The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension

  Chapter 53 - A Lonely Cell

  "Fine mess you’ve gotten yourself in this time," Paulus said to himself as he paced the oversized cell, "Might as well mark time until that fat son of a bitch has me executed."

  Paulus’s lament was interrupted by the clanging of the large metal door at the end of the hallway. Two sets of heavy footsteps walked down the hallway. Paulus decided to meet his fate head on, walking towards the cell door just in time to see Colonel Ellis LaPorte and a pair of his trusted guards walk in.

  "I should have figured I’d see you again," Paulus said, "What do you want you traitorous son of a bitch?"

  "You should learn to choose your words more carefully," LaPorte said, looking at the caged representative, "There is a new power in this area. You would do well to bow down to it."

  "I am the representative to Mullinix Massimaferro," Paulus seethed, "I bow to no man, especially not a traitor to the Mullinix Empire."

  "You soon will be," LaPorte smiled, "Everyone in this land will bow down before me soon enough. Everyone who ever doubted me will know Ellis LaPorte as a great leader, not like the weak ones in your idiotic capital."

  "So that is what this lunacy is about?" Paulus asked him, "Fat little Ellis LaPorte feels slighted so he’s going to betray everyone who ever gave him a chance just so a few insignificant people will grovel and lick his boots? You don’t really think Massimaferro is going to lie down and let it happen, do you?"

  "He already has," LaPorte shrugged, "You are merely an inconvenience. Insegniferro is the only one talking to me and that ignorant savage takes everything I tell him as gospel. By the time they realize what I have done it will be too late."

  "Other than kill my guard and make apathetic zombies out of your troops," Paulus said, "What is it that you think you have done?"

  "I have successfully separated Cirrus from the Empire," LaPorte told him, "Nothing can happen here without my allowing it. I will have my own nation and my own people."

  "You mean you will have people who hate your guts," Paulus said, "I pity anyone who has to live under your rule."

  "Save your pity," LaPorte said, an evil smile forming, "You will need it for yourself. I have plans for you once I make the final split. Very interesting plans indeed."

  "I can hardly wait," Paulus said, doing his best to look bored, "It will be amusing to see the Mullinix Guard squash you like the fat pretentious prick you are."

  "We’ll see who gets squashed, Mr. Tally," LaPorte said.

  "So what are you here for?" Paulus asked him, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

  "Because you are probably about the only person in the Empire in a position to understand what I’ve done," LaPorte shrugged, "I find it amusing to see you sit in that cell as well. You come in to my post making as if you deserve special treatment, talking to my soldiers and acting as if what you say matters."

  "They aren’t your soldiers, LaPorte," Paulus reminded him, "They belong to the empire. The same empire that raised you educated you and gave you the position that you are betraying."

  "Possession makes right," LaPorte said, "The empire no longer holds this area. I do. Ellis LaPorte. Me."

  "It must be really hard fitting so much ego into a brain that small," Paulus said dryly, "I’ll enjoy watching you hang."

  "You’ll be the one hanging," LaPorte told him, "Count on it, Mr. Tally."

  With that Ellis LaPorte walked out, the guards marching almost in formation behind him. Paulus sighed and shook his head, not believing what he was seeing. He wondered as he went over to sit down just how someone that crazy became a Colonel in the Mullinix Guard. He just hoped he’d have a chance to find out.