THUMP!
The sound of raised voices reached his ears from outside and his heart suddenly began pounding, racing alongside his now awakening mind. Something foul was afoot and his castle was in grave danger. Refusing to allow his unease to affect his demeanor, Edgar jumped out of bed, threw on his shirt quickly, shifted his feet into his hide boots and ran out into the courtyard of the castle carrying his silver crossbow and quiver. The sight that greeted him took his breath away.
Upon the rooftops of the castle battlements were huge, blazing tongues of fire, sending noxious clouds of black smoke up into the early morning air. The scent of scorched thatching and burning oil wafted through the entire courtyard choking the inhabitants of the castle who were now milling out into the courtyard. Edgar stood there in shock at this, unable to move a single muscle. Several guards ran quickly between the water stockpiles on the leftmost edge of the courtyard and the raging infernos that were now spreading rapidly over the outer walls of the castle, trying futilely to curb the fire�s progression.
Even as he stood there, another large ball of flames struck the side of his own room, thudding loudly against the stone framework of the walls and exploding across the courtyard. Two of the guards who had been unfortunate enough to be under the eruption were engulfed in burning oil and had to be doused quickly with several buckets of water before the flames were controlled.
Edgar�s anger flared as intensely as the blaze that developed before him, growing exponentially with each passing moment as he stood mesmerized, unable to respond for a few seconds more. Just as he was about to spring into action to initiate the defensive systems of the castle, he heard a loud commotion behind him and turned to see Kefka and his troopers storming into the castle. The Imperial sentinels strode before the tall, dainty Prime Minister, securing the castle courtyard with force as necessary and ignoring the flames that blossomed about them.
Kefka had a sickening smile pasted upon his horrid face, grotesque and irreverent as its owner. He walked across the courtyard slowly, inspecting the handiwork of his unannounced attack as a Sunday morning shopper would inspect a ripe apple which he was intending to purchase. His absolute disregard for the lives of Edgar�s own people, as well as his open ridicule of the peace treaties between Figaro and the Empire, drove a spike through Edgar�s heart. It set his blood to boil and the young king was soon consumed by his emotion.
�KEFKA!!� he shouted across the courtyard, and the crazy fool who had brought his malice upon the wrong kingdom turned in response to his name. His smile was no less a mockery of Edgar�s pain and anger now as he sauntered slowly over to the king, hands behind his back as if he had all the time in the world for negotiations. Edgar gave up his calm demeanor to the gods, begging their forgiveness for any rash movements he might make against the imbecile before him now, and strode rapidly over to the Prime Minister.
�Ah, Lord Edgar, now that I have your undivided attention, may I please be allowed to resume our prior discussion.� Kefka�s face suddenly morphed into an ugly monstrosity, as the smile was wiped off of it, replaced immediately with a horrible snarl. �Where is the girl, fool! Hand her over now, or watch your pitiful castle burn to the ground.�
Within Edgar�s tortured soul, he heard the snap of his already strained and bent resolve. No longer would he hold back the flood of his anger against the hateful Empire. No longer would he belittle his father�s memory in the hopes of bringing the Empire down from within. The time for action had finally come, and he would ensure that Kefka and all his ilk would be brought to justice.
Edgar stood there with resolve upon his face, staring openly at Kefka who, no doubt expected some outburst or display of open hostility. Instead, Edgar�s features softened slowly and an air of defeat suddenly settled upon him as the supposedly broken king sighed loudly.
�You will have the girl, Kefka,� he said slowly and with what seemed to be heartfelt loss. He turned around now, with his back to Kefka, who had erupted into gales of laughter at Edgar�s show of acceptance. Edgar searched the milling people with his eyes, seeing the tears of his people before him, feeling their hurt and shame. At last, he found who he was looking for; Merlith. The young guard stood off to the side as the others continued to water the blaze. He surreptitiously winked at the young guardsman and fisted his left hand in front of his chest, bringing it down in a swift arc to his side. Merlith�s eyes sprang open widely at this signal, but with little hesitation, he nodded and took off to the closest battlement.
A hand fell upon Edgar�s shoulder and he tensed visibly with fear as Kefka�s voice sounded behind him.
�Young King, I do not have all day. You may grieve in private once I am gone, dear friend,� he said pitifully, and with a humor that grated upon Edgar�s nerves. �For now, bring me the girl and I shall be out of your lands before nightfall this day. I give you my word.�
Edgar turned to face the other man and witnessed a grin blossoming upon his face.
�It seems that I have no other choice,� Edgar began, defeat evident in his words.
Suddenly, he returned Kefka�s grin three-fold in intensity, catching the Prime Minister off-guard entirely. Edgar took off at a sprint towards the courtyard�s edge and heard the shout of the Imperial guards as they swarmed about him trying to prevent his escape. Edgar drew a short sword from within the seams of his night clothing and fought his way with ease over to the stairway that lead to the ramparts above. He ran the full length of the catwalk that led to the top of the western battlement and, once there, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Kefka who had been watching the events with much interest.
�Or do I?� Edgar shouted down at him in glee and then leapt off of the parapet towards the ground below.
