Of Pride and Power - 33. Interlude: The Weight of the Kingdom

When I was five years old, my omega father once told me about several fictional worlds living under a system, an artificial order of the world based on rules and rankings defined from the beginning of time. Humans, animals, and resources were predetermined; even though, sentient actions or interactions were not fixed. In his prior life, these applied ideas formed elaborate fictional stories and games called RPGs. While all of these things may seem childish on their surface, despite the fact that I was by definition a child, the idea that there were universal constants and entangling connections between everything inspired me to pursue what Papa Robert called science. My Papa Robert taught me about the natural connections in nature and applied knowledge, such as studying animal movements and magnetic metal connections to the gears and motors that our factories ran on. Industrial technology was introduced by my omega father, Aelfric Elias Tudor, the ruler of our kingdom, and my papa, Royal Consort Arch-Duke Robert Dudley. While on the surface such things may not seem impressive, especially compared to the raw firepower of the Habsburg Empire that rules most of the continent, our nation was able to build more efficient machines that could challenge their core-driven sky fortresses. Our nation had risen from herdsmen and sailboats to machinists and steel dreadnaughts within a generation. As heir apparent, I knew that I had to immerse myself in the world my parents opened if we were to remain a non-subject nation. Also, whenever I saw my younger omega brothers, feelings of protectiveness flowed through me. It was an innate feeling, something Papa Robert said might be a genetic trait that his past incarnation ingrained in non-omega children born from a certain bloodline, like the fair folk. The idea that I was predisposed to protect my father, brothers, and other omegas felt weird, but it wasn’t completely abnormal as other creatures in the world had genetic traits to protect family units and communities. Papa Robert told me to never reveal that trait to my father, because he would feel guilty about these feelings. Despite my predisposition to Omegas, I wasn’t prevented from admonishing my younger brother Will for his idiotic pranks around the palace. Yes, I protected him from our parents’ punishment, but the genetic trait didn’t allow him to command or control my actions. My desire to protect him and other Omegas was just part of me, like my father’s innate interest in males and masculine females like my aunt Frances. I wanted to protect more than just Omegas, I wanted to protect my entire family and kingdom, and I wanted to learn everything to achieve that goal. Unlike a lot of other royals or nobles in the world, I had a purpose in my life.

As I grew older and my knowledge expanded exponentially due to my father and Papa’s genetic lineage, I learned about the various secrets that they had yet to share with the kingdom. Among them, I was most interested in the mecha knights, formerly human beings who released their mortal bodies in exchange for mechanical bodies, which can face thousands of soldiers under various conditions. That’s how I met my best friend, Marc, the former page of Mordred, King Arthur’s bastard son and knight of the Round Table. Over time, I showed him engineering drawings that I conceived, they were mostly childish ideas like a pulley system for food and drink deliveries from the kitchen to our rooms. Marc slowly opened up to me after commenting that the pulley system was in use at Camelot. He was very knowledgeable, and I found a kindred spirit of sorts.

He shared stories about his life as a page and experiences with famous historical figures. One interesting thing I learned about Papa Robert was when he was Merlin, he hated wearing robes despite how stories always described Merlin as the typical robe-wearing wizard. I knew my papa was responsible for genetically engineering an entire generation of people, who would become the ancestors of the fair folk during his first life due to his abilities.

Gard, the knight commander of the mecha knight, was hesitant to communicate with me, but he eventually warmed up after I showed him a voice synthesizer design. Marc was inquisitive and had been a close friend to Morgan, who was King Arthur’s half-brother and Merlin’s protégé, so he knew things about technology and engineering concepts. Marc was a great source of theoretical knowledge as a result. Gard appeared to be tactically oriented at first, but he was knowledgeable about practical material designs. There’s a need for military commanders to know how to repair equipment on the battlefield, especially if they are mecha knights. Gard allowed me to inspect the spare parts that made up the device to inspire my design. Gard understood how voice synthesizers worked because his voice was created by an electronic device. He became my other best friend. Though in human terms, I was only six, Marc was twelve when he died, and Gard was sixteen when he died, we were able to connect. Being a child of an Omega and a genetic augment, my mental age and psychological development were closer to traditional human teenagers.

When I turned seven, a new boy entered the palace named Francis Bacon, he was the son of Nicholas Bacon, my father’s seal keeper. English monarchs like my father, Aelfric Elias Tudor, each had seal keepers, who kept seals that represented their royal authority. The position was mostly ceremonial, but my father used Nicholas Bacon for various administrative duties due to his orderly nature and understanding of English law. Essentially, Nicholas Bacon was my father’s secretary. While his father worked under my father, Francis and I were tutored by Papa Robert, who had a versatile knowledge of various fields along with my father Eli’s unique ability to access knowledge, whenever he had free time away from court business. Francis Bacon was like a third younger brother to me, being five years old. He might not have been born from Omega or genetic augment lineage, but Francis Bacon was highly intelligent, equaling Will in mental development. When you can get Francis Bacon to focus, he is the best engineering colleague you can get, but if Will was around offering candy or distractions, Francis Bacon's attention gets diverted. Psychologically, Francis was still a child, who preferred to play more often than reading books or silently working on projects. Yet, I saw his intelligence through the intuitive connect he made, and my father said he was the father of the scientific revolution in his timeline, so I never doubted his innate ability.

Around eight, when I was working on machines based on their bodies, I felt an odd sensation in my body, like nice heat flowing through my body. It happened several times as I continued to work on my various projects.

Marc and Gard noticed my physical reaction and then told me, it was arousal. Gard was homosexual like Papa Robert, and I had thought Marc was similar to Gard since they were a couple. However, I learned that despite Marc’s interest in Gard, it was based on experience and emotional connections rather than sexual attraction when they were human. According to Merlin, Marc was a demisexual, someone whose sexual attraction was based on emotional bonding. I told them I didn’t find either of them attractive, but I found the concept of working on machines that help them function to be exciting. Over the next year, we had many discussions about sexual interest and my various examples of arousal. Males, females, or omegas did not create any kind of arousal from me. When I was working on interesting concepts, including trying to solve the Pythagorean theorem or creating electric motor tools, arousal responses did occur. When my little omega brother Jamie accidentally witnessed our father, Papa Robert, and Papa Francis in a compromising situation, we were given an overview of sexuality and attraction. After my father Eli’s speech on sexuality, I noticed Will was silently daydreaming and Jamie was analyzing the repercussions of such attractions, but I had no feelings.

As such, Marc, Gard, and I had concluded that I was likely asexual, meaning I had no attraction to other human beings. It doesn’t mean I can’t marry or find love with someone of different genders or sexual orientations, I was just not interested in the sexual aspect. When the revelation struck me, Marc and Gard were by my side as stalwart allies. While homosexuality was slowly gaining a modicum of acceptance with the rise of omegas being a potential bridge to creating families like traditional heterosexuals, asexuality was still spurned as a deficiency that people only whispered about in pity. Being a crown prince, who would likely never be able to have children would be a major scandal. I felt embarrassed and depressed for weeks after the revelation. I threw myself into my work, hoping I could prove my worth to my family despite my sexuality. Marc and Gard noticed my frantic midnight sojourns around the palace, working on various things from centralized ventilation tubes that can bring refrigerated or heated air around a building to a new electric heating coil for cooking. Marc, after a long talk with a few tears and a rather warm embrace despite his body being made out of metal, convinced me to reveal my asexuality to my parents. On the evening of my ninth birthday after an elaborate party, I went to my biological parents’ room for the revelation. Papa Francis, Uncle Takechiyo, and Aunt Frances had to leave after my birthday party for military and intelligence work, so I couldn’t include them for what I later learned was “coming out” by my father. Upon hearing my truth, my omega father, our sovereign Aelfric Elias Tudor, grabbed me into a hug and told me in no uncertain terms that he loved me without precondition. Papa Robert seconded my father’s words and shed tears for the first time in my memory as he rubbed my back. Despite not being the son, they deserved, I was accepted. I promised myself on that day, I would do something worthy of their love.

Those events lead us to the present, I am ten years old, and my youngest omega brother Jamie is turning three years old. It’s his birthday and I want to make sure everything goes well for him. I woke our parents up early, so we could have our traditional birthday breakfast together. Sadly, Aunt Frances was busy with the troops in Cornwall, and I knew the Catholic faction in the north was a prickly subject that would take up a lot of my father’s time, especially with an upcoming session of Parliament. However, Jamie was still going to have a good birthday party despite all the problems in the world. As his older brother, I wanted to protect his innocence as long as I could. Thus, when my father offered to take Jamie to Parliament, while we stayed behind to prepare for his birthday party, I was thrilled. I had designed a soft plastic slide and swing that would have straps and foot holes for safety for a three-year-old since Jamie always wanted to take rides with me or Will on our swings and slides. It was tiring to maintain a protective hold on Jamie. My Papa Robert was the one who made the play equipment for Jamie with his ability based on my designs. We were going to surprise him when he came back after the formal birthday party.

After bidding my father and Jamie farewell, I ascended the stairs to the makeshift observatory that Papa Robert had designed. Observatories were usually vanity projects by nobles and royalty to create a lens that could pierce the heavenly expanse's unknown depths. However, my papa and father told me that in their potential future, mankind will pierce that boundless veil with rockets carrying men to the moon and machines further beyond the boundaries of our solar system. In their minds, observatories were the first steps toward these goals. Additionally, they offered the first existential protection in preventing orbital bombardment from a stray asteroid or comet fragment. From a practical standpoint, observatories were also a great learning experience for science and mathematics, especially geometry and natural sciences. An observatory was also built in Cornwall’s Royal military base, primarily to train artillery and gunnery specialists as astronomic observation tools were used in calibrating and aiming weapons. Though on Dreadnaught-class warships, the advanced cores can be used for target tracking and precision aiming for our primary deterrent weapon, Pluton. However, cores were national treasures needed for key defensive and industrial processes, so most projectile-based weapons require manual calculations and observations. I knew that would not always be true as the stronghold of Avalon, created by Merlin, used artificial machines called computers to perform many complex calculations and tasks. Developing such technology though would require my father and Papa’s joint efforts, which they could not spare due to the need for industrial development. I hoped that by studying and applying various knowledge, I could eventually aid in creating such machines for widespread use. According to my parents, computer technology was developed within one generation of electric power in their timeline, so I knew it was realistic despite the challenges.

I was cataloging observations of barges on the Thames River, which were constantly running to transport people, goods, and machinery from one part of London to another. Though the Royal Army Engineering Corp had expanded the waterways and created canals that allowed greater access into the city, congestion was a common occurrence during peak hours like the morning. Even my father, the ruler of England, could not completely escape this inconvenience with royal sigils or privileges. I watched the nimble and fast royal boat, a Flemish-inspired vessel formally known as Aelfric Elias Tudor’s Yacht, making a path. It was thinner than most barges and row boats with a small sail and steel body rather than wood, along with a motor engine for emergency use. Even with all its advantages, my father’s ship spent half an hour to reach the boat house closest to Parliament. During that time, my sights wandered, and started cataloging various ships traversing the River Thames, it was quite exciting to see the variety from old wooden barges that could barely hold two individuals and more modern steel ships like the yacht with several levels and deep hulls for cargo.

One ship caught my eye, it appeared to be a wooden ministerial transport ship with the coat of arms of Sir Thomas Radclyffe. The man had a confrontation with my father and both my papas a few years ago, but he has been a model noble at court and he was gathering troops in London to head north in an expedition to quell the northern uprising that was threatening York and our Scottish allies. Through an act of Parliament, he was made deputy commander for all noble forces and leader of the Expeditionary Army. My father did not like the man, but he was loyal and offered an impressive array of benefits as the leader of the noble and protestant faction at court. Political realities make even rulers into servants.

The ship wasn’t special, except for the fact that it was empty except for its two pilots and oars. Being a single-deck vessel meant it could not hide anything. There was no hold either to carry goods. Most curious of all was the way the water splashed against its hull, compared to other similar wooden ships on the Thames. According to Archimedes' Principle, which Papa Robert called buoyancy, water exerts an upward pressure on ships based on how much is displaced. This principle operated based on the dimensions of a ship’s hull and its weight. A similar merchant ship that had unloaded its goods of fruit and meat at Whitehall’s primary boathouse was exposing its keel when it made its return voyage. In contrast, the ministerial ship appeared to be making a journey toward one of the royal guard’s boat houses despite being empty. The royal guards and servants were mostly composed of established noble houses, so it wasn’t uncommon for a ministerial ship to carry goods to their kin or ferry the sons of noble families back to elaborate homes outside the city. After the ship docked at the guard’s boat house for thirty minutes, three guards and two servants were ferried onboard. I noticed the ministerial ship’s keel became exposed as it traveled up the Thames River. Though my father and Papa Robert could circumvent the laws of nature, I doubt our nobles had developed ships that could do the same. No one had noticed such minutia, since they did not compare similar vessels on the river, unlike the customs inspectors or naval patrol at the Port of London.

Over the next hour, I used the telescope to keep a close watch on the ministerial ship’s transit loop and spotted it mooring at a private dock four miles downriver, close to the estuary of the Thames that connected to the main port of London. Papa Robert was leaving in that direction today to inaugurate a hydraulic crane that would improve cargo vessel loading and unloading efficiency. The idea that something nefarious was going on near my Papa Robert made me freeze up. I also knew that Thomas Radclyffe was supposed to be attending Parliament today to receive a formal royal commission as commander of the expeditionary forces. Knowing both my parents were intricately entangled, I grew nervous.

My mind buzzed with ideas on what a mysterious transport ship with such connections could be up to. Ranging from a surprise to all of us from my father for the birthday party to a covert enemy action from the Habsburg Empire, I couldn’t be sure which idea was a real possibility or a paranoid delusion. I knew Thomas Radclyffe and his faction would never be able to amicably live alongside the Catholic Habsburg Empire, especially after the reign of Queen Mary. There was simply no political or economic incentive for the English Protestant noble faction to ally with them, which was why my father allowed Sir Thomas Radclyffe to be commander of the expeditionary forces being gathered near London.

On the other hand, my father had no reason to create what I assumed were “invisible” objects or people, simply for a birthday party. While Papa Francis and to a lesser extent Uncle Takechiyo have used their skills, they called ninjutsu, to reduce their presence, but it was still a far cry from invisibility. I knew from my private discussions with Gard and Marc that the mecha knights had a similar ability called stealth camouflage, which refracts the light around their mechanical bodies and creates an optical illusion. However, to create this effect, their cores were needed to refract the light, reduce thermal emissions, and obscure their natural electromagnetic emissions. I don’t know how much energy was required to refract light, but I presume it would be beyond natural electric generators. Thus, I eliminated the possibility that my father or Papa Robert were involved as they would never waste a core like that.

Too many questions and ideas led to dead ends, so I needed to test my theories through observation and surveillance. Though it was probably a good idea to notify my Papa Francis or Uncle Takechiyo about my discovery, I didn’t inform them immediately. I was excited to discover such a mystery before the adults, but most people have treated my ideas as merely fits of fancy rather than something concrete, except for my father and Papa Robert who have advanced knowledge. Though Papa Francis and Uncle Takechiyo were better than most of the ministers at court, they still viewed me as a child rather than an equal in serious matters. I could not fully trust they wouldn’t ignore my observations. Thus, I had to find proof. Taking on a dangerous investigation like this made me feel like I was finally doing something for the kingdom despite my deficiencies as an asexual. Also, my proactive course could be due to the innate protective instinct that I held, because the desire to protect my omega brothers and father grew exponentially when I realized the mystery posed a danger.

However, I was not arrogant or idiotic, if these actions and people were malign against my father and our kingdom, I needed to prepare a contingency before I left to investigate them. That way my Papa Francis, Uncle Takechiyo, and Will could be safe as I knew Marc and Gard would protect them. Yet, who could I trust as the royal guards and servants were potentially compromised? If I couldn’t trust anyone, then I had no choice except to locate Papa Francis and hope he trusted my judgment enough to consider this a real threat. As I was wondering how I could best relay urgency in a warning, another person entered the observatory. It was Francis Bacon and an idea formed in my mind. He was someone I could trust and wanted to trust with secrets greater than this suspicion.

I told Francis Bacon everything I discovered and asked him to relay the message to my Papa Francis and Uncle Takechiyo if I did not return within two hours. Of course, despite being a genius, he was still an eight-year-old and got scared immediately. He held my forearm with a tight grip as he cried and whimpered incoherently for several minutes. We did not have time for sentimentality like this.

As he got control of his emotions, he asked me with a few tears still streaking down his face, “If you…(hiccup)…you are right, they’ll kill you, Harry. It’s too dangerous…(hiccup)…dangerous. You’re too young to do this. I can’t let you.”

One day, Francis Bacon could give William Cecil a run for his money as a competent chancellor to the future ruler of England, but he was too emotional right now to make a good judgment. To him, I was his friend first, before I was crowned prince of our nation. We may not be as close as I was to Marc and Gard, but outside my family, he was the closest human being to me. His genius-level intellect allowed him to understand the danger that invisible forces could cause. He didn’t want me to undertake this dangerous task, but I couldn’t abandon it. In front of me, Francis was a scared child trying desperately to protect me in the only way he knew. It would have been better for me to leave him, but I needed to entrust a message to him. I had a narrow window of time to take a rowboat down the river and inspect the mysterious ship’s dock before it completed its one-hour transport route.

I slapped Francis twice, then scolded him, “Listen Francis Bacon, you need to do this for me and the country. If I don’t come back from this, you got to tell Papa Francis. You have to keep Will safe. This is the first time and maybe last time I am ordering you to do something as your prince.”

Francis stopped crying and rubbed his reddened cheek, and then before I knew it, he kissed me. However, unlike stories of blushing knights bidding their wives farewell before entering battle, I held no feelings for his attraction.

He bowed to me, “I will endeavor to serve my prince to my utmost.”

While I wanted to speak with him about his unrequited attraction toward me, I had no time to waste. I ran down the stairs to my room and dressed in a commoner’s linen tunic and trousers that I wore when traveling around London incognito. Then, I took the back staircase that connected to the kitchen. In there, I grabbed a basket of old bread. I made my way outside the palace through an auxiliary pantry entrance. Few of the chefs or servants noticed me as the kitchen was busy preparing food for the birthday party. The primary guards did not see me leave the palace as there was a constant stream of people coming into the palace with materials, so most of them were busy keeping an eye on the main servant and supply entry. The secondary guards and servants who saw me pass by probably assumed I was just one of the many errand boys, who were always disbursing excess bread from the palace to various points in London. Under the royal command of my father, Aelfric Elias Tudor, there would be no waste of food and no unused excess within the royal palaces, including the kitchens meant for Parliament’s use, so a cottage industry grew for excess food to taverns and inns that won the monthly lottery. I had used this alias to wander London several times in recent months. I saw Papa Francis and Sir Thomas Tallis during an encounter, while they were likely doing some skullduggery. For every trip I took to London like this, I had always notified my parents and family, I was not foolhardy, until now.

After exiting the palace, I traversed the grounds to my royal boat house, where a rowboat, a miniature sailboat, and a motorboat were docked. I chose to use the wooden rowboat as it was a single-person craft ubiquitous to commoners engaged in various trades. The other two boats were custom-made for a child, so it would be obvious that I was someone of noble descent if I used them. I headed in the direction of the dock I saw in the telescope, crossing the path of the ministerial transport ship heading to the royal guard’s boat house. Upon closer inspection, I focused on their vessel’s waterline and its interaction with larger ships that create waves due to the circular disturbances from the bow. There was no doubt in my mind that my theory of an invisible presence on the transport ship was correct.

Knowing that some of the individuals on the ship were invisible, I chose to moor my rowboat about eight hundred yards away from the dock near a merchant road heading to the Port of London. Then, I approached the dock on foot through the cover of the marshes that lined the Thames River. While it would not be possible to obscure an adult from view due to the height of the marsh, I was physically still ten years old and hadn’t hit my first growth spurt. This allowed me to be within fifty yards of the warehouse opposite the dock. On my way to the location, I noticed twenty patrolmen of Royal Army troops patrolling the area. It wasn’t strange to see some Royal Army troops around the city; though, my father had limited them to no more than 1,000 at any point in time.

I sat in the marshes and watched my surroundings for several minutes until I heard whispers in a foreign language. I’ve learned European languages like German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Flemish, and Latin, along with some Nippon from Uncle Takechiyo, but this language was unlike anything I’ve heard. I also could not spot where the whispers originated from; though, I knew they must have been nearby. Over the twenty minutes or so, the warehouse’s doors opened several times to expose several large weapon systems, one of which resembled the heavy-machine guns that our royal marines used for suppression fire and defensive positions. The activity around the warehouse began to increase over time and became far more overt as more troops gathered. I knew they were preparing for something.

With all these facts lining up within my thoughts, I realized I was dealing with one of the other factions from my father’s future timeline. If they were moving troops around London, had noble support from the likes of Thomas Radclyffe, and organized sympathizers within our servants and royal guard at the palace, their aim could be nothing short of a sudden invasion and usurpation. As my father had compromised with the nobles to remove our elite Royal Marines back to western England and our primary military assets were engaged in the north against a Habsburg Catholic uprising by the Percy family, I realized everyone aligned with my family was in mortal danger. We had never engaged with this foe. They operated through clandestine schemes and infiltrated with high-ranking dissidents rather than more direct shows of military force.

I went back through the marsh carefully, praying that Francis Bacon would give my warning in the next half an hour as I had planned. Even if Papa Francis and Uncle Takechiyo don’t completely believe him or me, they were cautious people, and my lack of reappearance should increase their caution. They would at the very least send out Deputy Royal Guard Captain Charles to investigate the royal guard’s boat house, while gathering themselves and Will in the throne room, where Marc and Gard could protect them. I doubt Charles or the few loyal Royal Guards from lesser noble families and commoners could do much against these foes, but their actions would at least disrupt the enemy’s timetable. While I could only pray for the best outcome at the palace, I had to choose my next moves. I needed to warn Papa Robert near the Port of London or my Father, Aelfric Elias Tudor, at Westminster Palace, where Parliament was convening at St. Stephen’s Chapel. Based on the time that elapsed, I could not make it to both locations before the invisible enemy forces made their moves upon their discovery by Charle’s royal guard at the boat house. If equipped with cores, they could coordinate with one another just like our military did with radio transmitters and receivers. However, I did not have radio equipment to alert everyone, send an urgent request for Royal Marine forces under Aunt Frances to return to London, or call the Royal Navy to blockade the port against enemy warships. In addition, if a widespread warning was made, the six mecha knights currently masquerading as Gargoyle statues across the city would spring to action. I knew their battle capabilities, they could counter both the conventional rebel forces of the nobles and the invisible enemy forces within our city with their inhuman strength, stamina, senses, and weapons. A wide-range radio message would be the best solution for everyone’s safety. There was only one set of equipment for such a device currently in London. It was undergoing tests in the White Tower within the Tower of London’s palace complex, but it is not a secure location. The former palace was guarded by the Royal Army, which fell under Thomas Radclyffe's command. If I made such a message to everyone, I would most likely be targeted and killed by the Royal Army before help could arrive from one of the mecha knights stationed near the gates of London or Whitehall Palace. However, it would prevent the massacre of my family and all the omegas within the city. When the thought of protecting omegas, especially my father, entered my mind, my body involuntarily acted.

I did not know how quickly I rowed the little wooden craft or how long I crawled and climbed the disused tunnels for the abandoned dungeons, but I reached the White Tower within forty minutes. I must have looked horribly ragged and disheveled like any random commoner errand boy late with a delivery with my bread as no one paid me much heed, except a few Royal Army members, who wanted to question where I was headed. I had fabricated a story about an expensive ring and a nobleman paying me to deliver it on my run to someone they fancied. I presented an ornate golden band with a vibrant green emerald. It belonged to me, a gift from my brother Will, who has an interest in colorful gemstones. The trick allowed me to gain access to the White Tower, where a small group of two radio specialists and an engineer were working. They knew who I was due to a tour several weeks ago, so they were surprised to see me. The radio technician was a former Royal Marine who worked with radio equipment in the field and the two specialists were fair folk from the Cadbury Hill research stronghold.

Before they could raise any questions, I had cut them off with an order, “I need to make a radio message. It needs to be strong enough to reach everyone in London and even Commander Frances Howard in Cornwall through the boosting stations. I am not playing a prank, nor is this a flight of fancy. English protestant nobles have betrayed our kingdom for a foreign nation, unrelated to the Habsburg Empire. The rebels have gathered followers in the Royal Army, Royal Guard, and servants within the palace. The expeditionary commander, Sir Thomas Radclyffe, is amongst their ranks. However, they are not the worst foe we face. The foreign nation has entered our lands under some form of invisibility technology. They have begun amassing forces around Whitehall Palace and the Port. Please help me save our nation by getting a message out!”

Upon hearing my plea, the specialists rushed to get the equipment ready. I assisted the specialists in readying the radio equipment by calibrating transmission and reception wires. The radio technician, I believe his name was Edgar, began pushing a wooden bureau and other furniture in front of the doorway leading to the top of the tower. We got everything ready within ten minutes. I knew by this point, that the royal guards under Charles had probably engaged with the rebels and the invisible troops. We have mere minutes before open hostilities break out across the city.

Before we began the radio broadcast, Edgar gave me a salute, “It’s been an honor my prince to serve you. Your father saved me from a horrible fate in Devon, I am glad to be able to repay his kindness. May the last be the first!”

The specialist echoed, “May the last be the first!”

I nodded at the emblematic phrase that connects those who follow my father. I knew its meaning was derived from the last word of Merlin to the fair folk, who had become refugees from the fallen kingdom of Camelot due to a similar betrayal from false allies, as a promise to them that all their suffering and strife would be rewarded one day when the first Omega arrived. Yet, despite my father’s presence and ability, the world hasn’t changed magically overnight. I knew beyond just popularity and flowery imagery, that my father and all those who follow him work tirelessly for this future. Hunger is no longer rampant across the land, children are receiving adequate care and education, and people’s mistrust of one another has been mended through direct connections made possible by railroad transit networks. The promise of a better world may not be achieved by one omega’s ability alone, but it will be achieved through the efforts brought about through knowledge and growth. If the world has always existed under a system, where the weak remain weak and nobles are absolute, then my father and his followers actions have begun to end it. The use of resources and interactions to improve living standards showed there was a way for us to be better than what came before. Everyone’s contributions will eventually lead to the covenant of "The last becoming first". Similar to the fair folks and humans like Edgar, I was grateful to be contributing toward this future, even if we may never see it. With those thoughts, I went toward the microphone to deliver my speech.

“People of England, I am Prince Henry Tudor. An enemy force has infiltrated London and Whitehall Palace. They have allies among our guards and servants. The main enemy forces are invisible to sight. We need…”

Before a minute of the message’s delivery, an explosion rocked the room I stood in. My last feeling was of fire and heat, but my last thought was of triumph. At least, I told them about the enemy. At least, I gave them all a chance to live. It was a far shorter speech than I planned, a far faster reaction than I could have guessed. However, the fact that I could speak and say what I did was enough.

No blog entry for this one as it isn't part of the main story.
 
Here are a few observations:
-An interesting fact I learned in writing this interlude was that "Yacht" type ship was originally a Dutch design. Seems appropriate in context that a Dutch-designed ship would be used by Eli. It's a detail I did not include in the main story as the mode of transportation feels more important to Harry's story.
-The innate feeling that Harry described was a "precursor" to something many Omegaverse stories are known for, alongside the eponymous "omega" males. Though Harry is asexual, it's not as bad as the young prince believes. For fans of the genre, you can probably guess what I am hinting at. For anyone else, I'll answer it through the story eventually