Fate of the Empire

Liza paced across the kitchen floor of a mid-sized house in the southernmost portion of Griffenheim; she did not have much else to occupy her time: her youngest son, Eric, kept himself busy playing by himself in the living room, not yet old enough to fully comprehend the current situation; the house was nigh-spotless from three-days-worth of incessant cleaning, and with lifeless state of her abode producing no more dirt, no more was needed; neither could she go anywhere outside the house due to the government-imposed lockdown, put in effect in an effort to minimize chaos in the coming battle without having to coordinate an evacuation of over three million griffons.

Her husband, Markus, and eldest son, Felix, had both been conscripted to bolster the struggling Imperial military, now preparing for a desperate defence of the city. The war had dragged on for nearly twenty years now - almost half of her forty years of life - but the threat to the capital still seemed so sudden in her eyes. Markus had been drafted five years ago, when the Republicans were half-way to the Imperial heartlands; Felix, however, had been conscripted only a year ago, having only just turned old enough to meet the age requirement - now at seventeen. To have them both gone for such an extended period of time was immensely unsettling, a feeling exacerbated by the lack of any way to know whether or not they were all right.

She walked to the living room to check on Eric; he was currently sitting on the floor, doing nothing. He looked up at her as she walked in, and though she knew that he did not understand the danger that his father and brother, and the whole city, were in, the look in his yes betrayed a subconscious knowledge that something was seriously wrong.

She had always avoided bringing up the subject of the sudden disappearances of two of his closest relatives, and why he could no longer visit his friends, or play outside, giving vague excuses any time he questioned her, wanting neither to lie to him nor frighten him.

He asked, suddenly:

"Do you think dad and Felix will be home for my birthday this year?"

She thought for several seconds on how to respond; she did not want to instill in him false hope regarding things she could in no way guarantee, but at the same time, this battle would likely bring about an end to the war, and if the Empire was able to hold, then perhaps there was genuine hope after all.

So, perhaps to reassure herself as much as her son, she said:

"I'm sure they'll be home just in time."