The Soliel Family Estate was done in marble and gold. Everything about it carefully curated to display the family's importance and wealth and to inspire thoughts of the family symbol, a stylized golden sun.
High walls topped with golden spikes and greenery spilling over the edges surrounded the entire estate. The buildings inside were some of the oldest in Aontacht, having belonged to one of the original founding families back when the city had first been established. It had been renovated several times; it was likely only the foundation stones were original by now.
Francis had only made superficial changes. Replacing the family symbol with his own version in an attempt to establish some kind of independence from Jacques.
Winfred had been rather simple in his tastes and Jacques didn't care much about decoration, so all the ornamentation and flowers bursting out everywhere were Francis and Erin and then just Francis and now Francis and Brigitta. It had been draped in black for a decade after Erin's death but Francis' new marriage had brought colors back. Streamers and ornaments hung from the windows and torch posts.
Even the street leading up to the front gates was done in Soliel colors of white and gold after Francis had pressured the property owners.
The tallest spires of the Soliel Estate were high enough to look over most of the city. Only the main palace and a handful of estates established during the same period reached higher heights. The backside of the estate was the defensive wall that surrounded the city and beyond that, the Still Water.
Eirian's rooms had had a beautiful view of the clear blue water that Eric had enjoyed when he visited her. When they were younger, they used to sneak out her window onto the wall and then jump into the Still Water.
It gave their guards a heart attack every time, but it had been incredibly fun. They'd only stopped when Jacques had finally ordered them to.
The gates stayed shut as they approached, and Eric could see the guards start fidgeting from a block away.
Will hummed in amusement when the gates still didn't open as they traveled the last block. One of the guards disappeared inside and still wasn't back by the time Eric reined his horse in at the gate.
The poor guard looked like he was about to shit himself, left alone to face them and he jumped nearly a foot in the air when Eric snapped at him to open at the gate.
He hesitated, rocking to the side like he was about to keel over, but the Captain of the Imperial Army riding beside Will intervened before Eric had to repeat himself.
"Open the gate, young man." The Captain brought his horse around Eric and held up the warrant Eric had requested from the Chief Esquire at the palace. "By order of the High Court."
The young guard paled at the sight of the warrant and lunged for the gate, pushing it open by himself. It took him a couple minutes and he was dripping with sweat by the time he was done.
Behind the gate was a moderately sized front garden. Enough space for Eric and the first few rows behind him to ride in with the wagon they'd brought and eric led them in as the guard caught his breath.
The second guard returned with the Head Butler, George. An older man Eric knew had been with the family since before Eirian was born.
George and the second guard bowed deeply and then the guard quickly darted off to take care of his friend while George greeted Eric.
"Welcome, Your Grace."
"George. How have you been?" Eric dismounted and heard Will and the others follow suit. The Captain stepped up to his shoulder, handing Eric the warrant.
"Well, sire. How may I assist you?"
Eric held out the warrant and waved the soldiers forward. Goerge paled as his eyes flew over the document. "Open the doors, George."
He felt bad, the old butler looked like he might have a stroke for a moment, but he'd been in service too long to let it distract him for long.
"Your Grace, his lordship is in residence. Perhaps I could-"
Eric didn't let him finish. "Open the doors."
A crestfallen look crossed George's face. Just for a second. He was terribly loyal to the Soliel Family and took anything that might upset them terribly hard. Eric wasn't sure what he thought about the individual members of the family, he was far too professional to ever give anything like that away, but like many individuals who spent their lives in service to a single family, he took their reputation seriously.
And Eric bringing the Imperial Army to his uncle's doorstep was a significant blow to that reputation.
Not warning his uncle was just adding insult to injury but Eric was so angry that he didn't care anymore. Finding out his uncle had lied to his face twice on top of everything else was a bridge too far and his father agreed, or he never would have allowed Eric to carry this out.
The soldiers stepped inside as soon George opened the front doors.
The family vault was in the basement, which was only accessible through a secret door in Francis' office. It was where the family had hidden their valuables for generations and it was incredibly secure.
When someone didn't have a warrant in the name of the king.
Eric let the Captain and his soldiers take the lead. By law it was their duty to carry out the warrant, too much involvement from Eric would not look good in front of the High Court and Eric wasn't going to risk any accusations of tampering.
Francis was sure to appeal anyway.
Eric and Will stayed out front until they heard the raised voices float through the open doors.
"Sounds like its kicking off." Will murmured, squinting up at the windows in the levels above them. "We're being watched."
Not surprising. Eric glanced up and then turned his attention back to the rising noise inside.
A soldier stuck his head out. "Your Grace. You come see this."
~ tbc