The Unraveling

Leon

Five years prior in Rheinelan, a small town just south of the province of Mead.

"Please sir, I only ask that you consider giving us a pardon. Surely the king doesn't truly care about a tavern girl?" The woman in front of Leon made his stomach churn. It's not that he disliked this part of his job. He just didn't find it entirely pleasant.

He shook his head. "Ravina, you know I can't give you that. What will your neighbors think when I come to collect their debts tomorrow? They too will beg for a pardon and then it's a nasty road that ends with my head on a pike." He gestured to the animals they had mounted on their walls. "King Vier doesn't handle rejection well. And you are doing so by refusing him what he is owed. Why don't you do us all a favor and allow her to come with me."

It wasn't that King Vier didn't handle rejection well. He didn't handle it. At all. If Leon were to give Ravina and her family a pardon, the King would burn them and their entire village to send a message to all of the kingdom and those surrounding. He didn't become the successful King that he was by good graces.

"Please Leon. We've known your family for ages. Mayla won't do well in Mead. Especially not in court. You know her. She's awkward and can barely tie up her own laces, let alone that of a lady."

"Enough Ravina. The King has requested your first born daughter as payment. I will accompany her safely to Mead. That is the end of it. She will be cared for within the King's castle. He thanks you for your cooperation."

He cited the words, though they tasted of ash. The truth of the matter was that Ravina had been smuggling goods and deserved to lose her head. King Vier was being generous by asking for the alternate payment. Mayla would adjust to life in the courts. She would not adjust to the loss of a mother nearly as well.

"I will never forgive you for this Leon."

And that was what it was. He didn't ask for forgiveness. He was only doing his duty as a member of the King's guard. Service to his King was worth more than what a few villagers thought of him. Especially ones who had let his father die and then sat idly by as his family starved. King Vier had saved him. Along with his mother and younger brother. It was when he joined the guard that his family started to truly live and not just survive. It was then that he learned what gratitude meant.