The Tales of Asedith- Loyalty to the Crown

by Donald Davis

“Thanks, Dan, I appreciate everything.” Joshua stood and shook his hand. Then after a few more moments, Joshua left the market district and went straight to the courtyard to wait for the ceremony. It wouldn’t begin for another couple of hours but he wanted to wait for Braden to show up, in hopes of speaking to him before the ceremony began.

  When he got there, there were only a few citizens already gathered there. Joshua knew that he was quite early and he would have rather retreated to the castle for the next hour, but he also didn’t want to miss his chance to speak to Braden Telvan. Braden had always been an unpredictable person.

  After waiting for almost two hours, the courtyard had gradually been filled with city folk and was now crowded. Joshua, of course, had a seat reserved for him at the front-facing the crowd, considering that he was one of the two candidates claiming the crown. The council had just arrived and had taken their seats. They were seated higher than everyone in the courtyard, on one of the balconies that oversaw the courtyard. Not long after the council came forth, Joshua had spotted Braden Telvan enter the courtyard through the main entrance closest to the market district. He was stout and tall, and had that same gleam in his eyes that Joshua remembered. The gleam suggested that he had some sort of cockiness. He walked in Joshua’s direction and eventually spotted him sitting there. Braden grinned and nodded at Joshua, his long black hair swaying in the wind.

  “Joshua,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”

  Joshua stood up and shook his hand. “Aye, that it has. I was trying to find you a few hours ago so that we may have spoken before the ceremony, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

  “My apologies, I’ve been rather busy over the past year, same as you. Although, I haven’t been off to war like you have. Sorry to hear about your father by the way, terrible way to go.”

  “That’s true. I always knew that it was a possibility something would happen to him, but I never thought that it would happen quite like that.”

  “Tragic,” Braden said, not sounding too sympathetic. “So what was it that you needed to speak to me about?”

  “Well Braden, since we’re short on time, I’ll ask you outright. Why are you making a claim for the crown? And where are those rumors coming from?”

  “To tell you the truth, I have no idea who started those rumors. You are speaking of the one of you orchestrating your father’s death, correct?”

  Joshua was becoming irritated. “Yes, that’s the one.”

  Braden looked as if he were sincere, but he was always good at being deceptive for things that he wanted. He then spoke up. “Joshua, I have no idea where those rumors came from. All I know is that when I had heard about your father’s death, I also heard from some travelers who suggested that maybe you had something to do with it. I didn’t want to believe it, but I started thinking about war and how it sometimes drives people mad. Before you left for war, I knew you had a sound mind. But I started wondering if maybe war had changed you. I didn’t think it had changed you, but just in case, I threw my name in the running for the crown. For Asedith’s protection, of course. But look at you! Here you are, and you look better than ever. I knew that I had nothing to worry about.”

  Joshua took everything in but still felt irritated. He then gave his response. “Braden, what you’re saying makes sense enough. But just by acknowledging the rumor, you would have been able to use that as an excuse to run against me. More than that, by acknowledging it, you allowed the rumor to spread even further. Now, people throughout the kingdom could think that it’s true, and it could ruin my family name.”

  Braden shook his head. “No, no. That wouldn’t happen, your family has done too much for the kingdom for a few rumors to set you back. Trust me, you and your family will be fine.”

  Joshua was steadily getting angry but tried not to show it. “Well Braden, now that we’re here and you see that I’m fine, you could just drop out of the running. That way we wouldn’t even need a voting ceremony and we could put all of this behind us.”

  Braden looked unsure. “Well, we’re all already here. Besides, several folks have traveled far and wide across the kingdom to make it here to vote for their king. Odds are that it’s too late anyway. The ceremony could start any minute now.”

  Joshua always held back his anger, but he couldn’t any longer. He shouted, “Why, Braden? The crown has been in my family for generations! Would you seek to pry that from us?!” Braden looked astonished, but Joshua realized what he had done. He turned to his right and saw the large crowd of citizens gathered in the courtyard. They had all fallen silent and were staring at him. Joshua then looked up and to his left, and saw the council looking down on him. Joshua was shocked as he caught himself and realized what he was doing. He looked back at Braden. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout like that.” Braden sat a hand on Joshua’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, it’s already forgotten. Best that you forget about it too. Now, let’s take our seats. I’m sure the council is ready to begin the ceremony.” He then walked off towards his seat. Joshua sat down and hung his head, regretting what had just transpired.

  Not much longer after the outburst, the voting ceremony had begun. It started with Joshua and Braden each making introductions and greeting the townsfolk before they cast their votes. After that, it was in the hands of the people. They each went up, ten at a time to write down and cast their votes for the democratic system. Through this whole process, Joshua didn’t speak. He just sat in his chair with worry setting in about his outburst earlier. Why did he do that? He never has an outburst. Even when he gets angry, he always manages to bottle it up, especially when he is around other people. He hung his head, anxious to see the outcome of everything. He just wanted things to go back to normal. If he and his family would win the election, he thought everything would be fine and that at least one thing wouldn’t change. Joshua lifted his head as the last of the votes had been cast. Joshua kept thinking about how everything was easier when his father had been king.

  Joshua spent the next hour either sitting in his chair or pacing around the courtyard. Eventually, he walked back up to his chair and decided to speak to Braden once again. Joshua approached him. “Again, my deepest apologies for earlier. With my father’s death, I’ve been a little on edge lately.” Braden smiled and shook his head. “It’s fine, Joshua. It can’t be easy for you, I’m sure. For what it’s worth, I think you would make a great king. Honestly, you’re probably going to win by a landslide.” Joshua smiled, “Ah, I don’t know about that.”

  They stood in silence for a few moments, then Joshua looked back at Braden. “So what exactly have you been up to over the past year?” Braden looked unsure. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I was asking around town earlier. I heard from some city folk that you disappeared from Roseshire not long after father and I did for the war. What’s that about?”

  “Just business. You know that I used to own a shop right here in Roseshire. Not long after you left, I decided to take it on the move and travel a bit, you know? Especially during times of war, there is more business that way.” Joshua nodded. “I see. Well, at any rate, welcome back.”

  At that moment, the council sounded a loud bell from the balcony. The head of the council, Elder Conayn, stepped forward and addressed the contenders and the crowd. “Candidates, citizens of Roseshire, and travelers throughout Asedith, the votes are in and the king has been determined. Joshua was a little surprised. From what he had been told, it was normal for the vote counting to last at least two hours. Meanwhile, they had only received the votes just over an hour ago. He started to wonder if the vote had even been close. Braden spoke to Joshua. “Well, this is it.” Joshua nodded. “Indeed. Just so you know, I think that you would make a great king as well.” Braden smiled. “Thanks.”

  Elder Conayn spoke up once again. “People of Asedith, your new king… Is Braden Telvan. May he serve the kingdom faithfully, and guide us all with bravery.” The crowd shouted and cheered as Braden started to
climb the steps, preparing to be crowned by the elders. Joshua was in shock. He was worrying earlier about the outburst, but surely that’s not entirely what caused the vote to go that way. Many things ran through his mind. He looked up and saw his sister and mother in the crowd. Both of them already looked upset. What does this mean for our family? By this time, Braden had reached the top of the stairs and the city council surrounded him. The crowd fell silent. Elder Conayn then stepped up behind him and reached up to put the crown on Braden’s head. He then announced to the crowd, “Introducing king Braden Telvan. May he have a long and prosperous reign!” The crowd followed him, shouting, “May he have a long and prosperous reign!” Worry sank in with Joshua and his family. Joshua looked at Braden, who was smiling with a sly grin that made him shudder.

  Chapter 7: Bound by Loyalty

  With the ceremony not going as planned, Joshua and his family didn’t feel like staying in the courtyard for long. They tried their best to look respectable as they said their goodbyes to some of the locals. Before leaving, they made sure to publicly congratulate Braden on his victory, as it was a big moment for him. Afterward, Joshua, his mother, and his sister climbed back up the castle so that they could converse in their private quarters.

  The climb up the stairs within the castle seemed to take much longer than usual. Not one of them said a word as they climbed for several minutes. Eventually, they made it back to the top and proceeded towards the Bracken’s main chamber. Once they made it to the room, Joshua closed all the doors behind them. He hung his head, still thinking about things and how they could have gone so wrong. “How could this happen?” he asked. Terra spoke up, “I don’t know, but I bet Braden had something to do with all this. That smirk that he had written across his face couldn’t have meant anything good.” Joshua just stood there, noticeably irritated. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, then Emilia spoke up. “You two try not to worry about things. I know it didn’t go according to plan, but everything will work out for the best. It always does.” Joshua looked at his sister, trying to remain irritated. But it was as if he couldn’t. No matter how bad things looked or how angry or sad Joshua was, his sister always seemed to cheer him up. She just had that way about her.

  Joshua sighed. “Perhaps you’re right, sister. Worrying won’t do any good. But, what happens to our family now? I had always just assumed that our family would remain in power. I never actually thought about what would happen if we lost.” Terra spoke up, “Well, we won’t be homeless at least, but we won’t get to keep these quarters. These are reserved for the king and his family. However, your father and I bought a couple of rooms within the lower castle, just in case we needed extra space. The council often reserves such benefits for the past and present royal families.” Emilia looked to her mother, then to Joshua. “Well, that’s a relief. But what about coin? By ruling the kingdom, we never had to worry much about that.”

  Again, Terra spoke up, “Sadly, we only have enough stores to last us a few weeks at best. After that, who knows. As the royal family, we’ve never had to worry about our own taxes, our food and supplies have been free. We’ve never had much need for coin until now.” She looked at Joshua. “Supposedly you and the new king go far back. Maybe you could speak to him about some sort of employment for us. Something that will take care of us once our reserves are gone. Surely he must have something we can do.”

  Joshua nodded in silence. He was noticeably upset. “I just don’t know how it could come to this. We ruled the kingdom so well, I thought. Father ruled the kingdom so well…” He started to tear up. “If I had not snapped like that in front of Braden, in front of everyone, maybe things would’ve turned out differently… I’m so sorry for everything. I failed you.” Emilia felt sorry for him. It wasn’t often that Joshua showed his emotions like this. She walked over to him and held him. “You didn’t fail us. This was just the way things were meant to be. I don’t know why it’s the way that it is, but it is. The only thing we can do now is move on and try our best to build our family back up.” After a few moments, Joshua started to calm back down. “Thank you, Emilia. No, you’re right.” He looked at his sister and mother. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. In fact, tomorrow once we’ve moved all of our belongings, I will personally go talk to Braden. We will work something out and we will all be okay, I promise.” Terra smiled at Joshua. “That’s my boy. Your father would be proud of you.”

  The next day, the Brackens had woken up extremely early, even before sunrise. They wanted to get a head start on moving all of their belongings. Luckily there weren’t many large furnishings for them to move, considering most of those would now belong to Braden in the king’s quarters. The Brackens spent hours moving things down the castle into their new quarters. Things could be worse, Joshua remembered. They could have been homeless, living outside of the castle. He and his family kept moving items. From their personal belongings to old heirlooms belonging to house Bracken, they moved everything by early in the afternoon. Their new quarters weren’t nearly as big as their old ones, but that was to be expected. The rooms were cool, as they were all made of old thick stones. There hadn’t been a fire in there for several years, most likely. There weren’t as many decorations or furnishings either, but that was hopefully going to change. Joshua was soon going to speak to the king about their future role in the kingdom, which would hopefully go well for him and his family.

  After moving everything, Joshua and his family were sitting around for a short while, just making conversation and trying not to think about things grimly. “Well, I should get going. I bet you that Braden has already had most of his things moved to his quarters. Knowing him, he wouldn’t have wanted to wait long at all.” Terra nodded, “Yeah. In fact, I want to say that I passed some of his men carrying his items up the castle stairs.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Joshua said. Emilia smiled at her brother, “Well hey, good luck. I’m sure everything is going to work out for the best. Things happen for a reason, you know.” Joshua tried to smile back but only managed a slight grin. “Yeah, I know. At any rate, thank you.” And with that, he left and climbed the castle stairs. It felt odd, knowing that he was walking up to the same quarters that he could no longer call home.

  Once he reached the royal quarters, Joshua looked around to see most of Braden’s stuff already moved in. He then noticed two men standing in there, they looked like the men that were helping Braden move his belongings. “Excuse me,” Joshua said. “Is Braden here yet?” The man standing closest to Joshua stepped even closer. “King Braden is currently in the throne room. He is already making sure that everything is properly arranged so that he can officially start seeing audiences tomorrow.” Joshua was surprised. The fact that Braden would already be seeing citizens to hear appeals and propositions for the kingdom tomorrow seemed so soon. Joshua nodded to the men and left the room.

  The throne room is within the middle section of the castle. It was the room where the king would sit upon the throne and have audiences of people throughout the kingdom. Most of the time, it was when a citizen had a request of some sort. The representatives from the town or city that was requesting something would step forward when called and ask their proposition to the king. Depending on the situation, the king may or may not be able to help out in the situation.

  As he walked closer to the throne room, Joshua remembered his father being on the throne and thought about how he usually helped citizens in any way that he could. There was no way of knowing what kind of proposal citizens would walk in with each day. Joshua could remember one day in particular about four years ago when at one time a man walked in asking Tedric to help save his relationship. The king wouldn’t force someone to stay together, so he decided to dismiss the man. Besides, it was pretty common for some to get married just for the sake of joining houses with another family. Sometimes for reasons of power, sometimes for reasons of business or wealth. Within that same day, someone had come in complaining that their hometown had bee
n raided by local bandits. With that issue, Tedric had issued twenty men to ride out and deal with the threat. Just thinking about it, Joshua started to think of his father and how much he missed him. Things may not have worked out for being king, but it was still his duty to look after and protect his family.

  Joshua finally made it to the throne room. He walked in and spotted Braden at the end of the long aisle, sitting on the throne. Joshua looked around the room as he approached the king. The throne room was huge. The back half of the room was lined with long tables and chairs, set up for when the king and the royal family would feast with other lords throughout the kingdom. They were nice and decorated with silver candlesticks and fancy white tablecloths. He then looked up as he got closer to the front half of the throne room. This half was open on the right and left sides of the room for the audience to stand and hear the king speak during any declarations for the kingdom, or whenever the king would hear out propositions.

  Joshua then made it to the throne, where Braden was waiting for him. Braden looked at Joshua with a blank stare. Joshua then realized the normal courtesies for a king, though he thought he never had to use them for someone else like this. Joshua approached Braden and knelt on the floor, “Your grace.” Braden looked at him for a moment, then smiled and motioned for him to get up. “Hello, Joshua. I know we saw each other yesterday, but it already feels like it’s been a week with the moving and all.” Joshua grinned, “That it does, your grace. How’s the castle treating you so far?”

  “Everything is going well. The royal quarters are so big and comfy. I can’t even imagine going back and living in normal quarters after this.” He stopped and caught himself. “Oh, my apologies. I forgot.”

  Joshua shook his head, “It’s already forgotten, your grace. However, I did want to speak with you if you have a moment.”

  “Of course, Joshua. Though, please be quick about it. I’m going to make sure that both my quarters and the rest of the throne room are set up properly before tomorrow. I’m wanting to get started on my duties as soon as possible.”