Short Stories From The World Of ARTK

The Reign Of Osenne Ashhand, Part Nine

It is Anor 25th, 3244 A.G.

The bells rang for twelve consecutive hours. It nearly drove Jandis mad by the end, but he could endure. He owed her that much for everything she'd taught him, everything she'd done for their territory. Trade deals thought impossible, peace with former enemies and the assassination of others.....

It went on and on.

Her funeral would have to be a grand one. A woman of her sort only came around once in a hundred years- and above all she'd been his mother. Always pushing him, loving him when he didn't deserve it and never outright forced him to marry like any other noble parent would have.

She'd spent forty five years preparing him to be Commanding Lord of House Ashhand, but now that it were here..... Jandis weren't sure he knew anything at all. No amount of sitting in on council meetings, no amount of holding court had made him ready for this.

He could hear one of the twins crying from their nursery across the hall- Anber had wanted it close so she could reach them quickly in the middle of the night, but were too stilled with fear.

Eventually, one of the wet nurses went to them.

All the while, he could only think of the chaos to come. No matter how long a noble family had been expecting it, the death of their most senior member always caused such. To add to that he weren't particularly loved or hated, and it weren't completely unheard of for a bastard to come out of nowhere, stake their claim to a lordship- then mysteriously disappear. It were even more common for commoners with a strong hatred for their ruler to attempt an assassination at the coronation.

There would of course be far more guards than usual- but still.

Jandis looked at his hands and found them violently shaking, his heart pounding faster than it ever had before- and very soon he would be expected to walk to the great hall for a simple ceremony.

His mother's advisor's would hold his reins at first, steer him and tell him about any of the more secretive work- but everything would ultimately be up to him. He imagined he'd eventually replace them with his own, thank them for their years of service and send them on their way but-

The knock at his door was the most terrifying one of his life.

"My lord?" The young female servant called. "They're ready for you. Thancred said the.... Guards are in position."

Thancred.

His mother's guard commander, and his favorite lover. They hadn't touched one another since a few days before Anber died, but the things that man knew how to do with his hands.....

If he weren't preoccupied with grief and a power transition, just hearing the man's name would get him off. His hands still shook, but he did his best to hide that and stood up more.

Jandis opened that door and prepared himself for the hell to follow.

———

  The space between ceremonies varied by territory, by house even- but in Kroba they were never without a commanding ruler longer than a day. His mother would have wanted it to happen faster than that, he reasoned- so they'd have her funeral after his position were made official.

  As he entered the great hall like so many before, felt the eyes on him like so many of his ancestors did- He could hardly focus on the witch. How quickly would he fuck up all the work his mother'd done? Weeks? Months?

  He dug into his wrist to stop the shaking, but it only worked for a few moments before he cursed himself for the weakness. A few whispered, and a few others scolded them but it made no matter.

Get through the ceremony. Get through it, and you can worry about the rest after your mourning period is over.

  "Who comes before me?" Elaine( their newest and youngest witch) asked.

"Lord Jandis Ashhand. Heir to..... Kroba and Kroba alone." He managed to get out. "The...son of Lord Consort Tibost Farbrew and Commanding Lady Osenne Ashhand. I come before you.....to claim my rightful place at the head of Kroba. On the honor of the gods and goddesses, I will carry out the laws of House Ashhand fairly and justly. I will not perpetrate the horrors of war or crimes of such. I will dedicate my life to being better than all the rulers before me."

  As he said the ancient oath, he'd never felt more unworthy of it. In the moment after he knew them to be a lie- but it all came to an end quickly.

  His mother's crown were place on his head, he turned to face the crowd- and were forced to listen to the most terrifying words yet.

  Long live our lord.