The Secrets of Ether

Chapter 15: The Lust For Power

That Night – 2230

Ancil Bellerose snuck down the hallway towards his father's room. He reached the door, finding Captain Renard dutifully keeping watch.

"It's time," Ancil whispered.

Renard nodded in response.

"And Amelia?" Ancil asked.

"I took good care of her!" Renard bragged with a childish grin. "Broke her off real-"

"I don't care about the details!" Ancil snapped. "Keep your filthy stories to yourself!"

Renard laughed. "It was dirty business alright! Good thing she's the maid, 'cause she made a mess!"

Ancil's thick eyebrows seemed to furrow into one as he scowled at Renard. "Dumbass! What the hell did I just say!?" Ancil stuck out his hand. "So you got the key?"

"Yes sir," Renard replied, handing Ancil a small, rusty key. "You would have known that if you had listened to my story."

"Tais-toi !"

Ancil snatched the key and forced it into the lock on his father's door. With a bit of wriggling, he got the key to turn and the door unlocked.

"I'll go in. Wait here." Ancil ordered.

The Commandant slept soundly on a king sized bed with an abundance of feather filled pillows. The bed, positioned right under the window seal, did not have a single wrinkle in it's sheets. Ancil stealthy made his way across the room to the side of his father's bed. Once there, Ancil kicked the bedframe, jostling his father awake.

"Gahh...!"

Ancil placed a pillow over his father's head, stifling the scream.

"Be quiet," Ancil said, "because I don't have long.""

Ancil removed the pillow to hear his father's confusion.

"Damn it son! What's the meaning of this!?"

"The meaning..." Ancil paused and looked his father dead in the eyes.

"The meaning is that you're out of time."

Jean Bellerose looked at his son with raised eyebrows. "I'm out of time? Preposterous! What do you mean, Ancil!"

Ancil removed a knife from his coat pocket, all the while his eyes locked on his father. "You don't listen, Father." Ancil pointed the silver knife at his father. "I'm reclaiming this country. I'm taking what is mine, and for that, you have to die."

Jean Bellerose gasped at his son's words, as he slowly slid towards the backboard of the bed. "What the Hell, Ancil! I-"

"I thought I told you to be quiet!" Ancil snapped. "I'm not an ingrate; we can do this quickly, but not if you resist."

Ancil took a step towards his father, who began to slide up the backboard of the bed. "The Commandant Jean Bellerose, cowering like a mouse before a lion," Ancil stated coldly. "It is because of such weakness that I have to relieve you of duty. A conservative political snake who hides behind self righteous policies while struggling to maintain power behind the scenes... You are no Commandant."

"And what of you, Ancil! A man who would strike down his own father to gain power; is that any less cowardly?"

Ancil smiled. "Cowardly? No." Ancil took another step, closing the distance between himself and his father. "I am a true patriot! I will guide this nation to the prosperity that is rightfully hers! I will not yield to Narodnaya or The Celestial Communion like hound at his master's table! I shall finish The Revolution!"

Jean Bellerose frowned, leaving no trace of the fear that once covered his face. "You fool! Your lust for power will be your undoing!"

Ancil laughed, his eyes wide and wild. "Aye? Well not before yours!" Ancil thrust the silver dagger into his father's chest. "Au revoir !"

***

A surprising  development!  Yelena's fear of an unknown tribulation has come to pass! What will be the fallout of Ancil's actions? And what of the visitors approaching the monastery?

Next time: Trapped - Please look forward to it!

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