While the king is away...

[alexanderthegreat]

((Post restrictions:
No Trucido =/ Sorry, Volk, Alexander has to do this himself.
Those who are usually guards in the Santo-Luce castle can join though--choose a side [fight for or against Alexander] and leap in.
Otherwise, leave this thread alone unless you want to read it
Ignore "Lana Princel" - I'm using her account as the NPC Albert Leid and the mob in general--srsly, it makes things so much easier for me, especially if I need to take a break during the write-up))




Things had gotten quiet in the castle. Too quiet. Holmes sent Alexander out of the castle telling the other servants he'd be making a speedy return, though that was an outrageous lie.

Alexander left to Roccia and from Holmes' understanding, would be gone for at least a week. Holmes wandered in the throne room on this quiet day, having it been about one week since the king's departure...

The door to the throne room then opened and in marched one of the generals, Brahl, along with a few other higher heads from the military. They stopped nearly midway through the room and stared at Holmes for a moment before one of them spoke.

"Advisor, where is King Alexander?" he spoke with what Holmes picked up was a hint of malice in his voice.

"Away, that's where he is," Holmes responded softly, not at all intimidated by the guards, "tell me what is with all of the secrets? You act nothing like a royal guard."

Brahl suddenly growled, stepping forward with a drawn sword and pointing it feet away from Holmes.

"Stupid old man! You've no place telling us how we act--where did the king go, it is our job to know!" he snarled. Holmes narrowed his eyes.

"It is more my job to know than it is yours. Step down and confess to your crime."

"Crime? And what crime is this?" Brahl chuckled at the thought.

Holmes looked unperturbed, blinking slowly at Brahl and twisting his lip slightly in disgust.

"Mutiny. Treason. Either or, really," he finally answered. Brahl fell silent for a moment before he spoke again in a low but dangerous tone.

"Tell me, old man...where do you get your information to be able to make accusations like that?"

"I know a lot more people than you think, Brahl. I know what you've had planned for longer than you know. I also know you're not nearly as mentally capable of birthing such a plan yourself, where is your mastermind?" Holmes fearlessly bore his eyes into Brahl's, "I had King Alexander sent away where you and your thugs will not find him. I'll give you a full day to gather your followers and exile from Santo-Luce while you still can."

[lana]

"Very good, Holmes," a voice behind Brahl spoke up and out walked a smaller man with a lean build. He was a captain himself, Captain Albert Leid and he spoke coolly to Holmes, "for an older man, you certainly are sharp. I'm impressed that a man such as yourself has been able to stick ahead of the game by a couple of steps but I'm sorry to say that I've been a step ahead of you yet, sir. You see by this time, the king should be dead."

He grinned mischievously as he continued, "and if he is not, then I have someone to fire. You have connections but so do I, and my connections have even further ones and those ones have a lot of muscle, a lot of force that can quickly turn your trustworthy pawns into my own...like your daughter."

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

((I think I'll jump in as a contingent of loyal Santo-Luce soldiers ^^))

The guards around Holmes drew weapons as several more entered the room. "Milord! Some of the guards have gone crazy! Where is His Highness the King? Where has Captain Alex gone?"

[alexanderthegreat]

((awesome! And if there's anything wrong in this post, lemme know so I can change it or just ignore it and continue on as nothing happened XD))

Holmes kept as straight of a face as he could, though it was clearly obvious that he was slightly shaken by this information given to him by Leid. His eyebrow twitched and his own voice leaked a more than threatening tone.

"What did you do to my daughter?" he demanded. She'd been really the only person he told anything to, one of the only people he could trust. She wouldn't have said anything, she'd have been a good girl and kept quiet...

Holmes' thoughts were broken as the other guards entered the room, everyone at the ready. He looked around at all of them before answering their questions, keeping his eyes on Leid the whole time.

"King Alexander is away, safely, I should hope in the hands of Captain Alex...away from Captain Leid here who seems to think that the crown is unbefitting of a man from the Frexton family," he tried to keep himself calm with the worrying thoughts of his daughter floating in his head, "they've come to try to take it away. What do you boys say to this? I say they leave peacefully and never return to Santo-Luce or face charges when they fail to usurp our king."

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

Alex's second-in-command, a man named Eric and the guards' leader, nodded, fingering the halberd he carried. "I say they leave peacefully, or the ones left alive after we're through with them face charges, Lord Holmes."

His guard troop murmured approval.

[lana]

"I've done nothing but have a chat with her. Granted, she had to be heavily convinced to speak, but that's why we carry sharp weapons," Leid answered Holmes with a sly grin as he drew his own sword and pointed it in Holmes' direction, "we refuse to stand down. King Alexander is a fool unfit to rule this land so we have a different king in mind."

His voice then raised as he addressed his own army around him.

"Attack them! No prisoners will be taken, kill anyone who tries to stop you!"

And with that, Brahl and the other soldiers that surrounded Leid charged forward, attacking Holmes and Eric's army.

[alexanderthegreat]

"King Alexander is every bit as worthy of being the monarch as his father was. The loyal followers of him in Santo-Luce will keep vile things like you from interfering with that!" Holmes roared back, more riled up by the comments about his daughter than anything, "do what you have to to keep them from taking over the castle, but Leid must stay alive to receive charges!"

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

"As you wish, Milord," Eric said with a cruel grin, and he and his men charged into battle.

[lana]

Leid's own men rushed forward as well, Brahl ahead of them all and raising his mighty axe to strike down at the first wave of Eric's men.

"Be that way," Leid spat, "you'll all die fools. Only we know what is good for this kingdom, and it's biggest problem is being dealt with outside of the country where no one can save him."

He had full confidence in the assassin he had hired--she'd do well to have Alexander and the other stupid captain killed.

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

Eric laughed wickedly, one of his men blocking Brahl's strike as he rushed straight for Leid.

"You obviously don't know Captain Alex very well, Leid," he said, striking for the other Captain. "And he's been changing of late, as has the King. If you were anything but a spineless coward, following whoever seems strongest, you'd understand!"

[alexanderthegreat]

In the fray, Holmes ducked back behind the loyal Santo-Lucian troops. He wasn't much of a fighter, but this was a time when he really should be drawing a weapon and helping with whatever he could.

He just needed to find one first.

Hearing a scream and watching a handful of bloody bodies crash to the ground, Holmes ran forward and took the first sword he could find. From there he tried to keep himself away from the front lines but in far enough that should one of the enemies break through he was still contributing to their demise.

[lana]

Brahl, his enormous form kicked out at the men blocking him before taking another swing. Leid howled as some men flew to the floor and put up his defenses against Eric.

"'Spineless' is the very word that describes Alexander Frexton! If he was even half the man Bradley was we wouldn't be having an issue right now--"
He threw up his own sword to deflect Eric's attack, trying to knock him back so that he could take a swing back at the man with as much equal force.

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

One of Eric's men stepped back behind the lines into 'bodyguard' osition next to Holmes.

"My name is Fin, Milord," he said. "I shall proect you in this fight."

Eric laughed. "Spineless? Aye, he was, but no longer, I should think!" He blocked Leid's atack and sliced back.

[alexanderthegreat]

Holmes nodded gratefully as he answered, "Very good, Sir Fin. We need to stick together if we're going to pull through this."

As guards began to break through in masses, Holmes bravely stepped forward and attacked with everything he had.

[Alex of Santo-Luce]

The loyal guards were having a hard time with the enemy, and it was an issue trying to figure out which troops were friendly and which hostile. Still, they managed admirably, even as Eric and Leid dueled...