Coup d'�tat

October 23rd, 2022 a.t.b.

“--the situation remains stable. No sign of any more opposition forces, sir.” The reporting officer framed on the monitor was a member of the Ninth Battalion under the Knight of Seven’s command. Former Knight, now ruler by right of conquest.

“Continue to maintain a presence on the northern border. I’ll send in the Fifth Battalion to relieve you as soon as they can,” Suzaku said. “Your men did well, Alonzo.”

“Thank you sir!” Alonzo Vastrez saluted smartly and cut communications. To his subordinates, he was still their commanding officer. Suzaku preferred it for military matters. The war was not entirely over for all that they had taken the capital and most strategic outposts. Now came the far harder job of securing their borders and solidifying his hold on an empire that spanned a third of the earth's surface.

“Our allies in Japan are next, I believe.”

Behind him, his rake-thin form backlit by the faint glow of the tactical map, Lelouch sat with his elbow propped on the edge of the table, eyes fixed on his chessboard.

“Do you want to talk to them?”

“Suzaku, they are your allies too.”

“I just thought you might miss--”

“--being a revolutionary mastermind?”

“Talking to familiar people,” Suzaku finished. “You’ve taken to this secretive Knight of Zero business all too well.”

“Have you been talking to Euphie about me behind my back?” Lelouch asked from behind arched black-gloved fingers. Autumn was drawing to a close and here in Pendragon, the weather was turning chilly. Lelouch hated the cold with a vengeance--one more reason for him to avoid going outside his suite of rooms. His days revolved around the meeting rooms and tactical centres. His nights, more often than not, were spent pouring over reports until Suzaku dragged him off to bed. Despite the old joke between them, waking up late had not figured in Lelouch’s schedule in a while.

“She sends her love and tells me that your feet get cold faster than hers do.”

It was enough to make Lelouch colour a little and whatever clever comebacks he had planned would be neatly penned in.

“I told her I knew that from the time when we were kids,” Suzaku said, relentless now that he had an opening. “Which was not helped by the fact that you always gave the extra blankets to Nunally when you thought the two of us were asleep.”

Embarrassed into letting slip his indifferent pose, Lelouch sat ramrod straight and glared at him. “If you have enough time to chit-chat on the secured communication channels--”

“It was you who told me to check in on them while you were busy with the re-ordering of the consulates.” Euphie had a few things to say about “keeping the girls well away from the frontlines” but the fact remained that they were the weakest point for the would-be conquerors of Britannia. So Nunnally and Euphemia remained secretly ensconced in the forgotten shrine on the outskirts of Kyoto, defended by the only two retainers who could be entrusted with their whereabouts. Not even the upper echelons of the former Order of the Black Knights knew. At any rate, the Japanese members of the Order had formerly resigned to reform themselves as the United Japanese Defense Force. All of it had been planned in preparation for the reinstatement of democracy in Japan--which would be announced in a scant few weeks. No doubt their allies in Japan would be pressing for news of it once they confirmed the security of their borders--

The beeping from the switchboard interrupted his thoughts. Even Lelouch looked over with interest as that particular sound signalled a call from their main communications hub.

Toggling the sound-only switch, Suzaku turned to the receiver. “Yes?”

“A courier delivered this to the border guard at Fort Islington yesterday night, sire! Do you want a visual?”

It was a roll of heavy paper--parchment actually--bound with ribbons and heavy wax seals in a leather tube.

“We’ve had it scanned and dusted for bugs and bio-hazards, sire. It appears clean. Should we open it?”

“Have it sent up,” Lelouch said, showing far more animation than he had previously. “Those seals are an amusing conceit.”

As a former Knight, Suzaku had recognised them as well--the Imperial crest and coat of arms of the Royal family.

“What is it?” Suzaku asked as Lelouch unrolled the parchment with little care for the officious seals and ribbons.

“A declaration of the Court in Exile,” Lelouch said, scanning the missive rapidly. “Rejection of the usurper, denial of legitimacy, announcement of the temporary Regent, etcetera. Schneizel has been busy, it seems.”

“Is this Court of theirs a threat?” Of all the royal siblings aligned against them, Schneizel was the largest threat. According to Lelouch, Odysseus would be nothing more than a figurehead if the exiled nobles flocked around him. Schneizel, on the other hand, was a charismatic leader in his own right and one of the few people who could make Lelouch sweat.

“Their court has no legitimacy or any real power, but will be a rallying point for royalists and other disgruntled nobles,” Lelouch said, tossing the papers onto the side table next to the chessboard. He turned to pace the length of the room, his thoughts turning inwards as he mulled over the potential issues. “This is nothing more than a formality. Schneizel wouldn’t waste time on a formality . . . unless--unless he’s buying time for something else.”

Suzaku glanced at the discarded parchment. Someone had taken the time to write it out in flowing calligraphy. It was a lot of work for an elaborate ruse, but then again the Second Prince was a canny one. Instinct told him that it would be good to keep that one in his sights.

“We’ve tracked his movements until the Middle East. He went to ground shortly after. The Second Battalion has been searching for him ever since.”

“Call them back,” Lelouch said decisively. “If Schneizel doesn’t want to be found, we won’t find him by flying up and down the Gulf. We need a better clue as to his whereabouts. I’ve been sifting through his pet projects for the past few years to get a better idea of what’s he’s planning . . .”

Amongst other things. Suzaku also knew that his obsessive search for Empress Marianne’s killer continued. There had been nights when he had woken to the cool glow of a laptop screen and Lelouch’s dark head bent over various security reports and recordings from the past. Now that he had access to all the confidential information in the Palace databases, the intensity of his investigations had increased significantly. Not that he spared himself from the endless meetings and tactical planning sessions--hence the increased frequency of his late night readings.

“You should concentrate on that angle then. Once you’ve eaten lunch,” Suzaku added. Whenever the former prince got too caught up in his research or too engrossed in his plans, he tended to neglect things like meals and sleep.

“If only to make you less of a nursemaid.” Lelouch knew full well that Suzaku was not above using Nunally to get him to cooperate.

“I wouldn’t need to be if only certain Buriki princes would learn to take care of themselves for once.”

Lelouch waved dismissively as he exited the room. “Hai, hai.”

It was like herding cats. Suzaku shook his head tolerantly--it was a task he had taken upon himself. And there were the constant field reports to deal with. He should make that call to Japan now--

“Work, work, work--it might never end, you know?”

C.C., like Arthur, could appear noiselessly in his presence--a mystery that Suzaku no longer questioned after so many years. She currently occupied the same chair Lelouch had vacated.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Suzaku said.

“It’s easier with smaller territories.” Ageless and unchanging, the witch had undoubtedly known a few kings back in the feudal eras. But on the subject of ruling, she had very little to offer.

“You’re worried that he’ll be overstretched,” she stated after a pause. But she did take an interest in his personal affairs from time to time.

“I should let him off the tactical duties . . . and save him for the diplomatic matters.”

“Ah, but you need each other. Even I can see that,” C.C. said, picking up a chess piece from the board. “And you two are formidable together.”

“That’s a change of tune from you,” Suzaku said. “You used to say that--”

“--I said that the Power of Kings would make you lonely. So don’t take for granted what you have now.”

He thought of the two women in the old annex up on the hill in Kyoto. “I won’t.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

May 18th, 2010 a.t.b.

“What is it?” Suzaku asked when Lelouch had paused. They had been walking along the hillside road--Suzaku acting as an unofficial bodyguard for the Britannian prince who would have furiously denied the need for one a few weeks ago. But things had changed recently.

The other boy hesitated. “I thought I saw . . . I thought I saw someone over there. It must have been my imagination--”

Suzaku was instantly on the alert, scanning the surrounding woods. “We should be careful--”

They should be. They ought to be, after the events of the past month.

There was no one there. But like Lelouch, Suzaku had the feeling that someone had been there.

“Come on, let’s get back! Nunally’s waiting for you!”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The presence that had been watching them withdrew.

Her interest had not been piqued like this in a long time. The one she had been looking for was . . . suitable. But the other boy was a surprise she had not anticipated.

* * * * * * * * * * * *