I awoke with a slow, grumbling silence. I stood to my feet, dusting my shoulders off,  my glazed over expression apparent to even myself. I rubbed my eyes, the blur of stupor slowly fading- being replaced with a haze of confusion. Surrounding me stood a tall bedroom- musty and mildew stained. The ornate wooden frames and fixtures sat rotting, however still recognizable. The bed I had been lying upon was stained brown, the red woolen blanket torn and tattered. I felt shaken for a moment, as a single thought crossed my mind,

‘Where am I?’

This thought… truly shook me to my core. I glanced around quickly, intaking information fast, as I could feel my mind race through scenario after scenario, descending into unrealistic- and even impossible. My silent madness was quietly interrupted however, with the slight knocking at the wooden door. 

“Your majesty?” The soft, quiet, and meek voice fluttered out at the door. 

I stood flabbergasted for a moment, before quickly recollecting myself, the insanity of the situation slowly placing itself to the back of my mind, as I attempted to make a next move. Stepping toward the door, and placing my hand on the knob, I slowly pushed it open, leaving a mere inch between the door and the doorframe, letting my eyes peer out at the figure speaking to me. A small woman- scraggly brown hair, dressed in a worn and dirty maid outfit.

“Who..Who are you?” I asked, my voice growing slow, stalky, and tough. She clearly grew confused at my question, and my demeanor. 

“I’m your personal maid, your majesty.” She replied, somewhat scared, however more so confused. 

I stopped for a second, my thoughts quickly pushing themselves to the forefront. Mostly confusion- as I had never seen a maid before, and I had never had a personal maid before. The many subsequent questions this introduced were dashed, when the meek maid pushed the door open, stepping inside the room. 

“Your majesty, we have no time for this. Your father wishes to meet with you today,” She said, now more steadfast.

I could tell from her demeanor that she believed me to be joking, perhaps in an attempt to answer the confusion she clearly felt over my more than obtuse line of questioning. I quickly realized that I must have taken the wrong approach to figuring out my situation- as it clearly caused confusion on the part of my… benefactor? 

I stepped back, as the maid began to make the bed I had been lying in, before quickly moving to a nearby wardrobe. “What would you like to wear today, your majesty?” I stood silently a moment, before quickly looking over what I had been wearing up until that point. Robes, torn and filthy, however more stained than dirty. The maid set out two sets of clothes- some fancy noble garb, ornate, however patchwork, and a militaristic marching outfit- feathered collar and all. As I pondered for a moment, I peered back into the closet- and saw it. A… normal outfit!

A dusty vest suit, no jacket of course, and some decent pants. I pointed to those, and the maid simply scoffed.

“You really want to wear that? You know that His Majesty won’t like it, yes?” I simply nodded, not sure how to reply. 

She reached in, taking them out. After placing the other garments back, she stepped over to the door, closing it. I reached for the clothes, and in return she glared at me. “Yes?” She asked. I motioned for her to hand me the clothes, but she just nervously laughed, not really taking me seriously.

After an intense minute of nerve wracking clothes attachment, I was dressed up- and the maid was now more than pleased that she had managed to catch me and dress me appropriately. I simply adjusted my expression to stern, readjusting my wrist collars. The maid quickly exited the room, motioning down the hall to the right. Nodding to her, I turned, headed toward whom I could only assume to be my father. Walking on the hard stones of the floor, the cobwebs and dust caking the corners of the ceiling, and the morning sun pouring through the cracked glass of the windows, I found myself in front of a large wooden door. Grabbing onto the handle, using all of my strength, I pulled the door open- and quickly stepped in before the door could trap me in between it. Inside of the large hall, which more resembled a cathedral, I stepped forward. Sat atop the throne, near skeletal, was who I could only assume to be my father. Adorned with jewels and donning a golden crown, slouched inward heavily, he slowly lifted his hand.

“My son…” He croaked.

“... Father?” I replied, taking a moment to correctly place myself as his ‘son’, even if I had no familial attachment. 

“I have not spoken to you in a long while. I am so very sorry for this, my age has prevented me from much.” He said.

I nodded, stepping forward. 

“As of last night, your elder brother has finally left the keep. You are my last heir, as he has denounced his claims to the throne. His corpse was found on the trail out of the farthest village this morning. I… have not the words to express my feelings. I know he wasn’t much of a brother to you, nor was he much of a son to me, but it still hurts. It feels unreal. I… I have to tell you something, my son,” He said. I glanced nervously, before nodding as if to say ‘continue’. 

“As the sole heir to my throne, I have a request. I wish for you, however you choose to, find your sisters and brothers. I do not plan to see the day where we may relive the festive seasons together as family, however I wish for you to be able to see it. You have never truly seen how our family was, once upon a time. Whether you choose to leave like your brothers and sisters before you, or, you choose to stay, please, please promise me that. Please, my son,” He said, sorrowfully. 

I pondered for a moment. That moment felt like eternity- this man, who I had no memory of, asking me a promise that I had no way to keep. I was still bewildered as to my status, let alone my own family. How was I supposed to track down my brothers and sisters? Even so, the demeanor in which he spoke- the way he felt, I could feel the want. 

“I accept, father. I… Do not know where my brothers and sisters are, and in fact I have no memory of them at all, but I will try. One day. Even if all I find are their bones,” I said, kneeling down, 

“Thank you. You may leave.” He uttered, pointing to the door. I quickly stood, stepping out, into the hall.

I stood outside of the throne room for a while, contemplating. Hundreds of thoughts dashed across my mind like a stone endlessly skipping across a pond, but it never amounted to anything but mere speculation. I wondered, how exactly had I gotten here? I couldn’t remember. Much worse than that however, I couldn’t remember anything at all- it was actually a vague notion of oddity that had clued me in that I was not from this place. Not this person, no doubt.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I shook my head, those thoughts however important, were not important at that very moment. I stepped to the window- which peered out into the city. The city was moldy, rotted, and mildewed. The visceral scene of what can only be described as an abandoned city has forever been burned into my mind. I turned my head.

This place was dying to nobody's doubt, it was only a matter of time until I was to die with it. My father had already explained to me what occurred to my brother when he attempted to leave. Death followed him.

I sighed, this whole ordeal felt familiar somehow, if ever fleeting. I quickly regained myself, heading off quickly down the hall at a good pace. Eventually reaching what must have been the entrance to the keep, the maid who had awoken me stood dusting some shelves, standing atop a stool. Quickly stepping down the stairs, I caught her attention.

“Your majesty, are you ok?” She asked. 

“Yes. I’m just fine. Are you comfortable with answering a few questions?” I replied.

“I suppose. Ask away, your majesty,” She said, stepping down from the stool.

“Who all has power here within this… kingdom?” I asked. 

“I suppose just his majesty, and your father, considering your brother left last night,” She replied. 

“Not anyone else?” I asked.

“No?” She replied.

“No nobility, generals, clerks, accountants, erm… council of any kind?” I asked.

She chuckled a bit, before walking to me.

“Nope. Could never afford those if we wanted to, and what is a council?” She replied, dusting my shoulder off. 

I shuddered at the notion for a moment, what kind of nation has no leadership? Is it even a nation?

I pinched my nose, before quickly responding. 

“Do you know who all the kingdom has under her employ?” 

“Erm… The keep staff is around 3 total other than me, and we have a standing militia, although that was handled by your brother, so I'm not sure the specifics,” She replied.

“Can you gather the staff here, and do you know who is currently leading the militia?” I asked.

“Shouldn’t be an issue, and the militia has no leaders- it was led directly by your brother. It is to my understanding however, that they have disbanded in his absence.I have to ask though, your majesty, are you sure you’re ok?” She said, worryingly. 

“I feel fine, is something wrong?” I replied, albeit confused.

“No… Everything is fine,” She responded, before turning to presumably go collect the staff.

I seated myself in the entrance, peering out onto the city below. The rot permeated like a fog, and the forest which I could now view seemed to be blanketed in darkness. I shuddered, before quickly standing. Beginning to pace, the maid returned with the three other staff, two maids and one butler. All wearing torn and scuffed clothes, dirty and ragged. 

As they bowed to me, the maid I had sent to collect them spoke.

“These are all of the castle staff. I doubt you’ve met them before, so I’d like to let them introduce themselves,” She said. 

All bowing, the three introduced themselves;

The first, rather average build, age, height, and structure, with short brown hair spoke first- “My name is Emily your Majesty,” . The second, tall, brawn and only of average age, with blackish hair spoke- “My name is Cecilia, your majesty,”. The butler, of average build and height, appearing to be somewhat elderly, with brown hair spoke- “My name is Eric, your majesty,”. 

Finally, the maid who had awoken me spoke- “And as you know, I am Elizabeth, your majesty,”. Satisfied, I motioned for them to stand. As they stood in line, I approached steadfastly, and began to speak.

“It is nice to finally meet all of you. As of now, I come bearing bad news, and I am letting you know this because I feel you should. My brother has died, he was found dead this morning.” I said, feigning sorrow as best I could. 

The group looked shocked for a moment, before Eric spoke up. “Not a surprise, your majesty,” Eric said. 

“How so?” I asked back, swiftly, somewhat curious.

“Well your majesty, you know how your brother was. It was in his nature to try and leave, and we all know that leaving during this season is a death sentence, considering the hordes of Orcs breeding in the mountains,” Eric said.

I stood quietly for a moment, my mind curiously perplexed by the idea of Orcs. I quickly shook my head, gathering myself. “Well if that is the case, then it was his fault. Either way, I have gathered you here for more than just bad news, I am in need of assistance, of which I believe only you can provide,” I spoke sternly, pacing. 

The group stood silently shocked for a moment, before collecting themselves, and bowing to me.

“Anything, we are at your service your majesty,” They said in unison. 

“Good. Alright, to begin with, I have been having trouble with my memory today- so please do not question me if any of my questions or concerns do not seem to make sense. My first question, is there an office here, in the keep?” I said, stepping back. 

“Erm… I believe there is something akin to an office, the study has an upstairs desk, it has gone unused for ages,” Eric said, standing up. “Lead the way, and you all are to accompany me,” I said, gesturing to Eric. 

Eric nervously nodded, before continuing down a hall, the group of us in tow. Entering into a large library, shelves stocked with dusty books and unlit lamps, all leading to a set of two stairs that lead up to a second floor- as equally shelved as the first. “This will do nicely,” I said, quickly walking to the stairs, up and to a nicely placed desk.

Stepping to it, I found it to be layered in dust, no papers or books sat on it or inside of its shelves. It appeared to have been used by a librarian of some kind, a long, long time ago. 

Waving the group to me, I gathered them around the desk. 

“To begin with, I have a task for each of you,” I said, seating myself on the wooden chair at the desk.

“Scour the library, the keep itself if you have to, find me financial documents, historical archives, everything that could seem important.”  They each nodded at me, before turning out to the library, to begin scouring for the documents. 

It took a while, but they returned with a mountain of material, and I quickly began to look through them. All financial documents pointed to one thing- extreme poverty. Although they weren’t the most well made documents, it appeared as though some event in the past forty years had occurred- causing an extreme debt to be incurred. Rather than trying to make payments on it, or contesting the possibly false debt itself, the kingdom simply chose to pay it entirely out of pocket. This sent the kingdom spiraling, as with no money, things began to fall apart. 

To top that off, the kingdom wasn’t the most profitable anyhow- historical documents illustrate to me that this small city-state kingdom had always been a poor place, only safe due to the tall mountains surrounding it. Making everything worse, farming, which appeared to have been the only successful thing about the kingdom, had taken a downturn in the past years, as some disease had ruined major crop businesses. And so they just up in left, in a mass exodus of citizens, nearly the entire farming community, alongside some 700 people just left. I wanted to scream, but managed to keep my thoughts to myself. 

Continuing, I found that the treasury currently held a measly four hundred gold coins- which according to Emily would have been enough to buy a nice manor in the countryside. However, there was no such manor- and there was no production of government money beyond the minor tax that existed from the kingdom owned mountain roadways, and the property tax which was essentially defunct as not a soul would buy property here. 

I sighed, but continued reading, as the night drew in. The staff which I had brought to help me ended up burning the midnight oil with me, as I began to compile the information and data into usable readouts, which required more than a few hands. Eventually, we came to a general statistic, at the strike of dawn.

The kingdom would soon die, if we did not do something. 

I sent the staff to their quarters, as they all were exhausted, and continued my data collection parade. Graphs, sheets, data charts, and all other matters of summarization I could, and eventually condensed the kingdom's problems into a neat journal, which I aptly titled, “Problems to fix”.