MRE Ch 03

After the meeting in morning, nobles of Duke Wilkinson's faction ( or loyalist nobles)? went to take some rest before the afternoon's meeting , things could get messy there.

Duke Conley was the mastermind behind the whole revolt and other activities taking place in the kingdom . His first son studies in North Dakota kingdom which is about 10 times larger than Arcania and the relationship between the two kingdoms is not amiable.

Dakota has its eyes set on the natural resources of Northmount, they had sent their troops and scouts to persuade barbarians to attack Arcania's military posts . They had promised them food and land if they could capture Northmount .

But due to the harsh environment of Northmount, attacks were not successful, except once in the reign of Jason's father when Duke Wilkinson lost his son defending the kingdom.

Duke Conley's second son was just a scumbag, nothing important, could be easily found in the city's brothels, no aspiration or anything like that . Mess created by him were cleaned by Duke's subordinates.

Duke is a 7th rank knight and his forces and Dominion is near eastern forest region from where he sends gifts and tributes to the Dakota kingdom undermining Arcanian authorities .

Duke Conley arrived with his pack of 27 nobles and 17 rebels; he smirked at Wilkinson , when his eyes fell on Duke Wilkinson's group. "What a good surprise !! Duke Wilkinson has left his nest and graced us with his presence " .

Duke Wilkinson got agitated, his eyes burned with naked hatred for Conley. People beside Wilkinson were pressured by Wilkinson's rage. Count Helmsford came and whispered something in his ears. Wilkinson eased, gave a hearty laugh.

" What are you doing with traitors, don't tell me that you plan to leave the kingdom,? to meet your son's real father in Dakota and slave yourself there . I heard that your second son is like you unable to satisfy women? " Wilkinson got back at Conley .

Conley was rumored to be impotent and his sons were the result of someone from Dakota's royalty , Conley's wife was from Dakota daughter of a regiment commander.

[Conley's first son was exiled by previous king (Jason's father) because he facilitated Dakota's military in infiltrating northern area which also caused Jason's maternal uncle's death]

His son in law is the son of Dakota's southern guards commander Timothy, a rank 8 knight who is posted on the other side of mount. Conley's goal was always to help Timothy gain Northmount and be promoted.

His previous plans to revolt and create chaos had been obstructed by Wilkinson and Charles. But this time he was fully prepared and had gained Commander Timothy's assistant Kipler a rank 8 to keep Charles on bay and 1200? elite troops from the Dakota kingdom. He and other nobles have gathered more than 16000 men, mostly mercenaries from Dakota, and even more men are on the way.

He was confident in taking advantage of this situation( king is dead, prince on deathbed) and had enacted the first part of his plan to create unrest and distrust so that the royal family couldn't get support from citizens to resist his legion and he could easily take over the capital.

Duke's plans are grand , to take over the whole kingdom in one full sweep.

Both Dukes without giving each other any further heed went inside the meeting room with their factions and sat opposite to each other .

Arcania being a small kingdom it doesn't have that many higher nobles it has 2 Dukes, the northern part is under Duke Wilkinson and eastern part was controlled by Duke Conley.

Six counts having their Dominion in six major Towns of Arcania , their family names and town names are similar as they were formed by their ancestors, Helmsford, Maplewood, Newshawk, Landow , Alvaton, Greenfield are their counties. 32 landed barons control other small towns and villagers. Titled nobles were just for enjoying benefits they had no right over land.

Wilkinson's faction have 2 counts Helmsford and Greenfield , 11 landed barons which are near their Dominion. Rest of the landed nobles and all titled nobles choose to be on Conley's side.

Arcania from North to South is 480 km and east to west is 650km . Due to bad economic conditions and internal conflicts many people have migrated to other kingdoms and empires . Duke Conley had sent many refugees to Dakota for mining or other menial labour.

Western side has 3 bordering kingdoms from North mount to sea Dazar, Roma , Campbell but they were constantly at war with each other? and had no spare time to concentrate on the fourth party .

When Jason arrived, the hall turned quiet , everyone was looking at Jason who wasn't a bit interested in them, he sat on a high chair. Nobles of Conley's faction had a shocked expression, they turned their gaze at Conley.

Conley had told them that prince Jason was on deathbed and the previous king was dead. It was a great opportunity to seize the kingdom. So they believed him and openly rebelled. But now their brain has stopped working, what could they do now? They have boarded the Conley's ship thus can only wait to see if he fails or steers clear of current predicament, their result will be the same.

'oh what a good relief seeing these f**king bastards shocked expression. They must have thought that this mighty prince has fallen. ha ha!!! fret not! Jason (previous) I will take revenge for you , your father.' thought Jason and said smirking " Welcome my dear friends, I have been looking forward to meeting you all . we are here to peacefully solve the issue of riots in the capital" Jason then continued? " It is not good for people to leave work and protest. They are dragging the kingdom down. What is your view? How should they be handled?"

" Milord, their demands are simple and there is nothing wrong with fulfilling their demands to give them back the things? confiscated by the military chief as it is not ours and shall be returned to their owners' relatives. As for the compensation for the loss of life on the border it is our duty to fulfill them as a responsible kingdom" said one of the rebel Noble count of landow . As all the rebels supported it.

Charles angrly slammed his hand on the table and stared glaringly at the nobles . Rebels could feel pressure building upon them and started sweating. Seeing his people frightened like this Duke Conley got agitated " Sir Charles what are you doing? Are you trying to ignore the rules of the kingdom by pressuring them to not put their side. They are still nobles and this action is itself proof that you have been bullying those weaker than you . Milord see, in your presence, what is happening." As per Conley ,that dumbassJason (previous) will obviously support him as he had done in the past and send Charles to the border region.

But contrary to conley, in the morning meet they Charles and Jason had already planned their strategy and sending military Chief Charles out of the royal capital could? help them in gathering more troops to suppress the rebellion nobles. " What Duke Conley says makes sense chief Charles you will immediately head out of the city after the meeting as your punishment" Conley smiled as Jason gave his command .

Now it was Wilkinson's turn to play it's part . "Milord without the protection of sir Charles you and the royal palace remains vulnerable to external threats . This cannot be done . You must let Charles stay here . As for the Riots demands they are too shameless as they have lost it in a proper battle fought by both parties and loss of nearly 3000 royal guards cannot be compared to their mercenary guards as for who started the battle . "

"Your group shamelessly attacked without any warning from behind on resting camp otherwise our loss would not be so much . They are the ones who violated every code of nobles in battle. Because of their cowardice and petty tricks so many royal guards lost their lives . They protect the whole kingdom from external threats so that? you all could peacefully live in your houses and scheme against others. Yet you shamelessly dare to say like that and smear the reputation that royal guards have built by their blood and sacrifices for 400 years. Do you really think that you are so capable."

Conley and rebel nobles now know that they lost the high moral grounds? . Duke Wilkinson who is very much trusted by the citizens and other guards .

They don't need to look outside to know how much they are being glared by guards guarding the meeting hall. Soon it will spread out that Conley's faction has falsely accused Royal Guards who were doing their duty and have been backstabbed .

________________

Again the same thing I will be shamelessly asking for suggestions and . I will adjust it ha haha !!!!

thanks for your valuable feedback