Angus nodded, and stepped through the portal. As he raised the rod above his head the crystal flared, then sent a magenta colored light high into the sky. Once it was high enough it exploded, making a bright flash.

“Now we wait,” I mumbled.

Within seconds of the flare going off there were shapes moving at the edge of the square. Several dozen gilded knights poured into the area, creating a loose cordon around the portal. I’d forgotten how large the metal, armor shaped constructs actually were. Their silver, highly decorated armor shone even in the low light. As each took its place they planted their massive greatswords into the ground and placed their hands on top, taking a position that mirrored a decorative suit of armor.

“What? Why are they here?” Angus growled, “They should be out searching.”

While the standard models took their place, I noticed another one stalking around the edge of the square, this one inlaid with gold. 

“Brightblade,” I muttered.

“What? The construct that escorted your father everywhere?” Angus asked, following my gaze and looking at the errant construct. “Why isn’t it taking a position with the others, and why is it pacing?”

“It’s a leader model, smarter and stronger than the others. The king must have assigned it to keep tabs on my family,” I growled.

“Constructs aren’t that smart,” Angus grumbled.

“Wanna bet?” I replied. “ALEX!”

“Hup!” came a loud reply directly behind me, causing Angus to jump. 

“What in Terron’s name is that?” he asked.

“My head construct,” I replied before turning to the maid. “Is there anything you can do to open the way for my mother to get through that blockade?”

Alex brought her hand to her chin, and switched to a thinking pose. As she did, the other four in her squad did likewise. “Hup?”

“I don’t know what you’re asking, but we can’t cause an incident unless we have to, I don’t know what the consequences might be,” I grumbled. “But I’m willing to fight if that’s what we need to do to get my mother safe.”

“Hup hup hup,” Alex replied, shaking her head. She pantomimed making a pushing motion. “Hup!”

“I have no idea what you’re saying, but if you have an idea I’m willing to try,” I said. “Just remember what I said, if you or my mother are under threat you have permission to use force.”

Alex nodded, then turned back towards her gathered forces and yelled at the top of her lungs. “HUP!”

Hundreds of maids streamed down the path and straight into the portal. Instead of taking out their weapons they swarmed around the feet of the nearest knights. The huge metal constructs watched them, but took no aggressive action. Once they were in place there was a simultaneous cry of ‘Hup, hup, HUP!’ and the maids rushed forward and piled into the legs of the nearest knights causing them to slide away, inch by inch. When they tried to push back, more maids piled in keeping the knights back and clearing the way.

“This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Angus said. “What are they doing?” 

“Non-violent resistance I think. There’s no fighting, so there’s no reason for there to be an incident,” I replied.

“Except for trespassing in another kingdom,” Angus muttered.

“And I could argue it’s in the protection of my citizens, if they push I’ll push back,” I growled.

While the maids and the knights wrestled a small group entered the far side of the square, riding hard for the portal. The leader wore black armor, which matched her dark cherry black hair and was carrying a banner with the emblem of the duchy. 

“Mom,” I whispered. Before turning towards Angus and the other guards around me. “Clear the way!” 

As the riders entered the square BrightBlade let out a horrid metallic screatch before falling to all fours and rushing towards the gate. The other knight immediately tried to struggle rushing towards the gate, only to be intercepted by the maids. Despite their numbers the maids started to get pushed back, but they did their job and held the way open long enough for the horsemen to make it through.

When the riders passed through the portal Alex strode forward and yelled, “Hup!”

The rest of the maids immediately retreated en-masse, stampeding through the portal and taking up a defensive line on the other side of the threshold.

Brightblade bound up to the bottom of the portal, then stopped. In its normally empty helmet I could see two glowing orbs, burning with anger and hate. Alex, who was standing at the top of the ramp looked down her nose at the armor and humphed, before storming through the portal.

“System,” I muttered as Brightblade started charging again. It got just a few steps away when I hit the Disconnect Gate command.

“That was close,” Angus muttered.

“Too close…” I agreed, stepping back. “I had hoped to get through this without anyone knowing what happened, but instead I’ve had to spit in the face of the royal family. I doubt they’re going to take this laying down.”