Fantasizing a war - A Sanders Sides Trilogy

A New Life

Roman had to force himself to sit still. He had just walked down a beautiful aisle, dressed in finery, and was perched on his fathers' - no, his  throne. Philip knelt before him and Logan picked up Philips' crown and placed it on Roman's' head. Roman tried very hard not to scream.

"I give you," Logan commanded, turning to the assembled nobles, "Our new King!"

The rapturous applause was deafening and instant. Roman had always been popular with his citizens but now he was their adored new king. His father stood up, tears in his eyes, and Roman quickly feared that Philip wanted to take this all back.

"Father, I-"

Philip wrapped his arms around his son tightly, smiling broadly. "I'm proud of you, Roman. And I know your mother would be too." And he pulled away, leaving Roman close to tears too.

Patton tackled him from the sidelines. He wasn't supposed to be in here, but Roman had insisted loudly that it was essential to have the young baker here. The two friends hugged for quite a long time and the applause was nowhere near finished.

"C'mon, ex-Princey," Virgil said, appearing by his side in a literal puff of indigo smoke, "You need to greet your new people."

Roman nodded enthusiastically, pulling Patton along with him as the four stepped out onto the balcony. Suddenly, the applause turned into an endless thunder wave of screaming and clapping, so loud that Virgil had to cover his ears.

"You're popular!" Laughed Patton, his smile crunching his freckled features happily.

"Yeah, no kidding!" Roman answered, wrapping his arm around Virgil's' waist. Virgil went red, pushing the new King off him in embarrassment.

"Infront of everyone?! Really, Princey?" He blushed with a pout as the crowd began to laugh, applause doubling.

Roman grinned cockily. "Why not? They seemed to find it funny." He teased. Virgil glared.

Logan raised his hand into the air, quietening the crowds. "King Roman would like to deliver his speech."

Now it was Romans' turn to glare, with Logan being the victim of it. He stepped forwards, placing his hands on the railings. Breathing in, he caught Patton's' eye and felt more relaxed - it was hard to be stressed when Patton had put his thumbs up then realised there was jam on his thumb and licked it off happily.

"My new people," Roman projected his voice, his smile coming naturally, "I've waited to call you that for a long time. Oh, sorry, Logan!" Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Roman ran quickly off-script. Roman shrugged with an apologetic wince and the crowd laughed. Their King turned to them and said, "Sorry, he's a bit of a control freak!"

With the crowds' laughter slowly dying down, he kept going. "I, as a Prince, swore to protect my Realm from the threat of the Dark Realm. Now, as a king, I swear to welcome the Dark Realm in. We haven't a reason to fear them - we never did - so I make my first rule as King to legalize all inter-Realm marriage." Virgil smiled softly at him and Roman grinned back. The crowd made a collective 'aw' noise and both blushed. Virgil looked at the ground but Roman swung back to his audience. "I believe that rule was unfair! I believe you should love whoever, no matter their heritage or- or gender! And we shouldn't be judged because of who we love!

"As your new King, I swear, on my legacy, life and love, to listen to you, welcome you and protect you. And I hope that you all feel respected in this new age. I hope that the respect stays forever." And Roman bowed to the screech and applause of the audience both inside the throne room and in the city.

He turned to Virgil, who was about to make a sarcastic comment but was interrupted by the swift kiss Roman pulled off. Virgil stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment as he stared at Roman, mouth ajar. The crowds squealed, with Patton being the loudest of them all.

The baker grabbed the two of them in a massive group hug. "Logan!" He barked like an excited puppy, "LoLo, group hug!"

"Patton, I-"

Patton grabbed the advisors' wrist, dragging him into the mess of arms that stretched out to him. Logan failed at containing a laugh.

.:*:.

-And that is where this story finished." Said Logan, smiling down at his children. Well, they weren't his. He and Patton had adopted them.

Amai frowned, crossing her arms. "But that's not where the story ends, Father! Papa said you did so much more!"4

Logan shook his head. "None that involved travelling miles and miles just to stop a war we almost caused."

Amai's' brother, Fletcher, pushed his sister. "Told ya! Papa and Father are too old now!"

"Old?" Frowned Patton, appearing in the kitchen doorway. "We're only 23! That only happened five years ago! How are we old?"

"Children..." Sighed Logan.

"We're not children!" Fletcher protested. "I'm seven!"

Amai nodded. "And I'm five! We're not children!"

"Yeah!" Agreed Fletcher.

Logan smirked. "Patton, are they children?"

Patton left the doorway, hunkering down next to Amai and pulling her into a hug. "I mean, Roman and Virgil were still my kiddo's' when they were 18, so they must be!"

Amai laughed, kicking her legs as Fletcher whined jealously, "I want a hug!" When neither Patton or Amai paid attention, he ran to Logan, hugging him instead. "I don't need your hugs anymore, Papa! I have Father!"

"No!" Patton gasped, letting go of Amai to clutch at his heart. "The replacement! How will I live with this betrayal!"

Amai giggled. "I don't know what that means..."

"Well, betrayal means-" Logan was cut off by a sharp knocking on the door.

Patton got up, the laughter stopping instantly. This wasn't the polite knock of salesmen, the friendly knocking of guards sent by Roman to escort them to the palace or even the excited knocking of someone wanting their autograph. This was a threatening kind of knocking.

And that was when the new story began.

.:*:.

Hey...

I had a sequel idea...

Looks like you're getting a sequel...

Now, I'm gonna do something you may or may not enjoy. The sequel isn't going to be put in a separate book - I'm gonna smash it into this one. Why? Well, it's totally not a selfish reason to see how many reads I can fit in one book. Nothing like that. It's, uh, so you don't need to follow any other story.

...That's definitely the reason...

(I've totally fooled you, right?)

So get ready for a new book!