Red Day

Erik shows up at the gates, Anya is also there watching. Erik talks to a guard and Juste. Nikolai comes up and speaks Erik. Erik tells him he could be good. Nicky says he could just petition the King for change and no need to riot. Maria notices Nikolai at the gates and runs out to get him.

Erik stare Nikolai down. He tells him that he is pampered, loved, and his lifestyle is extravagant. He sweeps his legs out from under him and keeps on his ankle. The guards point their guns at him and the crowd cheers.

Maria runs out into the courtyard to get Nicky. Carter comes out and tries to get Nicky and tries to get them inside. Erik points a gun at Nicky and Maria. Charlotte comes out and yells at Nikolai and Maria to get inside. Nikolai pushes Carter and Maria to the ground and yells for the guards. Several people point there guns at the royals and guards, saying if they fire it will turn into a bloodbath.

A girl named Evani runs into the crowd and tells Erik to stop and that there's a better way to do this. Tatiana runs out into the courtyard. Maria drags Nicky on the ground with her.

"However the moment any of you shoot, it means chaos to rule the land for decades to come." -Nicky, and it seems like he was right!

A gun goes off an kills a guard dies. Erik pushes Evani and himself to the ground and he shoots 6 guards. He then drags Evani to safety.

Nikolai is shot and runs inside with Maria. Carter, Charlotte, and Tatiana follow.

Blood was everywhere from the cobblestones to the gates.

Nikolai was taken to the infirmary

The streets were littered with corpses. Peasants were stacked and rolled away on carts. Soliders covered in neat lines for morgue detail and wounded taken to the infirmary.

Erik sits in a shack and thinks about what he's done. He talks to his companions that they are going to stay low for a few hours. Then start a new disturbance in a poor area and make the guards leave the Slums and gather support and arm the people.

## 16 dead, 22 wounded,

Erik's men return with 30-40 other men. Erik stands on a table and addresses them. Saying they are going to make the police and guards get out of the Slums and a series of events that will lead to peace for generations. The crowd cheer. They leave the shack and Erik orders them to take position in crowds, on roofs, and alleys awaiting a signal.

Erik notices a group of guards and soldiers marching through the streets of the slums with guns. Erik steps in the street. The soldiers point their guns at Erik and one tells them to surrender. Erik says that they are outnumbered and they should turn or they will be destroyed. Erik shoots at the captain and he dives to the ground as his men fire from the crowds, alleys, roofs, doorways, and windows. The soldiers scatter.

A guard tells the Royal family what has happened. Frederik tells the guard to instate a city wide curfew. Anyone found outside after dark are to be arrested immediately. The Palace doors are locked and no one gets in or out without permission from the King. Martial law is declared, all in the city must swear an oath of loyalty and the police security tripled. Alexandra tells Frederik that they need to get out of St.Romanova.Erik shoots the last of the soldiers and walks in the cluster of dead and dying men. Erik tells the dying captain to tell the King to send a real challenge. Erik then shoots the captain in the head.

Tommy took the lollipop and offers a non-aggression pact.

Erik agrees

Tommy says that if the killing doesn't stop or the greediness once Erik has won, there will be another revolt and his supporter will turn against him. Then he walks away.

Erik turns back to his men. He can hear sounds of officers and guards rush to see what is happening. The force grew by 15. He tells his men they will move stealthily through the slims, taking out guards and police. His men disperse as if they are a panicked crowd and climb onto roofs., into alleyways, or run off in general. Erik walks up to 5-6 soldiers, nod at them, and opens fire and they all fall and moves on. He decides that today will be known as Red Day.

Erik watches as a group his men shoots at a patrol of guards from the rooftop. He walks through the warzone.

A soldier runs to the palace and yells that Erik killed everyone and he owns the Slums.

Juste awakes in the training yard and goes to the solider screaming about the slums and takes him away from the infirmary. He asks what happened and hears in the background boots of guards taking positions and murmurs of Marshall Law.

A solider tells Juste that Erik killed the whole regiment and that peasants had rifles, pistols, and weapons. But for some reason Erik let him go.

Juste says they were fools to send them to the slums. He tells passing trainees to get the solider to the infirmary. He goes to the palace to see the Royal Family to offer his services and resume his military services to the crown. Maria clutches to Tatiana. A guard comes into the room and tells Frederick that the rebels have killed all the regiments from the tenth quarter all the way to the fifteenth and only one man survived. Alexandra breaks down. Frederick says the rebels have taken the Slums and orders those neighborhoods to be blocked off and trap them inside. He orders to station guards and have more soliders taken from the countryside.

Maria tells Frederick that the people are not going to like his plan. Frederick says that it is only temporary and that the girls need to pack your trucks.

Maria asks if they are going anywhere. Frederick says not yet but that it might be best to go back to Tsarskoe and tells the girls to gather valuables and sew them into their bodices so the rebels won't find them if they are caught. Anything that can't be taken with will be hidden from looters. A guard tells Frederick that Juste is waiting for him and tells him to send him in. Frederick tells the girls to start now and they need to be leave before the week is up. Maria takes Charlotte and Tatiana's hand and walk out of the room passing Juste

Frederick notices Alix step closer to Nikolai to make sure Juste can't tell he is injured. He lifts Juste from his kneel and tells him he would be glad to have him back.

Erik says they will never be Royals and they have led this country to death and famine. Says he will give all the people in the slums jobs as farmers and cut unemployment and crime down and cure famine and wants to become Grand Chancellor.

Erik starts walking to the main bridge. A group forms near one of the gates and tells Anya to come and help tear down the wall.

Anya works faster and gets the last lock off and puts the pin back into her hat and nods to Erik.Erik kicks the gate open. His men shoot the guards from the back (how did they get behind the guards?) and tear the gate down and throwing it into the river. The men take guns and bullets from the soilders. He tells Anya good work.

Erik instructs his men to guard the people looks for food and walks across the bridge with Anya toward The Palace. He sends a messenger to tell the King of his approach. Frederick walks into the throne rooms and a messenger comes in to tell him that Erik has arrived and follows him to the palace steps. Erik enters the palace courtyard with his followers with Anya and Bear at his side and approaches Frederick and says he wants to talk about the future of his kingdom.

Frederick is surprised Erik called Karoleva his country and says not to count is chickens.

Erik says it is his country and Frederick lost control at the massacre and on Red Day. Says he can leave the country with your family and never return and instate him as King or he will take the crown by force.

The quadricentennial ball is tomorrow night, and I know we must be here for that. Still holding the ball will show that we aren't afraid of Erik Verraten, and that we plan to continue on as usual. No, we'll leave the day after, in the dead of night. I'll have the train waiting, and we'll be out of the city without anyone noticing. Perhaps, if we play our cards right, no one will know we're even gone until the week's end.

I think back to history class, where we'd learned about small rebellions in the past. Those have always ended quickly, and life had always returned back to normal soon after. I'd like to believe that's what will happen here, but this rebellion isn't like any of the others. Karoleva hasn't had a rebellion this big, not since Alexei Petrovna. I find that kind of ironic, and if I wasn't so tired I might have laughed. --- Maria