The Kingmaker Contest

by Troy Clem

  “Servantis was removed from succession,” said Olister. “Because Rev didn’t like his family. His broken leg was simply the excuse.”

  “Alright, fine—I’ll admit that your removal may have been largely political.” Losik gestured to Pasqual. “But this might as well be a pumpkin. It can’t be king. I won’t allow this mockery.”

  “I’m not king,” said Servantis. “You’re not king. We don’t make these decisions.”

  “Today we can,” said Losik. “Today we must, for the good of the Empire.”

  “I can’t allow this treasonous talk anymore,” said Servantis. “Pasqual is king.”

  “At best he is the presumptive king,” said Losik. “We have to wait until every contestant’s body is found and confirmed dead before we crown the vegetable. Now another contest really is our biggest priority. If there is one good thing about the gourd being found, it’s that it will appear as if succession hasn’t been broken—and now we must do all we can to keep it that way. Servantis, you will continue the duties of Lord of Ironhead, without the title, as you have done the last few wee—”

  “Ya ‘ave no authority ta make these decisions,” interrupted Tess.

  “I keep forgetting about you,” said Losik. “You are so small.”

  “I’m the Royal Vizier and I’ll make these decisions,” continued Tess unfazed.

  Losik laughed. “Under what authority?”

  “The King’s,” answered Tess. “We ‘ad a plan after the contest. When Squally was king I would be ‘is Vizier.”

  “Do you have anything to backup those claims?” Losik asked. “Any sort of document?”

  “No,” said Tess. “But—”

  “I’m afraid you have no authority here,” said Losik. “If the King can’t speak, he can’t appoint you Vizier.”

  Olister stood. “I may have a solution to this problem, a way to verify the King’s desi—”

  “You have no authority here either, priest,” Losik cut in. “You were appointed to the Council by Rev, and with him dead you have no official position within the Empire. In fact, I am the only one in this room with any actual authority.”

  “If Olister has a way of helping the King speak,” said Servantis standing up. “You are honor-bound to see its validity.”

  “I will do what is best for the Empire,” said Losik.

  “It is not your Empire to rule. I won’t stand and watch you bend this Empire to your will,” said Servantis.

  Losik sighed. “In the name of the Empire, I will at least hear you out, but I don’t want any unnecessary attention brought to this situation,” he said. Then, turning to Olister, “What possible solution could you have?”

  Olister left, but returned to the chamber in less than a minute, carrying the gold box Tess recognized from what seemed like a different lifetime entirely, though it was only the day before.

  “What nonsensical religious artifact have you conjured up?” Losik asked.

  Olister pulled out the glowing blue object—it still looked like a stone to Tess. The object appeared to be floating between Olister’s hands. “This is a tool, Losik.” He placed it into Pasqual’s left hand, which laid palm up and open on the table. The object appeared to float just above Pasqual’s palm. Olister looked into Pasqual’s eyes. Pasqual looked right back at the priest. “Speak,” Olister said.

  Pasqual started to move his mouth and found he had better control of his whole jaw. He could move his tongue. But his throat was hoarse, and the first few things to come out sounded more like noises than words. “Tessie,” he eventually managed to force out.

  Tess ran to him and climbed onto the table to be next to him. “I’m ‘ere,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” Pasqual said, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  “Fer what,” replied Tess. “There’s nothin’ ya need ta be sorry ‘bout.”

  “I shouldn’t’ve been mad at you,” Pasqual said.

  “Yeah ya should've,” said Tess. “I was a real ass. I owe ya the apology.” Tess gave Pasqual a hug, and even though Pasqual couldn’t hug her back, she could feel that he wanted to.

  “What should I do, Tessie?” Pasqual asked.

  “Yer king now,” Tess replied. “No one else ‘as the power ta do anythin’.” Tears of pure joy were streaming out of Tess’s eyes, no matter how much she tried to hold them in.

  “I’m King,” Pasqual said, “and Tessie is Vizier.”

  Tess turned to Losik. “Toldja,” she said, scrunching her face childishly.

  Losik rolled his eyes. “You’re going to stand for the destruction of this Empire, Servantis?”

  Olister snatched the glowing blue object from Pasqual’s hand and put it back in the gold box. “That is all for now.”

  “Theo,” Pasqual blurted out as fast as he could, but that was all he could manage before he lost the newfound control of his ruined body.

  “Theo?” Losik exclaimed. “Did he say Theo?”

  Tess watched the expression fade from Pasqual’s face. “By order of the King,” she said, sitting up. “Give back that… thing.” Pasqual was trying to talk, but he just sounded like he was choking.

  “Return your tool!” Losik seconded Tess’s command. “Allow him to talk about Theo.”

  “I’m afraid I cannot,” Olister said. “You don’t understand the importance of this object.”

  Tess hopped off the table. “Yer bound ta serve yer king!”

  “The Church is not bound to the Crown,” Olister said. “I may serve my king, but I am a servant to a greater being as well; and this,” he gestured to the closed box, “is His.”

  “I don’t care about yer made-up nonsense,” said Tess. “Guards!” she screamed. Two guards burst in. “Take Olister ta the dungeon and bring me that gold box.”

  “You people just take and take from the Koyash,” replied Olister with a sad sigh. “You don’t understand the power that He gives to you.”

  The guards looked to Servantis. “She is now Royal Vizier,” Servantis responded to the confusion on their faces, voice thick with pride. “I would do what she says.”

  Olister opened the gold box. “I worried this was how you would react. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Olister put his hand in the box. “After all we’ve done for you. The world seems to only have those who take.”

  The guards charged around the table with the live ends of their muskets—bayonets and all—pointed at Olister.

  “I’m not foolish though. I wouldn’t have helped you if I didn’t have a contingency.” Olister’s eyes closed, and with that blink the priest disappeared.

  The guards were confused, and stabbed their bayonets awkwardly around the area Olister had been. “Where is ‘e?” Tess asked.

  “I’d imagine you could find him at the church,” said Losik.

  “Servantis,” Tess said. “Mobilize some troops ta get us that glowin’ blue stone thing.”

  Losik laughed. “Today has been a funny day. You have no idea what you are doing. You’ll kill us all in a matter of hours.”

  Emmen put a hand on Tess’s shoulder. “There are many treaties you should read before you send the Royal Guard anywhere. A soldier entering the church would break a number of them.”

  “The king can do whatever ‘e wants,” said Tess.

  “The king can, technically, do whatever he wants,” retorted Losik, “but he is not immune from consequence. This Empire exists on the most razor-thin of margins, and the army that gave the crown its greatest source of power was just leveled by a bunch of natives with bows and arrows.” Losik turned to the guards. “Now someone tell me about Theo!”

  One of the guards spoke up. “The boy that found the survivor is in the dungeon.”

  “How could you send him to the dungeon?” demanded Losik. “I’ll have your head!”

  “He came in with a Sig and he refused to come without her,” the guard stammered.

  “Inexcusable!” screamed Losik, his face turning red. “Do you have any idea—
”

  “It’s a’wright,” Tess interrupted, attention on the terrified guard. “Jus’ make sure ya tell us all the information ya ‘ave next time before ya leave the room.” The guard nodded. “And the survivor ya mentioned: that’s yer King now. So show ‘im some respect, soldier.”

  Common Sigandar

  “No good is this,” Dak repeated. “No good is this.” He paced back and forth across the large dungeon cell they shared.

  “It’ll be fine,” said Theo.

  “Enough of you I have had!” snapped Dak.

  “Leave alone,” said Nagima.

  “Promised to keep us out of here he did!” snapped Dak. “Dead I would rather be.”

  “In Her you must trust.”

  “Dead she is!” exclaimed Dak. “Your eyes you need to open. Trapped you are. Never let you out. Savage the Empire is.”

  “I will get you out of here,” said Theo, putting a hand on Dak’s shoulder.

  Dak pulled away and laughed. “Faith in you I have none.”

  “Fought for us Theo has,” reminded Nagima.

  “No good has it done anyone,” said Dak. “Locked up like us he is.”

  “Losik will come down,” said Theo. “Everything will be different then.”

  “Not different for me or Nagima will it be,” Dak replied. “Out of here you will go, but we will not.”

  “Something you must believe in,” said Nagima. “In Theo you must, if not in Her.”

  “Our inevitable demise I believe in,” Dak retorted.

  “Alive we are,” replied Nagima.

  “Right is Dak,” echoed a familiar voice from somewhere down the interwoven hallways, but its source could not be seen.

  “There who be?” asked Nagima.

  Theo raised his voice. “I am the ward of Losik, Governor of—”

  “Shut up!” interrupted Dak.

  “Finish you should let him,” said the voice, distorting oddly as it bounced off the cold stone walls of the dungeon. “Wish to hear him conclude I do.”

  Even though the voice was warped, Nagima could feel the presence of its speaker. “Onqul,” she seethed, rushing to the bars of the cell.

  Onqul laughed, still out of sight. “Run to the Troll Lands we thought you would. See you again I never imagined. Pleasantly surprised I am.”

  “Peace and calm no longer rule over me,” snarled Nagima. “Lucky you are to not be in this cell.” She tried to get a better view through the bars, but had no luck seeing Onqul.

  “Wish I do that the circumstances were better,” said Onqul sincerely. “Reconcile I hope we can. Trust in you I should have.”

  Nagima was taken aback, but still wary. “Trust… Never trust in you could I.”

  Dak came to Nagima’s side to comfort her. “If trusted Nagima you had, then be here we would not. Together the clan would still be.”

  “Together the clan is,” Onqul replied. “Here I am because I need to be.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Theo, but at that moment steps echoed down the tight corridors that led to the cells, and Onqul went quiet. Dak and Nagima backed away from the cell bars and into the corner.

  “It will be alright,” Theo reassured, stepping toward the bars. “Lo-lo!” he said with a huge smile as Losik, Tess, and Servantis entered, followed by two guards.

  “How are you alive, Theo?” Losik asked, rushing to greet him at the cell bars. “Open it up,” he commanded the guard. “Get him out of there immediately.”

  Tess put her arm up, stopping the guard from opening the cell.

  “What are you doing?” demanded Losik.

  “Ya don’t command my guard,” Tess turned to the two soldiers. “Ya listen ta me.”

  The guards both nodded seriously.

  Tess let her hand down and, with a nod, signaled the guard to put the key into the cell door.

  “You have to release my friends as well,” Theo announced. “They saved my life and risked everything to get me here.”

  The cell door opened. Losik grabbed Theo’s wrist. “To the infirmary. You must see the medics.”

  Theo pulled his hand away. “I’m fine. They took good care of me and healed my injuries.”

  “If you had returned yesterday,” Losik stepped away and took a breath. “Perhaps we could have let your friends go, but now we are at war with the Sigandar.”

  “I’m not Sigandar,” said Dak, looking up but not approaching the front of the cell. “You’re not at war with me.”

  Losik looked Dak dead in the eyes. “You dress like a Sigandar. Smell like a Sigandar. Your skin may be brown like ours, but you are one of them.”

  Dak fell back. Theo could feel his heart racing. “I’ll get you out of here,” Theo tried to soothe him. “Calm down.”

  “You will be returning to Rigol immediately,” ordered Losik. “And I will hear no more about these combatants you call friends.”

  “I won’t leave them,” said Theo. “They’re not anyone’s enemy.”

  “‘Ave sympathy fer ‘em,” interjected Tess. “They saved yer son, and Squally too: they’re ‘eroes far as I’m concerned.”

  “I’m not his son,” said Theo. “I’m just a ward of the Empire whose care has been entrusted to him. He might care for me in his own way but he has no father’s love for me.”

  “The King’s releasin’ all these prisoners,” Tess decreed. “Immediately.”

  “You can’t possibly release them,” argued Losik. “They have clearly been sent here to destroy the Empire.”

  “They’ve saved the Empire,” Servantis defended. “Without them there would be no king, and the Empire would have crumbled.”

  Theo held the cell door open and gestured for Dak and Nagima to come out, but they didn’t step forward right away. Losik grabbed Theo’s shoulders, starting to pull him away from the door—but Theo held his ground.

  “You’ll return to Rigol,” Losik proclaimed. “At once!”

  Tess put her hand on Losik’s. “Oh,” she said smarmily, “one more thing, Lo-lo. I release ya from yer duty as guardian over Theo.”

  “What?” Losik exclaimed, letting go of Theo. He turned, towering over Tess.

  “‘E’s no longer yer duty,” explained Tess, looking up at Losik but feeling twice as tall. “Don’t worry, ya can retain yer post as Governor of Rigol. Fer now.”

  “This is preposterous!” burst Losik, starting to turn red in the cheeks and forehead.

  “‘E’ll remain ‘ere under…” Tess paused and spotted the answer. “Serv’s care.”

  Servantis was surprised. “Of—of course I answer the King’s call,” he stammered.

  Losik got redder, his nose crinkled, and his brow furrowed. “You can not—”

  “She can,” interrupted Servantis. “She’s the King’s Royal Vizier and you must show her the respect she deserves, Losik.” They locked eyes for a heated moment, then Losik stomped off, shoving Servantis out of his way as he went out of the dungeon. Theo had never seen him act so childish.

  Once Losik had left, Dak and Nagima felt comfortable enough to cautiously exit their cell. “The King owes ya a debt of gratitude,” said Tess.

  “That’s fine,” said Dak solemnly.

  “I don’t think ya grasp the favors that this can give ya,” said Tess.

  “Can it get me a bed?” asked Dak, his voice low.

  Tess laughed. “It can do ya a ‘ole lot more than that. I’m sure Servantis can set ya up with a place ta sleep tonight though.”

  “We have a few bed chambers always ready for guests,” replied Servantis.

  “I just want some sleep,” said Dak. “I don’t care where.”

  Tess looked at Nagima. “Ya could be especially useful ta the King if ya were willin’.”

  Nagima stared blankly back at Tess.

  “Would ya be willin’? The King could use an expert advisor fer all things Sigander.”

  Nagima looked at Theo. “Saying she is what?”

  “What do you mean?” The
o asked. “What part don’t you understand?”

  “None do I understand.”

  Theo squinted. “Now, I’m the one that doesn’t understand.”

  “Common tongue I do not speak,” said Nagima. “Obvious from our time together I thought that was.”

  “You understand me,” said Theo. “I speak Common.”

  “Sigandar you also speak though,” said Nagima.

  “No I don’t.”

  “Speaking Sigandar to me you have been the whole time,” insisted Nagima. “Wrong was your phrasing sometimes, but speak it you do.”

  “No I… I don’t.”

  “Confused how can you be?” Nagima was almost annoyed now, but surprise and confusion won out on her face. “Sigandar you are speaking now!”

  “I don’t speak Sigandar!” resisted Theo. He looked to Tess. “What language were we speaking?”

  “Yer a weird guy,” said Tess.

  “Humor me,” replied Theo.

  “Ya were speakin’ Common,” Tess said. “But she was speakin’ somethin’ different. Do ya understand ‘er?”

  Theo couldn’t believe it. “Yes, but…” he murmured, staring at a particular spot on the wall in confused, absent concentration.

  “‘Ow do ya know their language?” asked Tess.

  “I don’t.”

  “So,” continued Tess, clearly confused, “she knows Common? Ya guys was talkin’ back and forth ta each other?”

  Theo shook his head. “She says she doesn’t know any Common. Although I’m certain I was talking to her in Common the whole time.”

  “I jus’ don’t understand,” Tess sighed.

  “Neither do I…” Theo trailed off, then suddenly turned to Dak. “What do you hear when I talk to you?”

  “I really need to get out of here,” Dak replied quietly, fists slightly clenched.

  “Can you translate for us?” Servantis asked Theo. “Our armies could use her help,” he added, gesturing toward Nagima.

  Theo turned back to Servantis. “I surmise that I can translate for you,” he answered, still lost in thought.