Not physically. He jumped up, breaking his chair in the progress, and roared at the nobles present.
"ARE YOU ALL COWARDS? HOW CAN YOU HESITATE SO MUCH? IF YOUR THAT SCARED I WILL GO TO ONE SPOT BY MYSELF AND YOU CAN SPLIT THE REMAINING FORCES INTO TWO GROUPS!"
The nobles directly surrounding prince Amon barely reacted to his eruption. They were probably part of the army and had grown accustomed to the prince's antics. The other nobles however pulled away from the prince in fear as they had done with Tristan.
"Calm down, Amon. We do not hesitate out of cowardice. This decision will affect the lives of countless people and shouldn't be made hastily. I approve of your courage to be willing to enter such a place alone but even you know deep down that you would lose your life."
The emperor was unfazed by his youngest son's temper. He admonished prince Amon but no other consequences followed.
The throne room descended back into silence and everyone waited for the king to speak again. He was the only one who could truly make such a decision.
"Very well, I have decided. We will split into three groups and simultaneously attack all three locations. I myself will take the first location with the royal guards. Amon will take the second one with the army forces present. Gideon, you will lead some of the nobles to take on the third location. Be careful my sons, it would pain me to lose either of you."
I had to smile a little. Prince Sullivan hadn't been mentioned at all. The emperor's last sentence could even be interpreted as an outright insult meaning he didn't care if his eldest died.
We sortied out the room and returned to the prince's mansion. Before we had even reached the mansion gates, prince Gideon jumped into the air and gave a jubilant cheer.
From his perspective, everything had gone perfectly according to plan. With prince Sullivan out of the position of crown prince and out of the nobles' god graces prince Gideon could now put a halt to all expansionist plans.
But first, he would have to prove himself in the upcoming fight. If he failed too much he would lose all he had gained. However, I wasn't worried. After all, I was accompanying him.
"Prince Gideon, if you had the choice between being a heroic prince or a lucky prince what would you prefer."
Once we entered the mansion I presented this question to the prince. Depending on his answer I would direct the dark fog vessels to or away from his location. The choice was his.
"Lord Raven, this answer may not serve your purpose but I would like to be a good prince."
"Good is such a variable word. What do you think makes a prince good?"
"He cares for his people, works to better their lives, and shares some of the burdens that rest on the current ruler's shoulders."
"Wouldn't allowing my presence within the empire contradict those values? You know most of the things I am doing and can't claim to be ignorant of their consequences."
"But what have you done that is so bad for the empire? I have noticed a certain pattern in the creation of those monsters. The victims are all in a position of power and are known to have abused that power. Even the red-eyed monsters are all thugs or people of questionable morality. Few civilians were ever hurt in all those attacks."
"An interesting point of view. I'll see what can be done in order to make your wish a reality. But I advise you to prepare for all eventualities regardless."
"I will. I wouldn't want to betray the trust you've put in me."
Laughing like the fool he sometimes was prince Gideon went to finish his preparations.
The next day we met the nobles and their knights that would be joining prince Gideon's expedition.
"I am glad you could all come today. I know that I am still inexperienced as a commander but I will do my best to lead us to victory. Proceed carefully and never underestimate the opponent."
Prince Gideon held a short speech to motivate the knights and then we descended into the sewers. The darkness and stench proved to be a great obstacle for many nobles. Normally such things would be cleared out via the use of magic but to avoid alerting the enemy prince Gideon forbade the unnecessary use of magic.
We hadn't even reached the planned location yet when the first pawns showed up. They seemed unhindered by the darkness around them as they charged with reckless abandon.
Since we had been discovered, prince Gideon ordered some of the mages to use light spells to allow the knights to see the enemy.
The red-eyed figures crashed into the knights like berserkers and a chaotic melee began. The nobles and their mages were of little help. All of them were using wind spells regardless of their proficiency with it. Dealing with the stench of the sewers was far pressing for them than helping their knights. The feeble wind blades and gusts did little damage to the pawns more to enrage them further.
Fortunately, there were only pawns present. Killing them without the aid of magic was still within the knights' capabilities. After the pawns had been eliminated, prince Gideon spent a good while lecturing the nobles and urging them to take this seriously. At first, the nobles weren't paying much attention but when the prince mentioned informing his father of the matter...
We advanced further into the sewers until we reached a large, open expanse. The hall was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people. Why was something of this size even built as part of the sewers?
Having something like this here was akin to an invitation for shady creatures to take up residence here.
We entered and the mages lit up the entire hall. A multitude of red and purple pairs of eyes immediately focused on us.