The next day was a nightmare for Leon who had stayed up all night to do paperwork since sleep eluded him at all turns.

  Early in the morning a guard entered, reporting that the outpost closest to hell had been attacked.

  Since the previous night had been a full moon it wasn’t unusual and was expected, demons did attack from time to time on full moons.

  What confused Leon was the details of who attacked the outpost.

  “So, what you are telling me is that Ragnaros! The Demon King! Assaulted the outpost. He was accompanied by the entirety of his warband! The entire royal guard! The heads and some members of every clan in the demonic alliance. For God’s sake you’re saying Lucifer himself was supposedly there,” said Leon in disbelief. “If that wasn’t enough you think they were testing the waters as it were in preparation of some larger operation. I don’t know what you’ve been drinking but you should consult Raphael.”

  At his sides Ellios and Raiden were forcing themselves to remain calm, but they could not stop smirks from appearing on their faces.

  “High Lord I swear I have not consumed anything that would influence my mind or warp my senses. This is the report I was given by the surviving men that returned...”

  “Wait! What do you mean returned? What happened to the outpost?” asked Leon concerned.

  “It was destroyed, reduced to rubble.”

  Leon massaged his temple; he could feel a headache coming.

  “Raiden get in contact with Raphael I feel I’m going to need something strong after this.”

  Raiden nodded and left the room, Ellios meanwhile had became serious, no longer holding in his laughter.

  “Well then, it would seem a powerful demon, maybe a clan head, attacked a lone outpost and destroyed it,” said Ellios.

  Leon crossed his arms and nodded believing the same thing.

  “But what about the report?” questioned the guard.

  “I will deconstruct their arguments so listen carefully.

  ‘The demon king cannot leave hell, under the agreement of the Pax Angelica, signed by God and the Forbidden One. Ragnaros hasn’t left hell since the day of his coronation, whenever that was.

  ‘The royal guard would never in a thousand years leave a member of the royal family unprotected. As the queen was not mentioned nor sighted, I can only assume she was not present. With that information the royal guard could not have all been seen in one place.

  ‘The warband while believable would only move at the orders of the king or one of his children. We know for a fact that Ragnaros has no children, so the warband sighting has gone out the window.

  ‘For the leaders of the numerous clans of the Demonic Alliance, we know of only one time where all were gathered at the same location. The war for Midnight, where the entire might of the depths of hell besieged the gates of heaven.

  ‘And don’t get me started on Lucifer, if he had come topside, we would’ve seen Michael and the Heavenly Host come charging down to fight him.

  ‘Because of all these conditions and that I have not seen an army of golden winged angels pass my window, I must conclude that this report is nothing but hot air. Anything to add?”

  “Negative High Lord,” mumbled the guard.

  “Good, dismissed.”

  The guard left unwilling to continue this now seemingly pointless argument over a probably faulty report told by a bunch of frightened idiots.

  When Leon was sure the guard was far enough, his forehead met the top of the table and did not rise. At the noise Ellios turned to him in alarm.

  “Are you alright their sir?”

  “Just dandy what do you think?” responded Leon.

  “Your sarcasm isn’t warranted,’ said Ellios.

  “Oh, don’t start.”

  Raiden walked in with a vile in hand, he placed it in front of Leon and returned to his side of the room.

  “Special delivery, one cure for headaches straight from the Healer himself,” he stated.

  Leon grabbed the vile and emptied it one gulp, drinking every drop of the liquid. He relaxed in his chair and sighed exasperated at this mess that was dropped on his shoulders.

  “Ignoring your previous explanations, all very valid, you’re positive there isn’t some lick of truth in that story,” said Ellios.

  “I don’t know anymore alright, this is too far fetched to be true, if it was the implications would be devastating,” said Leon.

  “What do we do with the outpost?” Asked Raiden.

  “Leave it be, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things,” said Leon.

  “I will pass the word around later,” said Ellios.

  “Look at the bright side at least it can’t get any worse,” added Raiden.

  All three silenced themselves and listened intently, waiting for something to happen.

  “Well, what do you know I guess my day is getting better,” said Leon.

  The door was roughly opened an irate and annoyed Morrison walking in, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

  “High Lord I demand something be done about this!”

  “I spoke too soon,” muttered Leon.

  “Leonard, are you listening to me!” shouted Morrison.

  “Will you lower your voice we can hear you just fine,” said Leon calmly.

  “The tone of my voice is irrelevant what will you do about the blatant attack on our outpost, we must launch a counterattack,” he declared.

  “That would be a declaration of war and although we may be stronger, they outnumber us,” reminded Leon.

  “We would still win in the end,” argued Morrison believing in angelic superiority.

  “Not if the neutral groups side with the demons, which may I remind you they often tend to do. We may win but the war would last for a thousand years minimum.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “So, you will do nothing?”

  “It was a full moon, we always knew that outpost wouldn’t last, they asked for it building it so close to hell anyway,” said Leon with finality.

  “This isn’t over.”

  Morrison took off in a fowl mood without another word, probably to report ‘complain’ to the king.

  “It never is,” sighed Leon.

  “Sir, I think you need a vacation,” said Ellios.

  “The kingdom would crumble in a day if I did take one, literately. Morrison does not do any paperwork that I know of. The king rules with minimal effort leaving me with most of the work. He only cares about power anyway.”

  “Then why don’t you depose him?” Asked Raiden.

  “The king does as the king pleases. Besides it would need a unanimous vote from all high ranks to get rid of him, Morrison is one of those, so I’ll let you connect the dots,” said Leon scathingly.

  “No need to sass me I understand,” said Raiden.

  “Yes, your sarcasm is not needed at this moment,” said Ellios.

  Sighing in defeat Leon rose from his seat and beckoned them to follow him.

  All three walked through the palace, everyone moving out of their way, in the direction of the princesses’ chambers.

  They passed countless paintings and artwork depicting heroes and legendary characters of angelic history.

  Their footsteps resonated on the marble floors as they walked by large windows reaching the ceiling.

  “How many did you leave to guard my nieces?” asked Leon.

  “Three,” replied Ellios.

  Leon nodded feeling a little remorse on not knowing the rotations of those on guard duty. He would need to familiarize himself with the schedule of his men, so he always knew where certain individuals were supposed to be.

  “Do we need to worry about any backlash from Morrison?” Asked Raiden.

  “If he or anyone else has a problem they can take it up with me,” responded Leon.

  “Very well, is it me or are we getting a lot of looks,” Said Raiden.

  His statement was true the three were being stared at, some even glaring at them, others were whispering frantically. It did not take a genius to figure out the reason.

  “Word probably spread by now of the attack, I don’t think many understand or approve of Leon’s passiveness,” said Ellios.

  “It matters little to me, let the servants and civilians’ gossip all they want, those with enough sense will see the wisdom in abstaining,” said Leon.

  With nothing to add they soon reached the princesses room, Leon nodded to all three of his warriors standing guard.

  The three saluted by placing their arms on their chests and closed fists over their hearts.

  Leon knocked and entered the room expecting a shout of excitement or the something along those lines. When nothing came barreling into him, he was surprised so he looked around for a maid.

  Finding the room empty Leon moved to Rosalia’s crib and found it empty. Not seeing Ashley either panic began to set in, he looked around wildly until he saw the ajar glass doors leading to the balcony.

  The silk see-through curtains gently moving in the wind made him remember Ashley had started flying lessons.

  The worst thought entered his head, and dread filled his entire being.

  “Ashley!! Rosalia!!” he shouted.

  Leon began to run towards the balcony as Ellios, Raiden and the other guards burst frantically into the room, hands on the hilts of their weapons.

  “Please tell me Ashley was told not to take her little sister flying!” yelled Leon.

  The others’ eyes widened in panic they all rushed the balcony and searched the sky and below fearing for the worse. Looking in all directions their horror came to a sudden halt as a small sleepy voice spoke.

  “Uncle Leon why are you shouting?”

  All turned to look at the bed and saw Ashley rubbing her eyes, when she pulled the covers further back, baby Rosalia was revealed sleeping peacefully beside her sister.

  “Nothing little dove. I was just being weird.”

  The little girl nodded as if it made perfect sense before she laid back down and went back to sleep.

  Calming down they all made their way back outside the room making sure not to disturb the sleeping girls.

  (Break)

  Once the door was closed Ellios turned to Leon.

  “Did you not think to check the bed?” he hissed.

  “Well excuse me for being in distress,” said Leon with sarcasm.

  “Seriously why didn’t you look around the room before shouting your head off?” asked Raiden.

  “The doors to the balcony were open, how was I supposed to know they were taking a nap?” replied Leon.

  Fast approaching footsteps interrupted their argument, Rosenweiss with a detachment of guards was running towards them.

  “I heard you shouting is something amiss?” he asked hurriedly.

  “False alarm, all is well,” said Leon.

  Rosenweiss sighed in relief, the guards behind him visibly relaxed and slowly returned to their posts.

  “Thank God, I was worried the worst had happened.”

  “You and me both my friend, come walk with me, you two can go,” said Leon to his captains.

  Ellios and Raiden bowed and returned to their other duties while the three white paladins resumed their guard duty.

  Rosenweiss held out his hand letting Leon move first, they walked side by side until they reached the gardens. Vast fields of flowers surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges.

  The two walked leisurely strolled around without any haste.

  “Valentine petitioned for another division of archers,” said Rosenweiss.

  “And what was the answer?” Asked Leon already suspecting.

  “Denied obviously, Verona was quite adamant he would form a new regiment of knights before Valentine trained anyone.”

  “Was Verona taken seriously? Or did they just not contest him so he would remain quiet?” questioned Leon.

  “A little of both I suppose, we all know he loves the templars. But you can never be sure with the rest of the council,” admitted Rosenweiss. “Wait. Aren't you a member? Shouldn’t you be aware of this?”

  “You know very well I only participate in council meetings during wartime or when we are in a crisis,” said Leon.

  “Surely there is a good explanation for that.”

  “I hate politics. You and the other generals can handle it just fine if anything happens.”

  “Your confidence in us astounds me but I concur getting you involved would be overkill.” said Rosenweiss.

  “Maybe just a little,” said Leon smirking.

  Rosenweiss scoffed at his modest sarcasm, everyone knows that if the high lord gets involved then things are serious.

  “Tell me the truth, what is going on between the king and you?” he asked.

  “The king in his infinite wisdom was not present for Rosalia’s birth, he was not there when Lyadrin begged for his presence nor when she breathed her last. He was nowhere to be seen for an entire week but suddenly when the almighty blessed her, he wants to get involved in her life, don’t make me laugh.”

  Rosenweiss shivered slightly at the icy tone Leon took but could see where his friend was coming from.

  “But the biggest insult of all he forbade my sister from having a funeral which means no burial, no tomb, no reminders, only memories. How do I tell my niece about her mother when there is no proof, she ever existed, for god’s sake he removed her portraits from the palace, most of it anyway. He never managed to enter my family’s room or those of my house.” finished Leon.

  Rosenweiss looked at him in pity but understood his sorrow, he knew because of his positions Leon did not get a moment to openly weep and grieve.

  All he could do was persevere and push through his emotions, slowly breaking his heart. His soul must be crying in anguish and yet none would ever know.

  “I knew the king was obsessed with power or is it control?” wondered Rosenweiss “Whatever his preference is know that you will always have my support now and forevermore, so swears Rosenweiss the Sun Weaver, Lord of the Seraphs, General of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

  Leon looked at him in surprised gratitude but then in amusement and glee, it took a moment for Rosenweiss to realize what he just did.

  “You are aware you can’t go against me anymore, right?” Asked Leon.

  “I may have been a little hasty on this one, I will admit that regrets may have been made,” mumbled Rosenweiss.

  “No matter, it is rare our opinions do not match but thank you for your loyalty and friendship,” replied Leon casually. “On another note where was this support in the church yesterday?”

  “Some of us don’t have the luxury of having immense clout like you do,” said Rosenweiss annoyed. “But regardless I will always have your back, till death do us part right.”

  “Don’t say that now you’re putting images in my head,” said Leon with a groan.

  Rosenweiss laughed soon followed by Leon, the two friends conversing for the rest of the day unaware of what was brewing beneath.

  (Break)

  Somewhere in an isolated room inside the palace King Nathaniel stared at himself through a mirror, contemplating many things.

  The only door to the room opened, Morrison entering cautiously, making sure there were no unwanted listeners. When he was sure no one was around he closed the door and knelt to his king.

  “Rise Morrison.”

  “My liege, the High Lord’s men guard the Princess fiercely, it is impossible to penetrate the room. Neither is it simple to approach when they take her for a walk. Others would sooner side with them then let us pass, they have too much support for us to make a move,” he reported.

  “While not preferable it was expected, oh well, we will have to play the long game on this matter. Still other then this setback things are moving forwards as predicted. Even better, the Almighty has blessed me with a new opportunity, who knew that trollop’s daughter would be acknowledged by God himself. I now have plans for her Morrison, grand plans that will unfold spectacularly.”

  “But my liege, those plans won’t matter if Leonard stops you at every chance he gets. With the way things are going he doesn’t look like he is going to stop anytime soon.”

  “Don’t concern yourself with my dear brother-in-law, nothing lasts forever, the hearts and minds of most are fickle. In this instance it would not take a simple ember to light the fire, oh no, it would take several,” said Nathaniel.

  “My Liege?” questioned Morrison.

  “Leon will not lose the trust of the people so easily. All we can do now is wait, in the end all will see their folly.”

  With those final words Nathaniel turned to look out a one-sided window and smiled to himself.

  Morrison bowed and left the room.

  “Oh yes just you wait Leonard,” he said ominously staring at the endless ocean of white.