Princess of Castile

By Jennifer Reed

Chapter 14
Alejandra plots against her sister as the repercussions of the nuclear attack begins to occur

Castile had made efforts to spare civilians days prior to their nuclear attack upon Aragon City by issuing warnings. Castile now effectively controlled the country.

Princess Alejandra knew that the attack was coming. She could do nothing to really prevent it from taking place. But she knew it was coming. Alejandra saw the signs that the Empress was preparing for it. She knew what the target of the attack would be. So she prepared for it. She studied and looked at what the weather would be like on the day of the attack and for the days following it. She looked at the wind direction and speed. She prepared decontamination teams and mobilized them for action. She moved them into position to act when the time came.

When the horrifying attack took place, ninety percent of the capital was destroyed. More than a million people were instantly vaporized from the flash and heat. All that was left of them was a shadow on the pavement. Another three million were killed by the blast. Ninety percent of the city and civilian population was destroyed in the attack.

In addition to preparing decon teams to act following the attack, she had given instructions for the cities downwind from the attack to remain in specially built shelters. They were safe when radioactive ash began falling on the cities. There would be no casualties from the fallout because of Alejandra’s preparations.

The decontamination teams were ready to step in following the fallout. They went into the contaminated cities in their heavy suits and began removing the fallout and washing down the streets and buildings. As a result, many of the civilians within the direction of the wind were safe when the fallout began falling from the air on those cities.

The reaction from the United States was immediate and one of horror as they got news of the nuclear attack on Aragon’s Capital. News that over four million people had been killed. The American people and their political leaders were angered by such a brutal attack and they had already been informed of the brutal concentration camps and mass graves.

Any direct military intervention in support of Aragon had been ruled out. There was still anger and many political leaders began strongly reconsidering their relations with Castile and even threatened to close Castile’s embassies and evict Castile’s people. Years of intense diplomatic effort by the Princess had been erased.

There were small voices within the United States, including a high ranking powerful ambassador, saying that there were people within the Empire that opposed the Empress and were taking action against her, at great risk to themselves. That helped a little.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Alejandra had been nearly a hundred miles from the Capital with Natalia and Vivian when they saw the flash of the thermo-nuclear blast above the capital.

Alejandra then said to the General Franco who was standing nearby, “And now, we need to act to avoid a potential war with the United States..

Then she looked at Natalia with a knowing smirk and said, “I heard about what you did with Phoebe and Jessica, and the ambassador from the United States. I am impressed you were able to rescue them. I know what you suffered by their hands. I personally approve of it and I know what you have arranged with Liebermen and the thousands of victims. I agree with you.”

Natalia thought she had been secretive enough that it would not get out. She looked at the Princess with a stricken look on her face. “You know?”

“I have people everywhere and much of the military structure is loyal to me. I led them during the Civil War, not Elsa. She is good with political leadership but has no military training. So I was informed of what you did with Phoebe and having Jessica rescued. Then having them delivered to the American Consulate. I was also informed of your agreement with him regarding the women you plan to rescue.”

Natalia looked very alarmed.

“Natalia, do not worry. I will not report you. I told you, I support you. You have nothing to fear,” said the Princess.

Natalia began to relax. Alejandra said, “And now, we need to make plans. We must act to save our country.”

General Franco said firmly, “I am with you, your highness. You continue to have the loyalty of the army. What shall we do?”

Alejandra smiled and said, “The Empress is coming here shortly. I have a plan.”

Alejandra laid out her plan. “A majority of the military supports me and I know many of them are horrified by this attack. They are not behind the Empress on this. The time to act is now. I have to admit I put a tyrant on the throne. The Empress must be replaced.”

Most of them knew who Alejandra had in mind to replace the Empress. It was her birthright after all.

“The big problem is the Empress’s guards. We must cause suspicion in her present guards and replace them with my handpicked, chosen people. And then we will need someone to get to her and kill her.”

“I thought you would do it,” General Franco said, facing Alejandra.

She shook her head, “I can't be the one to kill Elsa. It simply would not work that way.”

“Why?” asked Franco. “Because you still love her? Because she is your sister?”

Alejandra shook her head. “No, that’s not why. I do love her but I know she is a cruel tyrant now. I would kill her to save the empire if I could. I know it's possible, but then to claim the throne. I doubt the nobles and people would accept the one who killed her claiming the throne. It simply would not work. It would split the empire apart and cause a rebellion and possibly another civil war. Someone else has to do it.”

“Who?” asked General Franco.

Alejandra faced Natalia and said, “Someone very skilled in secrecy. Someone who performed many assassination missions, who has killed many and got out unseen. We know who could do this.”

Natalia backed away. “Me. You want me to assassinate the Empress for you, Alejandra?”

“Yes,” Alejandra smiled. “You are perfect for this. You, who went back into Aragon as a wanted woman and a criminal from justice for escaping from a court ordered gender transformation. You went back, infiltrated the Baron's Estate, and single handedly rounded up all of the guards that night, and executed them slowly and painfully. Then you killed a majority of the Baron's family in front of Constance. Then got out alive. Then you went in again and killed the Judge, the justice of the peace that married you to the Baron, and abused Lisa. You did all of that and got out alive. Are you telling me you could not get into the Empress' personal palace if I help and arrange the right circumstances for you, execute the Empress, and get out alive? After all you did for revenge, you can't do this to save the Empire?”

“I could,” admitted Natalia. “But what would I do then?”

“If we do it right, no one would know who did it. And then I can claim the crown and save the Empire,” Alejandra stated.

Natalia thought for a second.

Alejandra said, “This is the time. The Empress herself is planning a personal visit. She is coming here herself. Aragon has fallen. They have surrendered. Their capital is totally destroyed. Most of the leadership and their military forces were destroyed. The Empress is coming here to tour what is left and meet with us. This is our chance and I will make sure you get your chance. If we succeed, I will be able to do what I can to repair relations with the rest of the world. But first, we must replace the Empress."

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Tens of thousands of Elsa's troops stood rigid at attention. There were columns of experienced military officers standing in front. The officers of all branches and enormous columns of Shadow Corps stood at attention awaiting their Empress. The skies were filled with hundreds of fighter jets flying in formation in Elsa's honor.

Elsa’s personal aircraft was an enlarged Boeing 747 that was painted bright red with the personal seal of the Empress and the house of Primo De Rivera. It came into Aragon's only functioning airport, screeching to a stop at the end of the runway.

The door of the plane opened as the boarding stairs were pushed into place. The crimson uniformed personal guard of the Empress rushed down and stood in two lethal-looking rows on either side awaiting her. She finally appeared at the top of the steps, slowly and deliberately walking down the steps wearing the heavy imperial crown. Elsa was wearing her heavy Tudor gown and petticoats that the women of her house wore for official or special occasions.

Her sister Alejandra wore a similar gown as she stood at the bottom of the steps awaiting her sister. She wore the crown of the princess of the Empire. Vivian Knox and Natalia Hastings stood at either side of the Princess. They all knelt in submission to their Empress when she appeared at the top of the steps and began slowly descending toward them. There was a momentous clasp as all of the troops and officers standing in formation awaiting their Empress stood straighter and more rigid.

Elsa walked down toward her sister and her staff and looked down at Alejandra kneeling with her head bowed in submission. She beckoned to Natalia and Vivian and said in a regal tone very accustomed to authority, “You may rise.”

Alejandra, Vivian and Natalia rose as Empress Elsa walked across examining the rows of troops. She was approaching her car that was ready to begin the tour of the remains of Aragon City. She said, “You have done well, sister. Aragon has fallen. Our troops occupy every major city and town in Aragon. Their perverted leadership is dead, along with their capital. Aragon is ours. Everything has proceeded according to plan.”

“And what of my ex-husband, Jose Cordoba, your majesty,” Alejandra asked. “Is the dog still alive?”

“Yes, she is alive,” Elsa said with a slight giggle. “And if she continues to cooperate in her new life, she will remain alive. The former duke makes a pretty maid for the household cleaning staff. Her reeducation is going well. I was afraid I would have to make an example of him. It is going well so far.”

“And what of my adopted family, Suzan Manning and my sister Katherine.”

“They are safe but Suzan is troubled by some of our actions here,” the Empress replied. “But she understands why we had to be so harsh on the people of Aragon. Were there many casualties in the cities downwind from Aragon from the fallout?”

Alejandra said, “None, your majesty. I knew which cities would be hit by the fallout from Aragon's capital and made sure the population was under cover and indoors when the fallout arrived. Our crews did extensive cleaning of the buildings and streets in those towns and the radiation has dropped to safe levels now.”

“Good thinking, sister,” Elsa replied with a smile. “Of course, I wouldn’t have cared if the filthy dogs lived or died.”

Elsa’s personal guards helped her into a large helicopter and her sister Alejandra went in after her. Natalia and Vivian went in followed by her personal guard.

They flew to the remains of Aragon City. It was a short trip and they saw the ruined city from a great distance. There was still smoke coming from many parts of the city. Many of the large buildings were totally destroyed around the center of the city. The buildings were incinerated down to the foundation that was blackened by the heat from the blast. The destruction was enormous.

The helicopter landed in the center of the charred and destroyed remains of the city. The guards rushed out, followed by the Empress, Natalia, and Vivian. Standing in the center of the destroyed city, they faced numerous blackened and charred foundations of the totally vaporized buildings. Little remained at this distance from the detonation.

There were no bodies or corpses at this distance. No rubble from the buildings. Everything was blackened and charred from the intense heat and fire from the blast. There were shadows from people that were standing or sitting at the instant of the detonation. All that remained from the buildings were the charred foundations.

This is what remained of the large populated city of five million people, and the capital of Aragon. Less than one million remained. They walked around the ruined foundations of the large buildings that served the capital. Each of those large buildings and skyscrapers was where hundreds to thousands of people had been working. They went to face the capital building itself where the president and his administration were at the time of the attack. There was nothing left of the massive capital building.

As the group walked outward from the detonation, they started seeing rubble from the demolished buildings and houses and the charred corpses of bodies. There were thousands of charred bodies. Some fires remained burning in the distance.

Elsa looked proud of the destruction. She said to her companions, “Aragon has fallen. All that remains now is to accept their surrender. We gave them every chance to avoid this and they refused. Let's return to the helicopter and go. Aragon's acting president and General staff are waiting for us.”

Nothing seemed right to Natalia as they went back to Elsa’s helicopter. Elsa’s crimson guards seemed different. And she saw some people in the distance shadowing them and watching from the ruins of the buildings.

As they approached the helicopter, Natalia saw a couple of people from the left and right watching them. The hairs on the back of her neck were tingling and standing. She saw some movement and Natalia yelled at the Empress, “Get down, do not go into the helicopter. It’s a trap.”

She forced her group to duck. Natalia heard something and she saw someone in the distance stand and aim at them. She suddenly saw the person was holding a shoulder fired rocket launcher at them. Natalia screamed to her group to stay down as she hoped they would survive this. She heard it fire and the scream of the missile as it headed for them.

Suddenly, the helicopter behind them totally exploded. They felt the concussion of the blast and heat as it exploded. The fireball rose into the air and pieces of the metal shrapnel flew everywhere. Then they were in a crossfire. They were trapped as what was left of Aragon’s army were firing at them from the ruins of the buildings. Another rocket flew at them but fell short and detonated in front of them.

Alejandra was hit by flying debris and she fell back bleeding. She had served on the frontlines of assaults since she was sixteen. She and Natalia were the ones who could help and Alejandra was out of action. Natalia was their only hope now. She told Vivian and the Empress to stay under cover as she left. She stopped, turning back to tell Vivian that she would try to circle behind their attackers. She was not armed. No one but the Empress’s personal guards could be armed in the presence of the Empress. They stayed under cover as Natalia headed away from them and from the firing. The Empress saw Natalia's actions and wondered if Natalia was abandoning them.

Minutes later, the firing from one of the directions ceased. Natalia had snuck up behind them and taken the four people out. Then she captured one of the RPGs and fired at the other position. Suddenly they all heard heavy artillery fire in the distance. Pinpoint fire descended on the enemy position and took them out of action. Moments after that, Natalia and the Empress saw heavy helicopter gunships hovering overhead firing on the remaining enemy positions. She ran back to the Empress who was just now rising from her cover. Natalia saw two of the personal guards behind the Empress, acting like they were there to protect her. Except, she saw one of the guards drawing his weapon. Natalia was suddenly in the guard's face, taking the guard's weapon and quickly putting the other out of action.

The Empress turned on Natalia demanding an explanation. Natalia responded, “Where were they before? I will tell you, there were your guards over there firing on us. They were in on this attack. Your guards can no longer be trusted, your majesty. They were conspiring to take you out and hit your sister Alejandra.”

Another helicopter landed and medical personnel looked over Alejandra and stopped her bleeding, declaring that she would survive. The wound was not that serious.

Vivian, Natalia, and the Empress were taken to what served now as the capital. Where what was left of the leadership of Aragon was waiting for them to arrive and sign the formal surrender of Aragon.

Natalia and Vivian rode with the Empress and her personal imperial guards to what presently served as the temporary capital of Aragon. What was left of their leadership was supposed to be there waiting for the Empress.

The helicopter flew for a little more than thirty minutes and landed in an open field next to what presently served as the capital of Aragon. Since the Empress’s imperial guards were now under suspicion, Natalia's platoon were presently tasked with the protection of the Empress. They rushed out to secure the area and then Natalia, Vivian, and the Empress walked out. They were escorted by Natalia’s troops into the city and they entered what presently served as the capital building of Aragon. They were let in by the acting president's security and led into a room where the President was, with his staff and what military officers were left. Elsa was escorted into a large meeting room where the president stood with his staff at a large table. There were some formal papers on the table in front of the President.

The President looked depressed and defeated. He stated solemnly, ”Welcome, Empress Elsa, Colonel Hastings, and Archduchess Vivian Knox. We are as interested as you are to end this conflict and establish peace between our two nations.”

“There are no two nations,” said the Empress. “There is only one nation here, Castile. And a province in an act of rebellion and treason. This conflict was started by that and your culture's unwillingness to stop abducting foreign citizens like these women here, Hastings, Vivian, and even my own sister, the Princess of Castile. And your culture's sickness and perversion and the horror you inflicted on so many men and women.”

The president looked hard at Natalia and said in a cool tone, “You are the one that started all of this. If it wasn’t for you.”

Natalia responded, “Actually, the one who started all of this was your sadistic Baron, Anthony Vargos. He abducted me and did this. I simply got free and exposed what he did to me, to the entire world. And your most powerful allies. If it wasn’t for him, this would have never happened. But there was the Duke who abducted the Princess.”

“Fools, “ snapped the acting President. “I warned the courts and the former president that something like this would eventually happen if we continued to allow arranged marriage contracts to be done on foreign nationals. They ignored me and here we are. About to sign an unconditional surrender and end our status as a nation. Empress Elsa, I accept your request and agree to formally surrender to Castile.”

“Will your people, and what is left of your forces and administrates accept your nation's surrender or will they resist.”

A man beside the President spoke, “Our forces agree to surrender. They will accept it and stand down. I can’t speak for all of the cities and provinces of Aragon, but many of the larger cities and governors agree to surrender to Castile. They will not resist.”

“Make sure they don’t resist,” the Empress warned threateningly. “Or we will be forced to deal with them in a very harsh manner.”

‘Yeah,’ The president thought. He knew what happened to the noble families of Leon and Granada during the aftermath of the civil war. And the people in those areas. They might never fully recover. He had no illusions that Castile would be merciful in any way toward their people or noble families. The president looked into Natalia's eyes and he knew that Castile and Natalia would be as merciful to them as they were toward her. There would be no mercy. The nuclear attack showed that already.

The President also knew he had no choice here. The president hoped that by surrendering, it would save some of the lives of his people. He knew that futilely resisting would only cost more lives and invite more savage reprisals against the civilian population. And he knew his nation was effectively defeated. He had nothing left to resist with. This had always been a war they had no chance to win. The leaders hoped against hope that there was some way they could prevail in this war and maintain their independence. Even when the United States made it clear they would not intervene. It was stupid and futile. The president knew he had no choice now.

He looked down at the surrender document and signed his name. His military leaders signed their name, making his nation's surrender official. Aragon’s independence was now over. He looked at what was left of his military and political leadership, and said to them, “We have now surrendered to Castile. Make it clear to your people that they must comply with Castile’s occupation or more people will pay the price.”

Aragon had formally surrendered to the empire of Castile. Castile’s vast army completed the occupation and now, Aragon was under the iron fist of Castile and they could do nothing about it.

Empress Elsa had visited her younger sister as she was recovering from surgery to remove shrapnel from her body following the assassination attempt. Alejandra was slowly recovering from her wounds. She would be out of action for at least a week. Alejandra called for Natalia to help her.

Natalia arrived later that night at Alejandra’s bedside. Alejandra was covered in bandages and she was very weak. It was clear she could not be in the field leading the Shadow Corps now and there were clearly things that needed to be done.

Alejandra weakly looked up at Natalia and said, “Natalia. You know the plan. We have talked about it and you know what is going on.”

Natalia nodded. But she asked, “Yes. But I don’t entirely understand this. You were behind this attack, if I understand it correctly. But you were hurt and now you can't really proceed. What can we do now?”

“I didn’t expect to be hurt this bad,” said the princess laughing weakly. “But it was a serious attack. I knew you could handle it and you defended us and saved the Empress. That was your part in the plan.”

Natalia figured that much.

“And now you are a hero,” The princess smiled. “So now, the rest of the plan falls to you. I am injured and recovering. You must take charge of the Shadow Corps. I will give you this to confirm your new position.”

The princess handed Natalia a new ID, some papers and two large stars to pin to her shoulders.

Natalia looked at the ID, read the papers, and looked at the stars. She looked at the princess and said, “General?”

The princess nodded. “Yes, General. You require that rank to be in charge of the entire Shadow Corps. You are now a Brigadier General. You are in charge now. Your job is now to investigate the Shadow Corps. Find out who was behind the attack, how it was allowed to happen, and who turned and attacked the Empress. Then punish them. Trials will have to take place and you will be in charge of it. General Hastings.”

With her new rank and responsibilities, Natalia threw herself into her new job. She spent over a day going through all of the personnel files for each member of the Shadow Corps. She paid special attention to those during the shift the attack took place. Natalia saw some serious discrepancies for at least three members of that shift. Their names and ID numbers didn’t match and Natalia had the clearance to look through the classified files. But that didn’t help solve this problem.

So she went into the personnel files of Aragon’s service and found that those members were formerly members of Aragon’s special forces. One of the women was actually on Baron Anthony Vargos personal security staff. Natalia remembered that sadistic bitch very well.

How were these people with such shady pasts allowed to become such vital members of the Shadow Corps, personally charged with protecting the Empress? Natalia knew and smiled to herself. It was the Princess herself that set this up, but the blame had to lay with the Shadow Corps commanders and they would have to be blamed and tried.

Natalia was in charge and it was on her to execute this purge. Dozens of powerful members of the Shadow Corps were suddenly surrounded and arrested. They were handcuffed and led into the camps. Natalia replaced them with members of her own squad.

They were all going to be brutally interrogated. Natalia gave special instructions for the interrogation of Greta, the Shadow Corps member that was part of Vargos' personal security staff.

Her secret instructions were carried out and Natalia prepared to meet this sadistic woman after so long. She put on her formal uniform with the dress skirt and black heels and walked into the interrogation room confidently.

Natalia smirked upon seeing the stocky, brutal woman in front of her. She was placed on an elevated pedestal, stuck on it. Natalia’s eyes traveled down the stocky woman’s body, to the wooden pole under the woman’s skirt, keeping her in place.

The woman snapped in anger, “Do you have any idea who I am? You can't treat me this way bitch!”

An icy smile appeared on Natalia’s face as she said softly, “I know exactly who you are, Greta Carlos. An elite member of Aragon’s state security service and formerly a member of Baron Anthony Vargo’s security staff. Currently serving Castile’s Shadow Corps, defending the Empress. Until you tried to assassinate us all. I remember you well, Greta, when you were with the Baron's Security. I was there too if you remember.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Greta said. “I am Sophia, a member of the Shadow Corps. I was never with the Baron or Aragon.”

Greta screamed as her body stiffened and trembled when Natalia pushed a button on the remote controller she held in her hand. “I had that pole you are sitting on specially modified. Now tell me your real name.”

Greta looked defiantly. She screamed even louder this time as Natalia said calmly, “This defiance is stupid. You know that I know who you really are. You may as well tell me what I need to know so tell me your name.”

She looked defeated, impaled on that pole with a large dildo on its tip. She was unable to move very far. It was humiliating. She said to Natalia, “Yes, my name is Greta Garcia. I only adopted the name Sophia Diaz to integrate with Castile’s Shadow Corps. But you know this.”

Natalia smiled, “Now we are making progress. Who else is in the plot with you, Greta?”

She didn’t want to name the others, but since the plot obviously failed and they were either arrested or killed, there was little point in resisting the interrogation now. Greta named the other conspirators in the Shadow Corps that were involved.

Natalia expected those names. The other two members that had attacked them during their tour of Aragon City’s ruins. Their officer wasn’t named, perhaps she really didn’t know. Greta didn’t name the princess herself.

Smirking, Natalia then said, “Now we can address a more sensitive topic. I know you served on the late Baron Anthony Vargos’ security staff. Do you believe that it is right for a person like your Baron to buy and own, then control the very life of another person?”

“That was a marriage and the Baron was the husband. But what does this have to do with anything. It was years ago,” Greta protested, not understanding where this line of questioning was going.

“This topic goes to the very foundation of what is going on now,” Natalia explained. “The Baron's actions laid the groundwork for this war and you took part in it. I know that you personally worked with the Baron and that young man he forced into a marriage. So I am wondering if you believe that a man should have the right to treat his wife like that. Should the bride lose her independence and control over her life like that?”

Greta knew these questions were a trap. “No, but this wasn’t a typical marriage. This marriage was arranged by the bride's family. You may disagree with what was done to that young man. Many people did but we had our laws and our marriage customs. Perhaps we were wrong but I am not to blame for what happens then.”

“You were on the Baron's security staff enforcing his will on that helpless young man. You restrained that man for the Baron, you put him on that pedestal that you now sit uncomfortably on. And you enjoyed that man's humiliation and suffering. You enjoyed your power over that man's life. I know you did.”

Greta wondered how this woman knew so much about that marriage. Some of it was public record. It was easy to know that a marriage like that took place and that she was in the Baron's employ during that same time. It was easy to find out that Greta was personally involved with the control and discipline of that helpless young man. But this woman knew about specific things about the interactions and what occurred during that time.

“Greta, how would you like to be treated like you and the Baron treated that young man?’

“You know the answer and I know you are going to enjoy this.”

Natalia smiled, “I will enjoy this a great deal. You are all in custody for what you did. You will all be tried for this.”

“A trial in which the verdict is already determined as well as the sentence, right?”

“Yes, but you know that,” Natalia snapped. “And you know that you deserve this. All of you do.”

“Spare me. And don’t think I don’t know who you really are. I know and, because of that, I know you will take much pleasure in this. But I also know what you have done to the Baron's family, his sister and even their young children. Sally was only seven years old. Rufus was nine. Shot right in front of their mother. Whoever killed them,” Greta looked into Natalia’s eyes with a knowing smile, “Is an absolute monster. What sort of moral high ground does this person think they have over us now?”

“That person was raped, humiliated and enslaved by those people. Payback is rarely ever pretty or clean. It's often very brutal and cruel. Perhaps the Baron should have thought about that, but he never thought of it, and neither did you so here we are. No one will be spared.”

Natalia turned and walked out as other officers got Greta and put her back in her cell.

The events following the attempted assassination of the Empress and the Princess was very predictable and brutal. Dozens of members of the Shadow Corps and the Empress’s imperial guard were rounded up and arrested, including some very high ranking and experienced members whose only crime was that they were in charge and missed the plot.

The interrogations were very brutal as each member of the plot was put through very long and brutal interrogation sessions with Natalia or other officers. Natalia proved she was very capable of extracting confessions.

Their trials were public show trials and were very one sided. Their verdict was already determined and it was obvious. One by one, each of them was found guilty of treason and put in front of a firing squad and executed.

With much of the Empress’s elite imperial guard under suspicion, they were replaced. Now, the Princess’s plot was moving forward as expected. Natalia had her duty to perform and that time was coming.

During that time, the Princess herself was making her recovery and she was able to move around and walk on her own. She was recovering from her injuries.

She was just as busy during this time. She had set up meetings with many of the powerful lords of the ruling families of the Empire. Those meetings were often very secret as they ironed out their plan for the future. The Princess only revealed as much as she had to, to get their agreement and the plot moved forward.

In the darkness of her room, meeting with the powerful general Francisca Franco the general in charge of the armed forces of Castile. There was no longer any doubt in Franco’s mind. “I will support you, Princess Alejandra. However, I have a question about Natalia.”

The princess smiled a dark sinister smile. “Everything is in place now. The lords agree and will give their support. They see where we are now in regards to the world and agree a change must be made. Everything is in place and the plot is going as we have planned. Now, we wait for Natalia to play her part. She expects to be able to go back to living as a man named Martin after this is all done,” the princess smirked. “She will find that impossible. With something like this, someone must take the blame. She will become very infamous and it will be impossible to go back to Martin then. Natalia will get her reward.”