Tursed my worid upside down

The captain took two extra chairs and placed them next to the table standing in the center of the room. Apparently, the captain often held meetings here. His bed was separated by a screen, hiding his sleeping place from prying eyes. The man pointed to the chairs and after everyone sat down, pulled out a free one and sat down opposite Klaus.

"Well, before I reveal my identity, I want to clarify one thing right away. Klaus, I couldn't have shown up earlier," the captain's voice changed. The hoarseness, which the prince had initially found unnatural, was gone.

In his hand, the captain held a small stone on a string, which he had just torn from his neck. The prince guessed that this was another invention that allowed him to distort sound. He frowned, vaguely remembering the voice, but he could not believe it. It was simply impossible!

"Have you already guessed?" a smile was heard in the slightly muffled voice from behind the helmet.

"But how? It is impossible! Take off the helmet."

And the captain obeyed. He threw off the hood and took off the light iron helmet, placing it on the table. The man raised his dark brown eyes to the prince. The heir to the throne stood up abruptly, causing his chair to fall, and Egor and Lilith raised their surprised and worried glances.

Klaus was looking at the one he never expected to see again. The one whose loss had finally hardened his heart. The one because of whom he no longer wanted to let anyone near him. The one who evoked at least some emotions in him. The one who made his life more interesting. The one he wanted to be like.

"August," Klaus exhaled, still not believing his eyes.

August Deffender stood up from his seat, and Klaus moved towards him unconsciously. He stopped just a few steps away from his older brother and looked him straight in the eyes. They were the same height now. Klaus studied his face, which seemed to have not changed at all. The same warm look and a slightly sly smile on his face, as if all these years of separation had not happened. The only thing that had changed on August's face was the presence of an ugly scar where the tattoo had been. He had carved out his family crest and thrown it onto the battlefield to confirm his death.

"I thought you were dead," Klaus's hand involuntarily clenched into a fist and, before the prince had time to think, had already darted to his grinning face and crashed into his jaw, causing his brother's head to jerk to the side, and a thin stream of blood flowed from his cut lip.

"It's okay," August said, putting his hand to the bruised place, "I deserved it, but God, Klaus! When did you become so strong? My head was barely hanging on my shoulders!"

Despite the anger clearly reflected on the prince's face, August closed the distance between them and grabbed Klaus in a bear hug.

"How I missed you!" he told him.

Klaus gradually relaxed and hugged his brother back. No matter how angry he was at him, but the fact that August was alive and standing next to him... He could not stay angry at this man for long. Never.

"Your hair is almost dry. You need to tidy it up." as if nothing had happened, the captain said, moving away from the prince and running his hand through a strand of black hair. "Do you want me to do it, like before?"

Egor's eyes widened. What kind of relationship did they have if Klaus allowed him to touch his hair? And the prince's reaction was atypical. They were definitely close.

"No need. I'll do it myself." Klaus turned to his companions, as if he had just now remembered their existence. "Meet my older cousin, Augustus Deffender, miraculously resurrected from the dead."

Egor felt a pang somewhere in the area of ​​his heart. Klaus told him that Augustus was one of the few people close to him and now this man had returned to his life again. What will happen to Egor now? Will they send him back? Or will they simply push him into the background?

"Yes, you really have changed. Not only have you matured, but you have also become a nanny for the weak and feeble? I can still understand the boy - you knew that he was an anti-mage, but saving an unknown girl? It's not like you."

"Egor is not just an anti-mage. He is my friend."

The prince's statement sent a wave of warmth through the fair-haired boy, and he involuntarily lifted his chin and smiled.

"Okay, we'll talk about that later, but now I'd like to talk to you. Alone."

"August, I already said that Egor is my friend, and Lilith, well...," the prince had long ago decided that there was no point in hiding anything from a person who didn't understand how the world works, let alone politics, but he didn't want to voice all of this, so he simply added, "Lilith is just Lilith."

"As you say, Your Majesty," the captain said and immediately received a blow to the head from Klaus.

"Maybe that's enough?"

August only yelped theatrically, rubbing the back of his bruised head and smiling.

"I really missed you, brother."

"Let me do your hair?" Lilith timidly addressed Klaus, who waved his hand at her, as if saying, do whatever you want, just don't bother me.

The girl immediately fished a comb out of her dress pocket and came up behind Klaus, who had just sat down on the raised chair.

"So, why did you gather several thousand motley soldiers and not only?"

"I told you back in childhood that I don't like the way of life in our country at all, remember? Together we dreamed of changes, read books from abroad that we were able to translate, and admired the free spirit of the "barbarians who encroached on our territories."

"Yes, but it was just a game."

"For you, yes, but I actually already cherished hope for change back then. I thought I could shake up the old laws and introduce new ones, but alas, I was young and stupid then too."

"You're not an old man now," Klaus noted skeptically. "What changed? Why did you prefer to be considered dead?"

"The thing is, I put my hopes in family ties and began sharing my ideas with my father, who initially supported me, as it seemed to me. Do you know who sent me to that battle, which was already a losing one?"

"As far as I remember, you "died" during an attack on our borders and were among the auxiliary troops that arrived in the midst of the battle."

"Yes, but there was no other army there, and when I arrived with my small detachment, I fell into a trap. There was no attack on the border. I was sent there to be executed. My own father," August smiled bitterly.

"You were attacked by your own people?" Klaus guessed.

"And I miraculously survived, thanks to my earth magic. I dug a tunnel underground, but out of fifty of my soldiers, I was able to save only three, who also subsequently died defending me, but on a different battlefield."

"Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you tell about your father's plot?"

"To whom? The king? My father is not stupid and all this was arranged with the consent of the king. They both decided that I was a threat, but did not want to make a fuss and made me a hero who died in battle."

"How do you know that the king was involved in this too?"

"I still have my own people in the palace. At the very beginning, I didn't know. I wanted to do exactly as you said, but I was weak and wounded. I decided to gather strength in the nearest village first. From there, I sent a message to my man that I would return in a few weeks. In the reply letter, I learned that it would be better for me to stay away and pretend to be dead. I carved out my coat of arms and ordered one of the soldiers to take it to the battlefield, passing off one of the corpses as me."

"August, two years have passed. You could have at least hinted to me that you were alive. Or did you not trust me? Did you think that I would also go against you?"

"No. It's not that. I didn't want to put you in danger, but I always looked after you through other people. Who do you think saved you when the soldiers burst into your room?"

"So it was your doing! But how?"

"I told you, I have my own people in the castle. This portal was one of the inventions, but apparently Krous got the destination wrong. In theory, you should have gotten straight here, but you were thrown in an unknown direction. You can't even imagine how worried I was when not a single search spell could find you, and then you suddenly appeared in my father's estate. Where were you?"

"Your inventor threw me into another world," Klaus grimaced and, seeing August's wide eyes, decided to clarify, "But in fact, it wasn't that bad there. No magic, can you imagine! People in that world created such amazing things with only their brains and resourcefulness!"

"Another world? And this friend of yours," - he pointed at Egor, "is from there?"

"Yes."

"How did he end up an anti-mage if he belongs to the non-magical world?"

"His grandmother and father are from our world. Anyway, it's a long story, I'll tell you about it some other time. So what happened next? After you regained your strength? How did you manage to build all this and gather so many people in two years?"

"I've been gathering like-minded people for a long time, but I didn't do anything. After my "death" I started to act. Peasants who lost their loved ones, mages afraid of slavery, middle-class people dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. I accepted everyone who was dissatisfied with the system and used your name. I'm just the son of the king's brother, and you are his only heir. You were the only heir."

"Why were you so sure that I would want to take part in all this?"

"And you don't want to?"

Klaus was silent for a moment.

"I wasn't thinking about something so radical, and my position is also precarious now. Father clearly doesn't want me back."

"And that's to our advantage. In the eyes of the rebels, you've already turned against him. The people are causing unrest, not allowing the king to announce a new heir without proof of your death. We even have several high-born families on our side, and dozens of disgruntled members of others who have renounced their name by cutting off the family crest."

"Like Brod, Klaus guessed."

"Yes, like Brod. So what do you say? Will you help me? More precisely, will you agree to accept my help and change this outdated, cruel country?"

"What do you want from me? For me to lead your people to certain death, directly opposing my father?"

"Do you think I'm a complete idiot? First, we need to increase our army. And how can we do that in the shortest possible time?"

"Lure more high-born to our side, thereby increasing our army and reducing possible support for the crown."

"Still, you're a smart guy, you catch on quickly!"

"I don't think I have enough power to win over the highborn. What can I offer them now?"

"Prospects!"

"Prospects? Too vague a proposal, especially since I want to eradicate slavery, and the highborn, who live off the slaves, won't like it in the first place."

"Yes, but we can offer something that will be more profitable for them."

"For example?"

"Each head of the highborn has their own priorities. Some want power, some more land, some money. They all have their own needs, and we can use their ambitions for our own purposes."

"So you're suggesting that we give them what they ask for? I don't think that by satisfying the needs of the highborn, we'll be able to give the lowborn and middleborn anything other than freedom. But what will their freedom be worth if there are no empty lands left?"

"I didn't say we'd give them everything. We'll give them a bit of what they want and let them feel like they can get more later."

"Do you think they'll buy into that?" Klaus said skeptically.

"Brother, I know what an amazing tongue you have when you want it," August winked at the prince, and Egor frowned, hearing some subtext in these words.

Klaus just grinned and shook his head.

"I'll think about what you're proposing. I take it you already have candidates for future comrades?"

"You're insulting me! I've carefully prepared for your appearance. Now can I tell everyone that our king is ready to act?"

"I'm not a king yet," Klaus grimaced, "and you know, having been in another world where no one knew my status and having hidden it upon my return, I've gotten used to this freedom and don't want to again shackle myself with the need to behave 'as befits a crown prince.'"

"It will be difficult for me to fulfill your wishes. Have you seen how people react to you? They will not be able to communicate with you familiarly."

"Then at least spare me the kneeling and the trepidation that those around me experience when I appear."

"Then do it yourself. In the morning, I will announce that you will give a speech. Show them what I see in you."

Klaus raised an eyebrow questioningly. August rose from his seat, walked over to Klaus and ran his hand through his newly styled hair.

"Show them a leader who is capable of eradicating outdated laws and leading this country to prosperity."

Klaus was flattered by such a high assessment from a man he had always admired, but the prince himself was not so confident in himself, but he was used to hiding his true feelings, so he did not answer.

"We'll go. Egor isn't quite well. He had a fever again in the bathhouse. The boy needs to rest."

August glanced at Egor, who lowered his eyes and began to blush again. The captain guessed that it wasn't the heat, but he was used to Klaus never noticing how he affected people. In the castle, in the city, even in the pleasure house, there was always a line to him, and among those wishing to get his attention and body, there were not always only women. The prince used the pleasure house for its intended purpose only once, and August remembered how the girls almost fought over him. It seemed that his friend from another world had come for him not only out of idle curiosity.

"Klaus," he called out to him at the door. "We haven't seen each other for over two years. Will you have dinner with me tonight? Just you and me - he clarified."

"Of course, if you organize a good dinner for my companions in the room. And don't look at me like that," he addressed Lilith "you will stay in the room with the person I trust the most. Nothing will happen to you there."

Egor blushed, and his gaze did not miss the fact that at Klaus's statement his brother's eyebrows slightly knitted together, but he quickly pulled himself together and pulled his usual smile onto his face.

"Then I'll come for you. We will have dinner in a very interesting place."

"I don't like surprises, where do you want to drag me?" Klaus asked cautiously, remembering all his adventures with August.

"We will not leave the walls of this underground fortress, I promise."