Chapter 1
Eric Longbert saw the soldiers as they approached the manor house, and he ran inside to tell his parents. He wished that Cherie had not gone with Natonito, or fallen in love with one of his relatives, but such was the life. After all, his long lost sister had just married the stubborn, temperamental Directrix. His parents were alarmed at the news, and all of them went outside to meet Van Larken and the troops.
"What brings you and a contingent of troops here in the midday like this? We are not some thieves for you to catch!" Duke Longbert said with a bit of a huff.
"No, but you are traitors to the Secfenian Star Empire, and as such you will be punished," Van Larken coldly replied.
"Traitors? What are you saying?" Dutchess Longbert said, confused.
"The raid your husband and son helped plan came to an ignomious end yesterday," Van Larken said with a smirk, "As Petain was captured at the western gap in the walls as the rest of his troops were being decapitated, and quickly told who had funded this escapade. Needless to say, you will now face speedy justice."
"What justice can there be here?" Eric Longbert shouted.
"You betrayed the empire, for what reasons we do not know, nor do we care to know. That is unimportant. What is important is that we have crushed this rebellion, and your heads will adorn the New Russville walls with those of the raiders that you employed in testimony to all around to what happens to those who attempt to defeat the Empire," Van Larken hissed at the now quivering family.
"This is madness. I am a Duke of the Empire, and my family is high nobility. To suffer the death of a criminal is beneath me. Our family has served the empire loyally, and becase of that the soldiers came and stole our cattle and chickens and raided our crops when it came time to built that monstrosity of a city in honor of the mad emperor. In order to protect ourselves and our power we hired a group of bandits to serve as our private army, and it served remarkably well in keeping this area safe from the privations of troops when the other generals were in charge. What is to become of this noble house and this noble countryside now?" the Duke said with a wearied but dignified voice.
"Talk on, old Duke. You should know in that wise head of yours that attempting to thwart the will of the emperor, however mad he may be, will lead even a gray beard to an early death. As far as your son, it is easy to tell why he went along with this. A young firebrand, with a noble name, some cash, and a lot of energy to burn will fall prey to the ideas of freedom far too easily. That is why the young must either be burdened with great labors of body or mind or must serve in the military for discipline. An undisciplined aristocratic mind has all sorts of ideas about how much the nobles deserve for being a bunch of inbred high born snobs. I was born into the Van Larken family, and my older brother is the Duke of that House himself, but I am not great because I am a Van Larken, but because I have served the Empire. It is service to the Empire that makes one great, for one can be from any class, high or low, and through service become great and noble. That is what will become of your family and your noble land, old Duke. Your two daughters, full of goodwill and love for the empire, will become great figures in the empire, and to the husband of Cherie, whenever she marries, will fall this grand estate and the title of Duke Longbert. The countryside will thrive under rulers who care for the empire and for the land, and your name will be rememered as the name of the traitors who were redeemed by two sweet girls. At least your legacy will not be like that of the Huntoons, the Dukes of New Paz, who became fertilizer for their fields when they led a revolt and had no one to redeem their name. You will die, but at least something positive will live on," Van Larken said solemnly.
"This is useless, to talk about freedom and dignity to a fool, a younger son of a betsotted house, who is singing for his supper from the Emperor and his cronies. Someone like you does not know a thing about the values which have made this country great," Duke Longbert said with disgust.
"You are right, it is useless to talk about service and loyalty to a treacherous dog. Soldiers take hold of them now and let us complete our mission," Van Larken said to his troops.
Notwithstanding the horrified looks of the Duke and his family, the soldiers marched towards, took hold of, and carried off the three of them, leaving the house and estate untouched. Crowds gathered along the roads all the way to New Russville to see the ducal family carried off to the citidel for the death sentance. It seemed there was only one punishment for crime in the Empire, and it was death, for any felony offens At the citidel, in that massive stone fortress built in the traditional Bravian way (fast, cheap, and strong), the three stood in chains above a taunting populace while their crimes were recited to the audience. After the long recitation of the various treacheries they were guilty of, with some crimes added for embellishment, (for no tyranny can exist unless people who are punished suffer for more crimes than they are guilty of, for all people in a hierarchial society are guilty of some crimes, and even some major crimes), the three Longberts were drawn and quartered and decapitated, their heads joining those of the raiders and Petain along the top of the wall of the fortress in mute but profound testimony to the ruthlessness of the Empire towards those who wanted a type of freedom it did not offer.
After this scene, the construction of New Russville resumed its speedy pace. No matter what one like Duke Longbert may do, one cannot stop progress one does not want merely by trying to fight it with arms, for the forces of change, especially change desired by central authority, fight with stronger weapons and the voice of the ignorant and ill-informed masses. One must present those masses with an alternative viewpoint that can captivate them the same way that novelty can, or at least silence them from their love of change merely for change's sake.
[ Chapter 2 ]
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