The Aeterna Empire

Chapter 4 - The Sun-Kissed Spear

The sun kept its attentive post for three days.

Shedding another piece of clothing, I stood panting in the shadows of the temple. Sweat anointed my scalp, cascading and dripping down my neck as a gentle river. Without prompting, I gripped a water barrel and plunged my head into it up to the neck. I held my breath, counted a few seconds, and rose again. I took some deep breaths and lowered myself again, this time to drink.

The priests watched me in concern. Perhaps my behavior was uncomely, but then it would be a worse thing to die in front of them.

"With the sun-god smiting us, I think it foolish to hold to such traditions," I allowed a roaming eye to brush their own clothing. The priests insisted on wearing their ornamental garb. "Merely for appearance's sake."

"It would be no good to incur his wrath further with being inappropriate." A priest argued.

"At this point, I think we have worse problems to seek forgiveness for than being inappropriate," I rolled my eyes and stood straight again.

I sent out messengers through the capital that I would seek the priest's assistance to seek an audience with the sun to restore the kingdom's relationship with the sun. The assurance alleviated the people's fears a little bit, as I saw the streets return to normal and people looked hopeful, even as they boarded up their windows and darted quickly while outside. Yet, this was not to last. With an omnipotent knowledge of our plans, the sun thwarted my efforts by staying awake for three days. The timing is precise; even if one were to not think of the sun god's attention as worrying, it's simply hot.

I'd emptied the water stores and ordered the wells to overflow so my people could live, but it was a losing battle. It wasn't just the capital being affected; it was the entire world. The Cynn-Blood probably found it amusing how our god has turned against us, sheltered as they were in their holes and swamps.

"The sun has turned against us to favor a prophet king from the desert," I tell them. "So tell me, how shall we regain its favor? What words have the gods spoken with you?" The priests nervously shifted their feet and glanced towards the high priest, and their composure worried further.

"Sacrifice," The high priest concluded.

"How many beasts?" I asked. I hoped for the life of me they wouldn't insist I send the armies back to Cynn to hunt and capture them. We had, had enough of that with my father.

"Not many nor beasts," He corrected. "Just you."

Immediately the atmosphere changed. My guards drew their weapons and enclosed me. Some priests drew knives from beneath their cloaks but made no move to attack, while the temple guards pointed lances at us. I stared into the high priest's calm eyes and felt a cold numbness grip my spine and run its fingers up my neck.

What was this? Had I angered the sun god as to bring its arm against us and so brought doom upon us all? Did they even speak with the sun god, or was this from their thoughts? Were they making a go for the throne? Did I make an enemy of the priesthood by forcibly retiring my father's corrupt followers?

"You cannot be serious!" I replied.

"We are very serious, my king." The high priest said calmly. "It is no coincidence that the sun god is angered the day you took the throne! Your death will appease it and allow entry of a king that will please him as much as your father did."

Caius.

Caius'Ronlin'Kes, my little brother. If there was ever a branch that extended from the trunk of our family tree at its root, it was Caius. We had never seen eye to eye. At first, it was rivalry over our father's attention, and as a child, I was jealous when Caius gained my father's favoritism, yet as an adult, I realized it was nothing to be jealous of. Father favored Caius for a reason. The last time I looked into Caius' eyes, I saw something inhuman, something broken.

I whispered even as my blood seethed, "Fools. The sun turned away from us long before my ascension! It was in my father's reign and the king whom the gods smote!" To emphasize my point, I reached for my armorbearer, he handed me my spear, and I pointed it towards the priests, brandishing it. At the sight of it, the priests stepped back and trembled.

The spear was thick and black as night. It was a beautiful craft made entirely of one solid piece of metal joined together. Its grip was of metal, and about a third of the way towards the tip spiraled endlessly into an ever thinner end until the very tip of it was a point. At the base of it was an oddly indented groove, yet the make is smooth and perfect. No Kes-Blood could have made it.

I continued, "Kingslayer, I name it. The spear cast down by the sun to kill the king is mine to wield! It does not burn my hand, nor has the sun killed me for it, and I highly suspect the sun has not spoken to you as you claim. It is not the sun that wishes for my death, but you! You would put my brother up as a puppet so you can continue your rituals and practices!"

"You would accuse us of falsehood?" The high priest hissed. His fists clenched and unclenched, his gaze on me lowering to a glare. "You took a holy relic for yourself; you are a thief! You have angered the gods and will kill us all!"

"I accuse you of cowardice and lies so as to not know the times! The world is changing, and rather than keep your eyes open and learn, you would shut yourself up in bloody rituals that demand the sacrifice of entire peoples! A true prophet has stepped into your domain to wage war, but you ignore it for political gain. This is treason!"

"Treason?! How dare you! King Kador would never have-"

I shoved the tip of Kingslayer up to his nose, immediately shutting him up. I clenched my teeth and met his glare in equal fury. My father is why my ear was scarred, I sent out his entire court, and I chose to wield the spear that pierced him from head to hip. Were they really so stupid as to use his name against me?

I took a breath and declared with as much patience as I could muster, "As the King of Kes, head of the house of Ronlin, and wielder of the sun-kissed Kingslayer, I declare you are removed off from the holy house of Remede to be tried in the courts for treason."

My guards stepped forward and took his hands in clasps. "Release me!" He barked, but the palace guards did not step forward to stop us, and the rest of his comrades took one look at my spear and fled the room, lest I arrest them too.

The high priest spat out curses and demands against me until a gag was shoved in his mouth. He wriggled and tried to plant his feet but only wrinkled the rug as my soldiers hauled him away. After a moment, it was quiet again, and I looked up towards the back of the temple, where a statue stood. The figure was of a great and mighty hunter. A bow and quiver were set on his back, and in his hand was a giant spear. Beneath the hunter's feet were malformed monsters of old pushed to the edges of civilization, creatures with humanistic characteristics put together in creative, horrifying ways. Above his shoulder were a hunting bird and a shining orb in the bird's talons. The sun.

I turned my back and departed, entering the sun's bright rays. If this war could not be waged here, I would need to press on with other ways.

—---------- (9/18/2022) Edit