Prince Andre was laying in bed, he considered pulling one of the servant girls in with him now that Julianne de Foix was gone. After meeting his fiancé he realized that although Julianne was beautiful and smart, she was lacking all of the things that would make a great Queen. Madeline his fiancé was intensely beautiful but also mature beyond her years and had a sharp aura like a drawn sword ready to kill. His heart started to pound just thinking about her, he knew that for the first time in his life he had looked at a woman not as a plaything but as a fierce and powerful force. Madeline wasn't a woman you used and tossed aside, she was a woman you partnered with and she would strengthen you. He knew that he was in love with her, all he could think of was being able to just speak with her again.
Just as Prince Andre started to drift off to sleep a hand covered his mouth and pressed him into his bed so hard he couldn't move. The candle by his bed lit up and he realized the one holding him down was the man he least wanted to see, Guy de Montfort. He smiled at the Prince and asked in a soft voice, "You really want to go to war with me? Are you sure that's a good idea?" He put his grip of iron around the Prince's throat allowing him to speak he said in the same soft voice, "Call for help and Olivier loses a brother."
Prince Andre spoke in the same soft voice understanding his position, "I admit, I made a mistake. She is worth a hundred Julianne de Foix. I only did this because... I fell in love with her." He closed his eyes and said, "If I were you, I would come to kill me too. But, I am her fiancé, it was only my own mistake that we were temporarily not so..."
Guy's hand tightened and he said, "She is my woman, I won't permit anyone to come between us. If that engagement isn't rescinded, I'll kill you. If that's not enough, I'll kill your father. I am not someone you people can provoke. Gate." A silvery gate appeared and Guy dragged the Prince by the neck through the portal. They stood on a cliff above a campsite for an army that was preparing for war. Thousands of tents, horses, wagons, and soldiers acting as watchmen could be seen below. Guy looked at the Prince and said, "This is the army of Wütendes Menschenreich they are preparing to invade Pays Des Abrutis. Specifically my father's territory. That is an army of four hundred thousand men. My father's army will be decimated if I allow them to attack."
Prince Andre looked at them and said, "Father will mobilize our forces, we can fight them."
Guy laughed and then said, "Fight them? No, you see, they made the mistake of planning to attack my father's men. No one who tries to hurt my people will ever be allowed to live." He raised his hand and said, "Firestorm. Firestorm." The entire field containing the army of Wütendes Menschenreich was engulfed in flame, the cries of men and horses were terrifying. Hundreds of thousands of lives were taken in an instant. Guy looked at Prince Andre and said in a low growl, "Don't think you can measure me by the strength in my hands. The strength in my mind is beyond your comprehension."
Prince Andre shivered in fear, a wet spot formed between his legs, he said in a stuttering mumble, "W-w-wizard! You're a wizard!"
Guy grinned at Prince Andre and said, "Break that engagement and keep your mouth shut or the next time I come for a visit, we'll have a new Royal family. Gate." A silvery portal appeared and Guy tossed Prince Andre through it.
Prince Andre found himself in front of the Palace. His body still shook, the feeling of having escaped from death caused him to go numb as he staggered back to his room. He wasn't just threatened, he was shown a future where he had no options but to comply not just for his own life, but for his entire family. He knew that Guy was dangerous, but he had no idea that he was Kingdom threateningly dangerous.
*****
The King looked at his idiot son and asked, "You expect me to rescind the engagement, that I canceled and then reinstated?"
Prince Andre wouldn't look his father in the eye as he asked, "Yes, please. I realize now that I shouldn't force her to marry me. I want to try and win her heart."
The King rapped his knuckles on the arm of his throne, "It's a marriage. If you want to love, just have a woman on the side. Marriages are political matches to join one house to another. How many times do I need to explain this? We are the Royal family, I need the pairing of you with House Aumont so I can match your sister with the Taillefer boy."
Prince Andre shook and then said, "But she is already engaged to Duke Montfort's son."
The King stood up and yelled, "So what? Did you not hear what I just said? You will marry that girl and that is final. If this Duke's son is in your way, I'll just have him removed." He snapped his fingers and twelve people dressed in black appeared. The King said, "Remove Duke Montfort's son, Guy de Montfort."
They nodded and then vanished into the shadows as quickly as they appeared.
Prince Andre shook in fear and then nearly whispered, "No, father, you may have just doomed us all..."
The King bellowed, "Doomed us? Why, because I killed a simple Duke's son? If I wanted I could kill his entire house with the snap of my fingers!"
Prince Andre shook his head and said, "Guy de Montfort... He's a Wizard. I watched him kill four hundred thousand troops with a couple of words."
The King looked at his son and yelled, "Are you stupid? You must have had a nightmare, the Wizards have been gone for thousands of years. All that remains is a few incomprehensible books. Don't you remember when we had our people investigate them? No one could understand it."
Prince Andre shook his head, "No father, you have to believe me. He really is a wizard, you just started a war with a man who is more powerful than you can imagine!"
Olivier walked in and clapped his hands, he had his usual goofy smile on his face and said, "No, father, Andre is correct about part of that. Guy de Montfort isn't a Wizard, he's a Mage. Like me. Water Balloon." A ball of water formed in his hand and then shot into Andre knocking him to the floor.
The King's eyes opened as wide as he could open them. He said in a shaky voice, "Olivier, just what is the meaning of this?"
Olivier smiled at his father and then said, "Fireball." The ball of fire danced around him in a figure eight pattern as he walked toward the throne, "You really should call back your black knights, Guy is my best friend, but that doesn't mean he will take naked threats of aggression lightly. Our relationship as father and son isn't close enough for me to want to come to your defense. I have already told him that I will look the other way if he needs to take drastic measures to protect himself, his wife Madeline or his family."
The King's eyes followed the ball of fire and he yelled out, "Cecil, recall the black nights, do it now!" Out of the shadows, the pretty girl appeared, she gave a bow and then headed out of the room in a flash. The King stared at his son Olivier and asked, "Do you intend to usurp the throne?"
Olivier laughed, the ball of fire disappeared and casually said, "Run the country? Absolutely not, it's too much work. I would rather play with my friends and enjoy a quiet life in a peaceful Kingdom. It will be a peaceful Kingdom, because my friends and I, the Council of Magic will protect it from aggressors external and internal as long as we live." He grinned at his father and said, "Trust me on this, we will live a long time." He walked around and casually picked up his brother Andre and helped him dry off with a spell, he turned to his father and said, "Each of us has superior, strength, intelligence, stamina, speed. Even if your best assassin tried to attack any one of us it would be like a child trying to attack a fully armored knight with a stick."
The King said in a shaky voice, "But you are my son."
Olivier looked at the King and said, "Did you think I never knew about all the spies around me? Did you think that I didn't see the way you treated me as if I was ready to kill you and steal your power? I don't need you pathetic power, treat me as your son for once in your rotten life. Let me know what it's like to have a father's love instead of treating me like a threat to your existence and maybe I will acknowledge you as my father."
The King said, "Being the King comes before being a husband, or being a father."
Olivier smiled and said, "I understand father, then as the King of a nation then I encourage you to keep your hands off the Aumont and Montfort families. I wouldn't want to see the la Marche family end up like the Chalon family."