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Sat Jul 28 17:58:25 CEST 2007

Armitage. Her worst fears had been realized; Gauihu intended to harm his
children. *An evil soul has possessed the king*, she told herself. *I must
release him no matter what the cost. Gauihu would never harm his children or
kill his faithful captain.*

Amz watched Armitage run away and Gauihu stood and screamed for what seemed
an eternity.

Finally he started laughing and returned towards the palace. Amz did not
want to confront him in his current state so she shadowed the king back to
the palace.

He seemed quite pleased about something and seemed to be deep in thought.
Amz was glad she had sent the children on their way already. If something
happened to her Trager would make sure the children reached Callisto.

She waited an hour to let the king settle down a bit, if she the king he
would go to his private chamber and have a drink before making more mad
decrees.

Amz steeled herself an approached the palace, entering, she slowly made her
way up to the kings private chamber in the inner tower.

 "I'm expected" she told the guards and they nodded and let her pass.

Inside she found Gauihu sitting in a chair, his hand seemed to be shaking
uncontrollably.

 "I am here my king" she said.

 The king seemed not to notice, he was muttering under his breath.

 "My lord," Amz said, "is something the matter?"

Gauihu looked up and noticed her, a mad smile came to his lips that gave Amz
chills.

"This is perfect," Gauihu said.

--

"This is perfect," Gauihu said, nodding. Outside, as dawn broke, shouts and
commotion could be heard, followed by a loud crashing sound and screaming.
His eyes didn't turn from Amz's, however; he seemed utterly impervious to
the distraction.

"What's going on?" Amz couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"The peasants are revolting," he said with a sneer. "I do believe they'll
lynch the city guards." He laughed, clasping his hands together like an
excited child. "It's perfect. You don't know, you've never -"

Suddenly his eyes narrowed. "Who sent you? Are you here to kill me?"

"Of course not, my King!" Amz cried out.

Gauihu nodded, slowly. "I thought you were someone else for a moment there.
Say... I have a job for you. I'll give you a substantial reward. Gold,
perhaps? I know, I can award you the Order of Abington..."

Amz said nothing, wisely allowing him to finish his own disordered thoughts.

"Good, good," he said, as if she'd agreed. "Well, I need you to kill
someone. Two someones. Their names are Innana and Altham II." He made a
gesture with his shaking hand, holding it about two feet off the floor.
"About yea high. Spawned from one who used to be a Queen, but who turned
into a cowardly she-demon. You can do this job for me, yes?"

And with that he belted his head back and emptied what was left of a goblet
of wine. The colors around his eyes seemed utterly black-blue. *Oh gods,
when was the last time he slept?* Amz wondered.

"Oh, and one other job. This one's easier," he said, smiling now. He pointed
across the table. "I'd like some more wine. Pour me a cup. You, too, if you
want." He shrugged dismissively.

--

Armitage III managed to lose Gauihu in the street as she traveled back and
forth in the shadow. She didn't know for sure what the future held but she
needed to see that her children were safe.

She finally reached where she left her children and servants. Amz was there
too, so she knew they are safe. But as she looked about, she could tell that
the children and everybody was gone.

Hopefully they were  on their way to Suville; if not they were in the hands
of Gauihu's guards.

--

Amz smiled sweetly. "Of course, my lord," she said.

Amz noticed that the 5 guards in the room were distracted by the noises of
battle coming from outside. It sounded like there was a pitched battle right
out in the palace courtyard. She thought she heard the voice of Athys
screaming trying to rally the palace guard.

She quickly palmed a vial of poison and as she was pouring two cups of wine
she poisoned both.

"It sounds like Athys has things well in hand," she said as she turned and
moved towards the king.

Gauihu sneered. "That traitor will soon taste our ... judge's Wheel," he
cackled gleefully.

"As you wish, my lord," Amz said.

As she was about to hand Gauihu the goblet the thought of what she was about
to do caused her to hesitate for a second. It was a fatal mistake. Suspicion
flared in Gauihu's eyes. He had been a judge for too long and was an expert
at reading body language. As he looked into Amz's eyes she had no doubt he
recognized in her eyes her intention.

It was also at that moment that a stray arrow flew through the tower window
that one of the guards was looking out of into the courtyard below. He
cursed and quickly jumped back, knocking the wine tray and the table behind
him over. The vial that Amz had left on the tray rolled right to the king.
He reached down and picked it up.

 Amz's mind was racing and she was seized by a panic.

 Gauihu looked at the vial and Amz knew she was doomed, he instantly
recognized it as a deadly poison bottled in the Cagilan Empire.

"YOU WHORE!!!!" he screamed and he knocked the goblets out of her hands.

 Amz jumped back, she quickly drew her dagger and lunged at the king, she
plunged the dagger down hard into the neck...

...of one of the guards who had jumped between her and the King. He died
instantly and fell on top of Gauihu. Screaming, Amz tried to reach under him
to stab the king. The other four guards were upon her in an instant and she
found herself fighting for her life. Gauihu was screaming in rage and trying
to move a fully armored guard off of himself.

Realizing it was a lost cause Amz reached to her belt and pulled a bag full
of exploding powder, some stinking powder, and some short nails off, she
threw it into the fire and dived behind a large chair. As she dove one of
the guards drove his sword into her shoulder. Her scream was followed by a
loud bang and a foul stench filled the room along with smoke and the nails
flew in every direction causing a moment of chaos. Amz used the moment to
fly out the door and down the tower stairs as fast as she could go.
She could hear Gauihu screaming that he was injured.

The pain in her shoulder was nearly unbearable. As she ran into the
courtyard she was forced to battle two determined looking peasants. She
killed one quickly but took another wound to her thigh before she could
dispatch the other. All around there was a battle raging. She spotted a
horse and jumped on and fled as fast as she could go out of the hell that
was Riverholm.

She did not know if it was real or her imagination, but she swore she heard
Gauihu screaming until she was well out of the castle.

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Clutching his crown to his
head (as if a strong breeze might blow it off) with one hand, Gauihu rode
through the dark streets, his side aching. His men were with him, of course,
and on the way he would cast dark looks at the local peasants. They looked
darkly back at him. 
 
&quot;Halt!&quot; he cried at once, stopping. He pointed to a group of twenty
peasants. &quot;These are rebels. Kill them all!&quot; 
 
With his order shouted, the Royal Guard set to work. A few escaped in time, and
a few attempted but were cut down. By the end there were 16 bodies bloodying
the street. 
 
The king rode along. After a few hours he came to the place: his wife&#39;s
headquarters. There were banners of both his and her house adorning. His chance
to get some fresh air had really improved his mood. 
 
He smiled as he saw Armitage III. &quot;Ah, my wife... my queen!&quot; And he
reached to embrace her...

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

When Gauihu reached for her,
she slapped his hands away from her body. The looked in her face show how
truely mad she was. 
 
"You toad! You are destroying this
world. You are destroying everything I lived for!" she looked away. "You have destroy hope and future for our
children." 
 
She wanted to pull her sword, but couldn&#39;t. 
 
"My family has dissolved our marriage,
and are now planning on sending Isthar to end your madness." 
 
She looked back toward him. She wanted to run her hand over his face one last
time, but couldn&#39;t. "Run! run for your life!"

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

Gauihu&#39;s look of vague confusion solidified
slowly into one of cold rage. He glared at where she had slapped him. He
sneered, lifting his lips in a feral grin. &quot;So,&quot; he said, and his
voice was full of contained but understated energy. &quot;You are against me,
too. Another betrayal, another sickly coward betrayer.&quot; 
 
Suddenly he slapped her, hard, on the face, and grabbed her right arm with his
left hand. He shook her, once, vigorously. &quot;Where are they? WHERE ARE MY
CHILDREN?&quot;

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

Armitage wrestled to try to
free herself from his grasp. She kicked for his knees and looked at him when he
made his statement. 
 
"They are safe, and away from your
insanity!" she kicked at him. "They
will be free to grow up, and learn to do what right. I will not allow them to
be inflected by your insanity."

<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

He shook her again, annoyed
that she struggled against him. He shoved her hard, knocking her back a few
feet and almost making her topple to the ground. Gauihu stood there, his chest
heaving. 
 
&quot;So you&#39;ll have a time to poison them against me, too? To turn them
against their own father, two more little packages of betrayal?&quot; 
 
He seemed to calm down quickly, his breaths slowing. Never a particularly
athletic man, he was also never out of shape, and his intensity seemed to give
him an energy that clung desperately to him just as he clung desperately still
to power. He paced back and forth, back and forth, and then stopped. 
 
He smiled at her, as if nothing had happened. &quot;No mattter, my love. I&#39;ll
have them eliminated just as I have all the rest. Their innocence won&#39;t save
them.&quot; 
 
And now he made a low choking sound, unidentifiable at first for its rarity,
and then she knew he was actually laughing at her. &quot;Innocence never saved
anyone. Just ask Spiritmonger! Ask him!&quot; His insane laughter grew to an
uproarious, malicious sound which seemed to beat upon her in ways that his open
hand could never have hurt so much.

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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

While Gauihu was choking or
laughing she quickly roll over and crawl a foot or two before jumping up in a
full run. She had to make it to Amz to warn her to take the children out of
town as fast as possible. 
 
As she neared the corner of the building she could heard Gauihu screaming as he
started to follow her.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

He screamed for what seemed
like ages. At first there were words; angry, vile insults. But they quickly
became formless noise, an enraged, primal scream. 
 
Eventually he stopped. Already, his Royal Guards had followed him out, making
sure that no more assassins were coming for their mark, feeling confused about
the general situation but wise enough not to look their king in the eye or inquire
too deeply about his issues. 
 
He didn&#39;t chase the Queen for very long. His side still ached from the poison
of Enthar&#39;s blade. And besides, he realized with a sheepish smile, I&#39;m
the King. Kings don&#39;t run. It just isn&#39;t done. 
 
But they did pace. He paced back and forth some more, breathing in the cool
night air. 
 
Riverholm City at night looked peaceful, but deceptively so. The
shops were all emptied, the mills too, even the Dragon Reborn. The market
places would not be open tomorrow, the bustle of townies on their ordinary
business would not happen. Trade was at a stand-still. Manufactories were
closed. Fields were unattended. 
 
Frightened peasants - Pantheists, many of them, who&#39;d seen their local temple
burned to the ground and their main priest arrested - hid away from view,
dreading the time when Islanders, or Secessionists, or Rebels, or Darkans or
Mad Kings would come to ravage the already-ravaged region. 
 
Still, where he walked, there were people, here and there. They were down in
spirits, clearly. But they bowed humbly when he passed. Gauihu was pleased at
such symbols as this; signs that, as he was still King, things were still going
his way. 
 
Well, those kids aren&#39;t going to grow up too quickly, he reasoned
calmly. I suppose they can be dealt with later. 
 
With that, he turned around and strode back into the old palace of Riverholm
. He had a few things to attend to. Kingdoms don&#39;t
run themselves, after all.

<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Amz was angry.<br>
<br>