[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV
Cintra.
...
...
Madara let Ciri settle into the throne before taking a step and standing beside her. He placed his hands behind his back and looked at the Nilfgaardians, able to see the anger, reluctance, and fear in their eyes.
"As you know..." Madara began to speak, while even Geralt and the others positioned themselves near the throne as well and remained silent. "Your army was completely destroyed by us a few days ago. I imagine you've already received that news," he said calmly.
All the Nilfgaardians immediately widened their eyes, and some recoiled. Some of them knew. They knew the army had been destroyed, and the names Madara Uchiha and Cirilla certainly could not have remained hidden after that.
As for the others, who perhaps had not received the information to prevent panic from spreading, they now widened their eyes as they realized that, if it was true, their relatives at the borders, as well as all of Nilfgaard's military glory, had been destroyed.
There were many people in that army who were supposed to face execution for abusing Cintra over the past few years, but they had ended up being caught in the massacre Madara and Ciri had carried out.
"In any case, the Empire's entire military force has been destroyed. And, as you must also know, the previous night, the Emperor of Nilfgaard was killed. I personally executed him before the entire capital in the south, recounting his crimes against Cintra and the North. You must already know something about that," Madara continued, each word echoing throughout the room.
"I knew that as soon as the news arrived, you would try to flee. Some of you even succeeded, but don't worry about them. They will also be found and dealt with, while you will be judged for the crimes you've been committing against Cintra over the years. Abuse, executions that we consider murder... Every one of you will pay for everything that has been inflicted upon this kingdom." His voice echoed more threateningly, causing some women to whimper and pull their children closer, while the men stared at him with hatred and fear.
"Me varr treystan se Nilfgaard?" [Do you really think you're going to defeat the Empire?], one of the men asked in Nilfgaardian.
He seemed incapable of hearing what Madara had said and understanding what had happened days earlier. Or perhaps he had heard about the monster Madara had summoned and was merely pretending to be ignorant. Madara almost wanted to mock him.
"Words can be saved for later. There won't be an ordinary trial. We're going to judge you as... how can I put it? Terrorists," Madara said, using a term that certainly did not exist in that world.
Even Ciri stared at him in surprise.
"And you must be wondering what that means. Well, a terrorist is a person, group, or criminal organization that uses violence to cause chaos, fear, and death. That is exactly how we will treat the crimes committed against Cintra. And when criminals fall into the category of terrorism, there is no formal trial here."
Madara turned his attention back to the clones. "In any case, start taking them to the dungeons."
The entire group of Nilfgaardians stared at him in horror.
"Even the women and children," Madara said. "They enjoyed our comforts and our luxury in this castle. Let them also become acquainted with its darker parts. Besides, there are many important men who defied the current regime in the dungeons. They will all be freed and brought before us. Those same men learned that even their women were imprisoned in the dungeons, so the wives and children of these nobles will receive the same treatment," Madara said.
He had no pity for them. It was not as though he was going to torture them. They would merely receive a cold and dark place, with nothing but stone beneath them. It certainly was not fatal, just a little suffering after everything they had made Cintra endure.
Ciri said nothing. She was more than satisfied with Madara giving those damned Nilfgaardians such treatment. Her eyes followed the last person being taken away by the clones, carried off one at a time. The dungeons already held a considerable number of them scattered throughout the castle.
Ciri let out a sigh, still leaning back against the throne, before looking at her husband.
"Is it finally over?" she asked cautiously.
"Part of it, yes. But we still have to announce everything to the capital and also capture all the Nilfgaardians scattered throughout the kingdom's fiefs."
Madara knew that not all the sorcerers could go around rescuing every Nilfgaardian noble. They would only retrieve the most important ones. Even so, they had already prevented a good number of them from escaping, since most were in the capital. Perhaps one or two might manage to flee, but Madara would still capture most of them and also hunt down those who escaped later.
"In any case, this will be our first announcement. Cintra is once again under the rule of the old royal family. Your grandmother's throne has now passed to you," Madara said.
Ciri nodded, also noticing the looks Geralt and Yennefer were giving her. Tissaia and Triss were smiling as well, but her eyes remained mainly on Geralt and Yennefer, who stared at her with unmistakable pride.
There were no guards in the palace, all of Cintra's military power had been destroyed, and Madara could only use his clones for that. Soon, he would also have to send those clones into the city as well.
The first thing they did was receive all the prisoners who had been removed from the dungeons. Many stared in disbelief upon seeing Ciri sitting on the throne as they were led before her.
There was even a former royal guard from those days, arriving with a limp. He had suffered quite severe injuries when Nilfgaard conquered the city, fighting alongside the Queen in the final attempt to stop them.
The man was disheveled and bearded, obviously having received little care during those years, and everything indicated that he had spent years in a dungeon... He even had difficulty seeing, his eyes still trying to adjust to the light after being imprisoned in the dungeons for so long.
"Calanthe..." he murmured in astonishment as he was brought before the throne.
He blinked several times as he looked at Ciri, shocked, before realizing that she truly was not Calanthe. Her hair was still platinum like the Queen's, but she was certainly a young woman. That made him immediately realize who stood before him.
"Princess..." he whispered. Then his eyes turned to Madara beside her. "You..." he said, recognizing the boy from so many years ago as well.
"It's been a while, Ser," Madara said. "It took us some time, but we're back."
The man let out a hoarse laugh. "How long has it been... ten years?" he asked.
"Actually, seven."
Ciri stared at the man, who looked at her in astonishment. This was Ser Bellion, a man who had served Varys, the commander of the royal guard. After spending so long imprisoned in the dungeons, he had completely lost track of the years. He had spent seven years in that place, to the point that he could barely walk properly and his eyes even struggled to adjust to the light again.
"I can imagine a lot has happened... Calanthe... I assume she's dead, isn't she?" he asked.
The man had been deprived even of that information and had been captured during the first part of the invasion, falling alongside his sworn brothers. He had spent all those years in a dark corner of the dungeons, receiving only enough food to keep him alive, completely unable to know what was happening outside.
"She died on the day the capital was invaded," Ciri said in a clearly cold tone. "And yes, many things have happened. My husband and I have returned to this kingdom to reclaim what is ours."
The man looked at Madara upon hearing those words and could not help but let out a faint chuckle. "Well... that's good," he admitted in the end.
"I'll have someone take care of you. But we need some information. You must have seen many things, right?"
"Well, for someone who didn't even know whether the Queen was alive or dead until now, I don't know how much help I'd be. But I had eyes and ears. I heard many of them grumbling throughout all these years as they passed through the dungeons. I even started to understand a few words of their language. I ended up becoming something of a listener to the gossip of those damned sons of bitches."
"Good. Let's hear it," Madara said.
He could simply extract the information directly from the man's mind, but he saw no need to do that. Nor did he want to spend time watching the memories of someone who had spent seven years imprisoned unless it was truly necessary, and it was not.
In any case, the dungeons also yielded prisoners who were far more up to date on the kingdom's situation than the former royal guard, who had spent all that time isolated. Madara began asking for information while the servants also arrived in the throne room. Tissaia was put in charge of them to get the castle functioning normally again.
Meanwhile, the people in the city began to notice the silence after all that chaos. Most of the guards were dead, with only a small number having survived, while the streets remained filled with bodies scattered across the ground. The people were still wondering what was happening, and several Nilfgaardian civilians wept over some of the corpses as they recognized relatives among the dead soldiers.
By the end of that day, Madara and Ciri had spoken with some of the Nilfgaardian prisoners, finding knights and nobles among them. Madara also sent out a large number of clones to begin collecting the bodies scattered throughout the city and sealing them inside scrolls.
In any case, they still had to make an announcement.
"We don't have knights to go around making announcements throughout the city. You should use your magic and speak to the entire kingdom," Madara said to Ciri.
"Won't that frighten them?" she asked, a little uncertain.
"You'll have to show them this ability someday, won't you? Besides, the entire continent must already know what you're capable of. It would be good for the people of the capital to know your capabilities beforehand as well. They may be frightened, but they'll also feel safer. Your grandmother was always acclaimed for her strength and courage. You will be for your magic and your powers," he said.
Ciri nodded, concentrating even there, seated on the throne.
She began to glow as she sat on the throne, gathering chaos itself to cast a spell across the entire kingdom. All the energy shifted just as it had when she did it in Novigrad, and the sorceresses were once again surprised by the chaos flowing toward Ciri like an endless river. Yennefer, in particular, was shocked to see this for the first time.
"People of Cintra. My name is Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, granddaughter of the former Queen Calanthe. You may have heard that a person bearing my name was about to marry the late Emperor Emhyr. That is a lie, a tactic by Nilfgaard to try to claim power over Cintra."
Her voice suddenly echoed through the sky. Ciri could always make announcements directly from the throne room to the entire kingdom. Even the capital was not the only place that heard her. All the regions also heard her voice coming from the heavens, frightening most of the people who were outside.
In the capital, everyone stopped to try to understand what was happening and looked toward the castle.
"Now, I have come to inform you that Nilfgaard's army has fallen. The capital of Cintra has been liberated, and everyone responsible for the occupation is being taken prisoner, while the Nilfgaardian civilians will be expelled from the kingdom and sent back to Nilfgaard," Ciri announced, staring into nothingness as she pronounced each word.
Yennefer, Geralt, Ida, Triss, and the others remained around the throne, listening in silence. Watching Ciri as she continued to glow, especially her eyes.
Naturally, the Nilfgaardians would be expelled from Cintra, after all, they were invaders sent by the Empire. It was a matter Madara and Ciri had already discussed before and made their intentions clear about.
"I also inform you that, in addition to the army that attempted to invade the lands of the North having been destroyed, the Emperor of Nilfgaard was also executed the night before last. Nilfgaard no longer holds any power over Cintra, and we are taking control of the kingdom once again."
Ciri took a deep breath before continuing. "As I said, I am the princess and heir to the throne. I am here to take back what is mine and drive out those who invaded our kingdom. I am seeking a new future for Cintra. And I am not alone. Some of you may have already heard that I married Madara Uchiha 4 years ago, who was also part of Cintra's former nobility as a duke. We managed to escape together years ago and had to hide and flee because we did not possess enough power to reclaim this kingdom. We had too many enemies."
She paused briefly once again. "Today, I return with my family. Madara is by my side, and we also have a son, Aren, the current and rightful heir to Cintra. A secret we kept for three years."
Her voice continued echoing throughout the entire region.
"And to all the people of Cintra: come to the capital. Tell me about everything that has happened over these past years. I want to hear from the entire kingdom. I want to hear your grievances, learn what Nilfgaard did to you, and try to help you according to the losses you suffered."
Ciri's expression grew more serious.
"We will judge all the Nilfgaardian nobles in the capital, and we are also arresting those scattered throughout the fiefs, as well as the traitors within our own kingdom. Any execution carried out against the people of Cintra will be treated as murder. Any property or belongings taken will be treated as the crime of looting. And any marriage forced upon a Cintrian woman will be treated as rape."
"Cintra has always been forged by the sword, and it will rise again with the heads of its enemies taken. It took years, but now we are here. We will treat them accordingly."
Ciri's voice resonated throughout the entire kingdom. She finally let out a sigh, losing her concentration as the glow of her magic faded, while she looked at the others, who gave approving nods at her speech.
"You've made a good start, Queen of Cintra," Madara said with a smile.
Ciri found his hand beside her and squeezed it. "Let's clean up this mess and bring Aren here. We'll have our home again," she said firmly.
Madara nodded.
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