Chapter 100 - I Shall Take Care Of This (2/2)

He was about to ask why they couldn't simply kill the few remaining Kanta that Alpheus seemed to be meeting with when his mother sighed.

”Your father did not want any of you to know about this because there is nothing else he can do. The few refugees that remained intermarried with our people and we cannot kill them without reason. They are a very spiritual, traditional people; without their leader they are nothing.

”Do you understand the problem we face? We broke their leader's spirit and hid the truth of his birthright from him but it seems he may have found out despite our best efforts. We cannot kill any of them but I do not see any other way to prevent them from rising again.”

Sigmund thought about it. They couldn't kill anyone yet but once there was proof of treason they could lock Alpheus in the dungeon. Katie and the rest could be executed; that would certainly push him past his breaking point.

All he needed was proof! He would need to keep an extra close eye on those two troublemakers and send one of his agents to gather more information on the remaining Kanta clansmen.

If Alpheus truly was trying to revitalize his clan, he probably was working with Franz. He must have promised him the rights to his lands back to gain his cooperation. Sigmund would bet anything that Katie had been the mastermind behind that plan.

Katie, Katie, Katie. It all boiled down to her, didn't it? That no account daughter of an earl.

Franz was more desperate for the throne than he realized. In order to get Katie on his side, he promised away all of Annalaias's mines. The very reason their father eliminated the Kanta in the first place.

They needed those mines to access countless important resources used to keep the nobility's way of life consistent. Metal. Chalk. Salt. Precious stones. All of those things deserved to belong to the larger nation rather than a small group of backward mountain bumpkins!

The Kanta clan was named after a mountain range spanning about 100 miles. Before the raids, less than a dozen villages had been scattered throughout those mountains.

Sigmund had learned about them in his history lessons as a child. There had been less than two thousand clansmen total. They were a self-reliant bunch whose only contact with the outside world was selling resources from their mines to the nations of Annalaias and Rowenhilde, with which they shared borders.

Before the raids neither country had laid claim to the mountains because of how treacherous they were. Living there was thought to be impossible but somehow the Kanta survived generation after generation.

Those mines were important; his father had made the right decision getting rid of such insignificant people to get them. They could not be allowed to make a comeback.

”Forgive me for disturbing your rest, Mother. I shall take care of this,” Sigmund promised as he headed out the door.

Yes, he would take care of this. Nailing Franz for helping them would get rid of all of his enemies in one fell swoop. Then nothing would be able to stand in his way to the throne. This day hadn't been a complete waste after all.