Chapter 26: Coup

3rd Pov

With the Dulocian War Machine advancing non-stop to take over the territories of the Duchies, chaos began to reign among the Nobles, especially the few that remained from the Central Regions, being only a few small Barons, with the Nobles of the North not wanting to get involved in this war and suffer the same fate as the others.

The War was lost, and all of the Nobility knew that, but because of the Duchess, they were still forced to fight and risk their domains and the entire history of their Noble Houses disappearing from the map simply because a little girl ordered it.

The Count of Amberkeep, John Di Acciai, clearly would not accept this, so when some of the Duchess' Commanders said that they would depose her so that they could surrender to Duloc, ending this senseless war once and for all, he was the first to accept participating in the plan.

He had begun to secretly gather some of his troops to help the Commanders take Drabeuge from Duchess Di Aiello as quickly as possible, as with each passing day, the Dulocians were getting closer and closer to invading the Northern Regions of the Duchies, where not only the Duchess's Domains live, but also where Amberkeep is located.

After days of preparation, the time had finally come to remove the Duchess from Power. This would clearly bring some infamy to any Noble House involved, but the Count did not care. The Northern Nobility would support him if everything went well, as they wanted this war to end soon.

Walking through the corridors of the Duchess's Palace, John Di Acciai was heading to the Throne Room. He had come with his troops to Drabeuge under the pretext of meeting with one of the Commanders and his troops to march to the South, as well as asking the Duchess for supplies for the troops that were going to march.

When he arrived at the Throne Room, he saw the Duchess sitting on her Throne, with several Guards in the Room, with the Comde then walking over to her and kneeling, with his head bowed.

"Mi'lady, I thank you for accepting my request to speak with you," John said calmly as he kept his head bowed, he knew he had to play his part while the Commanders ensured that Drabeuge was taken.

"John Di Acciai, Earl of Amberkeep, I heard you wanted to speak with me about supplies for the troops that will march South to stop the Dulocian Threat, am I correct?" The Duchess said more as a statement than a question, with one eyebrow raised.

While the Duchess was speaking to the Earl of Amberkeep in the city, the Commanders were preparing to take everything at once.

At the Garrison near the Duchess' Castle, one of the Commanders, along with several of his soldiers, entered the place, with the officer in charge of the place going to the commander, wanting to know why he was there.

"Commander William? Why you a-" Before the officer could ask, he soon received a knife in the throat from Commander William, as his soldiers advanced to take the Garrison.

"I'm sorry, but all Loyalists must be killed" William said seriously as he removed the knife from the officer's throat, with the officer then taking a cloth and cleaning the knife.

Meanwhile, at the Gates, a battle was taking place to ensure that the gates remained closed; all the bells had their ropes cut so that no one could sound the alarm so that the city would not know what was happening until it was too late.

Commander David stabbed one of the Guards in the stomach with his sword before pulling it out. He then narrowly dodged an attack from a guard who was coming from behind and kicked him, making the enemy fall. He then plunged his sword into the guard's skull before defending himself from another.

The Commander's soldiers were doing everything they could to push the guards and take the gate levers, suffering several casualties as they attacked like crazy, knowing that if they didn't close the gates, the Coup would be harder to happen or even fail completely.

A braver soldier advanced, cutting several enemies with his sword before reaching one of the levers, pulling with all his strength, causing part of the gates to begin to descend, the iron bars of the gate.

The Guards saw this and charged at the brave soldier, but the other soldiers did not allow it, knowing that they now had a chance to close the gates completely, they then began to attack the Guards more frantically to give the gates time to close completely.

The soldier then pulled the other lever, causing the gates to begin to close slowly, he sighed in relief for having managed to complete the task, but he did not pay attention to the guard who was advancing towards him with a spear, piercing him from behind, making him scream in pain.

However, the soldier was soon avenged by the others, who plunged their swords and hatchets into the guilty enemy while taking up positions to ensure that the levers were protected.

At the other gates, the situation was the same or easier, with the Commanders' soldiers taking and closing the last gates that existed, ensuring that no one could enter or leave the city.

Returning to the Di Aiello Palace, we can see the Count continuing to speak to the Duchess, until the doors to the Throne Room were broken down, with several soldiers entering along with other Commanders, who were already holding swords in their hands.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Said the Duchess as she rose from her Throne in anger, seeing dozens of armed soldiers and archers with crossbows.

"Duchess Maria Di Aiello, you are being deposed for your crimes against the Duchies, for putting us in a losing war against the Lordship of Duloc and sending thousands to the slaughterhouse because of your ambition" Said one of the Commanders as he pointed his sword towards the Duchess, with the Count who was still kneeling standing up.

"I believe the entire city has already been taken?" John asked as he kept his gaze fixed on the Duchess, with him placing his hand on his sword that was sheathed.

"Yes, Mi'lord, we are also dealing with any Loyalists who still have it" Said the Commander as the Duchess showed a face of indignation.

"How could you do this, Count of Amberkeep?! You dare betray the Family that your House has sworn loyalty to for generations?! Will you break ancient treaties?!" The Duchess shouted in anger as she pointed at John, with her Personal Guards already unsheathing their swords.

"Better to live as a traitor than to die alongside my Noble House, I will not let the House of Di Acciai fall because of a spoiled little girl who knows nothing about war!" The Count shouted as he drew his sword and pointed it towards the Duchess. The Personal Guards then tried to attack the Count, only to be killed by the crossbow arrows of the Commander' archers or by himself, leaving only the Duchess, who was now alone in the Throne Room. "Surrender, Maria Di Aiello, if you surrender you will be treated with the respect you deserve before we announce the surrender of the Duchies to Duloc... dare to resist and we will throw you into a dungeon where we will wait for you to die of hunger or thirst, putting an end to the Di Aiello Lineage completely" Said the Count of Amberkeep seriously as he approached the Duchess, who was trying to get away from this man as quickly as possible. "S-s-stop! Stop! I surrender; please don't hurt me," Said the Duchess worriedly, not wanting to die there for the rebels who took Drabeuge and her Palace.

With that, the Count stopped before looking at the soldiers, who wasted no time and soon went to the Duchess.

"Take her to her chambers, make sure she doesn't run away" Said the Count seriously as the soldiers took the Duchess away from the Throne Room.

'It's over...' Thought the Count seriously as he sighed, he now only had to send letters to the other Nobles for them to gather in Drabeuge and then formally declare surrender to Duloc.