Marionette

Chapter 13

"What happened to you?" I asked, placing the bottle on the desk. I wanted my mind to be sharp for this part of the conversation. 

"The current Queen and my uncle, the King, may his soul never rest," said the captain, or... Prince? I would just think of him as a Captain for the time being. 

"Wait, the dead King was your uncle?" I asked quizzically. 

"Yes, but to call these two King and Queen is undeserved flattery," said the captain. "The real King is my father; the Queen wants me to kill him." 

"If your father is the real King, as you say," I interrupted. "Then, why doesn't he do something about the fake ones? Is he imprisoned or something?" 

The captain gave me a pained smile. 

"You could say that," he said. "He's hiding in the Highlands with his King's Guard."
I drank some wine straight from the bottle again. I wanted help to process all this. 

"My uncle and his wife, Mirela, the current Queen, overthrew my father," said Captain Arne. "Do you understand?" 

I nodded. 

"My father was a pacifist," continued the captain. "He wanted the Kingdom of Milwick to have peace with its neighbours instead of constantly being at war with them. His younger brother, my uncle, did not like this type of leadership, so along with his wife, he overthrew my father." 

"I presume that was when your father escaped to the Highlands with his Guard?" I asked. 

"Yes, that's right," said Captain Arne. "He begged me to follow him, but I received word that they had already arrested my wife and son, so I stayed back. My father fled as Mirela and her loyal troops stormed the castle." 

"Why didn't they execute you?" I asked. 

"The Senators saved me," said Captain Arne. "Milwick is technically a Monarchy, and the Senators are an advisory body without power. However, in reality, the Senators are nearly as powerful as the Monarchs themselves. They are all high-ranking nobles and have their own mini armies. They could easily overthrow a King or Queen on a whim if they vote on it unanimously." 

Then why had they allowed a Coup de Etat? Were they in favour of the current queen? No, that did not make sense, as they had saved Captain Arne. 

As if he had read my mind, the captain answered this question. 

"The Senators did not like that my uncle and his wife overthrew my father, but they also did not like his pacifism towards our historical enemies, so they did not intervene during the coup. That said, they wanted it to be bloodless, so they demanded that I and my family were not to be harmed. Moreover, they forced my uncle to give me a position in the military so I would not spend the rest of my life in obscurity. Since my titles were taken away from me, this was the second-best thing in their opinion. I was granted the rank of Knight Captain and eventually ended up here." 

"Wait, if the Senators intervened," I asked. "Then why are your wife and kid hostages?" 

"Technically, they aren't," answered the captain. "Technically, the queen was gracious enough to allow them to live in luxury with her in the castle. Of course, that is just a front. My wife and child are locked up in the castle's highest tower. If I step out of line, the guards will barge in their room and execute both." 

I did not think anyone could understand my pain, but he definitely did. He was forced to go and kill his father, or his wife and kid would be executed. Yet another terrible dilemma forced upon someone by the queen. 

I guess we really were alike, as he said. 

"Are you gonna kill your father?" I asked, not looking forward to his answer. This conversation had become heavy.