Chapter 42: Prophet.

Chapter 42 - Prophet.Not waiting for a special invitation, Lee said, "You are looking at the situation from too wide of a perspective. There is no doubt the emperor would involve the army if you start to make big moves. But what if the shot-caller was not the emperor?"

"No one else has the right to make decisions of this scale." Cai shook his head, "Valen Sunwell has always held the empire, and his kingdom before that, in a tight grip."

"That is correct. But none of you have been present in a session of the Imperial Council. The things are a bit peculiar there." Lee said with a mysterious smile, "And people there ... are not that friendly with each other."

The three grownups stared at Lee's complacent expression until Slade was fed up with the suspense.

He said, "Spill it, kiddo! I'll fucking ..."

"You obviously have given this a lot of thought." Cai interrupted him, "Mind sharing?"

"Sorry! My bad!" Lee realized he was a child now, and shouldn't poke the tiger called Slade, "The project Operation of the century is not solely Minister Bishop's idea. She's in it with Newman. The thing is – minister's of justice, Claire Ironfist's, youngest daughter is Newman's child. I'm ninety nine percent positive. Thus Ironfist wholeheartedly despises Bishop. Women, you know? That is – if Newman is still doing Minister Bishop. Is he?"

Lee glanced at Freeda and Cai who both nodded without having a clue what to think. The contents of the speech didn't fit child's talk at all.

"Good!" He continued, "That means, you need Ironfist to recall the guards to the capital, not the emperor. Don't burn the capital, don't attack the imperial forces. Make Ironfist mad. Force her to persuade the emperor to bring back Sunwell's guards who should've been in the capital in the first place!"



"So you suggest ..." Cai was trying to guess Lee's idea.

"Kill Kris Ironfist." Lee plainly said. Listening to his own words was a bit strange since he hadn't seen her in a long time, but then he remembered her drunken image in Pine Village and resolutely continued, "Make it ruthless, public and humiliating. Something to make minister of justice go nuts."

Lee could swear the idea sparkled fires in Slade's eyes, but Cai slowly asked, "And how do we do that?"

"You don't expect a child to teach you how to assassinate someone?" Lee said, feigning confusion, "What can I say is that you'll kill a bunch of birds with one stone. Not only you have a high chance to weaken defenses in Hembsy, you'll dispose of a merciless person who's about to become the next minister of justice, who's probably even more cold-hearted than her mother. You'll humiliate the emperor and his goons, and if it's done properly – your popularity will skyrocket."

"Properly?" Slate repeated absentmindedly.

"Yes!" Lee nodded, "Make it symbolic ... I don't know ... write something on her body for people to see! Use your imagination!"

All this time Freeda watched Lee talk with sparkling eyes and with only one thought. She was certain that the next Prophet was born, except she could never say that out loud to anyone, even the current Prophet who supposedly was her friend.

When it was clear Lee didn't have any other ideas to add, to his great disappointment he was sent to bed. Both men discussed few more things with Freeda and left soon after, and the meeting was not mentioned for the next couple of months.

Lee knew Freeda had nightly meetings, but she never invited him to join, and his instinct of self preservation made him stay in bed even if he woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of hooves. But since her dear grandchild knew of her position, she allowed herself to sometimes tell stories about the latest rebel achievements for their entertainment.

Thus technically Lee was kept in the loop, but he never took it seriously. He continued his practice routines and almost forgot about the events in the barn until one morning, when returning after a lengthy run, he was met by two guests in their kitchen.

Freeda currently served an extra bowl of her signature soup to a bearded elderly man, dressed in gray dregs while Enzo sat next to him. This time though his back was straight, face serious and it seemed he was afraid to blink, to not speak about dozing off.

Lee politely greeted both, but immediately went out again to wash himself. Judging by Enzo's behavior one didn't need to be a genius to realize who the old man was, and Lee immediately felt wary around him. There was no real reason for that, especially with Freeda around, but he still felt uncomfortable.

After partially washing discomfort away with a cool water from the well, Lee returned and greeted the guests one more time. The old man had just finished the second bowl, or maybe it was the third, and was telling Freeda how much he missed her cooking.

Freeda blushed at his words like a teenage girl, but it was understandable considering who the man was.

"Aha! And there is the famous Lee!" The old man turned to Lee the moment he entered the kitchen, "Come, let me take a look at you!"

His eyes were kind and voice deep, even hypnotic, but Lee couldn't help himself and took a step back. While Enzo furrowed his brows in displeasure, the old man didn't mind and chuckled at the reaction.

"Hahaha! I'm I that scary?" He said.

"I'm sorry, Sir!" Lee quickly polled himself together, "It's just that you have pieces of vegetables stuck in your beard and ... I was afraid you'll want to hug me or something ... you see, I just washed myself ..."

The grownups gawked at him for a moment, but then both the old man and Freeda began to hysterically laugh. Enzo did his best to maintain the serious appearance, but it was obvious it wasn't easy.



"Alright, alright!" The old man said after calming down, "You two eat, I'm full!"

Freeda immediately served a bowl to Lee, and Enzo also began to gobble down his soup that was already cold for some time.

The old man curiously watched Lee for a moment, and then said, "Let me tell you a story while you eat. Just to entertain you."

Lee glanced at him, mumbled something that sounded like a thank you! and continued to focus on the bowl in front of him. The old man didn't mind, though.

"In the biggest city in the world lived a very, very mean girl." He began his tale, "Because of her many good people suffered. She tried to play the role of the God, and passed her own judgment on the common folk. Following her command countless men and women, elderly and children were physically abused and even killed. But the God is not blind."

"... He saw what happened and send His Hand to stop the atrocities the girl performed in His name. Following His orders the Hand of God caught the girl, stripped her and hung in the middle of the central square of the city, where under her orders countless people had lost their lives. And the Hand wrote the message of the God on her bare chest for everyone to read – NO SIN WILL GO UNPUNISHED, FOR I SEE EVERYTHING!"

"Good story!" Lee nodded, stretched his hand with an empty bowl towards Freeda, and said with a smile, "Seconds, please!"

While Enzo almost chocked in shock seeing the disrespect, the old man only grinned and continued, "Afterwards a huge storm came upon the biggest city, but no matter how strong the winds were, the good people were safe for God had warned them. The evil people led by the mother of the mean girl wanted revenge no matter what, but God protected His believers, and all were safe. Even when the furious mother summoned thousands upon thousands of soldiers from the surrounding lands, she was only left with fury, disappointment and humiliation."

At this point Lee was full and was forced to listen to the old man who nonchalantly continued. No wonder he could gain such influence and gather so many pious believers.

When he spoke it felt as if he had some kind of invisible power over listeners, and they became willing to follow his lead in the name of whatever nonsense he was preaching.