Chapter 468: New Lesson

"MEN!" Octavius paced back and forth. Before him, columns of men stood with their heads held high, each one standing perfectly still like a statue, "THIS WAR ISN’T JUST A WAR FOR GLORY!" Octavius paused and looked at the column. He took a deep breath, trying to gauge the reaction of his soldiers.

He had heard many talking out loud, wondering if they were going to war with Alfred. All of them were believers of Sol and knew who Alfred was. The church had already added his story to the Holy Book. Many couldn’t understand why they would declare war on Sol’s Blessed.

Octavius looked out and internally sighed, "THIS IS A WAR TO SAVE THE AMMARY PEOPLE! SAVE THE LIVONIK PEOPLE! SAVE THE SAFRID PEOPLE!" He knew soldiers; all of them wanted to feel that their job was more important than killing. They needed a reason to justify their actions, other than gold. "WE WILL BECOME THE HEROES WHO SAVE THEM FROM TYRANNY! FROM A DERANGED MAN WHO IS USING OUR LORD’S NAME TO CARRY OUT EVIL!"

His voice carried across the field, letting all who stood before him hear. Many nodded and smiled to themselves, already imagining the future, their concerns about the war slowly fading to the back of their minds. Octavius smiled and raised his hand, "BEING PREPARING MEN! WE SHALL BEGIN OUR MARCH IN A WEEK!"

Octavius slowly stepped down from the elevated platform he stood on, his kind smile dropping as soon as he turned away. News of the Lisaponics and Ammary’s meeting had rushed things. Although the fleet was ready to cross the Tears, they had enough soldiers ready to march to create a foothold within the Empire.

They needed to strike before the Lisaponics could get ready and help Ammar. Octavius rubbed his eyes and sighed. He knew the war would be hard, even with their numerical advantage. Reports of how the Ammarys had already prepared for their invasion had reached his ears.

’Let’s hope they don’t have enough troops to defend the West and East.’With a self-deprecating smile, he thought of the other issue that had arisen: the Silesians’ mobilisation. With a second enemy preparing to mobilise, Octavius knew they were being surrounded.’Ammar, Silesia, and Lisa. We don’t have the manpower to face all three.’The concern had been brought up, but was brushed aside by Julius and Constance with the promise that they would deal with it.

He wanted to have faith, but he knew that blindly believing in his liege wasn’t the greatest idea.’Theodoric will have to hold Silesia off alone. It’s a strong position; he should be fine if he doesn’t act a fool.’

Shaking his head to clear his mind of thoughts about Theodoric, he continued forward, heading towards the dock. With a final glance back at the soldiers who had eased up with his departure, he wondered how well the war would go.

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Edward lay flat on his back, breathing heavily. In the distance, Horace watched carefully, making sure that nothing went wrong, whilst Abu walked off to fetch Edward some food and water. After weeks of being forced to drag himself across the floor, Edward noticed changes in his body and mind. The most obvious was the constant pain. The normal pain he experienced in his day-to-day life was gone, having become accustomed to an even worse type.

The worst pains which used to make him want to cry out and scream had become bearable if he gritted his teeth. Lifting his hand up, he looked at his arms. Even as a child, they weren’t massive, but what was once extremely thin had become larger than the usual child’s.

Clapping his hands, Horace stood up and walked over to Edward. Looking up at him, he saw the strange smile he had seen when Horace first started these lessons and felt quite scared. "You have made excellent progress, My Prince, better than I had believed."

"Thank... you." Through breaths, Edward replied, falling back onto the ground to catch his breath back quicker.

"But we are not done yet. You are heir to the most prestigious seat on Gaia, My Prince. And to make you worthy of that place, we must make you willing to do what it takes." The ominous-sounding words from Horace didn’t go amiss by Abu, who quietly stepped forward, blocking the path between Edward and his teacher.

"What do you mean by this?" Being stared down, all Horace could do was smile and step back.

"I have gotten confirmation from His Majesty to proceed forward with what I wish to do." Pulling the one card Abu couldn’t fight against, Horace pushed him aside and looked down at Edward, "Your father believes in trial by fire, my prince, and I think this would be the perfect time for you to join the lessons my daughter has."

Clapping his hands, Horace summoned Scarlette from around the corner. As if she had been waiting for the moment, she dashed over towards Horace’s side and stood up straight. With an approving nod at how quickly she was. "It’s a shame my son is too young to join in these lessons, but I will get around to that at a later date. Now, please follow me."

Giving a look to get Abu to pick Edward up, Horace led the group through the Obsidian castle, silently leading them deeper into it. Opening a door into a side room, multiple cages lined the wall, and inside were numerous rats. On a table in the centre of the room, a few knives lay, waiting to be picked up.

Horace circled the table, dragging his hand along the knives, picking one up, stroking its sharp edge. "My father was an amazing person, but he was wrong in one regard. Humans must be eased into things, especially something like taking a life." Carefully opening the cage, Horace grabbed the back of a rat’s neck, holding it out for the children to see. Abu couldn’t tell if Horace had chosen the rat on purpose, but it was an incredibly ugly one, with mismatched features.

Holding the knife to the rat’s stomach, he tapped it, "You two will become vital to the future of the Empire. Scarlette, you must be willing to do whatever the Imperial family tells you to, and Edward, you must be able to make the hard decisions. Like this." Slamming the rat on the table, Horce lifted the knife high in the sky, bringing it down and chopping its head off. Scarlette turned away, horrified by the sight, but Horace moved quickly and grabbed her face, forcing her to watch the sight.

Looking at Edward, he was surprised to see him staring in confusion at the sight. He expected fear or disgust knowing his past, but instead, it was as if he had finally solved the puzzle.

"Oh..." Getting Abu to move him closer, he stared at the blood pooling underneath the rat’s corpse. He stayed silent, watching it before looking up at Horace. Holding his hand out for the knife, Horace suppressed his smile and gave it to the young boy. The heavy blade fell slightly as he tried to hold the knife firmly like Horace had done before.

"Scarlette. Watch carefully." Slowly ordering her, Horace moved and grabbed another rat, placing it before Edward. Holding it down, he looked at Edward and smiled, "What will you do?"

Looking at the knife and at the ugly rat, Edward couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling in his heart. It was something he had never felt before. A sense of power over something. Flashes of memory in his crib came when he first saw blood pour out of the rat’s body, but beyond that, he finally understood what he was seeing, what everything meant.

Lifting the knife, it shook in his hand, but Edward didn’t care. Horace made sure to move his hands further apart, to make sure he didn’t get injured, silently egging Edward on to make the correct choice.

Abu sighed and grabbed Edward’s arm with his free hand. "My prince. Are you sure you wish to do this?" Edward paused, lowering the knife, looking at his reflection. Taking a deep breath, he nodded a singular time.

"I think I have to." Abu could tell even Edward wasn’t sure of what he was saying or thinking, "I don’t get it, but it feels right, it feels...." Edward paused and looked at the rat squirming underneath Horace’s hands. It was completely powerless, unable to move on. "It would feel good, I think," Edward said, staring at the rat. Eventually, it gave up on trying to break free, pretending to play dead.

Seeing its attempt at escaping, Edward lifted the knife again. It was disgusting to see how easily it gave up. It reminded him of how he gave up when pushed beyond his limits. He hated it. Swinging the knife down with a shaking hand, it missed the target, hitting the table. The rat jumped, but before it could try to run again, the sharp blade fell again, cutting through it.

It failed to fully pierce, but Horace grabbed the top of the knife and pushed the rest through, beheading it. "Remeber. If you wish to kill something, you mustn’t delay in finishing it. It is an act of mercy, but also a way to protect yourself." Taking the blade from Edward, the boy once again remained silent, a thin, proud smile plastered on his face.

"Scarlette. Your turn." Turning to his daughter, Horace held out the knife, waiting for her to take it on her own accord.