Day 145 - Kingdom Story

Kingdom Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

“I love all my children. But when one of you is bad, an example must be set.”

“Father!  Please—“

“’Father please.’ ‘Father please.’ You all say father please when it comes to punishment, but what were you saying when you were committing your transgressions?”

Bon was silent. At least he is smart enough to do that, thought Roland. Father was seldom a happy man, but today he was especially ireful.  Father was no fool. Bon had conspired with elders from another realm. Which realm exactly, no one was sure of. There were enemies to the east in Halania and to the west in Sul. And there were any number of tribes spread out all around that would want to see the kingdom toppled. Roland had no great love for his brother, but it still hurt him immensely to imagine his brother a traitor willing to turn against their father.

Shogarten was a wealthy land, full of mineral resources, lush farm lands and most importantly a route to the sea. There was trade and commerce and fishing and travel and the many benefits that came with seafaring. This gave the land an unfair advantage over its neighbors. It allowed for wealth and growth and riches. It led to certain dominance in the region.

An unhappy balance had always been accomplished, but often at great cost. Relationships seemed always to be strained. No one likes it when someone else has the power. That’s just the way that things go.

There had been political entanglements and wars and various struggles between the nations and the various regions. That had always been the case. But now a truly vicious war had come. Not a war as in the past, not some minor struggle for one plot of land or because of some offense or contrary custom. No, this was a battle of battles. There was ferocity and a blood lust and men fought with the desire and dedication and possession that came when someone’s entire life and nation is threatened with annihilation and the only way to survive is to kill first. The stakes were high, with nations out to utterly destroy their enemies and raze them to the ground.

Bon was a fool. He lusted for power and somehow thought that conspiring with enemies would help him gain that power. His father had been days from a separate peace with Halania and Sul. If peace could have been reached with them, then the other smaller powers and weaker tribes would have been no match. They would have fallen in line or been eliminated. But that peace would not serve Bon. His father would still be alive. And his brother Roland would still be a challenger to the throne. Bon was a fool and an impatient one. He had no need for peace. He had need for the chaos that comes with war, where he would be free to act and try to make his own fate.

A league of assassins had attempted to kill the envoys that had been sent to broker peace. The assassins had succeeded in killing almost everyone at the meeting. There was no evidence where they came from or who they worked for. They killed everyone from all three nations with equal vicious cruelty. One wounded man had survived long enough to tell what had happened.

Coincidentally at the same time as that attack, their father had been bit and poisoned by a rare and venomous snake.

If the envoys were murdered and their death could be placed on an enemy, the fighting might continue. If the king had been assassinated too, that would only prove an enemy had been responsible for both evil deeds.

Roland firmly believed his brother would never be so stupid as to try something like this on his own. Unfortunately, Roland also knew his brother might be stupid enough to listen to the wrong people and be influenced. It came as no great surprise when their father ordered Bon to be arrested and locked away. Roland did not speak up to protect his brother. No one had much of a doubt anyway. No one wanted to stand out and be accused of being a potential co-conspirator.

Their father was sick, but he was a robust man. Given time, he might fully recover. But during war there needed to be strong and decisive leadership. The murder of the envoys had momentarily stalled the peace process. The realm was suspended in uncertainty. The slightest shift either way could have explosive results.

Bon was shackled and carried away. He was not formally charged, but seven other men were rounded up and executed due to their suspicious associations.

Father rested in bed. The council of advisers was all but prepared to assume command. No one was sure what would happen if that took place. Peace was always possible, but many in the nation still hungered for total control of all the kingdoms in the realm. One thing for certain, if the war continued, no matter what power was gained, there would still be a great loss of life, resource and wealth. And one could never be quite sure of the outcome. Many powerful nations had fallen, faced with their own vanity.

It was no great shock when word went out that Bon had been killed and Roland assumed the throne. Everyone agreed that this was a prudent course of action and best suited to promote stability within the nation. No one questioned or spoke too much regarding the method of Bon’s demise, but there were hushed whispers and exchanged glances. Bon had died overnight – death by rare and venomous snake poison.