The candles burned with a warm glow, their flames swaying gently as a minister entered the Palace.
"Your Highness, Snow Mountain Fortress is demanding to know why we haven't dealt with the Rat Plague."
"The rats have made it up there? Then it's time to announce..."
The young man lounging on the throne murmured to himself, then rose and followed the minister out of the Palace.
Officials and Noble stood in silence in the Square. They looked up as the First Prince appeared.
"Our country faces annihilation!"
Passion unlike anything the First Prince had shown before rang across the Square. "The Rat Tide from the North ambushed Snow Mountain Fortress and unleashed the Demon Tide!"
Flashes of magic swept through the Rat Swarm in the distance, while an emotion no one could quite name spread through the crowd.
"The traitor who colluded with the Ratfolk is dead, but his poison still plagues our people!"
"We have lost too much land. The Northern Frontier is no longer safe. We must leave the land our ancestors have called home for generations and seek a new one... And I, Clo Montreal, the eighty-eighth of my line, will lead you to victory!"
Faru Barros kept his head down. Fervor lit Milles Bernard's face. Princess Sails and Prince Minos said nothing.
The Mage Tower, the Street Sweepers, the Knights' Order, the officials, and the Noble wavered no longer. Their voices echoed through the Mountain-Ring Palace Gardens:
"Your Majesty."
Either he would restore the glory of the Montreal Golden Family,
or he would lead the Noble into the Abyss.
Open books covered the floor, leaving nowhere to step. "Mr. Swaro?" Annan called. At first, he tried picking some up and putting them away, but there were too many. He waded through books piled around his