A Forest On Fire

The Events of The Nineteenth of March

The events of the nineteenth of March were certainly peculiar ones, for, exactly three weeks after the Chlealivian noble Abraham Volleh went missing and one week after the Governor of Fluie entered Chalin in order to find the whereabouts of the nobleman, the capital of Rousette, Demiue, was raided by a group of rebels from Chalin. An estimated one-hundred and twenty people were injured, but, of that number, only four were sufficiently hurt to die.

Of that one-hundred and twenty was Duchess Charlotte Rousseau herself. She was out amongst the people that day to reassure them that the relations between the two countries was radically improving with the help of the former Chalinian official, Jacques Hannes. He was the leader of Chalin before it became dominantly Rousettean-owned; after war was declared and every single Chalinian official was replaced with Rousettean ones, Jacques remained a pillar of hope for the people, a wall to protect them from invaders, their sword against the savage oppression of the majority. And he emphatically acted the part.

Jacques was there when the Duchess was injured. He was there when they brought her back to the manor, and he was there when she rasped to him that she wanted to set Chalin free, even after the attack. It fascinated him. Why, after what they did? Why, after, again, the people tried to murder yet another leader? Why would she want to set them free? She had complete control, but she did not want it, even faced with proof as to why she would need it. It was then that Jacques knew that she would be the best either of the two countries had. It was then he realized that she needed to live.

Up until this moment, only three that were involved in the attack had perished. Who was the fourth? It was Jacques. He, too, had been injured. He had been there when it happened, after all. However, nobody knew he was injured, for he had been injured internally, not externally. The doctors there had been too preoccupied with saving their own Duchess to bother with checking him, and he died an agonizing week later. He was back in Chalin by then. The people did not know why he had died. They did not know they themselves had killed their only real hope, and, thus, they blamed it on the thing that had caused all of their misery before. They blamed it on Rousette, and the ones who wanted the war to end the most kept it alive.

The predicament for the group of Rousetteans- that is, Maribelle, Elliot, Merlin, and Lydia- was that hostilities between the two nationalities- Chalinian people and Rousettean people- had increased dramatically. The fixture separating the two countries- too large to be a gate, but not quite a wall- was nearly always closed and only traders or merchants were allowed through after a thorough, invading search. Communications between the two countries had stopped long ago. But as the Governor looked down at the bottle in her hand, she knew none of what was happening. She did not know that leaving Chalin would be near equivalent of escaping prison, both in difficulty and in significance.

Loretta gawked at the bottle, which was half-full of a thin, grainy, greyish substance one could almost mistake for gunpowder. Elliot brought the bottle closer to her face but was suddenly stopped when Maribelle cried out, "Elliot! Don't bring that any closer!" She then snatched the bottle away from her, grabbed the cloth which Loretta had used to wipe down tables, and wrapped the bottle tightly in it.

"What's the matter? What is it?" The Governor stood.

"It's a substance called lourierre."

"Why, that means-" Elliot started.

"Corpse powder," Lydia finished, looking proud of herself. "This same substance can also be a liquid. I like to call it 'Dead Man's Wine'. Has a ring to it, don't you think, Governor?"

"How did you know that?" Maribelle immediately grew offensive.

"Yes, Blackwater," Elliot took the noblewoman's side. "How?"