by Kate Sander
A simple way to be.
"Take this crown," Mother's voice filled his head.
A King's crown, oddly familiar, floated towards him on a pillow.
The Forsaken picked it up. It was heavy in his hands, the thick gold shimmering with a source of light that the Forsaken couldn't see.
Your father's crown.
"Now, place this crown on your King's head," Mother said.
The Forsaken hesitated. The man's head that popped into his vision, only a foot away from him, wasn't the King.
Your father is the King.
"My father is dead."
Then your brother is the King. This man is an impostor.
The fog started to clear. They were on a balcony that Titus recognized. Solias. They were standing in the castle of Solias. They were standing where he grew up. Roald, Malin and himself. That didn't make any sense. Frowning at the crown in his hands, he blinked, trying to remember.
"No," Mother said. "I'll show you your mother again. I'll show your uncle raping her over and over. I'll show him killing her. You will beg for her death again, but I won't grant it. You'll beg for your own death, but I'll make you keep watching it for years to come, until your soul withers within your body."
Titus looked at her and was lost in her eyes.
"You don't want to see that, do you Titus? You know it happened, and that you did nothing. You want to forget that you didn't help your mother, don't you?"
Titus nodded, "I do," he said hoarsely.
Thick fog reappeared, smothering everything.
"Place the crown on the King's head."
The Forsaken did as he was told.
"Now, take this crown and place it on my head."
The Forsaken took the smaller silver crown, and placed it on Mother's head.
"Bow."
The Forsaken took a knee and bowed his head.
He didn't hear the gasps of the crowd beneath the balcony, the remainder of the population after the wars and famine ravaged the nation.
There was fog and only fog.
And silence.
And peace.
Part II
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” - William Blake, Jerusalem
19
Senka
"It's impossible," Vick said angrily. "It's totally impossible. I've attacked that city before and it was a disaster, I'm not doing that again. I'm not putting my guys in that position."
Senka shot Tory an exasperated look.
Vick was supposed to be the go-to guy. After organizing the revolt against the last false King, he'd helped save as many civilians in Solias that he'd been able to. For that, he was a hero. But his current plan of hiding and hoping that the Ampulex would just pass them by were the thoughts of a broken man.
And Senka wasn't having any of it.
"Look," she snapped, "with Hans and the other fishermen from Shamrock I have thirty-five fighters. Thirty-five. FIshermen." She took a swig of her tea. "You're sitting on a thousand-"
"A thousand people," Vick said. "Would you actually listen to me? I have a thousand people. Many of whom are sick, injured from our last attack, or children. I have maybe seven hundred and fifty fighters."
"I thought you said the Ampulex would only defend themselves," Tory said, trying to keep the peace around the fire. They were camping in the plains a half day’s walk from Solias, the walled castle city in Langundo. Vick had a good idea to hide their numbers, and sent every person to start a fire spread out from each other. They'd hoped that the Ampulex would think they had far more soldiers than they actually had, leaving them alone to treat the wounded instead of trying to flee to the forest. It had worked, for now. Or the Ampulex didn't see them as a threat at all. Either way, they were here.
Lucky us, Senka thought.
"The last time we attacked," Vick said. "But my scouts saw tens of thousands enter the city from the west less than a week ago. There's no way they are just going to stand there this time. They're prepping for war. And rumour has it that their leaders are here this time."
"Good," Senka said. "I'm here to kill them. I'm tired of hunting, it's time for this shit to go down, one way or another."
"So you’re condemning us to die because you're tired?"
"Do you know what the Ampulex can do?" White hot anger was rising in her chest.
"They take slaves," Vick said, avoiding her gaze.
"They take over people's minds," Senka said. "They twist them, manipulate them, until people are less than human."
Vick went white.
"All they want is to kill and to fuck, every resemblance of humanity lost. That's not all. They can make anyone do anything," she was talking slowly, trying to scare him. "My best friend tried to kill me. Nothing I could say or do would stop her. Nothing. She wanted me dead more than anything. Those kids will kill their parents, if you're lucky," she said. "If you're not, you'll watch parents kill their kids. You'll watch people that you love turn to animals. Until I kill those two fuckers, no where you will go can make you safe ever again."
Vick was staring at her from across the fire, motionless.
"She's not lying," Ujarak said. Everyone around the fire jumped and looked at him. He hadn't spoken the entire day. "Her friend wanted her dead. Senka tried everything to snap her out of it. Nothing worked. I think she would have attacked until exhaustion took her."
"They took my boy," Hans said suddenly. "They took him. I'm not going to let them do that to him. Not my Stillman."
"They have the Prince," Tory pleaded. "We have to try."
Vick rubbed his face. "Alright. But it needs to be voluntary. I'll send the sick and the elderly to the trees. The remaining Melanthios elders will take care of them. I'll talk to everyone in the morning." He rose from the fire and, speaking directly to Senka, said, "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Titus and for Solias. I think you're just as bad as they are." He spat on the ground. "Fucking Zoya." Turning, he strode away into the dark.
"That was fun," Senka said lightly.
"You need to work on your people skills," Tory said.
"No, I don't. I need to kill a couple fuckers before they kill me and destroy the rest of this country."
They stared at the fire a while, all lost in their own thoughts of what the morning would bring.
War. Finally war. Then all this would be over.
Kai, Eris and Akira walked up to them carrying a vat of soup and small bowls for each of them.
"How much of that did you guys listen to?" Tory asked.
"None," Eris said, drowning out Akira who said, "All."
"Stop lying," Senka said softly to the fire. "It doesn't do you any good."
"All," Eris said, not meeting Senka's eye. "Sorry, comes naturally."
"What do you guys think?" Tory asked, taking a bowl of soup out of the pot being passed around.
Akira shrugged, "'Bout time if you ask me." She slurped her soup loudly, making Senka smile. "I didn't come all this way for campfires."
"Why does the ten-year-old have more balls than the war Captain?"
"It's not about balls," Hans said softly. "It's about putting other people's lives on the line. It's a mark of maturity to want peace instead of war. Jules knew this."
Chastised, Senka looked at the fire.
Hans was right, of course. Jules did know that.
"Jules was a better person than all of us," Ujarak mumbled.
No one could disagree. Their small tribe slurped soup and stayed silent, thinking of what was to come.
Kai perked his head up from Akira's lap, giving Senka a second’s notice that someone was running up to their fire.
"Vick sent me," the young Melanthios man said. "You guys are going to want to come and see this." He ran away, delivering the same message to different fires.
People were running towards the east, talking excitedly to each other.
The group stood and jogged to the crowd of people, who separated and allowed them to the fr
ont. Fear of Zoya still came in handy sometimes.
An army, dressed in black leather and riding horses, was trickling towards camp. A man at the front of the army dismounted his horse and removed his helmet.
Vick gasped and fell to one knee. The crowd whispered and looked at each other awkwardly.
"Rise please, Captain," the young man said to Vick.
"My King," Vick gasped, still kneeling.
Gasps echoed and the people of Solias dropped to their knees. Only Senka's group and the Melanthios were left standing awkwardly.
"Rise, please," the man said loudly. "I am not your king. Not yet."
The crowd rose with whoops and cheers.
"You've saved us!" a woman called.
"My prince."
"We thought you were dead."
"I'm so proud you're here."
The calls carried in the quiet night as people cheered and clapped for their returned prince.
"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Sol asked Vick quietly.
"Yes," Vick said. He nodded towards Senka. "They need to come too."
Sol nodded.
Vick commanded his troops to help the Carabesh army stable and feed their horses.
"Come with me," he said.
"Stay here," Senka told Eris and Akira. "No spying."
Akira sighed and Eris frowned, but Kai growled his agreement. He'd keep an eye on them.
Senka, Ujarak, Tory and Hans strode after Vick and Prince Sol. They went to a fire away from the rest of the camp, where they could speak in private.
"I recognize you," Sol said to Ujarak. "You're the man who attacked me in front of City Hall?"
Ujarak nodded.
Sol smiled, "I thought it was too easy to take you out," he said. "That was pretty good acting. I thought you were sentenced to death? How did you escape prison?"
"That is a story for another time," Ujarak grunted.
Sol nodded, "I'm sorry, I'm distracted. It's nice to be in my home country again."
"What took you so long?" Senka snapped.
Sol took a seat on a log as Tory smacked Senka in the side.
"No, I'm serious," Senka said. "What took him so long? It's been utter fucking chaos here for years. Thousands of people have died. And this guy was just too busy in Carabesh to come and help his own country?"
"I'm not going to disagree with you," Sol said softly. "It took me longer than anticipated to be able to come back to Langundo with an army."
"You didn't need an army," Ujarak said softly. "I set you up for the President to owe you. Two full months ago. And yet, you took this long to come?"
Sol faced the fire, "I have nothing else to say on the matter. I'm here now, with an army of one thousand on horses. I will take my throne back whether you help me or not."
Ujarak sighed and sat heavily on a tree stump away from the Prince. Senka joined him and they glared while the others settled in around the fire.
"I don't want to talk about the past," the Prince said. "I want to talk about the future. We need to attack, and soon."
"No shit," Senka said. "Didn't need some punk ass kid coming in here to tell me that we need to attack the enemy."
"What did you just call me?" Sol snapped.
"Oh, I think you fucking heard me," Senka spat.
"ENOUGH!" Tory yelled. "Both of you."
"I am your King," Sol stammered.
"No, you're not," Tory said firmly. "I'm a Melanthios. You're no King of mine."
"What will you give the Melanthios," Ujarak asked, "if we help return you to the throne?"
"My parents wanted peace," Sol said, glaring at Senka, who was busy examining her nails. "I am willing to offer the same. No wars with the Melanthios, as long as my bloodline is on the throne."
"How can we trust you?" Senka asked. "The Melanthios have been burned by the Sols before."
Sol shrugged, "I'm not my father. You're just going to have to believe me."
They didn't have much more to argue.
"So, what’s your plan?" Sol asked hesitantly.
"Well, I'm not sure what you know about the Ampulex, but they are mainly comprised of Zoya and slaves. We're," Senka gestured to Ujarak, Tory and Hans, "going to go after their leaders. Once they're dead, then the slaves should snap out of it, giving us an advantage to take out the rest of the Generals."
Sol nodded, "I will take the Carabesh in right down the middle, draw the slaves and the Generals. You will then be able to sneak around to the castle. I'm going to assume they are holed up in there."
"There are still civilians in there," Vick said. "I couldn't get them all out."
"And try not to kill the slaves," Senka said. "It will be hard to do, as they attack until they're dead. But we're hoping that once those two assholes are dead, they will come back to us."
"So, they have no control?" Sol said.
"None. It's terrible," Hans said. "Prince, I have something to tell you."
Sol waited expectantly.
"Your brother... He was staying with my wife and me, hiding from the false king."
Senka examined her nails closer, refusing to think about Jules' cold, dead face peaking up from the rubble.
"He's alive?" Sol breathed.
"We're not sure. The Ampulex came through our village while a group of us was fishing. They killed a lot, but your brother was not among the dead. He's most likely alive."
"So then he's most likely a slave," Sol said. "I'll find him tomorrow. We will capture, not kill."
"Kill the generals," Senka said. "Leave those other assholes to me."
20
Senka
Sleep eluded her, but the night went fast.
Before she knew it, she was on a horse at the head of a bedraggled army marching towards a walled city.
Vick hadn't been wrong. It was less than a thousand.
So, two thousand versus ten thousand.
Shit, she'd had worse odds.
But you've never had so much on the line.
Thinking of the heart that must be beating and the little life she was carrying, nerves flooded through her like never before.
Wanting to run and never look back, hide in the forest, raise her child and forget about the rest of the world.
There are a few things wrong with that plan, she thought, still leading the march. The castle would be coming into view any minute, and she needed to get emotionally prepared for the battle, not thinking about running away. First off, the annoying voice in her head chirped, you ain't no pussy. And running right now would make you the world's biggest...
"Pussy," she mumbled out loud. Tory shot her a look from beside her but kept silent.
Senka, Ujarak, Tory, Sol, Eris, Akira and Vick were all riding on the last of the horses at the front of the measly army. The Carabesh looked regal enough, with their black leather armour and black horses, but the rest of them looked like...
Shit.
Indeed.
Secondly, her voice piped back up, you wouldn't get far. You know it, too, don't you? If you don't do this everyone will die. There's no where you can go that they won't find you. What kind of a life is that for her?
That's really the only argument she needed. Give this kid the best life possible. If she died trying then...
Then the kid dies with you.
On that terrifying thought, the castle rose out of the ground in front of them. Nestled behind a hill on the prairies, it sat as a shell of what it once was. Walls had crumbled into gaping holes, showing decrepit and run-down houses inside. Turrets were left unarmed, the castle itself was dirty in the background, tainted with the smoke of the city around it when it had burned.
"There," Senka said softly, pointing to a small copse of trees a few hundred feet away.
"That's the place?" Sol asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Senka said simply. Jumping off her horse in a deft dismount she said, "Make sure you're not late."
Ujarak dismounted awkwardly, followed by Tory, Akira and Eris.
"The longer you take, the more of us die," Sol said, looking down on them.
"Awesome pep talk," Senka said, giving him a thumbs up. "Love it. Can't wait until you're king."
Turning with a whistle to Kai, she jogged towards the only trees they could see on the plain.
"Be careful," Sol called to her back.
"She likes you," Ujarak mumbled. Sighing, he hoisted his warhammer and trudged along behind Senka and her cat, with Tory, Akira and Eris following.
It didn't take them long to reach the shadow in the field. A small ten foot in diameter forest, remnants of what was on the plains before farmland. The sounds of the calvary behind them rattled, muffled from the distance.
Sol's one thousand Carabesh calvary would help.
But Senka knew it wouldn't be enough. Not against the Ampulex. This whole plan was a long shot.
"But we have to try," Tory said from behind her, reading her mind.
"I know," Senka answered, waiting for Ujarak and the girls to catch up.
"You remember where this door is?"
Senka looked at the wall crumbling a few hundred yards away. "It's somewhere near here," she said, looking closely at the ground. "It's been years, I'm sure it's grown over."
"Well, best be looking then," Tory said, crouching down.
Ujarak, Eris and Akira joined them and all five got to work trying to track down a grown over trap door in the middle of a bunch of trees and shrubs.
Senka hadn't thought that this would be the hard part of the day. Shit, they were going to war. A few years ago she'd taken this hidden underground tunnel out of the city and escaped the Solias dungeon to freedom.
Senka remembered that day.
Two long years, tortured, mutilated, destroyed in the Solias dungeons. Captured by the Sun Gods, barely older than Eris. The atrocities she'd seen in that dungeon... Well, she didn't want to be going back. The Queen of Solias had rescued her out of nowhere. Her and Jules. They'd broken her out of the dungeon, helped her flee and escape to form a Melanthios peace.
Back when Langundo was on the brink of a Civil war.
Back when a single Zoya had seemed like the hardest enemy ever to be faced.