THE INDEPENDENCE OF DRACHIA'S CITIES
"Prince Oriese, what are you doing? This is a usurpation", Minister Holden screamed at me.
"Prince Raslee is accused of collaborating with the demons. We will arrest the whole household of the prince for Inquisition including all his ministers", I told the minister.
"Prince Oriese, you cannot do this to us. We are the royal family of Drachia kingdom", Prince Raslee protested to me.
"The Church is taking over the administration of Tarah city temporarily and many other cities in Drachia kingdom. The incompetence of the royal family caused the fall of Maher city to the demons. Prince Oriese is only assisting us", Apostle Matthieu replied to the prince.
"What proof do you have that I colluded with the demons?" Prince Raslee asked me.
"Ever since you colluded with the demons to murder Prince Stamatis and Duke Kiriakos in Eloora city, we have been monitoring your activities. We have collected enough evidence of your various correspondences with the demons to find you guilty", I told the prince.
"Lies, all lies. I am very careful with my correspondences you will never find anything", Prince Raslee told us before he realized he misspoke.
"Is that a confession?" I asked and the prince kept quiet.
After we returned from Eloora city, I had the Temple of Solomon spies to keep watch over Prince Raslee and his men in secret. They have been in contact with the demon army ever since in secret.
However, Prince Raslee was extremely careful, and we found no concrete evidence of his secret collusion with the demon army.
"Oriese, you know that evidence you have against me is false", Prince Raslee said to me after the apostle walked away.
"Yes, I made all the evidence up", I replied to him to his shock about my confession.
"How can you make a false accusation against me? This is so unfair and unreasonable", he asked me.
"Well, firstly. The accusations against you are true. It is just that we don't have any good evidence", I replied to him.
"Then you must release me immediately. You cannot arrest me, a prince of the king without proof", Prince Raslee told me.
"Well, Raslee, you were already guilty when I gave your name to the apostle. The proof doesn't matter at all. Nobody and definitely not the apostles will ask to look into the veracity of those evidence we have against you", I replied to him.
"I don't believe you. The Church will find me innocent, and I will skin you alive then", he replied to me.
"That is something you got wrong about the church. If we don't come up with a reason to arrest you, the church will come up with something else. Do you know why?" I asked him.
"Impossible. Why will the Church go against our royal family?" Prince Raslee asked me.
"Because the king refused to pay the Church tithes when they fought a war with the demons. Now that they have won, and returned, the first to fall in Drachia kingdom will be the king", I replied to him.
"The people will be angry with your usurpation?" Minister Holden shouted at me.
"They may be at first but after they read my newspaper and columns after columns of all the scandals and injustice done by the royal household in the city, they will think twice about supporting the royal family. In fact, they will root for your removal. That is the power of the media", I replied to the minister.
"Fake news", Prince Raslee shouted to me to protest.
"The Truth is what my newspaper says", I replied to him.
The Church brought Prince Raslee and his ministers away in chains after our candid conversation.
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"What should we do about the administration of Tarah city now without the prince? The Church usually does not want to interfere with the running of cities", Apostle Matthieu complained to me.
"Well, we can't have the stingy King appoint another administrator to Tarah city for sure", I said to the apostle.
The apostle thought about it and more or less agreed with me.
"Yes, despite our generosity in leaving the administration of the kingdom to King Lavrentios, he withheld our tithes during times of war. That is unforgivable", Aposte Matthieu told me.
"Then we should make sure the administration of the city does not return to Eloora", I suggested to the apostle.
"But what can we do? Tarah city is still under the jurisdiction of the Drachia kingdom?" the apostle asked me.
"We shall declare Tarah city an independent protectorate of the church. The Church just needs to appoint someone trustworthy to manage the city and collect tithes for Elis", I replied to him of my suggestion.
"Will the king of Drachia allow this?" Apostle Matthieu asked me in surprise and also interest.
"Well, he has no choice now. Half of the noble families who supported him are already being locked up. The remaining nobles, Mithridocus, Appolokis and Demetriodes are supporting the efforts of the church. The king of Drachia has lost the right to rule when he refused to submit to the will of the church", I told him.
"That is something to ponder about", the apostle said to me.
"There are many other cities in Drachia that need liberation from the tyranny of the king. If the church allows it, more cities in Drachia will seek independence from the Court in Eloora and ask to return to the grace of the Church", I told the apostle.
"Is that true?" Matthieu asked me as he stroke his imaginary beard.
"That is so true. With the Church's ordainment, almost every city in Drachia would become protectorates tomorrow save Eloora city", I told the apostle.
"This will be a major undertaking for the Church", Matthieu said to me.
"For the sake of the people and worshippers of the Church, the Church must take up this responsibility. This is the will of people and also of Elis. The Mithridocus family will make sure the Will of the Church is obtained", I said to the apostle.
The apostle thought long and hard about what I told him.
"Good, the matter with the independence of the other cities aside let's get back to the matter of Tarah city. Would you be interested to become the new Governor of Tarah city, Prince Oriese?" Apostle Matthieu asked me.
"I do have a recommendation if you will consider it", I replied to him.
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