Court of the Shadow King

Tunstan, land of the northern men. Fiercely cold in winter. Radiant in summer. A vast land of great beauty. People of proud custom. Centre of the trading of known lands. The epitome of a nation in its golden era. Turned sour, in the decay of a maddened king; poisoned with rage at the death of his beloved wife and son to the sickness that swept across the lands twelve years ago. Left with a niece of five years of age. His brother’s daughter and so alike him, he could not kill her. Rather; she became his heir.

And in the present, I; Adia, niece of Orman, King of Tunstan, stood silent in the gallery of the throne room. Watching nervously as my uncle saw to his subjects. A laugh often uttered at the most obscene of moments.

‘I find it rather amusing my good sir; that you come before me in all my glory, to profess that you cannot give me my taxes as your villages cannot pay up in the great drought that gripes your land.’

The elder statesman kneeled before my uncle, hands clasped together as he begged fervently;

‘My King please; the people are unwell, we cannot keep our crops, and our children will die if we cannot keep some of our product.’

‘Save your words! I have no use of them. As your lord and king I command you to deliver the required taxes. Perhaps you have no need of the children? I am sure you can spare a few to the wild wolves.’ The king mercilessly commanded, a sickening devious smile light his face.

I watched listlessly from the gallery. Bethal, my handmaiden stood at my side.

‘How much would the jewelled collar in my possession fetch at the black markets?’ I murmured softly, remaining still as stone as I watched my uncle howl with laughter at the sight of a poor representative of his village come forth in hopes of recompense for his village’s strains.

‘Ten thousand yeri’s my lady. It is a fine collar, it would be hard to sell my lady, it was not designed to be worn by a wealthy woman, even she could not wear it as it should be; by a princess.’

‘See that Baor deals with the transaction. And discreetly summon the man to my receiving chambers within the day.’ I listed off, calmly turning from the gallery stand and proceeding down the long hall to my compartment.

‘Yes milady, I was also told to send word to you that the council has convened and they wish your presence to be in attendance.’ Bethal curtsied as she approached the fork in the corridors, turning left to go deeper into the bowels of the castle as I turned to my chambers.

I continued on, smiling daintily at the passing members of the court, a superficiality to it all had clouded my mind, to survive in this maddening hell one must become one of them, only to those who are maddened of course but I would always do what I could for my people in the shadows.

I nodded curtly to the men that guarded my door, they opened it without a word and closed it abruptly behind me, I sighed heavily; the days grew longer as winter closed in, soon the terrible cold would come to the city, and death would be all around us. Nani, my wolf laid regally at the foot of my seat by the window facing the west. She stood at my presence.

‘Come, Nani.’ I beckoned her as I took the fur coat that lay upon the bed, disposed after its last use; ‘We are expected.’

She whistled softly as she followed me closely to a largely inconspicuous wall, books of great variety lined it, but to someone with a careful eye like mine, it was just a pretence for more fulfilling occupations. My hand ran across the length of the wall, searching for the one book that would open the passage.

A History of Kings. I grasped faux novel firmly and forced it downwards, watching and listening as the rock partition rolled away into the wall, revealing a dark, earthy smelling corridor dimly lit by one torch that Bethal had left for me to use.