Chapter 576: Chapter 560 – When the Mantis Stalks the Cicada…

“Some people would do everything for power, even if it meant killing their own family or loved ones. For them, clearly their ambitions are worth more than anything else in the world. Avoid getting too close to some people, if possible.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

After the Khan’s corpse was found in his chamber, it only took two days for Abuda to fall into chaos and conflict.

 

The Khan had yet to name his heir officially, due to his desire to make his youngest son as his heir despite that going against tradition. As a result, his ministers were left with two of the three princes claiming that they were clearly their father’s choice for heir. The staunch traditionalists and old ministers all favored the eldest prince, but the Khan’s most trusted ministers flocked to the youngest prince instead.

 

As for the second prince, he was apparently horribly distressed by the feud that threatened to swallow his family whole. The man was always a meek one with a passion for arts rather than ambitions. Neither of his brothers considered him as a rival, and while the Khan disliked his second son’s proclivity and weak temperament, he had just let it be, as he thought he already had good sons anyway.

 

Clearly, the distress the second prince had gone through thanks to the rapidly unraveling situation was too much for him to take. He was found hanging from the eaves of his bedroom two days after the Khan’s body was discovered, probably unable to take in the dire future where his family would murder each other to inherit their father’s nation.

 

Ironically, his death ended up being the last straw that broke the camel’s back and caused his remaining siblings to descend into full-blown hostility against one another. 

 

Since the majority of Sishfa’s armed forces were housed within Abuda itself, the fighting never really spread outside the capital city, to the relief of the rest of the Khanate’s citizens. The army quickly split amongst lines of loyalty as some units declared themselves for the first prince and others did so for the third prince. 

 

Words were exchanged, but it was evident that it failed to reach any satisfactory conclusion as the civil war started later in the day the second prince’s body was discovered. Soldiers loyal to the third prince seized the Khan’s palace and the area surrounding it with the help from the ministers closest to the Khan, while the first prince barely escaped with his life and took refuge in the outer city with his soldiers.

 

The city was instantly split into two, with the third prince in control of the inner city being besieged by the first prince who controlled the outer city. Fighting took place on the streets day and night, neither side heeded nor cared about the civilians who were caught up in their struggle. Those civilians unfortunate enough to be caught up in the fighting often perished as collateral damage.

 

Some of the merchants that lived in the city already evacuated the moment they caught word of the Khan’s death, as they realized almost immediately that the princes would likely be locked in a struggle for supremacy right afterwards. Naturally, their leaving the city was noticed, which was something Aziza and her people used to leave the city without attracting undue suspicion.

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To anyone that watched, they’d just look like another group of merchants leaving out of worry for their safety.

 

Of course, shortly after they left the city, Aziza – along with Aideen’s trio who went along for the ride – went to her Caracanese contacts. Together they quickly hashed out what to do while the civil war between the princes raged and turned the capital into a warzone. In the end, though, they chose to take things a bit more passively.

 

Aziza sent her trusted people out to spread the news of the ongoing civil war in the capital throughout the Khanate. Most only relayed the news in the form of rumor and hearsay, which made the people question what was going on, and caused some unrest to foment from their worries. That served as a foundation for what the few others did.

 

They incited local leaders, be they charismatic village leaders or strongmen that staked their claim over an area’s underworld, and made them see the situation for what it was: A golden opportunity to get out from underneath the Khan’s thumb. An opportunity that would likely be forever lost if not taken, and thus one that caused them to act out.

 

Even so, the people they incited played things cleverly and instead used the distraction the civil war is causing for the princes to quietly and discreetly build up their forces. One way or another, one of the princes would emerge triumphant from the conflict, but the fed-up people had no intention of being under their thumb anymore.

 

While an open rebellion might have caused the princes to cooperate in order to fight against a common enemy and thus undesired since the princes still controlled the majority of the Khanate’s armed forces, a discreet one was far more insidious. Quietly, without the knowledge of the warring princes, people who were still loyal to them were snuffed out one after another until all that was left were the ones in the capital city with them.

 

Outwardly nothing unseemly seemed to have happened, and things looked normal, if the people were rather agitated, but that was to be expected given the infighting. Secretly, however, weapons were being made and stockpiled by the peasants, who eagerly watched the battle in the capital like hawks that eyed their prey. They just waited for the right moment.

 

Unbeknownst to the princes, they essentially fought each other over an empty title. While they were busy trying to stake their claim on the Khanate’s throne, their downtrodden people prepared a very warm welcome for whoever emerged as the victor of the civil war. A warm welcome that would likely involve a public execution, at that.

 

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