School of Thieves (ON HOLD)

Prologue

“Blessed are those hands that steal from the table of the rich to share with the poor”.

Saint Flaminius, the Master Thief

Prologue

“The citadel is burning, my brother!” shrieks the Dragon, as he watches the inclement flames spreading on the lower city. “Soon, they will be here”.

“Where are the lords, my king?” asks the Baron of Taragon.

“None of them came. We’re by ourselves now. We are all going to die here.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We can flee, regroup our troops, gather our allies and come back triumphantly. A wise king knows when it is time to fight, and when it is time to retreat.”

“Don’t be silly, my brother. If we lose Toledoth, we are never coming back to this throne. You do know how many monarchs I have defeated and dethroned in all these years. After a battle like this one is lost, everything else is lost as well. What is the point in being a king without a kingdom?”

“But what is more important: your life, or your throne?”

“Are you capable of distinguishing one from the other? To a king, his life is his crown. Nothing matters more than that.”

“And your wife and son? Are you willing to sacrifice their lives too, those two innocent creatures?”

“It would be a shame, but a death by the steel is far better than starving. I don’t want them to suffer such a horrible fate. Even worse, I can’t imagine what my enemies would do to them if they were captured. There is no such thing as clemency during a war.”

“If you let me, I’d protect them with my life.”

“Do you want to go, like the others? Are you afraid of fighting until the end by my side?”

“Of course not, my king! I’ve sworn to be loyal to you, to die for you. However, I don’t want your seed to be wasted. Your son was born to rule this land someday. Our lineage could vanish from the Earth this night, or we can let it live and, in the future, reclaim our rights. Vengeance always remains after the dust from the battleground had settled and the fallen had been buried. The sons shall revenge the blood their fathers had shed.”

The Dragon sits pensively, while men and women are screaming outside the castle, being slaughtered by the rebel troops.

“I should have listened to you, and taken this rebellion seriously,” he says. “I thought it was just some discontents, that we could crush them all in no time.”

“They are soldiers, my king. They’ve fought your wars, and were expecting you to keep your promises. ‘Those who bear the sword control the world’, that’s what you said to me years ago.” says the Baron.

“I meant the ruler…” there is a desperate, almost insane, look in the Dragon’s eyes. “But I was right. The loyalty of the nobles and all the gold in our coffers are useless now. It’s the sword dictating our fates, claiming blood.”

He stands up, ordering the sentinel by the chamber door. “Escort my wife and son here. I want to see them one last time.”

“What do you intend to do? Will you just wait them to invade the palace, killing us all?” asks the Baron.

“Perhaps we might resist a couple of days more. The royal guard is still on our side and could garrison the castle. We can wait the terms of our surrender, evaluating what they really want from us. Going into exile, under the protection of one of our allies, might be a solution.” replies the Dragon, contradicting himself.

“Do you really have any hope left? They want us dead!” yells the Baron, losing his composure. “There won’t be any surrender, just plain butchering. Is that hard to realize? They executed every single noble they’ve found on their way. They hanged our mother, decapitated our younger brother, raped and murdered our sisters. Do you really have any illusion they will spare us? We have to flee, or…”

“But I’m the king!” cries the Dragon, rising his fist.

“And soon you’ll be a dead king”.

***

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