by Ian Carter
"Unlike the lot who live in this city, myself and those in the Garrison are still fiercely loyal to you and your father, Prince Kai. I imagine that those you have encountered so far have been less than kind to you and your companions. I am truly sorry for that, Your Highness."
"You do not bear the sins of the city's inhabitants so rest easy," Kai assured. "Please tell me your name, elder."
"My name is Liliana Urquhart. It is my absolute honor and privilege to meet you in person, Your Highness."
"You don't need to lavish me with praise, it's fine. What you can tell me, though, is why the locals are treating us poorly."
"That is ... have you ever left the Capital before your current journey, Your Highness?"
"No, this is the first time I've ventured outside of the Capital."
"Ah. Prince Kai, please tell me what you know of the people who live in your kingdom."
"I know that they are very proud of their homeland and faithful to my family. I'd be able to tell you of most regional festivals and traditions, and what those regions are known for. I also know general census information for all major cities as well as most smaller ones."
"I see. Are you aware of how we are treated?"
The question struck Kai as odd. He looked back at Mason, who gave an innocent shake of the head to signal he was unaware of the meaning behind the question. Kai then turned to Hayleigh, who gave the same response.
"Of course they are treated well," Kai said as he turned to face Liliana. "I have seen it for myself in the Capital and Erkau. My father loves all of his citizens, and he would never do them harm or misfortune. He went through terrible struggles to reunite this kingdom from its ashes after all."
"You are a young man with a good head on his shoulders. I truly do believe that you mean each word of that answer. What you believe may be true for the Capital and the immediate area surrounding it. Still, not all citizens of the kingdom are as blessed."
"What do you mean?" Hayleigh tensed up a bit as the words escaped her lips. It was evident that she feared what came next. Kai had the same pit form in his stomach.
"Citizens of Orilia are not all equally treated by His Majesty and his council of senators," Liliana began. "The populations that expand past the immediate reach of the Capital are being subjected to different maltreatment levels. I have checked with previous and current City Watchmen from Karsdal and various other cities around the kingdom's outer reaches. I know it's not the kind of thing you should find out from me, Your Highness. But I fear that if I did not tell you before you arrive in Stura, you would face a much ... harder time. It's not a problem that you'll only encounter in Karsdal, but one that you will continue to find elsewhere, at an increasingly harsher degree than what you experience here.
"As you travel farther away from the castle," Liliana continued. "Taxes raise ever higher, but the support they receive falls lower each season. Medicine has become scarcer, and the wines, dyes, and other products from the west rarely reach here, let alone farther regions such as Stura or Balloch. They receive identical tales of valor and mercy displayed by the king, as well as what kind of lavish pleasures to expect if they were to move to the Capital. They dream of how much better it would be if they went just a week of travel to the west. But as Your Highness said earlier, the citizens of Orilia are proud. They will not move from their birthplaces or family farms for greener pastures so passively. Simply put in crude terms, they endure.
"There are some who would speak against the royal family of this great kingdom. Those who feel strongly enough leave places like this and beyond to Stura. Terrell Braga has set up stores of daily necessities, medicine, and weapons to attract those people. He promises his resources to those who would lend their strength against the Hierarchy. Although I must admit before the attack on the Empyrean Tournament, I considered Braga's effort to be fantasy and much bluster. Or rather, just a good man doing his part to improve the lives of the citizens around him. I could never have imagined that they would plan an actual attack." Liliana paused, choosing her words carefully before she proceeded. "Neither did your father, I assume." He must have gotten dozens of reports of their activities from me and others across the kingdom."
"What reports?" Kai questioned. "I never once even heard a whisper from inside the castle, or from visiting citizens I spoke to. Not one. I can hardly believe what you say is true."
"If it is as you say, my prince, then there may be one, or indeed many, who seeks to undermine your father. One need only make a quick review of Orilia's history for an example candidate. But this is all conjecture. There is no evidence to support or eradicate suspicion of your father, the council or anyone. I would not dare accuse anyone with any volition at this time."
"You dare even remotely attempt to insinuate His Hi..." Mason blurted before he caught himself. He gave a glance to Kai and righted himself. As Mason turned his gaze to Hayleigh, her expression also showed a mixture of fear and anger.
"Elder Liliana, do you swear on your life, family, and reputation in front of all present that all words you have spoken to me are true? I will take your answer as fact, and if you lie, you face the death penalty. Be sure of your answer," Kai said.
"I swear that they are true to the best of my knowledge."
A silence filled the room. Kai lowered his head and looked at the ground as Mason and Hayleigh traded worried looks, not knowing what version of Kai would emerge from his brief reflection. Hayleigh reached out her hand towards Kai's shoulder before he turned and made towards the door.
"Get the items we need for our trip and return to the Garrison. Do not try to follow me. Invisibility!"
With the utterance and a small sliver of black light, Kai disappeared with only the open and shut of Liliana's door to give any notice of his existence. Mason and Hayleigh each ran to the door and ran into the street to search for their prince, but only found the faint lantern glow and damp air of the road to welcome them. Mason yelled out Kai's name in hopes of getting him to come back, but to no avail. He gave a deep sigh before grabbing Hayleigh's arm and taking her back into Liliana's residence.
Successfully evading Mason, Kai walked down the main drag, doing his best to avoid those who wandered down the street while he processed what he had learned. The clouds above him seemed to have grown darker, and he could tell it was about to rain soon with the moisture in the air. Rain would immediately give him away, so Kai had to scout the city quickly before he returned to the Garrison to meet up with Mason and Hayleigh. He had to confirm Elder Liliana's words with his own eyes after her explanation filled Kai's heart with terror. His father was so loving and kind. There wasn't a possibility that he would be the type of person to neglect any part of the kingdom he worked so hard to unite.
Kai's thoughts immediately aimed towards two senators who could be responsible for the potential suffering: Treasury Senator Deloof and Domestic Affairs Senator Braga. Simply put, money isn't allocated without Senator Deloof's authorization. All reports sent to the king go through Senator Braga's underlings. In his mind, they were cut and dry responsible. But there remained the possibility raised by Elder Liliana. Was his father involved? Kai wondered how he would even begin to rectify the situation if it was true. Would he have to go against everything he had ever known?
Kai felt a drop of water hit the tip of his nose, which caused him to pause briefly. He immediately identified and broke towards a nearby alley to remove himself from public view. As Kai leaned himself against the wall, he stared up into the sky. It turned out he had less time than he initially thought he did, which caused Kai to frown. He had barely had a moment to explore the city's condition before the rain forced his hand to abandon his plan.
As he planned a tactical route to the Garrison, a small cough to his left broke his concentration. He looked down to see two little boys caked with dirt on their skin huddled together inside of a wooden crate. The wooden box was loosely fashioned with wood planks, which resulted in large slits that allowed in the rain. As
he burned the boys' image into his head, he immediately knew that Elder Liliana was not lying, at least entirely. Regardless, this was life for these children.
There was a small pair of yelps as the children in the crate became panicked and began to stare directly into Kai's eyes. Confused, Kai looked down to see his body fully visible. When he activated the Stone, it had turned him invisible to his own eyes as well.
"Josiah the bastard, he never told me there was a time limit on this," Kai thought. "It must be similar to the same ten minutes his Silence Stone had." He knew he needed to act naturally and try his best not to startle the children, so he put a smile on his face and walked over to the boys before squatting down to bring his face closer to theirs.
"Hello there. Do you two happen to know who I am?" Both boys shook their heads with terrified expressions sprawled on their faces.
"That's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Kai loosened the drawstring on his cape to reveal the royal insignia on his armor. "My name is Kai Orilia, and I'm the prince of the whole kingdom. It is very nice to meet you both." Both boys had their lower jaw drop at the news that they were talking to the prince, and they stared at each other with a mix of shock and terror before they retreated farther into their box.
"Don't worry, I'm not as bad or as mean as some people would make you believe. Here, you two must be hungry. I think I have something with me..." Kai paused as he rummaged into his pockets before pulling out two buns that he had stashed away.
"I'm not supposed to keep food with me. You know, the whole 'not princely' thing. Don't tell Mason or Hayleigh." He moved closer to the boys and extended his hand with the buns to them. They immediately reached out, and each snagged some bread and began to eat. In just a few seconds, the children had scarfed them down.
"I'm sorry you two, that's all that I have. Would you like to come with me to the Garrison? I can get you real food and shelter for the rest of your lives. How does that sound?" The boys remained motionless, and though their expressions softened somewhat at the offer, they dared not move. Kai sighed; that would have been way too easy.
"Tell you guys what..." Kai removed his cape and draped it over the box. "This will help with the rain to keep you guys dry. When you feel like you don't have any other options, take this cape and find a City Guard. If you show them this cape, I'll make sure that you will be taken care of, okay? If you can't trust me, trust them at least. Do you understand?" The boys, who upon closer inspection seemed around age five or six, nodded silently.
"Good. I need to be getting back now. Stay dry, you two," Kai bid farewell. "Invisibility." Kai rounded the corner with a silent wave and moved down the road in the drizzle of rain.
As Kai moved towards the Garrison, he ensured to survey the streets as he ran as silently as possible. With more time to take in what he saw, he began to notice small details. He noticed the majority of merchant stalls needed a new coat of paint and were selling virtually no recent or fresh versions of Stones or other goods. Several coughs came from people around him, and the clothes they all wore looked weathered beyond a reasonable level. It was apparent to him that life was harder here, but was this the fault of his father, and by extension, the kingdom? Could it be a lack of economic stimulus that was hindering the town? There was so much to the situation that he didn't know, and it bothered him. All he could do was discover what he could and formulate a plan around that.
A loud crashing noise rang out from a few kilometers from where he stood. A red glow almost immediately began to lift into the sky from the source, which alarmed Kai. He noticed a nearby horse tied to a rail, and Kai leaped into action. He severed the rope with Initiation and mounted the horse before he shot off in the direction of the glow. It was inopportune as the Garrison was off in the complete other direction from the explosion. He wanted to re-connect with Mason and Hayleigh, and they would be nearby as he hadn't managed to get very far from the elder's home. However, it was a prince's duty to ensure the safety of his people; the choice was made for him.
Screams and shouting filled the air as Kai approached, with Karsdal's citizens running in the opposite direction back towards the Garrison. Something didn't feel right, and as he approached the last crossroads before the calamity, Kai's horse skidded to a stop and neighed as it reared into the sky, causing Kai to fall to the ground. He landed roughly 50 meters from the last corner before he could see what caused the fire. Kai groaned in pain as he lifted himself from the ground and saw his stolen horse running off along with the fleeing populace. He used the rain to rinse off part of his armor as he began to run towards his destination. The adrenaline started to flow through his veins, which helped Kai cope with the newfound lower back pain.
Kai finally reached the corner and made the last turn, and immediately froze. A large boulder flew past his right side and crushed several fleeing people before it bounced and rolled into a nearby building. Kai gripped Initiation and unsheathed it, but he began to shake uncontrollably at the sight before him.
A 20-foot giant using a tree for a weapon lumbered towards him. A razed trail lined with uprooted and maligned trees extended far beyond the giant's back through a nearby forest. Kai's head was no longer filled with inconsequential things like the Elder Liliana's words, nor the children he had helped just minutes prior. He only felt the dread of knowing that he was about to die.
Chapter Nine
The Man Who Would Be King
"I'm going to smack him next time I see him," Hayleigh spat as she gathered a few cans off the shelf in front of her and threw them into her bag.
"Hayleigh, you can't smack the prince," Mason replied as he compared two bags of flour before he found his choice and placed it into his basket.
"You know what Mason, he left us to go screw around on his own and left it up to us to do the grunt work." Hayleigh stomped off to another shelf to obtain salt.
"Well ... in the roughest terms, that's our job, isn't it?" Mason paused as he turned towards her as he held two different bags of sugar in his hands. The two subordinates shared an awkward glance as the sound of raindrops started to become audible from outside the shop. The water falling against the roof gave a pleasant ambient mood to the shop.
"I know," she sighed. "I just don't like it when he goes off on his own. I mean, we know what happened last time. We promised each other that it wouldn't happen again."
"Well, on the bright side, he has that Invisibility Stone, he will be able to sneak around just fine. But you're right. I don't like it either, but we can only do so much. You're around his age, so you should understand how that could shake him up. He's terrified of being a king that no-one loves, and if what Elder Liliana says is true—"
"Less talking, more shopping," a cold and bitter voice sounded out and shattered the mood. The same merchant from earlier stood behind his counter and sneered at them. Being forced by Elder Liliana to help Hayleigh and Mason had put him into a foul mood. In response to his bad attitude, Hayleigh turned towards his direction.
"Kind merchant, if you say even one more word to us that is not please or thank you, I will take my Blade, slice your tongue out, and then cut your balls off for good measure. Is that clear, or should we go and get your elder involved again?" Hayleigh flashed an innocent, conniving smile as her eyebrow quickly raised and lowered. The merchant suddenly stood upright.
"Oh, yes. Thank you for your patronage."
"Thank you very much, sir. We'll be done shortly!" Hayleigh turned back to face the shelves and rolled her eyes before she began to look for the next thing on their list. She began to trace her finger across the labels and bags in front of her as Mason snickered.
"There she is," Mason proclaimed. "I haven't seen that kind of sass from you ever since you and Kai talked it out and found out that you didn't hate each other."
"I've never hated Kai, not even a little," she replied stoically.
"Well, you did a fine job of making me think otherwise," Mason offered as he chuckled. "You two have made a lot of progr
ess towards being civil, nay, understanding towards each other. Try not to let this little event get in the way of that progress."
A loud bang rocked the air outside the shop and caused dust and dirt to fall from the roof and swirl in the air. Mason and Hayleigh both recoiled at the sound as the merchant ducked down behind his counter. After a few seconds to find their bearings, they looked at each other.
"What was that?" Hayleigh called out. Mason shook his head and turned to the hidden merchant.
"I don't know. Shopkeeper, tally the cost for these goods and deliver them to the garrison. The City Guard will pay for the goods and their delivery. Hayleigh, let's go!" The two of them placed their goods on the ground and ran out the door into the rain. The two looked down the street to see Kai gallop across the crossroads a hundred meters away.
Mason and Hayleigh joined together to scream at him, but he ignored their plea and disappeared behind the building on the corner.
"Mason, we can't let him go there on his own!"