The Battle of the Great Houses

[Myroria]

Saint John's Circus. Quite possibly the greatest of all the plazas in Pelagis. The meeting place for Myrorian Catholics all over the world. Every day, thousands come as tourists or pilgrims. The Bishop of Pelagis, more commonly known as the Pope (from the Roman Catholic name which Myroria's religion derived) had his Mass every day at 9:00 AM.

And that's exactly what he wanted.

He was John Henley, an Inglish teenager who moved to Myroria at the age of 11, during the Victorious Revolution. His parents were vehement Royalists, which is why they moved, but John secretly supported Crofts' actions against the government. He was furious when he moved to a conservative monarchy like Myroria. Most of all, he hated the xenophobic, racist, tyrannical Myrorian Catholics.

John's feelings against the government calmed when Fredrika, a particularly more liberal ruler, was appointed as Queen. He, like many Myrorians, fell in love with her; Fredrika was to Myroria as Princess Diana was to England. Then she married Peté, and John once again got pulled into the anarchist society that called themselves the Bloody Republicans. It, like many violent republican societies, was illegal. The Bloody Republicans, however, were the largest and at the forefront of the anarchist gangs, most of which had been stamped out by the well funded and low regulated Prefecture. The Bloody Republicans even lost many key members, which allowed John to reach the top of the gang's hierarchy, soon becoming the bodyguard to it's leader, Björn Clemens. John dropped out of school at the age of 14. His father died a month later of tuberculosis; the first case in over 25 years.

For five months his house was put under quarantine by the direct orders of the Prefecture Commander of Pelagis. He became more and more furious with the government; when his house was lifted from quarantine he quickly developed a plan to kill as many of those "goddamned Catholics" as he could. Over the course of seven months he made four pipe bombs and developed his plan.

He would plant his four pipe bombs on each side of the obelisk in the center of Saint John's Square. He had a five minute period during Mass to do this without being spotted; Myrorian Catholics closed their eyes and hunched over for this time. Once he had placed and set the timer on his pipe bombs he would leave Mass and return to his home. He never expected to ever get caught.


The day had come. John had put four pipe bombs in his backpack, and knew it was a five minute walk to Saint John's Square from his insula. He took back alleyways and side roads, so it took him roughly seven minutes to get there. He waited behind a building for Mass to start. When it did, he snuck into the massed crowd and headed for the front of the crowd, which was gathered in a circle around the obelisk, staying roughly five meters away. When the bowing and eye closing started, he rushed toward the obelisk. He placed his pipe bombs in about three minutes was about to set the timer on the last and most dangerous one: the one facing the Bishop of Pelagis' balcony, and the one where two guards watched the Mass. He set the timer for three minutes and pushed the button. As he turned to leave, he thought he was home free. Then a guard on the exit turned to him as he was leaving.

"Son, what were you putting on that obelisk?"

He pulled a revolver from his sweatshirt pocket and shot the guard, then broke into a sprint. After what seemed like hours sprinting, he heard running. He looked back to see several prefects pushing their way through the crowd and more running after him. Then, at that moment, he heard a resounding boom, and the obelisk began to fall...


It fell, and the crowd standing around it was sprayed with shrapnel, both from the pipe bombs and the cracked stone. The obelisk fell onto the crowd, and killed three people who couldn't get away in time. Ambulance sirens were heard, and the total death count was about 300, all in about 30 minutes. 507 were injured. The prefecture did catch up with John Henley, and brought him to the High Court after a night in jail. He knew that this would be the end of his life.

[Myroria]

Fredrika was cooing Meneldur to sleep when two guards entered the room. After they Roman saluted and were invited to sit down, the guards did so before starting.

"Sire, milady. (The guard bowed his head quickly) There's been a...terrorist attack in Saint John's Square."

"Of what sort?" asked Peté.

A domestic terrorist - I believe named John Henley - set up four pipe bombs around the obelisk in the center of the Square.

"Eru damn him. Were there any leads or suspicious activity by the terrorist before the act? Anything?"

"Well, milord -" the guard opened a binder he had with him.

"Henley was part of the Bloody Republicans for about six months before the attack. He does, however, insist he acted alone, and that the Bloody Republicans did not instruct him to do it."

"The charges against him?"

The guard scanned the binder's contents before continuing.

"Endangering the Bishop of Pelagis, attacking a holy site, the homicide of a Holy Guard, and the homicide of 312 worshippers."

"The court ruled...?"

"Death. Which leads me to the reason I was sent here. Rudolph Vrotrith has called a conference between the Great Houses. His reason was that the penalty of death is not deserved because he was a minor, and he insists that religion played a part in the sentencing. By the Constitution you are obliged to attend."

"Very well. I assume safety will be of the utmost priority. If a terrorist attacked, who knows how many others there are."

"It is, sire. All roads within a mile of the conference building have been closed, and prefects are guarding every inch of the area."

"Ok then. I will pack my things."

[Myroria]

The three Great House banners were arranged, so that the banner of the Great House draped over the entryway for said House. There was an entryway in each side of the circular room, arranged with Quarrovth's banner at the front, and Hanso and Vrotrith's at the other end. In the center of the room was a large table with three thrones arranged around it. Each throne had the crest of a Great House on it. Surrounding the room were bleachers for high ranking members of each House and seats for reporters and journalists.

As Peté walked through the banner, the other two leaders, Archmaster Hanso and Comrade Vrotrith, were already in their seats. Peté sat down in his seat. Alvar Hanso began.

"Well, comrade, care to explain to us why we're here?"

"Yes, tell us, please."

Vrotrith began.

"As I'm sure you know, a recent domestic terrorist attack has occured in Saint John's Square. And, as I'm sure you know, the High Court sentenced the terrorist to death."

"Yes, yes, we all knew this." Peté said.

"What's the big deal then?"

"The boy was only 16!"

"Yes...and your point is?"

"He's a minor! He doesn't deserve to be put to death!"

"Minor or not, comrade, he killed 313 people. Even killing one gets you the death penalty."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing! Don't you have any sympathy for him?"

"I tend not to have sympathy for terrorists.

"You're sentencing a little boy to death! All in the name of religion, which we all know should be kept out of the state anyway!"

"He's hardly a 'little boy'. He was 16, two years away from being an adult, and he knew perfectly well what he was doing. So, comrade, what do you propose we do to him?"

"Rehabilitate him and send him back home."

"Don't make me laugh, Vrotrith! You know as well as I do that if we set him free he'd just go kill more people! Besides, we don't even have a rehabilitation program in effect."

"Then we'll make one. I will NOT stand by and allow a minor to be killed!"

"Don't get cocky, Vrotrith. The High Court's decision will stand. I believe this is the end of this meeting. Alvar, do you have anything to add?"

"No, I agree wholeheartedly with you."

"Then that's that. Good day to you, Vrotrith."

"Wait! You can't just get up and leave!"

"Can't I? Give me one good reason why we shouldn't shoot the boy."

"Because, as my tudor put it, 'Religion is the opiate of the masses'. If it wasn't for the Church's interference and clout in the government, then that boy would be rehabilitated as I said he would."

"Go ahead and think that, Vrotrith. You can't do anything about it; you've already recruited all the angst-filled teenagers and angry workers you could, now your House will just be a stagnant morass. Good day to you, for a second time, Vrotrith."

With that Peté walked back to his limosuine.