Michael

The king died the same day they had arrived. It was as if he had held on for them to arrive and after talking to Michael's father nothing was left to make him fight.

The funeral was held the next day, they had been preparing for weeks. With the nature of the frontier county of Reen and the delayed arrival of the message due to them being on hunt, most of the important people had already arrived.

The funeral was a pompous event like anything the late king had participated in. They had brought the king outside of the city just to drive him back to the palace in a golden open carriage carrying his casket. As if he had died gloriously in battle.

The carriage was flanked by the members of the Kingsguard in their silver glory, as a sign of grief they had bound a black cloth over the lion eyes of their helmets. A lion doesn't cry.

The carriage was followed by the royal family in grieving attire. Michael hadn't been able to talk to either Zen or Mira yet, but he hoped he would be able to later at the funeral feast.

Behind the royal family followed every noble that meant anything. There were hundreds but in the front was not Duke Wulfen nor any other duke but House Rowan and House Grim on special command of the late king.

"I want to be followed by my friends and family first and not by the leeches that would spare me no second look if I wasn't the king", he had said according to Lord Rowan.

Michael had seen Lord Wulfen's dissatisfied look and it had given him a pang of joy in his dark thoughts.

The streets were utterly swamped. Michael had never thought that even more people could fit in the streets as he had seen on the final day of the festival, but he was proven wrong in a breathtaking spectacle of pressed bodies and wailing people.

The first stop was at the church where they had a three-hour-long sermon of the archpriest. He talked about salvation but also about enemies, mages, monsters, and heretics. Michael sat through it and tried to maintain a neutral expression, sitting in the front row sadly didn't give him the anonymity of the crowd to show his true feelings.

The next step was in the palace graveyard where the king was placed in a large crypt, it was filled with the Merland family from the time when they were merely dukes.

It was a silent affair as no one would disturb the rest of the dead, only the gathered priests murmured the ritualistic incantations of the final rest. It was heartbreaking seeing Mira and Zen trying to hold back their emotions and having no way of helping them.

The last destination was the great hall. This time it wasn't decorated in shining gold and silver but in dark colors, the lights had been dimmed and the windows hung with barely translucent drapes. There were no tables in the room, as there would never have been enough space for everyone.

The queen stood alone on the podium, her long black veil covering her face. Everyone was quietly waiting for her to speak, as it was her right to be the first to voice what she wanted to say about her husband.

It took a while until she started talking but when she did her voice was strong. "Today we lay to rest my husband, a great man and great king. We all grieve the loss of one of the best of us. We will face difficult days, but we will overcome them through the foundations built by Johann. I ask all of you to grieve with me and remember the values and goals we all pursued with our late king. I will miss him dearly; it was just too early, but fate is a cruel mistress and now it is our duty to keep his memory and his life's work alive." Her voice cracked a little and Michael could hear the emotion even if he couldn't see her face.

"I thank you all for coming. I-I have no words to describe what I am feeling and what he meant to me so I will not lose more words that would not do him justice and just listen to you. I hope you will have an easier time expressing what is in your hearts than me," she said and moved down the podium.

Lord Rowan was the next person to rise to the podium; the young children of the king were not expected to talk here, they had enough to deal with already.

"King Merland was my best friend for many years. We were the most unlikely friends one could imagine, an angry adventurer runt that would have loved nothing more than to beat anyone with more privilege than him to a pulp and a snobby heir to a dukedom. We couldn't have been more different, but we made each other better men and I will be glad for the rest of my life to have met him. To protect his dreams, legacy, and most importantly his heir I have accepted his call to the position of Master of War, this is an oath and a warning that even though we have lost one great king, we still have another to replace him, and we are not weak." Lord Rowan's gaze moved over the crowd, encouraging, and threatening at the same time.

Michael couldn’t help but stare at his father and he could sense Matthias tense up beside him; he had not shared this decision with them but they both knew what it meant. He would leave home and not come back anytime soon. In this time of uncertainty, instability, outside and inside aggression that comes with a young and new ruler, he would have a lot of work to do.

Both of them stayed silent even though they had much on their mind, not wanting to air out in the middle of the funeral service.

It continued with the important people losing a couple of words, Michael's uncle, the dukes, and some important figures of the kingdom but everyone kept it short, in reference to the queen's speech. It still took over an hour.

After all the speeches were over, they moved into the gardens that had been prepared with an absurd number of tables for the guests. With this, the formal part of the funeral was over, and Michael walked over to the royal family to express his condolences and talk with his friends. It was quite hard to get close to them as nobles swarmed around but the Kingsguard managed to keep it civil and the space around the royal family reasonably clear. Most people were trying to talk with the queen or Zen anyway, so Michael slipped past them toward Mira.

She was dressed in a plain black dress as customary. She was standing next to her brother and smiled dutifully with her underlying sadness. Michael poked his head around the line of nobles and caught her gaze.

She said something to Zen and then came over to Michael who had stepped to the side a little and crashed into him with more power than he would expect from a girl of her age. She wrapped her arms around him, and he held her.

"I am sorry, Mira. This is just not fair," he said softly, and she grabbed him tighter. They stood there for a while before she separated herself from him and smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Sorry, that wasn't proper," she said and wiped her tears away.

"It is your father's funeral. Screw proper," Michael answered and glanced over to Zen, who was trying to get out of a conversation with an old count.

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Mira laughed a little, "That is easy for you to say." She then gazed into the crowd before she quickly looked back to Michael. "I am happy that you are here, you need to defend me from annoying people, I don't want to deal with them right now." Michael frowned, he wanted to ask her more about it, but it wasn't the moment.

Zen had finally broken free of the endless conversations and joined them. "Michael, it is good to see you." He looked tired, the rings under his eyes deep, like he hadn't slept in days, which was probably true. Michael took his extended hand and gave him his condolences.

"It is sad that we need to have such a sad event to get back together," Zen said with a forced smile.

"Where is Theodore? I haven't seen him yet," Michael asked, wishing to see his friend as well.

Zen looked around and said, "He should be around here somewhere, probably with his father. He has been dragging the poor boy around everywhere he goes to teach him the trade but that mostly means following Duke Wulfen around or sitting in a dusty room. I am sure he will come around soon."

Michael nodded and then patted Zen on his shoulder, "Come on you two, time to get something to eat."

"Oh, I am not really hungry," Zen deflected with a smile but Michael was persistent. "You haven't eaten anything since morning, it can be hard, but you will eat at least something little."

They were hassled the whole way by nobles who saw their chance to get a couple of words in with the future king.

After a particularly insistent man, Mira was visibly annoyed. "Can't they leave us alone for one minute," she grumbled, which gained her a judgmental gaze from her older brother.

"These are the people that will either support or hinder my rule, Mira. So please be nice."

Mira rolled her eyes, but her expression changed to the neutral smile of royalty.

"Speaking of rule, do you have a date for the coronation planned," Michael asked.

"I wanted to wait but my mother insisted that we do it tomorrow to not seem leaderless."

"Tomorrow already," Michael replied surprised, "I guess there are precedents but are we this threatened? And what about the lords wouldn't they need to vote first?"

"The vote will be tomorrow at dawn; I already have the support of all dukes and most counts. My father was prepared after all." The prince gave a sad smile when they finally reached the buffet.

They weren't bothered as much while they were eating and began sharing their stories of the time since they last met. Michael purposefully left out his brush with the brigands; they had enough to worry about already.

"And then he yelled don't you know who I am without knowing that Mira was the princess," Zen laughed wholeheartedly and Mira chuckled.

A hand impacted on Michael's shoulder, and he spun around instinctively, grabbing onto it, ready to defend himself.

In front of him stood a reasonably confused Theodore. He had grown a lot and was more than a head taller than Michael, but his face still looked as soft as before.

Michael let go of his hand, "Theodore."

"Hey Michael, sorry for startling you," the boy said with a laugh, but Michael waved his apology away. "I shouldn't be this jumpy on a funeral."

The happiness instantly vanished from Zen's and Mira's faces. Michael pressed his lips together noticing his mistake. What the hells is wrong with me, he thought.

They continued their conversations until Zen and Mira had to get back to their duties and only Theodore and Michael remained.

They stayed silent for a while until Theodore asked, "What is wrong?"

Michael looked over to his friend and wanted to laugh the question off and say nothing but the serious expression on his face gave him pause.

The words of his brother flew back into his mind, "You should talk to someone, it doesn't have to be me but talk to someone."

This is my problem; I should deal with it myself. This thought felt wrong somehow, he couldn't say why but he disagreed with it.

He sighed and let his defenses down, "I killed someone."

"Go on," Theodore said with a frown and so Michael told him the story of how they went to Emall to hunt down brigands, about the fight, and how his father forced him to fight and kill the dark mage. He left out the part with the voices in his head though.

"My father was ready to let me swim or drown basically," Michael finished his story.

Theodore stayed silent for a moment and then said, “I think in a strange way he was looking out for you. Killing someone, especially a lowlife like this is something you will have to get used to.”

Michael frowned, “But there had to be a better way for this than to send me into a life- and death-battle.”

“First of all, I don’t think he would have actually let the bandit harm you; he just needed you to think it so you would fight with everything you had for your life – the same what you would do in a normal fight - but I could be wrong about that. Secondly, he didn’t have the time, you heard him he is now the Master of War, he will move here and guessing from his head over heels attempt to teach you something I am guessing you are not coming with him.” Theodore looked at Michael empathetically and Michael noticed how much the boy had matured in only two years. “He did do it the moment he got the letter, that is what you said, right?”

He was right, everything he said made sense, but even though Michael didn’t like the situation. He would have to talk to his father later anyway so he would just try to clear it up then.

“You are right, I just can’t get the face of the man out of my head.” This was not the whole truth; he wasn’t as haunted by the man he killed but by the voices he heard. He was constantly thinking back to the time when he first learned about being accused of being a demon child and now, he wasn’t so sure himself anymore.

Theodore gave him an encouraging nudge, “You did what you had to, most nobles would brag about their first kill, especially at your age.”

Michael smiled, talking to his friend had indeed helped even if nothing the boy had said actually solved any of his problems, just being back with his friends was soothing to Michael’s soul.

A couple hours later Michael, Matthias, and their father were sitting around the table in their common room. They were all sitting silently, Lord Rowan inspecting and waiting for his sons to speak, Matthias fidgeting on his seat, and Michael just staring straight at his father.

They were alone, and Michael was glad about it. Lord Rowan didn’t appreciate being questioned in front of anyone but in privacy he might allow Michael to blow up a little, at least he hoped that because he would do it either way.

“So, you are staying here,” Michael said with a cold tone, which garnered the attention of his father.

“I will, for now.”

“And I guess Matthias will take over for you at home then or is he also staying here?” A slight smile appeared on Lord Rowan’s face which Michael couldn’t place. “He will be the acting count in my absence, he is old enough after all.”

“Good to know, would have been nicer to know earlier though. Does Mother even know? Did anyone know beforehand?” Michael had kept his temper under control the whole day, no, for a couple of days already and he was losing the fight.

“Your mother was aware of the possibility, and I don’t have to discuss my plans with you,” Lord Rowan still smiled genuinely, which began to concern Michael, but he was too angry to stop.

“Great, I guess we will wing it, right Matthias, who needs preparations,” Michael said sarcastically and looked over to his brother who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“We follow your every whim, like governing the lands without previous notice. Fighting a life-or-death fight without ever having done anything like that. Is there maybe something else you don’t want to tell us,” Michael stared at his father, expecting him to rebuke him or get angry but he didn’t.

“I am proud of you. Both of you. I know I can be a difficult father and I know it might look cruel to let my ten-year-old fight a criminal, but this is the way I chose to raise you, to become strong, and I think it worked out well. I could say you were never in any kind of danger or that I had everything under control and that would be the truth but that is not what you want to hear.” The adult leaned back, still the smile on his face.

“You did good, and I can live with it if you hate me for this, but I stand by my decision and won’t apologize for it. And yes, I kept things from you, and I will continue to keep things from you, but you will understand one day why.”

Michael’s anger had evaporated, he had been so ready for a screaming match, to try and resist his father’s pressure and stand his ground but his father had disarmed him in an instant. Michael didn’t know how to deal with his calm father and Matthias still stayed quiet.

“I know my sons; I know their strengths and weaknesses, so I ask you Michael to support your brother in his rule while I am gone. Matthias, this doesn’t mean that I don’t trust you, but I think you know that.”

Matthias nodded and broke his silence, “Yes Father, I would have asked him myself, I am not blind to my own abilities.”

The count nodded satisfied and then his smile faded a little. “There is another thing I haven’t told you. With the message of the king’s sickness came another. Your brother Oska has vanished and left a letter stating that he went away to find his own way.”