"What insolence is this?!" the priest cried angrily, "You dare question the authority of the spirits, princess!"
"Yes," Gesahara answered boldly, "If the spirits, or their so-called representatives, consider that it is wise to crown the Coward who called off the eastern campaigns, his father's life's work! Then yes, I doubt and challenge 'the authority of the spirits'!"
The entire crowd, which had maintained silence, now echoed with murmurs and whispers. The priestess, who seemed to be the most senior of the three, came forward and addressed the princess.
"Have you lost your mind, child?" she asked Gesahara, "Has your time at the frontlines taken a toll on your sanity? You doubt the law of inheritance laid down by your own ancestor, the prophet…"
"Don't you preach the Prophet's commandments to me!" Gesahara snapped back, "The Cerhin are ruled by the strength of warriors, not laws of long dead sages. Just ask highpriest Seranis, your mentor, he was the one who crowned Gessar. Ask him whether my father was the Heir Apparent by law, or did he crush his rivals to do what was right and ensure that the Elaian royalty remained strong."
"You want us to return to those dark days?" the priestess spoke, "You want to see Elaia shed its own blood again, burning the very fields that nourished it, ravaging the towns and people that helped it prosper. You truly have gone mad, princ...."
But the priestess was halted by Vesihara, who raised his empty hand gesturing her to silence. He walked down from the pavilion in Gesahara's direction. After reaching at an arm's length to her, Vesihara stopped.
"Let's talk, sister." he said calmly, "What exactly do you seek to achieve by doing this?"
"A politician to the core, aren't you?" She mocked.
"You want me to take back the decree of peace and restart the campaign." He offered, "Is that what this is about?"
"You very well know what this is about, brother." Gesahara said softly, "You know what I seek."
Vesihara's face grew grim. There was a general sense of confusion in the garden. Half of the people standing behind barely knew what was happening. Shihara had enhanced his hearing with the lifesong in order to grasp the conversation.
Gesahara moved forward, getting closer to her brother. Shihara heard her crush something in her clenched fist and it didn't take him long to catch on to her strategy, though believing it earlier had been somewhat difficult.
"This can go two ways," Gesahara told her brother, "Either I kill you here now, and take up the crown. Your wife and children will be spared in this case, and retain your personal property. Same goes for the highlords loyal to you. Or, I leave now but return with the full might of veteran legions of the East. In that case, well, I will not spare any man, woman and child under your wing. The decision is yours."
Vesihara stared at her blankly with eyes wide open. After a few moments, he composed his face and hardened his expressions. The circlet on his temple seemed to radiate with an eerie aura.
"Dear Gesa, you do realise that I am currently holding two Dreamsung relics." He said, keeping his tone calm. Wisps of smoke began rising from his sceptre, the Pyre Maker, while the circlet radiated an even stronger rhythm. "Threatening me isn't the wisest thing to do at the moment, but then again, you never were the smart one."
"And that's where you are wrong, brother." Gesahara corrected, raising her hand high with an open palm. Lightning crackled and a weapon materialized in her hand. Shihara recognised it immediately. It was Storm's Judgement, the weapon of his uncle, the emperor.
Storm's Judgement, like most weaponized relics, had a bizarre and somewhat impractical construct. With a handle as long as a short spear and made of a strange white wood, the weapon had large circular blades on both ends. The blades ,forged of a glistening black metal, had ancient runes etched on them that seemed sparkle with lightning. Gesahara had reached the fifth, and not the fourth, stage of binding, which gave her access to the elemental essence of the god inside. Shihara had assumed that she was barely capable of carrying the weapon inside her soul, but his cousin had kept her true progression a secret. Even from him.
Vesihara stepped back, raising his sceptre to block Storm's Judgement, which Gesahara swung at him. The clashing of the two released a burst of raw energy that echoed throughout the garden, or even the whole palace. The crowd, that was until now gawking with awe and confusion, panicked. A good number of them, especially foreigners, began rushing towards the exits. Gesahara's troops made way for those eager to leave and marched forward, forming a parameter around the pavilion. Shihara too made his way to the pavilion, and so did Therisi and everyone brave or interested enough to witness the contest. Gesahara's guards prevented the onlookers from getting too close. Shihara and Therisi joined Brenedar, who stood alongside Highlord Jasine and Kinra and Highlady Itana, the other nobles loyal to Gesahara.
Vesihara lay on the ground, pushed back by the force of the blow. TwoTsaedarri charged at Gesahara, swinging their axes from both sides. Gesahara swept forward with blinding speed, meeting the handles of their axes. She rotated Storm's Judgement and sliced off the axes' heads. The Tsaedarr on her right side froze momentarily while the one on the right discarded the axe's handle and drew a dagger, thrusting it Gesahara. She dodged, catching his wrist with her free hand and directing the thrust towards his neck of his comrade,who still stood shocked.
A Tsaedarr, who stood behind by Vesihara's side, raised his great axe and flung it at Gesahara. She swiftly moved the Tsaedarr, whose wrist she clenched, before her and thus intercepted the axe while killing a Tsaedarr in the process. Vesihara stood back up, looking somewhat recovered. The two remaining Tsaedarri stood by his side, their shields raised to protect him.
"You really have become a monster, Gesa!" He said, smashing the base of his sceptre against the floor. A pillar of flames erupted from the floor, raging in Gesahara's direction.
Gesahara stood firm, snapping open her bloodied fist and...conjuring a wall of ice. Shihara was in utter shock, and so was everyone else except Gesahara's soldiers, of course. At that moment, he noticed something that he had missed earlier. Gesahara's gauntlets were mismatched, one being made of bronze while the other was composed of a composite material that Shihara assumed to be some sort of treated bone.
Then he remembered reading similar reports about the siege of Evinkar. It made sense now that such a small city-state was able to resist Elaia for so long. Shihara felt dumb for not realising it earlier. Obviously they had a relic. But even with that advantage, they couldn't outmatch Elaia's legions. Gesahara had defeated and conquered Evinkar, and secretly claimed the possession of two Dreamsung Relics.