My Real Empire

MRE Ch 05

Duke Conley left the palace from one of the side gates which is 200 meters from the main gate, leaving the members of his factions behind . His angry expression was gone , his lips curved upwards and  a sly smile formed on his face as he thought about his plan.

Leaving the palace he strolled towards the main palace gate where a protesting crowd had gathered. Main gate tells of the glamor the palace used to have. Main gate is built from two bronze sheets of 7 meter by 3 meter and half foot thick. Walls surrounding the main gate are nearly 10 meter high and 1.5mtr thick built from the stones and lime clay . You can't help but feel dwarfed standing beside these magnificent constructions of ancestors.

He got near the crowd and waved his hand towards a person wearing black hooded cloak standing on a high pedestal . That person noticed someone was waving at him. He got down , started towards the person who waved at him,he passed through the crowd. Coming out of the crowd he realized the person is none other than the Duke Conley his expression became ecstatic his eyes started glittering 'Money is coming'.

Duke moved away from the crowd and got inside his carriage parked on the opposite lane to the crowd. Duke's carriage was well furnished and comfortable , could easily accommodate four people inside and go on long trips.

" Milord ! Is there anything that this lowly servant of yours can do for you" hooded man asked politely as he reached near the door of the carriage. thinking to himself  'Just give me money I will do anything even eat your shit. By the way earning money by eating shit seems good and easy. My darling Money ! I can do Anything for you even eat shit  Just come to me'

" Of course ! I have called you for another job. Your performance in your previous job to fetch people for protesting is utterly disappointing. Because of your inability to get more people no one is giving any heed to this issue. They took it lightly, My future plans are held back." Duke complained sitting inside the carriage staring at the wine cup in hand. He angrily splashed wine on his face.

Hooded man was shocked by the wine splash on his face but his expression didn't change , he licked the wine near his mouth loudly  "Milord! From where did you obtain such a fine wine? Even normal wines are hard to get nowadays." Shamelessly hooded man praised, he looked at the spilled wine near his feet and with a crying expression moving his head disapprovingly he lamented " what a waste! Such godsend wine,  can't be drunk now what a waste!!!"

" Come to my house in the evening . Everyone will be present there , you will get to drink this wine there without any limitations, but first keep these people protesting and create even more disruption in the city. We are in the last phase of our plan so be careful. " grumbled Duke and threw a pack of coins out of the carriage and headed towards his house in the capital city.

Hooded man picked the sack of coins , his expression elated ' What a nasty fellow if not for my dearest money , I would've thrown dogshit on his face'. He forgot insult by Duke and returned to his pedestal in the middle of the crowd, encouraging them to keep protesting. He gave some coins with dejected expression to his other guild members for gathering more people.

Guild Members also knew what a miser their leader was, but nothing could be done , this is the only Guild in the city perhaps the  whole kingdom, other Guilds have perished long ago. In Arcania growing poverty and imigration of rich citizens and traders to other kingdoms made the guilds move along with their patrons.

Now only one Guild is present; it is surviving only because of Duke Conley and other nobles. Mercenaries that died in the battle were from this guild. Their leaders have taken money from nobles to take them safely out of the kingdom but because of the battle they lost half of their members either dead or injured. Their families got to guild headquarters for compensation ,  the guild leader had already stored the money , he was going to expel them by force .

Luckily the next day he got a sack of coins and was ordered to create chaos in the city and take the family of the dead to protest for compensation from the kingdom.

Evans who had been following the Duke saw his interactions with the hooded man who incited the crowd . When Duke left Evans tailed him on foot stealthily, horse carriages can't run faster than a rank 5 knight.

Conley's carriage reached a large two storey bungalow with lush green garden in front and a padded track leading to the main door. Carriage stopped at the main door , servants came running toward the carriage and opened the gate . Duke entered the main hall , A tall person with broad shoulders and tangled Brown hair was sitting near the wine case. Conley got near that man " Have you been drinking since morning " Conley asked politely. "What else can I do? You have barred me from going out" reply came from the person

"Oh Kipler! Can't you wait some more days , we have been planning this for years and now the right time has come, just keep patience. Brother Timothy has high praises for you, he even said you are much better than him when he was your age, you will surpass him in a year or two. This mission is important for your future so nothing can go wrong" Conley urged kipler to be patient. Kipler is in his 40s and a mid level rank 8 knight. His achievement is much better than his peers. His commander, Timothy ,  had sent him here with his elite troops to help Duke defeat Arcanian forces.

Both of them got up from there and went to the kitchen for a light lunch before the arrival of other members of his faction . Then they got down for tea brought by Kipler in the backyard. In  Bunglows backyard a small table and two chairs were kept , a kettle that had just been put out of the stove vapour still coming out of its mouth and two sets of silver cups we're on the table.

A small garden with various flowers, fruit laden trees  and exotic vegetables planted in it was in the backyard. Conley himself had sown and cared for the plants in the garden. Just as they took their seats in such a peaceful environment, Head servant came running toward him " Milord Count Alvaton requests your presence"

" Alvaton is alone or others have arrived with him." Inquired Duke while enjoying tea.

"Milord Count is alone no other members have arrived yet" answered head servant

" Have him wait, we will come after we enjoy tea. And don't disturb again ." ordered Duke. The servant hurriedly left the garden and informed Count Alvaton. Alvaton was displeased that Conley ignored him.

" Sir Kipler where did you get these tea from , Does it grow in your kingdom? It has such a soothing and relaxing feel." praised Duke after taking a sip. Duke's eyes were closed and a smile formed on his face.

"Sir Duke they are not grown in our kingdom in fact no such kind of thing grows in the whole of Tallus continent. It was brought by a merchant from some other continent and he gifted it to the Porus emperor . Sir Timothy was sent to Captol city of Porus Empire to sort out some trading issues at that time . Tea was served to high level officials of the Empire thus he got his chance to drink it and he got entranced by it's flavor. After bribing some officials of the palace he got 700 gms of tea leaves . When he returned he gifted 400 gms to Dakota's Royal family . Our king was impressed by the tea so the King offered him some tax rebate." explained Kipler with an aloof expression.

Duke was growling inwardly ' that miser only sent me 40 gms when he got to keep 300 gms and even after that I have to share it with his aide' .

Both of them drank their remaining tea without much talking . They kept their cups on the small table , took a light stroll in the backyard garden, where Duke informed him about trees and plants he had selected.

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Evans following Duke got near the bungalow . He saw Duke going inside . Bunglow is heavily guarded. Guards were present everywhere. He got to a nearby street from where he could see the main door. He looked at the nearby tree and climbed on it for rest.

He heard some commotion there on the main door . He got down the tree and saw another carriage going to Duke's house . Paying closer attention to the carriage and person that got out he was sure that person was Count Alvaton. After some time some more carriages got into the Duke's bunglow. He was now sure that something big would happen soon.

His interest piqued , all the bigwigs of the rebel factions were present there. This night was not going to be some normal night and surely would be mentioned in the history of Arcania whether in good light or bad will depend on the Victor of the tussle.

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Sorry! Only one chapter today as I am reviewing the previous chapters

will be waiting for your suggestions