Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire
Chapter 151: The Last Gasp (5)

Chapter 151: The Last Gasp (5)

More days passed by.

The people of the capital’s loyalty towards their queen was now at a fever pitch, in the last couple of days Julius had, the Queen provided an update to the people of the capital, as she sat on the prebuilt palanquin.

The people were informed that the rebellion that happened in the capital had also happened across the country as they had fallen into a civil war.

This shocked many but the crowd easily accepted her words as truth.

Nobles were known to be power-hungry to the commoners, and with the king dead without an heir, they would not be surprised to see many nobles scramble for the right to crown themselves king.

Following her announcement town criers likewise spread the news further.

While at night Julius and Zeff took action sowing dissent in the capital by sabotaging key city sectors.

The blame for this was placed on spies captured by the home guard.

This was the true cause for Serena’s popularity, her telling the people the "truth" and then revealing that even though she’d indicated her willingness to stay out of the war, the other parties seemed hellbent on dragging them into it.

The damage done by the saboteurs was not deadly but a few granaries were burned to the ground along with quite a large amount of foodstuff, and forges were tampered with preventing proper equipment creation and repair.

Every other hour the town criers would change their cries to another exposed plot.

The capital’s populace was becoming outraged and more volunteers stepped forward.

If these nobles came to their city they would take up arms in its defence.

That is, until today.

On the final day of Julius’s grand plan, after riling them up so much, the Queen took center stage once again, while the palace square was packed with every inhabitant.

Julius strode forth, many now recognizing him as the prime minister or mouthpiece of the queen.

"My people! Our Great Queen has urgent news she must share with you all!" <Julius>

Upon his delivery of this line, the crowd quieted down in a hurry.

"Her scout has reported that the factions of this civil war... All the factions of this civil war presently are marching upon the capital with their armies as we speak..." <Julius>

This was news they knew about days ago, but to reveal it then would cause chaos.

So first the people were prepped to receive this news.

And so while some murmurs and discussions took place many looked on, seeking to hear their queen’s next words.

"Our scouts report there are 5 separate armies marching, each sized at roughly 100,000 men... Against this our Home Guard cannot survive, even if only one of these armies were to arrive we could not hope to survive..." <Julius>

The crowd began bursting with discussion as many called out that they would fight to the death for the queen and the capital.

Just as Julius was about to speak again, Queen Serena stood from her throne.

By using a magic item from the treasury when she spoke her bell voice resounded through the square so that everyone present could hear without Shouting it like Julius was made to do.

"My people, We... no I love my countrymen too much to see you all killing fellow Carthaginians and in turn being killed by those who should be your brothers, seeing the horrors of war descend upon our capital city once again as men turned beast by battle pillage our homes, and tear our families further apart. We as a people have put forward to us a choice, we can struggle to the bitter end and die with our hearts broken at what we have been forced to do and become... Or! We can take up another path, one available only to us, by the grace of one who follows my own thoughts that all life is sacred." <Queen Serena>

The crowd did not respond though some tilted their heads at this mentioned other path.

"Rather than break our hearts we could choose to leave this place, a place where the spirit of Carthage has already been slain by the actions of the rebels... It saddens me to say that Carthage is no more, no matter who wins this war, a new country will be forged in its place, I feel the only way to truly save Carthage is to save her people, you, the people I care about most in this world." <Queen Serena>

The crowd began to get a bit angsty while the majority still hung on her every word here or there nay sayers began to popup denying her wish.

"We have received an offer to allow all of those wishing it to leave these lands, and receive a new home living in exile until such a time as Carthage can be reclaimed." <Queen Serena>

"Who, Who would shelter us!" <Commoner>

A plant in the crowd called out asking who would take in all of Carthages peoples.

Many around this many likewise also called out to know the name ofthis benevolent lord.

"He is a lord many of you may know, but he came seeking an Alliance with Carthage and has sadly had to watch as this potential ally was torn apart from within and attacked by it’s other allies, i speak of no other than Lord Julius Aquitania, the Hero General of the Lunan Kingdom who single handedly defeated the Visigoth Kingdom not once or twice, but multiple times, the Saviour of Roserun, and the conqueror of Bridget. In light of the news of the incoming armies i have decided to accept his generous offer to leave this land behind and return when this land can truly be the Carthage i know and love once again, i extend this offer to any of you who are willing, but none shall be forced to leave if that is your wish." <Queen Serena>

The crowd was silent at first while she returned to her throne.

Until the news truely sunk in.

Then a thunderous cry rose up from within.

"Lord Julius!!! A true king!!! To the Restoration of Carthage!!!" <Crowd>

The announcement was ended here and while they made their way back to the palace the city below was in a joyous mood.

The following day Julius received a report stating the list of people who’d signed up to move, without having a registry to confirm his suspicions but the list was massive, likely not all but by the end one would probably call the capital to be empty of inhabitants by the time the five armies arrived.

And so for the next few days supplies and luggage was hastily loaded onto every ship in the capitals harbour, people likewise followed suit as whole families boarded.

The men all knew the basics of sailing and took up posts, and once a ship was full up it would set sail for the Aquitanian lands bearing a marked letter from Julius announcing their arrival and right to citizenship.

It was on the 4th day that the final ship was set to sail bearing Serena, Julius and the last of those willing to leave the city and country behind, True to her words Serena remained the last to board the ship to keep her promise to take all those who wished to leave, not allowing another day for those left to change their minds as a scout announced the various armies would be arriving the following day.

As they set sail, she watched as the capital slowly slipped further into the distance, following Julius’s plan she had managed to save hundreds of thousands from the coming horrors of war, while Julius himself had gained much needed sailors, Boat builders and other labour force for his soon to be founded kingdom.