Epilogue 2.2: Phoenix
When asked of his parent’s reaction to his brother Enrico’s death, Prince Garm had only this to say.
I thought I had seen my mother and father truly angry before that point. I was wrong. Terribly wrong. They were angry most of all at themselves. They hated what they saw as complacency, and they would never forget what yielding for love of their son had earned them. They became far stricter. The pain of losing a child made them hesitant to have any more.
By some reports, the emperor and the empress arrived in the heartland of the Great Chu the very next day, where any and all related to the attacks were weeded out to meet excruciatingly painful ends. Whatever the exact date, they did appear extraordinarily fast. As Dras’ named successor, Anneliese received the immediate loyalty of the Veidimen, who sought both protection and vengeance against their enemies in equal measure.
Speaking from personal experience, I can say only that fury was mirrored in all of the people of the Blackgard Union. Mothers and fathers cried as though their own child had been the one to perish. Brothers and sisters raged for vengeance as if to claim it for their own kin. The death of Prince Enrico became characterized as an attack against the Blackgard Union and all that it stood for, and those that had benefitted so immensely reacted as though it was at jeopardy.
General Galamon mobilized the army shortly after emperor and empress arrived, employing the whole of the Blackgard Union’s fleet to transport four of the twelve armies overseas. This fighting force was four times in size that which had invaded the Great Chu before the last calamity, and unlike before, met no concerted opposition at the shores.
Some consider the weeks following the result of grieving parents forced to make decisions that couldn’t possibly be divorced from emotions. Others suggest that things were already too far gone by the time the empress and emperor had arrived. Regardless, the situation escalated very quickly.
Great Chu natives attacked Veidimen enclaves. Blackgard soldiers responded to these attacks more zealously than they should have. These excesses led to yet more attacks, and more attacks demanded more drastic enforcement methods. It was a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle which continued to devolve, even despite interference from Emperor Ji Meng.
This escalation led to the rise of a woman who would come to be known as the Phoenix.
Su Mei, the Phoenix