Jonathan Edders brushed his brown hair out of his face and then held both hands over his moist brown eyes trying to hold back the tears. Realizing it was futile he leaned back in his chair and let out a long and mournful sigh as the tears flowed freely. John was not a tall man, but he was stocky and gave off a vibe of being sturdy. Crying like this really made him question why everyone saw him as the rough and tumble type. He rubbed his freshly shaven face and closed his eyes to stem the tears.
In the last year he had lost everything. At the start of the year a necromantic plague believed to have been conjured by a rogue follower of the high lich who escaped after the Dead War had swept through the surrounding lands not only claiming more than half of his livestock but taking his beloved Dahlia and both of his infant twin sons as well. Dahlia had not been strong enough to fight the magical infection after giving birth so recently and she had unknowingly passed the disease onto their newborn twins through her milk. Now it was just him and his eldest child Rosalyn. He has tried his best to provide for her and support her during the tragedy they had experienced this past year and they were even close to making a financial recovery. Sadly, it had all came crashing down when the local tax officer came by and confiscated all of his remaining animals and handed him an official writ of conscription.
“Damn those fool senators!” John said under his breath as he clutched at the worn messenger satchel he had worn every day during and since the Dead War. He remembered when he was a courier on the front lines, and how the satchel had saved his life by taking an arrow. John stared at the satchel and started fingering the darned hole where the arrow had pierced the leather and brief flashes of the horrors that he had seen during those dreadful days passed across his vision. What could he do? He had no answers, few options, and even less time.
John shook his head, knowing that he couldn’t think like that. This was just a border skirmish with the Magocracy, those bastards. They were just trying to claim land while the Kingdom was recovering from the Dead War. Pushing even those thoughts from his head he refocused his mind. He had to take care of his five year old daughter first and ensure her safe keeping while he fought in another fool war. He roamed across the house gathering up all the meager valuables and saved coin that he owned. Hopefully this would be enough for that old bat to take care of Rosalyn for the year he was conscripted. He grabbed his wife’s locket and opened it to see a small painted likeness of them both in their Temple best. Pocketing the memento he shoved the rest of his late wife’s jewelry into a small burlap sack. He felt like a robber, stealing all the things that had once made this house a home.Taking one more brief walk through his home and letting the memories wash over him, he came to the sad realization that neither Rosalyn or he would probably ever come back here.
“Rose! Where are you child?” John bellowed down the hall towards his daughter’s room. “Yes Papa! I got everything like you asked.” Rosalyn said as she exited her room carrying way more than her little arms could conceivably carry. She had dresses, chalks, dolls, and various other items jutting from every angle of her person. It was so comical that John let out a bark of involuntary laughter. He really had needed that laugh, and he would miss his little girl more than he could put to words. Suddenly welling with emotion he made a snap decision, taking off his trusty satchel. “Here child let me help you, I have just the thing to help you carry what you need. However, we have to hurry. Your great aunt is waiting and she isn’t a very patient woman.” Placing the satchel over his daughter’s head and adjusting the straps he gave her a lopsided grin. “It looks good on you. Now take care of that bag, I will want it back when I return.” John ruffled his daughter's hair as she fidgeted with the bag, exploring the pockets within pockets that made the insides.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After a few minutes of packing away Rosalyn’s various odds and ends John stood back up to his full height. He smiled at his daughter as she struggled with the satchel, obviously much too small to carry it at her age. “Do not worry child, you will grow into it. Now, I have one more thing for you.” Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the small locket and placed it over her neck. “If you wear this then Mama will be able to always watch over and protect you. If you open it you can see both your mother and I. Let that be proof that we both love you and if you keep this locket safe I promise that you will never walk alone.”
Grabbing his daughter's tiny hand, they both exited the modest house they had called a home.
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"Pay attention!" Sister Cham yelled as she rapped her ruler on her desk. "Today we are going to be talking about the history of the Kingdom of Light, where we are currently residing." Scanning the room from her podium the diminutive nun eyed the kids lined up at tables in front of her looking for any sign of weakness. "Hans! Tell me about the Dead War!"
Hans looking like a spooked deer stood up out of his stool and began to recite "Uhh... One of the Mage Lords of Ken was cursed during an experiment. He died! Except he kept moving and he went crazy! Uhh... he got a bunch of people and they made a lot of dead people get back up and attack everyone. Except a great army of heroes came together and they defeated the bad guys and now we don't have to worry about the high lich or his army anymore!"
Sister Cham nodded her head and briskyly replied "Adequate Hans, you may sit. Let us go a little more in depth than that for the next topic though. Can anyone tell me about the government of the Kingdom?"
Several hands shot up and the nun pointed at a tall red haired girl “Tabitha. Please go ahead.”
Nodding, Tabitha started “The Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, our Queen upholds the laws voted upon by the senate in the field of battle by commanding the army and appoints judges to pass judgement against those who break those laws. The senate is made of elected officials from each province. The power of each senator is based on the number of people in the census that is performed every election cycle.”
Smiling at Tabitha, the nun motioned for her to sit. “Good use of vocabulary in your explanation. Now, can anyone tell me about the Dragon Purge from 100 years ago?”