"Your Holiness. A letter has arrived from the Commonwealth." Constance looked in annoyance and snatched the letter from his servant. How many had he already received warning him of the coming invasion? He knew the Empire’s plans, but his hands were tied until something happened.

If he sent aid to help against the Empire in the guise of aiding in putting down the rebellion, it would be seen as him and the Holy Seat interfering in politics. It was already known that they did, but it wasn’t done in such an open way. Sending troops justified outcry and separation from the church from other nations. He already had two nations to deal with, any more and Alfred’s schism would be guaranteed to succeed.

Opening the letter, Constance’s face darkened.

’Greetings, Your Holiness; I hope this finds you well.

The situation has become dire; The Empire has begun its invasion. We understood before The Holy Seat not being able to interfere, but as a hostile nation has now attacked, one you have called a Holy Crusade against, we believe that the time for support has come. This is an official and final plea of support on behalf of my Father, King Snowid Sobieski.

Signed, Prince Lesezek Sobieski, Acting Regent of the Commonwealth.’

Constance sighed but said nothing and stood up. Heading to the room next door, he saw an old elder carefully copying manuscripts. "Summon the council along with the Grand Templars." The Elder nodded and got up, slowly waddling out of the room.

Constance made his way to the council room, and a few minutes later, he heard the bells tolling across the Holy Seat. The place seemed to come alive as many dropped what they were doing and moved towards the council room. A second set of bells rang, and in a few seconds, it was like the entire holy seat was gearing for war as armed soldiers quickly moved about, escorting two men towards the council room.

It was an exaggerated display of power. Everyone could see that. But ever since the Holy War had been called, the Templars displayed it. Constance was the first to arrive and took his seat at the centre of the room, which was the highest seat. Next was the old elder who also sat in the centre of the room on a seat below Constance. Next, the Archbishop did the same as the Elder. Finally, the two Grand Templars arrived. Micheal took his seat alongside Elder and Archbishop, while the other took a seat at the council stand.

It was strange for Templar to be in the council, but during a time of Holy War, it was one of the few times they were given power in it. The room quickly filled with Archbishops, Cardinals, and Elders, but a few places were empty. "Micheal. A few Templars are missing?" Constance spoke with a slight condescension as he looked down at the Grand Templar. Micheal didn’t care, understanding it was all an act for the entire council, and lowered his head. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"They have been unable to leave their posts abroad even with your summon. I decided to keep them in their posts, deeming their summon unnecessary. If you order me, however?"

"It is fine." Constance waved his hand, dissing the topic, and looked out the council. Standing up, he leant slightly forward on the stand before him. "Gentlemen. The Empire has finally made its move." It was all Constance needed to say before the council blew up in low muttering.

Constance raised his hands to quiet them, but they refused to do so. The Elder stood up and, with sunken eyes, looked out at them. "SILENCE!" His voice was out of place on the old man, and the room was quickly silenced.

"The Commonwealth, as we all know, was going to be our staging ground to launch our Holy Crusade in a few years, but the Empire has made a preemptive strike. We all knew this was coming, but with our hands tied, we could not act until now. Now is the time to strategise how far we are willing to go for the Commonwealth."

The room broke out into low muttering again, this time not being interrupted. The single Templar in the crowd of clergymen peeked at Micheal before closing his eyes and leaning back, not getting involved. "What is Nogrovod’s stance in the war?" Someone called out, and the room was silent.

"That is unknown right now, but we should assume they will help their ally in the war," Constance answered the question, and the room fell into talks again.

"Is it possible to speed things up? Will the Severians be able to assist?"

"Emporer Theodosius has made it clear that he will not assist until two years have passed. The war with the Ammerians is finally coming to an end, and he needs time to be able to mobilise again."

"Scum." someone said loud enough for everyone to hear, but now questioned him. They all felt the same way about the Severians. Despite being the guardians of the Holy Seat, they never took the role seriously, only using it when it benefitted the Empire. Despite being Theodosius’ son, Constance was inclined to agree. It was the main reason he had desperately tried to escape the palace at such a young age. It annoyed him that he still had to rely on his father even now despite having a title that supposedly outranked him.

"Everybody." Micheal stood up, knowing the people before him would have no idea how to start and lead a war. "The Serverians are not our..." He paused to find the right word, "Sword at the moment. It will only hinder us from thinking we can use them now. I propose a mass deployment of Templars in the Commonwealth led by myself. All I ask from you, fine men, is to provide the necessary funding and support from your positions."

Everyone looked at one another but nodded, not wishing to oppose the Templars. Even without political influence, in most cases, opposing the Templar decision was foolish when they controlled the entire military branch of the Holy Seat. "Any objections to Grand Templar Michael’s decision," Constance called out and looked at the men.

The room remained silent, and he nodded happily. "Grand Templar Gabriel shall take over the responsibilities of Grand Templar Micheal at the time of his departure from the Holy Seat. I will give you a month to be ready, Micheal. Do not disappoint." Micheal nodded and retook his seat as the council began to discuss a different topic.

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Horace sat in one of his safe houses, still on a board, as multiple women worked to completely change his looks. Nothing about Horace made him wtick ut. He wasn’t Handsome or ugly. But he knew that something like this had to be done if he wished to enter Piast manor. Others may not, but he would instantly recognise him even if he had done light work to change his appearance.

They worked tirelessly with makeup as Horace sat without an expression. Although dressing a woman for some may have made someone uncomfortable, Horace didn’t care. He had change his appearance slightly many times, why was it any different pretending to be another gender. The woman moved back with satisfied faces, seeing Horace’s new face; even he couldn’t help but be impressed by the work.

Although some of his features couldn’t hide his real gender, it was good enough that no one would take a second glance at him. Horace walked over to a selection of prepared outfits, each open for a different role in Piast’s manor, and picked the maid that looked the most like the ones he had seen before. They worked to dress him and add fake features to complete his identity. Finally, selecting a wig that matched his won black eyes, he tapped his throat a couple of times.

"Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah." Changing his voice was easy. He had done it enough times to blend in, and once more, although it sounded slightly strange, it could easily be explained away as being ill or having a naturally deeper voice. He wrapped a small ornament around his neck to hide his Adam’s apple and took a final look at himself, happy with the results.

After leaving the room, he quickly entered the next one, where his operatives were waiting. They gave him a once-over and tried to find places to hide small weapons for him before being happy with the results. "Halfdan, we are leaving," Horace said with his fake voice, and the small man sighed and followed behind him. The rest quickly moved to carry out the work they had been tasked with.

Outside a carriage waited for the two, and getting they looked at one another. "Make your face more approachable." Hearing his advice, Horace practised a few smiles, with Halfdan eventually nodding at one.

The silence was sickening for Halfdan as he watched Horace sit with a fake smile staring at him. "I’ve been meaning to ask. Why ain’t I dead yet?" The question shocked Horace, but he quickly understood why he asked. Halfdan was the one person that Alfred hated most in the world. It would have surely been easy to gain some favour with him and give him back.

But Horace didn’t care about that. The Underwells were loyal. He knew it. Alfred knew it. There was no point in returning Halfdan until he gave a reason to. "Because we own you," Horace said, keeping his fake voice. "You are a deadman, Halfdan. And at our whims, we can have you killed, and no one would care. In fact, the Emporer would praise us for it. All the other who work for us are loyal, but you aren’t. Instead, you just have no choice. And that is so much better. You can leave, but we will find you. His Majesty made sure when he cut your finger off."

Horace leaned forward. "We are your only lifeline and the only way you get close to His Majesty, fulfilling your strange desire. Is that clear?" Horace smiled and tilted his head, fully immersing himself in his new identity. But it disgusted Halfdan, who knew the man.

"Yeah. So what’s your new name?"

"Kamila Cetner. They are a vassal under Piast, so they should easily slip in as their daughter."

"And the real Kamila?"

"She is being dealt with. Do not worry."