A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 9 - Reformations

The universe had loved irony since the very beginning. As during the majority of the days within the first month of Melinda's reign, the sun was blessing everything beneath it with its joyful light; the sky was as starkly blue and clear as an ocean, covered with graceful white clouds; the grass, which had a fresh scent, was pleasant to gaze at and walk over, especially with its flowers; butterflies and birds were passing by without a care in the world. But Randall Carson could never have prepared himself for the turn of events that would soon unfold.

For most of his life, he was a mere shoemaker, working at a small, rotting store with his parents. Although there was a scarcity of customers, a leaking roof and a constantly creaking floor, he smiled a lot, always trying to make the best of the situation he was in. Whenever he was not at his position, waiting for the opportunity to sell a favour every few hours, he would walk outside the store and admire the landscape, which he did even during his shifts, for creating long descriptions of nature in his head was the thing his brain could focus on the most when there were no customers. He was well aware of the fact that he barely had enough money to live, yet he would never have allowed himself to be defeated by that knowledge. He had enough to maintain a modest lifestyle with his loving family, and with Melinda as the queen, surely the country would return to normalcy, and he would get a slightly bigger salary.

Melinda was hosting a rally that day, and everyone was invited. He decided to go there by himself and inform his parents of what had happened there afterwards since somebody had to look after the store. When he had begun to go, no one was nearby, but soon he could see the faces of many people and hear their excited whispers. Barely any of them disbelieved Melinda, which he thought was only natural. She and Maria, who everyone was still bitterly disappointed by, seemed to think quite differently. At that moment, he could easily have mustered a brief laugh when it came to the cynics, with their surly faces, empty souls and unfulfilled lives. However, his brain reminded him that those who spat at the world all the time had somewhat concrete reasons to do so, and thus he refrained from judging them on the outside.

He did not think of it for long before he had arrived at the location where he meant to be. Smiling, he stood there for several minutes without taking any steps, listening to people talk even more excitedly than beforehand. There were a lot of them, as he had expected, due to the state the country was in. Some people were grumbling, and they were clearly talking about how they wished they didn't have to go. In the meantime, he had nothing to occupy himself with; no one to hold a conversation with, no action to perform. Eyes blank, he stared at the stage, waiting for the queen to arrive at once.

He estimated that it must have been ten minutes since he had showed up when she came. She was smiling brightly at all of her present citizens as the largest bunch of them cheered for her and applauded her, including him. Her appearance, which was as fair as it had always been, was supported by a golden crown that looked nothing other than heavy, on top of which glistening purple, black and white jewels that matched the ones on the wedding ring, which she wore in memory of her husband, and which was placed on the index finger of her right hand. Of course, he also noticed her long-sleeved and silken dress with the hue of black grapes that reached her high-heels of the same colour, as well as the necklace made of amethysts. Her nails, just like her eyelids and lips, shared the essence of the night sky, void and ash, three things all too familiar to an Obscurian citizen. It seemed as if she truly cared about the state, forcing herself to spend a lot of time preparing for every event, looking as if the people were her primary concern. He kept smiling at her, blissfully unaware of what would happen mere hours later.

"Greetings, my citizens. I, Melinda Josephine Bellerose, welcome you to my first rally as your queen. I have come here to inform you about all the reformations I am going to make."

After people clapped, she continued speaking. "My first reformation might come as a surprise to you, but I am certain you will agree once you hear more about it. Many of you would agree that English is a rather simple language with inconsistent and peculiar rules and that dead languages such as Latin, which are not useless thanks to their demise, can be brought back to life. Our nation called itself Xar eight and a half centuries ago, back in the thousandth year of the New Era, which we took from the habitants of Earth. We took a lot more from them than we are willing to admit. The Xarian language, the most important sign of our tradition has been nigh-forgotten due to its complex structure and the seemingly pointlessly harsh way the words are pronounced. However, it is obvious that the populace's laziness and lack of will to learn slightly more complicated languages than the simplest option available has brought the language to its doom. I am not enough of a fool to blame peasants or other such people for being part of the problem. They could do nothing about it, and I understand that not everyone can get a stellar education, but in a few years' time, our tradition will be restored since I see that the language can be learnt if one tries hard enough. Is that not the way to go?"

Barely anyone clapped as she smiled brightly at everyone, looking for every bit of support she could find. Randall, who was among those standing the closest to her, stared at her, eyes wide open. She bent her head and stared back at him, pondering about what to say.

He spoke first. "I don't know what has possessed you, Your Majesty. I have never seen you be so obsessed with languages, and I have no clue as to how you will normalize the use of the Xarian language. It's not only a trivial but also an impossible mission."

"You will see that nothing is impossible very soon," Melinda responded. "As to not waste time, I want to introduce the second reformation I am going to enact. We are all aware of just how far behind our country is, all thanks to Patrick Hemingway's wickedness. He would wish it to stay this way forever. Now that he's dead, there's nothing stopping us from returning this country to what it was like during its greatest days. However, we are going to need a lot of help, especially with the presence of the economic crisis that is plaguing the kingdom. This is the perfect opportunity for the poor, especially the homeless, to be sent to workplaces near my palace and get well-supported jobs so they can assist us in fixing the national problems. All the empty job stops will be filled and no one will be left out. Who's with me?"

As everyone cheered for the progress of the country, Randall did as well with a big smile on his face. He thought that he and his parents would get normal jobs and work like normal people. Instead, several hours after they had returned home and deep into the night, they were forcefully taken from their homes by Melinda's forces as quietly as possible, their cries for help muffled by the tight grips of the workers' hands. Not long after, they noticed groups of other people this was happening to, and a terrible realization dawned upon him once they had arrived at their destination. The workplaces Melinda was talking about weren't regular workplaces at all. They were concentration camps.