Duke appeared in the remains of the throne room, startling the pair of Legionnaires who had been standing guard. They had drawn their swords without recognition of who it was and were ready for action. A moment later, they realized that it was Duke that had appeared in their midst and sheathed their blades. With a synchronized salute, they spoke, “Apologies Your Majesty.”
Duke smiled warmly and returned their salute. “No apologies necessary. Your reaction was exactly as it should have been. Now, do you know where I might find Archmage Baslin?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. He is waiting outside the castle but please allow us to bring him to you.”
“Um, sure. Go fetch the Archmage.” The pair of Legionnaires hastened out of the throne room, leaving Duke alone to look around the room. It looked quite a bit different than when he was last in it. In particular, it appeared to have been put back together including the throne on the raised dais at the end of the room. His throne room had a ceiling! Duke headed over and sat down on the throne. I guess that’s what I’m supposed to do, right?
As Duke settled in, Baslin entered the room with a half-dozen Legionnaires and an old man dressed in rags. Duke watched them approach with curiosity. If he’s being escorted in by Legionnaires, he’s likely a prisoner of some sort but the dude is dirty and dressed in rags and not bound in any way. A freed prisoner, perhaps?
The group approached and both Baslin and the man dressed in tattered rags bowed. The Legionnaires saluted and snapped to attention. No one said anything and neither man straightened from their bow. Duke stared at them for a long moment trying to figure out what they were doing as well as what he should be doing. Finally, it snapped into place – they were waiting for him.
Duke tried to sound regal, but the words felt uncomfortable on his tongue the moment he spoke them. “Greetings, Archmage Baslin. Who is this that you have brought before us?” Oh, fuck no. I ain’t spending my time talking like a bleeding self-important bastard.
Baslin straightened up with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. Duke could read that the Archmage was enjoying this show. “Your Majesty, please allow me to present Madrigal, formerly Duke Madrigal. He is Estros’ grandnephew, stripped of his title and imprisoned by the late King Chopie.” With this the man straightened up himself.
Duke looked at the man that was showing years of hardship on his face and body. He remembered what Baslin had recommended as his “calling card” as king and activated RESTORE and CLEANSE on the man. In a brief moment, the man’s clothes renewed themselves to reveal the splendor that they once were – a set of fine noble attire. The man’s grey hair was now expertly coifed, and he looked much more like nobility than Duke ever had or as Duke suspected, ever will.
The man gaped at Duke’s magic, the shock and wonder clear and apparent on his face. As was the absolute steel of his discipline at not breaking his bearing or commenting on the magic that had restored his all but destroyed clothes and cleaned decades of grime from his body.
Duke spoke again, trying to be formal for just a bit longer. “Be welcome at Court, Madrigal. You may speak freely in my presence.” Duke shook his head with a quick shudder at his own words. “Oh, fuck it. Look, I’m new to this whole royalty bullshit and really don’t care for all the formality. Baslin, pull out a few of your wonderful chairs and let’s sit down and talk. I’m sure you’ve got a lot to say, and I want to hear it.”
Baslin looked crestfallen as he retrieved three overstuffed chairs from his Ring of Rooms and set them in a ring near the throne. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Duke immediately hopped off the throne and sat down in one of the chairs. He waited for the other two to sit and, again, realized that they were waiting for permission. Duke growled inwardly. This is why the nobility never gets anything done – always waiting for permission to do normal shit. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Sit down already and talk! I am not going to spend my life in all this formality. Nothing will ever get done.”
Madrigal smiled despite himself. He tried to hide it and was quite good at controlling his outward expression of emotion, but Duke’s XENOGLOSSIA picked up on it. Duke spoke again. “Oh, I know. It’s funny as hell – a commoner made king, fumbling around trying to act like he knows what he’s doing. It’s a tired and worn-out trope, but it’s what we have. Am I right?” He laughed at himself as he realized how true his words were.
“It is as you say, Your Majesty.” Madrigal replied. His voice did not seem to match his age at all. When he spoke, his voice was melodic, almost hypnotic in how smooth his words came out. “What was that wonderous magic you used to make my clothes anew and give me a cleansing that I had never imagined possible? The stink of decades of rotting in a cell is gone. It is like nothing I have ever seen before.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Duke’s smile spread further. “Good, you’re not a noble fop who can’t handle plain speech. The magic you experienced is my own special blend. I am all about restoring things to how they should be, and my magic reflects that. Now would someone explain to me what is so urgent about this meeting?”
Baslin spoke up. “The former Duke here was imprisoned by Chopie as he was a political threat. He had a legitimate claim to the throne as King Estros’ grandnephew.’
“And that’s why the upstart trumped up a charge, stripped me of my title, and threw me in prison.” Madrigal added.
“That is truly awful. Chopie was a selfish and petty little shit and I’m glad I killed him but I’m not sure what’s being asked here.” Duke replied.
Baslin held a hand up to prevent Madrigal from speaking. “I want you to reinstate his title and holdings. He would be the first noble member of your court and you need noble members of your court.”
“I see. Would you be willing to swear allegiance to me?” Duke asked pointedly.
“I would swear allegiance to the kingdom and its people.” Madrigal responded stoically.
Duke paused and really took in the man before him. Now that he was cleaned up and dressed, Duke could see the bearing and manner with which the man carried himself. There was no arrogance, but a calm confidence and surety that struck Duke as what some might call regal.
Duke resumed speaking, “That is a rather fine and important distinction. You would not swear your loyalty to me, but to the people of the kingdom.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. To rule is to serve. At least a good ruler will do so, so the loyalty of all should be to the kingdom. For a ruler to act in their own best interest over the best interest of the kingdom will get you another Chopie. For that reason, I will not swear allegiance to any one person over the kingdom itself.”
“If you refuse to swear your loyalty to me, that could be your last act of defiance before your death.” Duke said with menace dripping from his voice and manner.
Madrigal did not waver. “Then I will die knowing I held the interest of the kingdom above mine own. I have lived a long life even if most of it was in prison. You will not break me of this.” His jaw was set, ready to accept his final fate.
Duke’s expression broke. “Baslin, you were absolutely right in bringing Duke Madrigal to me. How do I go about restoring his title and all that entails?”
“As King, all it requires is for you to declare it, really. The system should pick up on your intent.”
Duke stood and raised his arms out to the sides in a grand gesture. “I, King Duke, hereby declare that Madrigal, former Duke of this kingdom is to be restored to his title and all rights, holdings, and, privileges previously held.”
There was a perceptible shudder that travelled through the area as Duke felt Mana shifting under his feet. The shudder centered on Madrigal who stood even straighter in his chair as a smile of wonder passed over his features. He stood from his chair briefly before dropping down to his knees before Duke and speaking loudly and forcefully. “I, Duke Madrigal do again swear my allegiance to this kingdom and its people as I did before, but now I also declare that I will follow King Duke in all lawful and just actions!”
“Excellent!” Duke responded. “Now get up. There’re probably a billion things that need to be done and I’m not even aware of a tenth of them. The two of you are hereby enlisted in service to the kingdom, specifically to make sure I don’t screw this up too much.”
“That is something I am happy do, You Majesty.” Duke Madrigal responded as he rose to his feet.
“Great to hear. First order of business, I need someone to figure out who’s left of the population and whether there are any more undead or other surprises waiting for us left behind by Chopie. Oh, and secondly, when we are in private like this, please drop the formal ‘your majesty’ honorifics. It just clutters things up. Out in public, sure we can be all stiff-lipped and formal, but that is not my style. Not at all.”
“You do have to act the part of the King to be respected as a King.” Baslin responded.
“I don’t want respect merely for my station. That shit is worthless. I want to earn respect from my people by making their lives better and making just decisions when needed. I don’t need them to worship me for being ‘better’ than them. I want them to feel that they can come to me with real problems and get help. On the other hand, I don’t want a line of people looking for me to solve problems that they should have handled on their own.”
Baslin looked at Duke in a new light. “That is quite the ideal you are setting there, Duke. I’m not sure everyone else can live up to that.”
“If they want to keep any sort of power to make decisions, they sure as fuck had better put the needs of their people above their own. Now, what I am NOT saying is that I’m going to do nothing but what the people ask me to do. No, I’m going to still do what I need to do for myself and my companions. But, when it comes to ruling, those decisions have to be made with the benefit of the kingdom in mind.” Duke paused for a moment in thought before continuing. “Also, that DOES NOT mean that we take someone’s personal property because the kingdom could put it to better use than they could. Theft by government is tyrannical and I won’t stomach it.”
Duke Madrigal couldn’t hold back his smile as he spoke. “I forcefully and ardently hope you truly mean all that. This kingdom has the resources to be great, but Chopie plundered them for himself and squandered them for his entertainment. With the resources applied to the betterment of its people, this kingdom can be a shining start for all to see.”
Duke nodded. “Excellent. We are on the same page here. You two get started on figuring this out. I have another matter that I must attend to privately.” The dismissal was sudden and unexpected. It took a few heartbeats before the two men realized it and departed.
Once they had left, Duke sat on the throne for a few minutes to clear his head. He finally opened his left hand to look at the tiny core he had been continually feeding Mana into for this whole time. He figured that their conversation had lasted about ten minutes, so his calculations put about 6,000 Mana infused into the core. He hoped it was enough for what was to come and from the rosy glow the core now showed, he expected it would be at least a good start.