The charred remains of the late Emperor Cosimir lay still on the table. As I look down at them, I think what a shame it was what they had done to me.

Betrayal.

It was outright betrayal.

Betrayal by that son-of-a-bitch Eldryn, my dark mage and right hand elf for over three centuries. I know now that he made deals behind my back and sold me out to the blacksmith Eli. Instead of dying like he should have, Eli and his disciples were able to best me and kill me. Eli took my place and betrayed them, and Eldryn burned me to complete his due diligence and make sure I couldn’t be brought back.

Such a spoiled brat. I always hated that elf.

A noise behind me tells me the bumbling blacksmith is back. The fool that should be dead instead of me. Though my consciousness is outside his body, I somehow still have a connection to him and his thoughts. Virmorphia is a weird magic that I still haven’t been able to entirely figure out, even after all these centuries toying with it.

Eli walks up to the dais where my burnt body lays, and stares down at it. After a long pause he talks in his deep bass of a voice.

“I have a chance to make Evania right again,” he says out loud, a trembling in his voice uncharacteristic of the big burly man that he appears to be.

“You don’t have a chance to do any such damn thing,” I say, and judging by the twitching of his eye I know that he hears me.

His eyes narrow as he looks down at my body, as if the dead corpse before him is actually the thing talking to him. “I will, you’ll see.”

I cackle a mad laugh. I can’t help it. The boy is so naive. “That damn elf is the one who’s really in control here, boy. You have no say in the matter.”

His face falls. He looks sad. “Why are you in my head? Why won’t you go away?’

Good question. I don’t really want to be here either, but I may as well at least continue my quest for power while I have the chance. “Not in your head exactly, but yes, we have some sort of connection. I’m more, to your right.”

Eli turns to look right at the spot I perceive that I am. The poor soul looks confused. Not sure if I can manifest myself in any way he can see me. I think really hard about being physical again. Nothing happens. Okay, think about arms. Think about legs. Where would they be? How would they feel?

This seems to work, his face contorts in shock, and I pick my imagined hand up to see. I have indeed manifested myself as a ghostly white apparition. Neat. Better manifest a face too. Think handsome.

The blacksmith… ugh, new emperor, I guess?... raises his hand in shock and tries to touch the space where he sees me floating above the dais. His hand just swipes air.

“Welcome to your new rule, Highness,” I say to him mockingly. “How does it feel to betray those you’ve promised to save?”

Eli gives up trying to swipe at my apparition and a tear rolls down his cheek. Such a weak man. How did he beat me again?

“I hate this. I just wanted to live. The prophecy said I was to die, but I was a coward instead. You’re dead like planned, but now I and my followers are beasts. I’ve sent assassins after my best friend because Eldryn doesn’t want loose ends. My life is basically forfeit.”

I let this sink in a moment. “So, you have ram horns and your best friend is a lion you’re trying to kill. I’ve been dead inside long before I was… well…” I gesture down at the ashes where my body once laid.

“Yeah,” Eli says, “I bet being the most powerful man in the country with all the Dungeon Lords under your thumb has been a terrible life.”

“Yeah, a lot of that was fucking awesome,” I say, remembering all the power I controlled for so long. “I mostly mean before that. All the stuff that really killed my soul. I have stories that will make your blood boil and your heart weep.”

Funnily enough, this makes a small smile creep over Eli’s face. “Really? I’ve heard the old sea rogue saying that dead men tell no tales,” he said.

“Ah, sea rogues. They are dumb and don’t really know anything except their crazy superstitions. Dead men tell the best tales because they’ve experienced life and death, and at some point learned the ultimate lesson.”

Eli looks at me and raises his eyebrow, intrigued. I’ve got him hooked. Not really sure what else to do with my time at the moment since I’m dead, I float down and sit on the ashes of my dead body. It’s funny, because I don’t really have energy now and really have no need to sit, but it just seems like the right thing to do when telling a story.

The big burly man leans on the table where my burnt body still lays... you think someone would really clean it up at some point… and stares at me intently.

I smile and think back to days long ago, when my entire life went to hell.

“You probably won’t believe this, but my journey to becoming the Emperor of Evania all began because once upon a time I was in love…

***

You see, back in the day I was a lord. There was no such thing as a Dungeon Lord then, so I was just any old normal lord of Incarta. Yes, I am from the same kingdom as you. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, I had the most important job in the kingdom. In the good ol’ mining kingdom of Incarta I was in charge of the mines. Yessir, the entirety of the biggest industry of the kingdom that supplied most of the raw iron in all of Evania.

Being a man of such high esteem and sharp mind, I gained favor of King Vince Regalia to the point of not only being appointed the lordship, but he also offered me the hand of his only daughter, Kira, in marriage. I will tell you, she was a beauty. The prize of the kingdom. Maybe even the prize of all Evania. The way she smiled lit up my soul every single time she looked at me during our courtship.

And quite the courtship it was! I courted Kira for two long years. I would show her around the facilities and show her what I was in charge of. We would go for long walks by the Ironflow River, looking at the stars and talking about life after we were married. We’d often picnic in the orchards north of Incarta.

She never seemed to care that I was often covered in soot and ash from the mines. She was the light of my life, and everything was going according to the plan her father and I had laid out. That was until a fire happened at the stables.

I’m not sure how much you’ve read about Incarta’s neighbor kingdom of Calum, but it was a set of floating islands and large, luxurious buildings. Really such a bastard thing to do. Think you’re so high above everyone else in the land that you literally raise your kingdom to the sky. The pompous bastards blocked out the afternoon sun and cast Incarta in shadow for much of the day. They were the pinnacle of everything pomp.

Well, they made all their money from prized horses, and they paid the kingdom of Incarta nills on the tread to take care of the horses on the ground for them. Too many horses falling off the islands at one point, they had no choice but to ground the whole operation. Put Incarta in charge of their prized stallions. Hundreds of horses died in the fire. Their entire herd. Their mage king, Aeolus, was pissed. While it was funny to see the rich bastard squirm, it lead to them raining fire down from the skies. It was quite a sight. All of Incarta had to hide down in the mines while our kingdom above ground burned.

In order to stop the bombardment and save what was left of Incarta, our mighty coward king Regalia decided to offer Aeolus the only thing he would accept to stop the attack. He offered him his daughter. My Kira! I was told to deal with it as he had no other choice. I’d never been so insulted in my life! Our wedding was only one month away. How could he give her to another man?

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Enraged to the point I was seeing red, I verbally lashed out at Regalia, but he told me to fuck off. So what did I do? No, I didn’t attack him… yet. Instead I went behind his back and evoked The Right to Trial that every Evanian had at the time. The High Kings of the family Evania would also allow any citizen to come to Mt. Floure and their grand throne room, the very room we float… err… stand in now, and present their issues before The High King. Sounds like such a bore listening to people’s problems all day, so I never offered the people this opportunity, but back then the kings did.

I left in the dead of night on King Regalia’s personal horse. It was one of the only horses left in the entirety of Central Evania. Because the trial involved war, The High King Tylowthus agreed to see to the trial immediately. I rode up the mountains in a huff, and when I got to this very room, what do I see but Aeolus is already standing there by Tylowthus. I see him handing him something, though I still don’t know what it was. Some form of bribe. It had to be.

Either way, Aeolus took his place back down on the floor next to me. His ugly fucking face looked like he had powered makeup of some kind on. His stupid hat was puffy with three feathers sticking out of the top. He was such a rich, pretty boy. He was of middle age, but still too young to be a ruler. His father had died in an accident trying to glide down to land from his kingdom to show off his magic powers. Both being men of high standing, I suppose we may have struck some kind of friendship in a different life, but as it stood, he was stealing my Kira from me. That was not acceptable.

I remember the resulting conversation word for word as it was the start of the worst few days of my life… you know… until you stabbed me with your damn spear that is… I digress.

So there we stood, two men before King Tylowthus. Being of higher rank, Aeolus was allowed to speak his case first.

“Your Grand Highness,” Aeolus started, “Incarta has done me the worst disservice. My entire industry has gone up in flames. Millions of treads in value, gone. Not to mention the smell of cooked horse that rose up to Caelum.” At this the king had wrinkled his nose, and I had to cough to stifle a laugh. I hadn’t thought about the smell.

“Clearly,” Aeolus continued, “I am owed some sort of restitution for what Incarta has done. We have enough tread reserves to rebuild our stables, but it will take time. I don’t want the iron from Incarta,” he gestured at the staff with a glowing crystal on top that he was holding, “as I obviously don’t have use for such primitive weapons materials. King Regalia has offered my his only daughter as a bride. Being unmarried and needing an heir, I wish to accept.”

I looked up at Tylowthus to judge his reaction. The wrinkly old bastard sat up there on his throne, hunched over, fingers laced in front of his old wrinkly face, deep in thought. Without unlacing his fingers he raised his index finger and gestured at me, not saying a word, but indicating I should make a rebuttal.

“King Tylowthus, the daughter Kira is already set to marry me within the month. She cannot be promised to this man. The fire was an accident and I can’t be held…”

Aeolus let out a loud, booming laugh from beside me. It made me want to punch him in his powdered face. “An accident, he says! I have word on good authority that your stable master was fucking the stable lord’s wife and knocked a lanturn into a hay pile. Accident!”

“And as a result you sent fire raining down upon Incarta!” I snapped back at him. He was really getting under my skin at this point. Why was it my fault the stable master couldn’t keep it in his trousers?

I remember seeing Tylowthus look pointedly at Aeolus for an explanation. The Evania rulers were all about keeping peace in the land, and this was certainly not an act of peace.

Aeolus had thrown his arms wide and smiled as if it were an honest mistake. “This was directed at the quadrant where the stable master and his lord lived. I simply sought my targeted retribution on those who had destroyed the industry on Caelum.”

Tylowthus still sat, silent as ever. It was starting to make me even angrier. “This man broke the Treaty of Peace. He attacked us! He cannot take my wife, as she’s promised to me! If you allow a targeted attack to be okay, then you are inviting hired assassins to kill any one of us leaders and it be okay!”

The High King unfolded his hands and sat up straight. “This man is right, Aeolus. We have a treaty in place that prohibits any kingdom to wage any war or attack on another kingdom without express written consent from myself and every member of the High Council.”

Aeolus looked at Tylowthus, his mouth agape. He looked indignant, as if he thought he were about to lose the trial. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I will not allow this…this… DUNGEON LORD… to exaggerate the attack and take away my compensation for my loss of millions. It’s an outrage!”

I had no idea what the hell he’d just called me. I’d never heard the term before. A lord, I was. But I wasn’t the lord of the dungeons. That was Tiberious. Some sort of insult they were calling him behind his back because he managed the underground mines? It was unacceptable. It didn’t seem to phase King Tylowthus though. In fact I swear I saw a small smile curl on the edge of his lips at the mention of it.

Tylowthus leaned back in the throne and seemed to be sizing both of us up, looking back and forth between us. “It is a major issue when one of my kingdoms attacks another without permission,” he said, glaring at Aeolus. Great! This looked like it was going my way. Kira was going to still be mine!

“On the other hand,” he continued, “it is a much bigger deal when an entire industry goes down in flames. This affects not just the two kingdoms involved, but the entirety of Evania.”

What?

“Aeolus, I presume you have a party of your women horse wranglers ready to venture to the northern wilds and procure more horses?” Tylowthus asked the king.

Aeolus nodded. “Of course, My Lord. I know how important our supply of ready and trained stallions is to Evania. We will have a new herd started within the month,” he paused and glared at me, “though it will be much smaller than the stock we’ve already lost.”

Tylowthus sighed. “And you accept this woman from King Regalia as compensation for having to start over?”

“I do,” said Aeolus. “As I said, I need an heir. This woman is of fine beauty and will make fine looking children to continue my line.”

My hands began to shake. There was no way I was losing this fight. There was no way this bastard was taking my Kira from me. I didn’t even care about the high status she would bring me. She was the love of my life, and I’d fallen for her hard during our courtship.

“Okay,” said Tylowthus after a long pause where he appeared to be thinking. “I’ve come to my decision. While I do not, and will not tolerate violence between kingdoms, Aeolus, I can see that your damages have been immense…”

What the fuck is happening?

“Therefore, I must ask that you compensate Incarta for the damages you’ve done to their buildings, Aeolus, and to make a complete ceasefire in your attacks,” Tylowthus said.

Aeolus made a deep bow to the high king. “When our herd is back to full strength we will raise our fee paid to Incarta for the services they provide. This will more than pay for the damages over time.”

“Excellent!” exclaimed Tylowthus. “I will write a letter to Regalia explaining these terms… and as for the matter of his daughter, her hand will go to you, Aeolus.”

“What!” I yelled, and it echoed throughout this very room. I couldn’t stop myself. The rage was flowing through my veins. I wanted to attack the high king. I wanted to rip Aeolus’ throat straight out of his neck.

All Tylowthus could do was shrug at me. “As it stands, and industry has had a major setback. Financial compensation is being made for the damages done, and to seal the peace, a marriage seems in order. I’m sorry, Lord Cosimir, but it is my job to not only keep the peace, but keep our economy in check. All of this seems to be the fairest way for all.”

All except me, you old pruny bastard. Looking back, I wish I’d said that part out loud. I realized my mouth was open in shock and I closed it. I didn’t even know what to say. I didn’t even bow to the high king. I just turned and stormed out of the room in a rage.

How could they do this to me? What about the work that I did for the iron industry? While I wasn’t a king, what I did still mattered, but they didn’t care. My mind kept going to that sick bastard Aeolus putting his overly-soft hands all over my Kira. Soft hands from living a privileged life that had never seen a real day's work in their lives. It was repulsing.

Once outside the mountain keep, I’ll admit, I broke down into tears. It was hard to tell because it was raining, but I couldn’t help it. They came flooding out. I couldn’t take it. Maybe Kira and I could still run away together? Would I really give up all that I had built for her? At that point I think I would have. She was my world.

Determined to get home quickly and tell her the terrible news, and my plan for us to leave Incarta together, I hopped up onto my stolen horse. But no sooner had I sunk down into the saddle than something burning hit me hard in the side. I couldn’t hold on and I went flying off the horse and down into the mud. It scared my horse, which ran off in a panic.

There, in the rain stood Tylowthus, his magic staff in hand, pure anger etched into his ugly features. “You! You make me come all this way from my kingdom to answer this insolent trial request. You dare to try and take my promised bride from me. You cost me millions of more treads over time as I now have to raise my fees to your horny stable master!”

I could see the rage in his eyes, and in that moment I feared for my life. I was used to being talked down to by royalty who thought they were better than me, untouchable, but never had I felt my life being threatened like that before.

But instead of attacking, he simply pulled his staff back and got a pout on his face. “I can’t commit murder here in the High Kingdom. Go… go back to your dungeon and mine your metals. I’ll be sure to send you a letter describing the way Kira moans in great detail.”

I knew he was baiting me, but my head was pounding, I was so filled with rage. I made to stand up, but Aeolus whipped his staff through the air and an invisible force struck me back down. I could feel a slash across my right eye, and felt hot blood dripping down my face.

Aeolus spit in my direction, and headed off in the rain to find his own page and horse.

I just lay there in the mud, wallowing in my loss. I didn’t know where my horse had gone, and without it I would have a long journey ahead of me to get back to Incarta. I knew that I had to hurry, because Kira would be devastated by the news, and we needed to leave before Aeolus came to take her away.

I pulled myself up and started walking in the direction the horse had run off, hoping I wasn’t going to get back home too late.