The year is 1479, King Morgan the Great of Wales, Ireland and Scotland just died at 51 after serving 30 years on the throne. Now King, William is looking to cut out a new legacy.
We've all been happy, Henry and I have grown closer. Edward will one day be King of England, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It will be magical. I feel myself lurching closer to death, sometimes you just know. Edward will be a good king, and he will have a good queen. I just need to finish my business before I die, I have made many people angry throughout my life, I fear for my life. I'm probably jumping to conclusions, I will let it play out before I make my decision.
" Your Royal Majesty", A voice says firmly, I open my eye, John stands in front of me. " Yes John?", I question after yawning, I rub my eye. " We need to talk about the financial situation of the realm", John answers after sitting down. John opens his files, he picks through them. " We are sixty thousand pounds in debt", John informs me. I pick at my skin, " Fuck, how did it get that high?", I ask firmly. John picks through the files, " Five thousand pounds for you and your Father's coronation, another five thousand for the war against Ireland, twenty thousand for the crusade, another five thousand in the war against Scotland, ten thousand for touring Europe, and fifteen thousand for general expenses such as the army and building of towns, guilds and castles", John explains to me.
I bite my tongue, Lord, we have to budget better. " We bring in fifty thousand pounds a year, we should be able to last", I respond softly. John shakes his head, " No sir, this year's money is going towards general expenses, we need to find a way to pay the debt off", John shoots back. I take a drink of tea, " Fuck me, okay, how do you suggest we fix this?", I ask. " You ask The Old Guard, they might be able to help", John says after standing up. I rise from my chair, " Thank you Johnny, please call the members, tell them we have urgent business", I say firmly.
John bows and walks out, I stand and walk to the window, I stare at Dinefwr Abbey. We are fully out of money, I help put this country in financial ruin. " Icarus", a soothing voice says, I turn around, Mummy stands in front of me. " Mummy, you're back", I say after kissing Mummy on the cheek. " How are you?", I ask as we both sit down. " I'm good, and so are Andreas and Mary", Mummy answers. " I also heard about Arthur passing, is Edward okay?", Mummy adds.
I nod, " Yes, he's been attending Ruthin, he said he needed a break from this family, from his duties", I answer. Mummy rubs my hand, " Did your Father and I ever push you too hard?", Mummy asks. I fix my hair, " Maybe a little bit, but I needed it, I was a shy and timid boy who hardly ever talked to anyone outside of the family", I respond. " Yes of course, I'll get out of your hair, I love you Icarus", Mummy says after kissing me on the forehead. I smile, " I love you too Mummy".
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I stand tall at the bottom of the stairs, Henry, Karl and Andreas will be here soon. " Your Royal Majesty, King Henry of England, King Karl of Switzerland and King Andreas of Bavaria", Daniel says before opening the door, the three kings step in. " It's good to see you again brothers", I say as we all hug. " Don't you get sick of living in this Abbey Icarus?", Andreas asks as we walk into the meeting room. " No, never. I brought you all here today for a discussion", I answer as we sit down, eyes dart towards me.
" The discussion is financial, it turns out that my realm is sixty thousand pounds in debt", I say firmly. " I am one thousand Thalers in debt", Andreas responds. " And I am ten thousand Thalers in debt", Karl says after sniffling. I look towards Henry, " I have no debt, Father was good with finances", Henry responds. " A guarantee of The Old Guard is that we help each other financially", Karl says firmly. I nod, " Yes, any suggestions?". Henry rubs his chin, " Raise taxes". I scoff, " No, taxes haven't been this low since the start of my Father's reign", I answer firmly.
" Have any of you launched explorations into India?", Andreas asks. I nod, " Yes, we found plenty of gold. I send Admiral Spackman once a year", I inform everyone. " So let's create a fund, we send three hundred ships to India. Collect only gold and we leave, it should cost us maybe around, twenty thousand pounds", Henry suggests. I smile, " That's not a bad idea, yay or nay", I ask everyone. " Yay", Andreas and Karl say. " Yay", I say firmly. Eyes dart towards Henry, he nods, " Yay".
" It's good to see you boys", Alix says as her and Mummy stand in the doorway. " Mummy, how are you?", Andreas asks as he quickly kisses Mummy's cheek. " I'm good, do you boys want supper?", Mummy asks. I shake my head, " No, we're discussing business Mother". Mummy giggles, " Sorry boys, it seems Will is embarrassed of his Mummy". I turn red in embarrassment. Everyone else laughs, " Okay, okay. We'll sit down for supper", I say after smiling. I ring my bell, Daniel scurries over. " Daniel, please get us some supper", I command, Daniel bows and saunters to the kitchen.
Mummy and Alix sit down, Alix kisses my cheek. A pain swells in my throat, it burns like a hot rod. I cough into my pocket square, blood smears onto it. I quickly hide my blood, " Are you okay darling?", Alix asks softly. I nod, " Yes, I just need to go lay down", I answer out of my breath. My skin crawls and my heart pounds like a drum, I stand up. " Brother, here", Andreas says as he hands me some tea. I flatten my hand and push away Andreas, " I'm fine". I limp to the doorway, the pain swells in my throat yet again, I heel over and cough, blood splatters onto the floor. I lose my balance and fall to the floor, the world fades away.
