The entire room was silent. Nobody knew how to respond to what Alexandra had just said. Ekkehardt wanted to tell her that now wasn’t the time to make a joke like that, but he knew just by looking at her that she was dead serious.

“Uh… I do not wish to be disrespectful, your highness, but I think you should maybe consider the, uh, practical concerns that come with that undertaking,” Schirmer suggested.

“I have. I’m going to go to Nordfell, find the sword, kill the monster, get its blood, and save Alexander from that bitch.” Alexandra proclaimed. Schirmer, who had not had never contemplated such vulgarity coming from the mouth of a woman of royal lineage, had to be fast when coming up with his response.

“Uh… your highness, I greatly agree with the intended outcome of such a course of action, but I’m not sure if you are the best person to take on such a task…”

“I’m the only person who can do this!” Alexandra barked back. Ekkehardt could see something strange in her eyes as her arm shook. He couldn’t tell if it was anger or desperation, but he knew he didn’t like it. Rasmussen tried to say something, but Alexandra stopped him.

“We’ve known how dangerous she was for a long time. You, me, Ekkehardt, Siegfried, Alexander, and many other people. We all knew and we did nothing. If we don’t do something now then everyone in the empire will pay the price for it. She’ll tear down everything that Alexander worked for! You know I’m right! You all know I’m right!” Alexandra spoke with all of the tact of a person begging for their life.

“Alex, you need to calm down…” Ekkehardt began.

“No! I don’t need to calm down! Nobody in the empire should be calm right now! Do you understand what position she’s wormed her way into right now? Do you understand how my dad is going to respond to all of this?” Alexandra snarled.

“I don’t give a damn about Agrippina or the empire right now! The only thing that any of us should care about right now is you! You’re in no condition to even travel to a place like Nordfell, nevermind this monster-killing bullshit. We need to get you to Zollernia-Hohenia,” Ekkehardt responded.

“I ugh…” Alexandra attempted to respond, but she was cut off by a loud hacking cough followed by thick blood leaking from her mouth. She stumbled, only to be caught by Ekkehardt before she could hit the floor.

Alexandra glared at Ekkehardt, struggling to find some valid response to what he had just said. Ekkehardt looked back at her with a mixture of pity and sadness. He then turned to everyone else in the room.

“I think that settles this issue,” Ekkehardt said. Schirmer, Schumacher, Messerschmitt, Kurtzman, and Vilmos all looked completely defeated. The room was silent as everyone tried to figure out how to process the situation. Eventually Schumacher spoke up.

“So, are you sure there is nothing we can do about Prince Alexander?” He bargained. Ekkehardt shook his head.

“I don’t think that’s going to be possible, even if this monster story was true, Alexandra is in no condition to go to Nordfell and hunt it down,” Ekkehardt responded before turning to Rasmusssen, “Isn’t that right doctor?”

Rasumussen had been staring at Alexandra for the past few minutes… or rather he was staring off into the space that Alexandra occupied. His face was blank and his unfocused eyes were wide open.

“Doctor?” Ekkehardt repeated in a slightly louder voice. Suddenly Rasmussen snapped back to reality.

“Yuh-yes?” He responded.

“Are you okay?” Kurtzman asked. Rasmussen nodded and then scratched his head.

“Sorry, what were you saying, Mr. Lowe?” the doctor asked.

“I said that Alexandra is in no condition to go to Nordfell and hunt down a monster,” Ekkehardt repeated. Rasmussen scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath.

“Yes…” Rasmussen began, “...about that… I think that might not be true…”

“What?” Ekkehardt spat out.

“I have a supply of a certain potion that can temporarily boost a person’s strength, agility, and vitality. I have long considered it as a possible treatment for her highness, but I never went through with it. It requires a skilled alchemist, many man hours of labor, and exotic materials to produce. Furthermore, his majesty has instructed me to hoard as much of the potion as possible due to its potential martial applications,” Rasmussen explained.

“Martial applications?” Schirmer asked.

“Yes. You probably know more about this than I do, but the war with the Osminites had a serious impact on the military leadership within the empire. They all saw the potential value a small number of highly trained and highly motivated soldiers could have, especially during a siege. His plan was to have me hoard this substance so that he could distribute it to his soldiers in the event that Königsstadt was besieged again. I’ve only managed to amass about one hundred doses and each dose is only effective for about a day, but sometimes a siege can be won or lost on the backs of a hundred men,” the doctor explained.

“Doctor, are you suggesting that we give Alexandra this stuff and then get her to fight the moonman?” Ekkehardt accused.

“I’m not trying to force her highness to do something she doesn’t want to do, I’m just telling you what is and isn’t feasible. I have the potions and if she wants them then she can take them. If his majesty didn’t want me to divest myself of them, then maybe he should have thought about that before he let his daughter fire me,” Rasmussen responded. Ekekhardt looked at the doctor with a mixture of anger and confusion as he came up with a reply.

“We don’t know if this potion has any side-effects. Furthermore, even if it did restore Alexandra to full health, we would have some serious difficulty getting to Nordfell. Once Agrippina releases her version of events to the world, every member of the Gendarmerie will be looking for us and nobody is able to avoid their suspicion. Aren’t I right, Mr. Schirmer?” Ekkehardt said before turning to the gendarme, who proceeded to inhale with a great degree of caution.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Actually, there is one group of people, other than the nobility, who are able to travel within the empire without getting stopped by the Gendarmerie…” Schirmer answered.

“...other members of the Gendarmerie…” Alexandra said, completing the gendarme’s train of thought.

“Yes,” Schirmer responded, “Nobody in the service is going to probe too deeply into what another gendarme is doing. Everybody else is too scared to ask questions once they see one of our signet rings. Don’t ask me about the details, but I happen to have two Gendarmerie signet rings in my possession that the service doesn’t know about,” Schirmer explained.

“Okay, but even if you had these signet rings, it would still be hard to pass yourself off as an imperial gendarme unless you had one of those dark hooded cloaks that you guys wear. If we wanted to get one of those then we would need to get our hands on the guy who makes them,” Ekkeahardt argued as he became increasingly frustrated.

“I am that guy!” Kurtzman stammered out as he jumped out of his chair.

“What?” Ekkehardt snapped back.

“That's me… I have an exclusive contract to provide cloaks for the Imperial Gendarmerie. I have six of those cloaks sitting in my workshop right now just in case there is an emergency,” the short tailor explained. Ekkehardt sighed.

“Are you guys saying that you would be willing to give me these things if I went to Nordfell?” Alexandra asked.

“If it would help save his highness, I would be willing to give you anything,” Schirmer answered, “I have the rings hidden underneath the floorboards in my house, but if you’re going to use them to help his highness, then they are as good as yours,”

“You can have the cloaks too!” Kurtzman chimed in.

“Wait a minute! You people can't seriously expect her highness to go to Nordfell! Don’t you understand how dangerous that place is?” Eckhardt protested as a look of anxiety began to form on his face.

“Actually, I have a means of addressing that issue,” Messerschmitt announced as he lifted a large bag up and dumped its contents on an empty table near Alexandra. The sound of clanging metal filled the room as the table was covered in a pile of weapons. Axes, swords, maces, and flails were now on display for everyone in the room to see.

“Please take your pick, your highness. Your cause is my cause!” Messerschmitt declared. ‘...also every weapon you take is one less thing I have to carry home…’ he thought.

“Thank you, Mr. Messerschmitt. I don’t have any sort of martial training, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to arm myself. I am going to be a fugitive from this point on after all,” Alexandra said.

“No martial training? I guess that makes sense,” Messerschmitt responded, “Have you ever used any sort of weapon before?” The blacksmith asked. Alexandra scratched her head.

“Well, I used to play with a sling when I was little. I got really good with it, but I never imagined having to hurt someone with it,” Alexandra replied.

“I see… Well, no amount of craftsmanship can fix a lack of training, but I have something that might be a good fit for you…” Messerschmitt said as he reached for something in the pile of weapons. His hand made contact with the black hilt of a sword. The hilt was simultaneously simple and elegant. It was made of a strong, but plain-looking black metal. Furthermore, it lacked any gold gilding or plating or encrusted jewels that were common on swords carried by royalty and nobility. However, the actual shape of the hilt was a genuine work of art. As Messerschmitt handed the weapon to Alexandra, she felt the weapon slot itself into her hand like a key in a lock; like it was made just for her. As she looked more closely, she could see that the weapon’s crossguard was formed in the shape of a two-headed eagle, with each head making up one half of the crossguard.

Alexandra then removed the weapon from its black scabbard to examine its blade.The metal of the blade was immaculate and finely engraved. The engravings depicted five crowns. Alexandra quickly identified the crown closest to the hilt as the imperial crown of Ostermania and the four crowns above it as crowns of the empire’s constituent kingdoms and principalities.

Even as someone who knew little about swords, Alexandra could tell that something about this sword just felt right; like it was an extension of her arm rather than a heavy hunk of metal.

She examined the sword closely one more time, finding a small line of text engraved onto the blade just above the hilt. It read ‘The Eagle’s Shadow’.

“Do you like it?” Messerschmitt asked. Alexandra did not respond.

“It was a sort of prototype or proof-of-concept I made for his highness. I took measurements of his height, weight, arm-span, and hand size in order to get the size and shape of the blade just right. The weight of the blade and hilt was calculated out to a level specificity normally only used by apothecaries so that the sword could be as perfectly balanced as possible. I used only the finest materials and most advanced smithing methods to get the weapon you are holding right now. Once his highness confirmed that the sword was up to his standards, I did the whole thing again, only this time I added gold plating and encrusted emeralds to the hilt and gold inlays to the blade. I called that one ‘The Golden Eagle’,” Messerschmitt explained.

“May I keep it?” Alexandra asked as she sheathed the sword. Messerschmitt nodded.

“Of course,” he responded, “Though I'm not sure how exactly you would carry it. A woman with a sword on her belt is probably going to invite questions,” he added.

“I think you are also forgetting that the Gendarmerie doesn’t have any female gendarmes…” Ekkehardt interjected.

“I think I can work something out…” Alexandra began.

“What is there to work out? Even if you were somehow able to get to Nordfell and strengthen yourself with this potion, you don’t know anything about fighting or survival. Regardless of whether this moonman stuff is real or not, all that’s waiting for you over there is death. I took an oath to protect to protect you, not help you kill yourself. I am not going to take you to Nordfell just to watch you die. Now…” Ekkehardt boomed, only to be cut off by Alexandra.

“Then don’t!” She shouted back, “Go to inform Alena and Cornelius about Agrippina and get out of my way!”

“What?”

“I said that if you aren’t going to help me save Alexander then you are relieved of your oath!” Alexandra shot back. Ekkehardt’s felt as though he had been punched in the chest as wordless air escaped from his open mouth.

“...why are you doing this Alex? You don’t need to do this…” Ekkehardt said. Alexandra could hear the hurt in his voice and see it in his eyes.

“I can’t leave Alexander. Even if there is a one in a thousand chance to save him, I’m going to take it. I have to take it.” Alexandra responded.

“But what about you? We could just go to Alena. You know she’ll take care of us if we can get to her,” Ekkehardt pleaded.

“I know, but that’s not what I want. I’ve had people take care of me for my entire life. I’ve had peasants grow my food, chiefs cook it for me, and servants bring it to me. I’ve had doctors keep me healthy, scribes get me books, and carpenters furnish my tower. I’ve even had you and Alexander protect me. All I’ve ever done is take,” Alexandra explained.

“What are you talking about?”

“Look at my life up until this point, Eike. My existence has always been sustained by other people. Whether it’s their labor, or their taxes, or their time. I’ve taken so much and given nothing back. Not just from you and Alexander, but from everyone. All anyone ever wanted in exchange was for me to married and build another alliance for the empire, but I couldn’t even do that. Now the person I love the most, the person that I owe more than ever, the one who has been a blessing to everyone around him, is in danger. I have to help him or die trying. It’s the only way I can give back everything I’ve taken and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try,” Alexandra explained. Ekkehardt was speechless.

“If you don’t like this, then I can relieve you of your duties; give you back the remainder of your life,” Alexandra said. Ekkehardt didn’t say anything. He just stared at the young woman. After a long silence he spoke up.

“Your sword training starts tomorrow.”