The War (All Chapters + Synopsis)

Chapter 24.2 - Amalia

The accusations Lues made against Carber are far more serious than the others, Apaeteon was  only charged with treason and conspiracy, but Lues just charged his own uncle with the murders of his parents. Ilena doesn't seem to think this is surprising, they must have planned this last night while all  the world was asleep. The audience is silent, their minds trying to  understand what Lues just said. Carber's expression is positively and  utterly fear incarnate, there's no other way to describe it. With every  charge Lues spoke against him, Carber lost a bit of hope.

"How do you plead?" Lues inquires of his uncle.

The man looks uncertain, before this he was smug, thinking that  somehow he'd get out of this, thinking that if he could somehow fake his  innocence he could escape. "Guilty, your Majesty, but not of killing my  own brother and sister-in-law!"

"Uncle Carber, there was a medic who witnessed the murder of my  mother, and my own sister was witness to the murder of our father. You  tortured her for a year but she would not break, you killed my father  when he tried to rescue her from your monstrous clutches, you are a  murder and a rapist, and I will never forgive you for it!" Lues shouts,  then calms himself and turns once more to the crowd. "People of Feralis,  this man murdered your previous King and Queen, and then tried to kill  me and has almost killed my sister, Ilena Conclamata, a knight and  general, twice now. I ask you, give him your harshest sentence, or give  him what you will, but do not allow this monster to go unpunished. He  was the mastermind behind all of your suffering over the past weeks, I  plead with you now to take your revenge."

This time the crowd takes longer to respond. They weren't expecting some of those charges, or at least, most of them weren't.

"Kill him!"

"The Pits!"

"Burn him in fire!"

The lust for blood in this case is far more like what I expected from  makraz, or at least what I used to expect. The few calls for more peaceable punishments are quickly out shouted by the calls for blood.  Lues looks a bit uneasy, he glances at his sister for what to do. She  just watches the crowd, and whispers something to Lues.

"You asked them for what they wanted, it's not your place to deny  them. However, let me or someone else pull the lever or throw the flame.  I meant what I said before, I don't want you to commit familicide," is  what she says, and Lues turns to the frightened looking Carber.

"I was jealous, my brother had everything!" Carber shouts. "I just wanted something for myself, I wanted to end The War, gods be damned I  wanted to take what my brother had! Hang me if you must, but know that I  will never regret what I did, you should've seen the look on his face  when I hurt his precious little angel, when I stabbed him in the gut  with my blade and twisted it! The only thing better was when Prose died in battle, I didn't even have to do the deed myself!"

I'm shocked by this terrifying outburst of anger from the man. He was up until now, scared, but still collected and put together. Now he's a madman, cackling with glee at the thought of murdering his own family.  Even Sergio turns a little green as he listens to this admission from  his father.

"Sergio, you're a traitor to the Thnitos name, a useless brat who's  not good for anything, even death is too kind for you. I guess it's your  mother's fault isn't it, the useless woman. She gave me a daughter  disguised as a son, she disgusted me and that's why she's dead," Carber  smiles in the way only a madman could.

"You killed my mother?" Sergio whispers and now he truly looks shocked, angry even. "You bastard!"

"Carber Thnitos, by the power invested in my by the gods and the  people of Feralis, I, Lues Conclamata, first of that name, King of  Feralis, Ruler of Fire and Ash, hereby find you guilty on all charges,  now including the murder of Duchess Varvara Peto of Limani. Your punishment, as suggested by the people, will be death by hanging," Lues  announces, trying to calm the raging crowd, and his announcement does  just that. "I hereby strip you of all titles, ranks, and honors associated with both. I proclaim Sergio of house Thnitos the Duke of  Limani."

A moveable gallows is rolled into place in front of the stage, guards drag Carber to the noose, and wrap it around his neck. A guard in an  all black uniform steps up besides him and places a hand on the lever.  Carber continues shouting obscenities as Lues raises his hand to give  the kill order.

"Your Majesty, please, can you have them put a bag over his head,  it's...," Sergio doesn't have to finish his sentence, Lues nods to the  hangman to put the execution hood over Carber's head.

The black hood muffles his shouts, but doesn't stop the loudest of  obscenities from escaping. Lues lowers his hand, and the hangman pulls  the lever. For a split second nothing happens, and the next the trap  door opens, and Carber drops through the hole, a loud crack shatters the  air as the rope grows taut and Carber's lifeless body hangs limp from  the noose. In the end, even the worst monsters are only people, they  bleed and die just like anyone else.

The crowd cheers and I feel nauseous, how can anyone cheer when  someone dies. Ilena's blank stare seems apathetic, but I see the  slightly pulled lip, a sign that she doesn't completely approve of this  death, a needless, pointless, symbol of power and control, a symbol of  authority that doesn't need to be shown.

In the midst of the euphoria, nobody save me, notices the moment when  the King turns away as his uncles body is dragged away to be buried in  an unmarked grave. Lues closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, I don't  think he's ever seen a member of his family die in front of him, or at  least, not one he ordered the death of. When his eyes open, he's once  again Lues Conclamata, King of Feralis, and he raises his hand for  silence. Everyone goes still at once, it's eerie how they all seem to  notice their king's hand at once, and all of them know what it means.

"One last order of business, the public apologies from Sergio Thnitos, Duke of Limani, and his fianceé, Marianne Kashvena, Duchess of  Eri," Lues announces, gesturing for the two to step forward as the  gallows is once again rolled out of sight.

"I, Sergio of House Thnitos, solemnly apologize to the peoples of  Feralis for my misdeeds. I was foolish in following my father, I see the error in what I've done, and beg you for your forgiveness," Sergio says the words he was taught only this morning, he goes to his knees and  lowers his head, the symbol of apology in this kingdom.

The crowd seems to think over his apology for a moment, before shouting out heartfelt acceptance.

"We forgive you Sergio of House Thnitos!"

"Be better than your father and we'll forgive you!"

"Any father who says such terrible things to his own boy doesn't deserve the name!"

"We forgive you son!"

Some of the crowd seem to be less forgiving, but in the end, the forgiveness outweighs the boiling rage.

"I, Marianne of House Kashvena, kneel before the gods and the people  to give my apologies to the loyal citizens of this the Royal Kingdom of  Feralis. I most humbly ask your forgiveness, and thank you for the  kindness you showed in sentencing my father and mother, and for pardoning my future husband," Marianne's pretty plea for forgiveness is  met with an immediate pardon by the public. She's truly the sugar to the poison, a sweet girl who'll probably make a wonderful ruler, and an even better mother.

I turn away from the crowd, to watch that Lues is watching me, I look  away. I can't do this to myself, I can't love him, not now, not ever. I  know I'm being irrational and flaky, but I can't help it. I've already  fallen for the man, but I can't let that love blind me, or hold me back.  When I look to him again, he's turned away, and though he wears the  mask of a king, I can see the heartbroken boy beneath.