Knife in the Dark

Now the old king is dead, long live the king

I was taken inside and was changed into the official dress of the new king, which consisted of a golden suit, with the symbol of a stallion on the back. I wore a crown made of solid ruby, which was made of one piece of stone. My pants were crimson with another stallion, which was rearing along the leg. My shoes were red flat soled shoes, which looked distinctly like street wear. I was ushered into the tall hall, with large stained-glass windows. the hall was packed full of people, all of them sitting, they looked at me with eyes full of hope joy, their eyes followed me as I walked down the aisle to take my place at the front of the procession. A noble came forward and started drearily going on about how I had a reason to protect this country and do what was best for it, but I was only half-listening as he was really boring, his monotone voice dragging on for ages. I sat there, knowing that all I needed to do was know when he asked me a question, and then I would be able to reply accordingly, whether I was for or against the question. I was mostly for them, but there were a couple slotted in there, just to make sure that I was paying attention. How people did it still amazed me, there was no way that I was going to be able to not get bored of this, and I had just fought a battle to get to here.

The duke concluded what he was asking of me and took my old crown from my head, which sparkled briefly as it was caught in the rays of light, and was placed on a velvet cushion, where it would be held until my successor was required to wear a crown. The duke then turned and held aloft a garnet crown, threaded with intrusions of red Imperial Topaz, which had a design similar to that of the ancient Egyptian crown, but was much shorter and smaller so that people were still able to wear it without becoming destroyed under the sheer weight of the ornament. as the crown was placed on my head, I turned and faced the crowd that was half asleep, who quickly nudged each other awake to gaze upon their new king, not that I was very impressive to look at, I was still the scrawny kid that had pulled into their lands in his ferrari not even one day ago. I stood and gazed down at my people, looking at as many as I could before I was ushered out of the room to the large applause that erupted from the assembly. I was taken to my new chambers, where I changed into a simple black buttoned shirt with a rearing horse embroidered in red on the front, with a blue cloak with white edges. My pants were a dull grey that complimented my black shoes, and I placed my crown on top of my head, before coming down to sit on my throne.

The throne room was a grand room. Banners hung on both sides with the same rearing stallion on it, the glass was stained glass with images of the many wars fought to unite Sloce. The entire room, and the kingdom for that, had a medieval feel to it, which wasn't all that surprising, as Sloce was commonly considered 'The Land that Time Forgot'. The throne itself was a cushioned seat with a high back indented with more gems. No wonder there were no more mountains surrounding this place, they must have been mined out of existence. I stood and gazed at the entire room, looking at the carvings on the pillars and almost imagining seeing the carvers themselves scaling up the pillar to make such beautiful and intricate carvings. From the other end of the hall, my advisors entered, taking their places at their places along a long table, which ended in an empty chair, where no doubt the heir to the kingdom would sit. Before anything could start off we were interrupted by a small voice of a boy.

"E-Excuse me, sir," came the voice, nothing more than a whisper, from next to me. "I have been asked to give you these." He presented me with a pair of beautifully made knives, which I took out of his hand, thanking him very much and saying that he keep himself out of trouble. He left us and I sat there studying the blades, flipping them over in my hand to see them. They were made of steel, with a leather hilt, engraved with an eccentric swirling pattern on it. as I flipped them over I remarked to the rest of the people in the room something that made them all very confused.

"This blade is meant for fighting, but it is unable to be thrown, the weighing it simply too unbalanced for it to function properly, the only way to make it work would be to increase the weight on the knives' blades, and that would require skill that is vastly more difficult than most blacksmith's  in this world and in history could do to a good standard." Everyone stared at me with mouths so wide I think a toddler could play in them. I made my first impression as a weapon's master, which isn't necessarily perfect, but it is better than other ways, such as being known for being a coward, like my predecessor. I walked around the room, looking at each one in turn, and asking them how they believe they would do if they were in the position of king at a time like this. Everyone agreed that they would call off our forces and turn our attention more to the people's needs, with some going as far as to marry the opposing king's daughter, which I silently laughed at, knowing that no matter what happened, Glaive would win that position, and from there, I would not have to worry about marriage for securing peace.

Some advisors asked me to consider the idea of forming a government and not a kingship, but I reasoned against them, saying that from my experience with governments, they are too busy lining their own pockets to deal with the problems of the people outside of power. Others still asked me to consider finding a bride of some kind at the very least, which I replied with by saying that at the age of fourteen, I was too young to marry, however, I was open to having a relationship with such people. After everyone had voiced their opinions, I turned and sat down on my seat, and looked at them. I asked my military advisor to remove the troops and have them return to their homes, and that they be allowed to return to their normal lives, with full psychological help where needed. But this extended only so far, I asked that all soldiers be ready to defend at a moments notice and, if needed, attack where required, although I doubted that I would  attack, which was a lie, as I planned to attack Dres and C.L.O.U.D. if their queen refused to cooperate with me. I dismissed them and everyone rose, apparently needing to be places urgently. I stayed still until they were all gone, and then I went for a trip to the stables, where Adrianus had made his home.

Adrianus seemed to love the horses, and had made himself at home in the stall of Butch, the black stallion that apparently would only be friendly to those of the royal family, which he had been trained to do, like the string of stallions that had come before him. This horse was 16 now, so he wasn't in his glory days, but his son, Anton, was. The horses had become so hardwired to be kind to my family, that Dragor had been unable to train any of them out of it, so both Butch and Anton were soft and gentle to me when I approached. Horses were amazing creatures because of this parent teaching, and I was amazed by the black stallion that came over to me and nuzzled me in the back, making me laugh and stroke the animal. His eyes were doughy and they looked like they had been waiting for this day since the day they were born, as they darted around, as if expecting me to mount him now and go for a ride. The horse himself stood at 16 hands, with Butch standing at 16.3. They were both pure Friesian and looked like they could have held an entire family on their back, which was good, as they were required to carry plated armour in times of war.

Adrianus left his perch and walked up Butch's back, making the old horse flinch, but then calm down. Adrianus sat on his back and glared at the stable boy, who wasn't doing his job as he was too busy gawking at the fact the I was being trampled to death. Upon realizing the cat was staring at him, he shuddered and went back to work, trying desperately hard not to look at me, with the penalty of a cat hissing when he did so. I was so embarrassed for the cats actions that I entered the stable he was working in and started helping him, as I had researched it whenever I had tired of training for the day. He looked at me and blushed such a deep shade of red that I couldn't tell it it was brown or just deep red. I helped all I could, but there is a point where you are no longer able to compete with a skilled professional. I started small talk, which made him even more awkward, but he held out and told me that he loved a girl in the village and that she loved him, but her father hated him for a bitter rivalry between families, which made me instantly think of Romeo and Juliet. I said that I would write a royal pardon for anything that his relatives had done, and that he should always go with what his heart wanted, not what was necessarily logical, as no one was able to take away love from anyone, no matter how much authority they had over the matter. He thanked me and asked if I was going to be like Dragor, but before I could reply he responded for me, saying that in no way would I be able to be like him if I showed such generosity to people like himself. I said my goodbyes to him as he had finished his work and was able to leave, but before he left I called him into the palace, a place where not many of the people of Sandros had ever been. Once we were up there I took a sheet of royal paper and wrote a note which was my most heartfelt piece of literature ever, signed it, then gave it to the boy, telling him to give this to the father whenever he saw him next, and to write to me about the father's reaction to the letter, which made the boy laugh, smile and say that he would keep in touch if he was permitted to do so, to which I replied with by saying that it would be an honour and a privilege to be written to by such a lovely man, as he was probably 18 or older. I never caught his name, but I was able to find out easily enough.

I went and sat with Jackson, who was a 12 year old squire under the charge of Sir Robert, who everyone called Sir Bob. Jackson was a lovely young man, with manners that surpassed mine, and with knowledge that could almost out smart me, but not quite. He was always ready for a joke or a tale and had a few to share as well, but we just sat and he explained how his training was going, and I told him that when he becomes a knight, I would make him one of my advisors, because of his enthusiasm towards it. Suddenly the trumpets blared and I looked out over the city to see a green fiat rushing towards the gates.