When the girls decided to make their announcement, I was watching from close by, not in the crowd of thousands of Khulmani soldiers, but... close enough to witness everything. By mid-morning, the Khulmani tents and the healing ones, too, had emptied in the snap of a finger. It started with captains gathering their troops, and soon they didn't even need to shout as everyone was coming together to listen, even if they had to stand so far back that they couldn't see the makeshift platform in the front. Of course, I lent them multiple communicators, spreading them amongst the crowd, so whatever Jila was about to say would be sure to spread. I needed this to work... I am not in the mood to deal with a collapsing Mongol empire right in the middle of still dealing with monsters.

To her credit, Jila stood tall on the elevated platform, looking fierce and uncomfortable in equal measure. Heh... If anything, she did inherit the Khan's posturing when he was still... normal. As for the second, petite figure, that was Meyli, standing at her side, looking pale and trembling like a little leaf in a hurricane. Poor girl... No wonder that Rashira was also close by, supporting her with her presence. As for me, I was on the top of one of the redoubts nearby, sitting there like a kid, dangling my leg, sandwiched between Sasha and Yuri. When it was time to start, Jila did not bother with graceful flourishes, introductions, or something similar, trying to act like a princess... She was nothing but herself.

"I will not wear the Gauntlets," she declared, dropping the bombshell on the crowd right from the get-go, making the soldiers audibly gasp as one being. "I am not your Khan! I will not sit upon a throne that I have no desire for... I am not a ruler, and I know nothing about leading anyone! I would just ruin the country... If you want a ruler, choose one who was trained for it. Who knows every fancy thing, be it economics or... whatever else. Eh... I'm just a warrior!"

She was as blunt as a hammer; no wonder that multiple ripples swept through the ranks, coming from shock, then a thousand different emotions. But if anything... There was more confusion among them than anything else. Before shouts would start emerging, Meyli stepped forward, doing her best to sound confident and add more to what Jila just announced.

"My sister, Jila, has fought for you," she began, hers being a bit more rehearsed speech than Jila's, "She did so because she is a daughter of Khulman... And she doesn't want to hurt you. I ask you to realize that not everyone is capable of ruling. Just remember our history! Which is the best for Khulman? A leader who knows she can't lead... and she lets those who can make our home flourish? Or someone who doesn't realise it and drives the country into hell?"

Once again, there was another ripple going through them. I saw a lot of expressions... Some were disappointed, some were contemplating... many were unsure of it all. One thing was certain: by now, three rumors were spreading amongst them, one of which was started by us. I had to counter the other two, all of them talking about how the Khan fled... So now there was another one, saying that they saw the Khan ride out... into the monster's incoming tide. Was it effective? Yes and no. There was no direct source for it. But as always... 'someone' saw it. Who was that person? Someone here... or there... or somewhere. It was chaos, everyone was fighting and dying, and who could say what they had seen? Everything was a blur for many anyway...

"If Khulman is threatened, I will return," Jila said, declaring that although she would sit and lead Khulman, she would protect it if destruction threatened her home. "I do believe that the Gauntlets do not make a king into a better king; they make a warrior into a greater warrior! It is the artifacts of the God of War... But, after today, there should be no more war, not against our own kind! I can be your champion... But I can't be your Khan."

I was sure that those lines were written for her. Rashira? Mhm... It felt more like Seltana. Hm. Well, at least, it had some resonance with the people. There was still a split, as far as I could sense, but... not as big as before. There were more cheers than boos...

"They did well," Sasha muttered as the big announcement was coming to its end.

"For now," I said, leaning back a little, looking at the crowd and the sisters on the platform, "Well, it's not going to be enough if the men decide they want a different truth, so... We still need to keep pushing them a little."

"Politics..." Sasha's smile dimmed a little while speaking. I knew she didn't like this part of ruling, but she didn't need to worry about it... That was my part. "You'll have to smooth the edges a bit, Leon."

"I'm trying," I chuckled, "We are already setting the narrative."

"So those rumors..." She narrowed her eyes at me, then turned towards Yuri, "Should've known."

"Rumors are just rumors~!" Yuri giggled, winking at her, "What can you do about them? Practically nothing."

"But we have a phase two." I shrugged, as there was news that, for now, only I was privy to. And everyone who left with the Excalibur...

"We do?" The two of them looked at me, then at each other, leaning closer, wanting to hear more, especially since I had brought it up.

"Arthur and Galahad sent word," I began, "that they had found him and... The thing is, the Khan is dead. Pion and Bakhi are en route as we speak, and they will bring the body back, without the army noticing. We will have to head out tonight and take a detour to pick them up."

"Oh?" Yuri hummed, tilting her head, pursing her lips, "I think I know what you are planning to do. Smart."

"How did he die?" Sasha asked, curious, keeping her voice to a whisper.

"He was found hanging from a branch," I said bluntly, "Pretty anticlimactic if you ask me. Arthur says he went mad because there were claw marks on his body, which were self-inflicted. He'd lost it after the Gauntlets left him."

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"Phew!" Yuri wiped her forehead in an exaggerated motion, "Good thing I am NOT that crazy!"

"You just clawed others, hm?" Sasha joked, making Yuri nod proudly and sticking out her tongue.

"As I said, phase two." I interrupted them in the middle, "We will have to make his end look like the result of his final stand in the midst of the battle. There are still too many voices that repeat the sad truth: that he fled. We cannot, must not, let the Khulmani belief in their ruler crumble into anarchy. So we will do some... CIA maneuvers."

"See ya what?" Yuri asked, confused, looking at Sasha, but she had no idea of it either.

"The Central Intelligence of Avalon." I laughed, "Aaaanyway. Short story shorter: Wars can be fought with soldiers and with words. I prefer the latter. We have the influence and the prestige, which is now, as far as I'm concerned, international. What we say carries weight, and I'd like us to use it and steer things towards stability. So if I need to lie and make them believe that their ruler was such a great guy, I will. He should thank me in the afterlife for it...

"Hah, he will have to wait for that!" Sasha snorted, folding her arms before her chest, "We can choose a few of our soldiers to plant well... him. There is a lot that still needs sweeping; it's a mess out there, as we mostly focused on our side of the river and on saving the injured."

"Do you want me to lead this?" Yuri asked, making me nod.

"But we should make it so that it is Khulmani troops, helping with the cleanup, who are the ones finding him."

"Easy." She chuckled, "Will you tell the girls?"

"I don't know..." I muttered, looking at them coming down the platform, "Maybe not. No... I won't. The less people know, the better. Yuri, I want you to prepare the scene in a way that presents his death as plausible as possible. This includes his wounds, the defensive signs on the ground, and an almost complete story of a last stand that would persuade the Khulman camps. Make it believable at a glance."

"Sure thing, Boss!" She saluted, licking her lips.

"But, make it not theatrical to a fault," Sasha interrupted us, "Just detailed enough to close the mouths of those who would try to stir up trouble..."

... .... ......

The Khan's body came back under the cover of that night. We left in the middle of the afternoon, heading towards the still-burning corpse of the Guardian, then took a detour from there with the Camelot, staying out of the eyes of any of the Khulmani troops. When we picked them up, Pion was first through the Camelot's ramp, and he gave me a proper salute before Bakhi followed suit, way too stiff with every step. I could see why, because between them was a bundle on a stretcher...

"This way," I said, not standing on ceremony, leading them in, and letting them have something to drink and eat before we returned to the future crime scene. There, Yuri and her chosen elites waited for us in the dark, the landscape already half-prepared. I didn't force Bakhi to come down and help us, but surprisingly, he was there, wanting to see this work out, not for the Khan, but for his country, understanding why we were doing it.

"Put him there," Yuri pointed at the ground as the body was brought forward, "There... that should be good. We will have to lightly cover his body. I have already prepared the other corpses and the bone remains... Then we will smooth out the prints."

Bakhi only nodded, helping but remaining silent and watching as his cowardly Khan's death was being rewritten into something... more fitting. As for me, I simply watched, thinking about what to do if this doesn't work out as well as I hope it will. The worst-case scenario would be intervening in Khulman's internal affairs... No. That would be too much. So... If Khulman collapses, I will do nothing. I will make sure nobody does anything, even if the girls ask me to. Maybe some would even be happy, but... The collapse of a powerhouse in these parts of the world... Now? Eh. Let's not think about it.

As for the scene? By dawn, the work was done, and we were gone before anyone could see us.

The site looked convincing even to my eyes, yet I knew precisely which parts had been manufactured. The Khan was put to rest amid snapped spears and a handful of shattered bones and other soldiers. Around him, the battlefield told his 'desperate' struggle, fighting tooth and nail against monsters until his strength was spent, and then he was slain by the claws of the creatures he was battling with.

It didn't take long to find him, as we ensured that his people were given this part of the battleground to start the cleanup. The reaction was immediate... Kind of. At first, they didn't even recognize him, but after bringing the corpse back, more and more came forward to confirm who they had found. It was an ugly job, but it got the work done... Well, for now. I just hoped it would be enough.

Just as I was thinking about it, back aboard the Camelot, reading Yuri's report on how our rumors were now taken even more seriously, a visitor came to me that evening. It was Seltana, coming to meet me in private, alone, without any of her sisters.

"Sovereign." She bowed, looking at me, hesitating before speaking her mind, "I have... a serious question. About my Father's reappearance."

"You saw the discovery," I said, gesturing for her to sit, "I just read about that you went to check where they found him, and now you have thoughts." I continued, leaning back in my chair within the war room, my fingers tapping the reports I was just reading.

"Yes..." She nodded as she sat down, "It was too neat."

"Hm?" I smiled faintly at her, "Too neat?"

"The pikes, the burn marks, the way the body was laid down… It was... perfect. A scene like that is never perfect." She folded her hands before her. "Did Avalon have a hand in this?"

For a moment, I considered lying. A smooth denial might have ended it there... But Seltana was not a fool, and honestly? Her mind was sharp. She would put two and two together anyway.

"Yes," I declared.

"..." Her face didn't change, but I saw how her shoulders eased, as though my confirmation lifted some weights from her back, "Why?"

"Do you really want to know?" I asked, and because she nodded, I told her everything, including how her father had gone completely mad and hung himself. When I was done, she just sat there, eyes moving like reading a report before finally stopping and looking back up at me.

"Haaaah..." She exhaled, her composure returning, "It was the right choice." Her lips curved into the smallest, saddest smile while saying it, "If they knew their Khan died clawing himself in frenzy, escaping instead of dying an honorable death, something he always shouted from every tower we have... they would tear Khulman apart and every one of my bloodline, immediate or not, would be put to the sword... Most likely... I don't think even Jila or Meyli's presence would have any effect, besides the fact that they would be spared... It would be pandemonium."

"My fears exactly," I nodded slowly. "Then you see why it had to be done."

"I do." She hesitated, then straightened her shoulders once again, "And I see more than just that. Jila has already renounced her Khulmani ties..." She drew a steadying breath as he came to a decision, "And I no longer wish to pretend my future lies where I grew up. I would like to do the same, Sovereign, and pledge myself to Avalon. If you will have me."

"Avalon is open to you, just as it was open for your sister," I said without much pause, smiling at her, "But if we make this official... I will have to send you to school and make you climb the ladder of being an officer in my army, if that is the career you wish to pursue."

"Of course." She stood up, saluting in her current uniform, looking dead serious, "I wouldn't have it any other way... My Sovereign."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.