Sunlight fell upon the city of Plied, and there was someone ready to welcome the sun itself.
After he was done, Raghav went back to his room and got ready for the day.
When he got out of the bathroom, he walked over to the bed, kneeling beside it, reaching for Aurelia's face.
Brushing aside some rogue strands of hair, he gently cupped her right cheek. "Aurelia, it is morning, I am going to check up on Shin, and then we will go for some breakfast."
Still in her sleep, Aurelia nodded as she held Raghav's hand. "Be back soon."
Smiling, he stood up and left the room and moved a door over to the left.
Ughh!
Came the sound of what seemed like someone throwing up from the inside.
Raghav knocked on the door. "It is me." And it was unlocked as Raghav stepped inside, and immediately looked inside the washroom.
Only to find Shin standing over the sink, throwing up, while Vrisht was standing at the far end of the room with his head out of the window.
Shaking his head, Raghav moved behind Shin, rubbing his back as Shin would jolt as the vomit rose in his throat, before relaxing as it stopped and he took a deep breath, before he jolted again.
Gagging on the vomit, as it went down once more.
Shin rested his head and hands on the faucet as bits of saliva mixed with vomit hung from his mouth. "Worst hangover ever."
He managed to blurt out in a weak voice before he jolted once more, this time letting out a stream of vomit.
Once this wave was over, he shivered and gagged until he moved up a small chunk of food in the back of his throat, spitting it out.
"Fuck me."
"You should stop abusing so much. That is not the way a man should behave."
"I know, Raghav, I know. But it just feels right."
Sigh
He cleared his throat before turning the faucet on, washing his face and mouth, gargling the remaining vomit in his mouth before spitting it out.
When he stood upright and saw Raghav behind him, he smiled at him. "What's the plan?"
Raghav handed him a Saridon pill while patting him on the back. "This should help with the headache and nausea. Remember to eat something before taking it. Go and sit on the chair. I will clean this up, and then we will go get breakfast for everyone."
Holding the pill up, Shin lowered his head and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Raghav to deal with the clogged sink, with the water mixed vomit.
Pulling the sleeves on his right arm up, Raghav put his hand in the sink, reaching the drain and removing the food chunks clogging it.
Just as he did that, the water sank through, leaving behind bits and pieces of food left Raghav picked them up and threw them from the bathroom to the bin beside the door.
Once he was done, he thoroughly cleaned his hands with the soap and even cleaned the sink. To remove the smell of Shin's dinner.
Cleaning himself up, he got out of the bathroom and called out to Vrisht. "You can come in now."
Listening to his words, Vrisht moved back from the window, closing it. "Thank you, Captain. Also, can I get my favourite for breakfast?"
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The band sat inside Exter and An's room with the food presented on the table before them, while Vrisht was sitting on the floor beside them, with a small bucket of milk, rice mixed with beans and salad on the side.
Shin breathed in the aroma of the delicacies presented before them. "I apologise and ask that you do not think less of me if I turn into a vicious animal over this food."
Eldrain looked at him with narrowed eyes as Shin leaned back, laughing. "I knew I would get you with that."
"Alright, we should discuss what happened yesterday and make a plan moving forward."
Cough.
"I would like to apologise first, for going behind your back to meet up with Markus and for taking Shin along with me, when he was clearly not in the right state. I put him in unnecessary danger."
Raghav looked at Eldrain as he nodded. "Taking your sincerity and self approach into consideration, there is no need to apologise, you are not a rookie, you know what you are doing and have the experience and skills to neutralise any threat that comes your way. Besides, this band is not dependent on my guidance; all of us are capable of making decisions, but I will say that being transparent about our thoughts and actions will be better for us. It would eliminate gaps in our knowledge and lapses in our functioning as a team."
Eldrain chuckled, shaking his head. "Still, you are our captain, and I believe we should seek your permission before doing something like that again."
"If that is your decision, then I support it. Now let us not disrespect the food and eat it before it gets cold."
Satisfying Eldrain's remorse, Raghav began serving the food, giving the first spoonful of rice to Aurelia. "Aurelia, An you go first, what happened on your end?"
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"So, Aurelia and An had a meeting with the head of the Plieders, who wants us to turn a blind eye, and Raghav had a meeting with the head of the Mineority, who wants us to do the opposite and take down the Plieders, while Eldrain and I had a meeting with a powerful businessman who is being threatened by both of the gangs and wants to help us, take them both down."
"Yes, that is exactly what happened."
Vrisht spoke as he sat between Shin's feet, getting ear scratches from him.
"Three conflicting offers in the same night, all of them expecting an answer by noon. Raghav, what should be our response to these offers?"
Aurelia asked Raghav as he looked over at her with his serious expression. "I gave my answer to the Mineority yesterday, and we will give the same answer to the other two."
"What would that be?" An questioned with her arms crossed and a knowing smile on her face.
"No."
A single world answer, but it was enough as it encapsulated everything this band stood for.
"Good, I was not going to accept any other answer. So, how do we go about this?"
"Well, I gave my answer to the Mineority, you and Aurelia can give your response to the Plieders, Eldrain, and Shin will tell Markus not to get involved in this, things could get ugly, and the fewer variables there are, the better. I will be going to the City Hall to talk with the count. Give him a chance to do the right thing."
Knock
"Room service! I am here to deliver the newspaper."
Vrisht ran to the door, opened it, and came face to face with the female staff, who looked at him and tilted her head as she smiled. "Aww, such a cute and fluffy puppy."
In her eyes, Vrisht appeared as a normal sized dog, courtesy of Raghav. "I know, right, he doesn't bite, and he is even potty trained."
Joked Shin, standing behind Vrisht, holding his hand out for the newspaper, she handed him the newspaper and patted Vrisht on the head once, causing him to wag his tail and repeatedly slap Shin in the face.
After patting Vrisht, the woman left as Shin finally moved his jaw as he closed the door and followed after Vrisht back to the table. "That actually hurt. You are strong."
Shin sat back down, handing the newspaper to Raghav.
Sigh
Everyone looked at Raghav as he let out a sigh, reading the front page.
"What happened?" Aurelia asked, moving closer to Raghav.
"The duel happened between the two generals, General Temis lost, the armies of Xalath attacked the Istreid forces in the middle of the duel and distracted Temis for a moment, a moment General Fernand used to deliver a critical blow through General Temis's back, going through his heart."
Aurelia's eyes widened as she gulped. "Is he?"
"No, a newcomer by the name of Freyd Leothra turned the situation around and retreated with the injured General. King Belreid, accompanied by the northern and eastern army, have gone to wage war."
"That would mean Father did not receive the letter yesterday."
"Meaning, we do not have the administrative support of the King to deal with the Count," Eldrain added onto Aurelia's remark, followed by Raghav.
"That matters not, what happens happens for a good reason, besides, I was never taking the King's interjection into account from the get go. We will do what we can, here by ourselves. That is the neutralisation of all these rogue forces."
He stood up, clenching his fist. "We will not play these games of lies and deceit; we will not abandon truth for an easy victory. Now, get ready, time to get to work."
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Raghav rode Gati through the central bridge, with Vrisht running beside him.
The three of them headed for the City Hall in New Plied.
Currently, Raghav's focus was on the convoy that was passing them; thousands of carriages moved one behind another.
How was he so certain that they were travelling together? Well, it was thanks to a common symbol painted on them all.
A lower case Lambda (λ) and the Omega (Ω).
He looked away from the carriages and patted Gati on the neck to go faster.
In a few minutes, they arrived on the steps of the City Hall, where Raghav left Gati in the stable nearby and entered the building with Vrisht by his side.
Normally, people would freak out when they saw a giant wolf walking through the city, but due to Raghav's illusory magic, he was disguising Vrisht as a white dog.
Inside the council, The Count was sitting in his chair, looking forward at the door.
Thousands of thoughts were going through his head, and his fellow councilmen, the most prominent of them being a question.
'Just who is going to walk through those doors?'
Their question was soon answered when the door opened, and Raghav entered with Vrisht by his side.
Gone was his gentle smile, being replaced by a seriousness that knew no equal.
"Good Morning, gentlemen. I hope you had a good rest yesterday."
He waited for a few seconds and continued. "I know you are well aware of what happened yesterday on the eastern border and that the nation is at war with the King, off on the front lines. By the law of emergency, the responsibilities of governing the nation fall to Aurelia Reid, the Heir to Istried. She is not here right now, but I am, as her representative. The responsibility to resolve the troubles in this city falls upon me. Does anyone have any objection?"
One of the barons stood up, the same one who threw the newspaper at the count yesterday and walked towards Raghav, standing before him.
"Is there any way we could come to a common understanding on this thing?"
Raghav's expression remained constant as he raised his left hand, resting the back of his hand on the man's shoulder as gently as placing a feather on a scale.
Yet the man's shoulder lowered at the slightest touch. "Do you mean those words, or is someone else making you say them?"
The baron, without turning around, pointed behind himself at the Count. "The Count of Plied."
"Thank you, you can sit back down."
Walking forward, Raghav stood at the end of the table. "Count Adam, I am not here to parade or make speeches, because there is no point in preaching to those who do not want to listen. We both know, nothing I say will change your mind, so instead I offer you a choice. Surrender, along with everyone who has done a deal with the odd fellow, and testify in the court against the criminals in this city and fulfil your duty to your people, or you can try and resist, and you will be dragged out of here by the guards. Either way, you go to jail, the choice is yours, go with an iota of dignity or none at all."
Hahaha
Count Adam laughed hysterically, with a grin on his face. "You want to shake the entire kingdom's belief in its administration the very day the nation has gone off to war."
Raghav nodded. "Two disasters at once are better than one after another."
The grin began to die down as Raghav continued. "As per the people's belief, well, that would take time to heal, but it will never be blind again. Besides, during war, the people need to believe in the Ruler, not the lords and ladies. This act will strengthen the people's support for the Royal family."
Now the grin had turned into an open mouth, and the eyes were stuck on Raghav's face, before he gritted his teeth and stood up, slamming the table.
He clinched his fist and extended one finger towards Raghav. "Arrest him."
The guards rushed to arrest Raghav, standing with their spears pointed at him.
Yet Raghav remained the same; he just looked at all the guards that surrounded him.
Vrisht growled, ready to rip the guards apart, but Raghav raised his hand, stopping him.
"Is your allegiance to the Kingdom or this man?"
Raghav asked the guards.
However, the answer was not meant for him but for them, themselves.
One after another, they lowered their spears and moved back to their positions.
Returning his gaze towards the Count, Raghav narrowed his eyes.
Adam's head fell, and he stood up. "What will become of my Son?"
"If he is nothing like you, he will receive his birthright as your son and succeed you as the Count. If not, he will keep the estate that had been given to your family, and after that, he will be on his own."
"Not bad, Hero, not bad at all."
Count Albert walked down from his chair with a binder in his hand.
He gave it to Raghav and held his wrists together in front of Raghav. "In there, you will find everything, from the barons to all the gang members, their safe houses, their contacts. With this, you can end the underworld within Plied. Now, take me in, I am tired of this."
One of the guards near the door began to slowly inch closer to the door, attempting to sneak away, but he was lifted off his feet and suspended in the air as a Knight in red and black armour walked in, followed by a platoon of soldiers under his command.
Raghav turned around, locking eyes with the knight.
AAAARRRRGGGG
The roar of a wyvern filled the council chamber, shaking the glass windows, shattering a few.
Mere Moments before, the hall trembled as Raghav spoke to the Knight. "The Duke?"
The knight nodded. "The Duke is here."