Marin never did sleep that night, he had not slept any night prior. He spent the time walking around the town and observing the damages. He had ran into two guards who were on duty at night, and Marin explained to them that he was feeling restless and had to walk around. The guards introduced themselves to him and one expressed interest in joining the kingdom, to which Marin was honored.

As the morning hour approached, the king returned to town hall and sat in a wooden chair, the same one they had left him in as everyone else went to bed. He knew everyone would be waking up shortly, and it was not his intent to reveal to them that he had spent the entire night awake and wandering.

The first one to come out at the crack of dawn was Helva, who glanced at Marin still sitting in the chair from when she last saw him.

“Good morning, Marin. Did you get any sleep?” She asked.

“I enjoyed the quiet time greatly,” he mentioned back.

It was not exactly a yes or no answer, but she paid it no mind. The former mayor of Heroca was already dressed for the day, and the kitchen started coming alive as Sherry scurried her way into it.

Loid’s wife was asking questions to Helva about where utensils and cooking tools were, since she was in an unfamiliar kitchen. In fact, it was the first time she cooked in another kitchen other than her own in years.

Marin hovered a bit, offering to help grab and hold items as the town hall started to smell like breakfast.

“How long have you been cooking, Sherry?” Marin asked as he held a bowl for her.

She had an apron on and was lurching here and there, grabbing ingredients.

“Oh, since I was a young gal. I wasn’t good at much else, but I loved making food. Cooking is the language of love, dear.”

“I… didn’t know that,” Marin admitted. She took the bowl from him.

“Have you ever had a wife cook for you?” Sherry asked.

Marin became dizzy from the question.

A wife. A queen. The queen of Nocturne. Did I ever have a wife? I don’t remember one.

He strained himself trying to think of details from before. He didn’t let too much time pass before he came up with an answer.

“Not in this lifetime, not yet anyways,” he finally stated.

Everyone who had spent the night in town hall came out to enjoy a large breakfast on a long table. In the short time that Marin had spent in his undead body, he realized that nourishment was not needed. None of his organs seemed to work, and Marin was not about to introduce food into a body that would not digest it.

It saddened the king knowing that he would never be able to eat again. His brain still told him that food was delicious, but it helped that his body gave no craving for it.

“I’m afraid that due to my facial conditions, I must eat alone.” Marin stated to everyone. “I have to remove my mask to eat and that can only be done in private.” It was a good excuse he could give to hide that fact that he couldn’t eat at all.

Marin tried ignoring any looks or remarks from his statement. He knew that it was not desirable for a king to eat alone, but it could not be helped.

“However, I wouldn’t want to miss out on the conversations and festivities of a delicious meal, so I will sit with you all now, and eat after. This is the way it will normally have to be.”

They all happily ate together and shared stories and had discussions. It was brought up how Marin learned to be an elemental and he discussed some of his time at Arkana. He was careful to play around the fact that he had attended over 200 years ago.

Helva talked about how her mother and grandmother were mayor of Heroca as well.

“In fact, my great grandmother, Heroca Yoren, was the woman to reclaim this town after it was initially destroyed when Nocturne fell. She settled here, rebuilt, and renamed the town after her.”

Marin was a bit stunned. He yearned greatly for any information about Nocturne’s demise.

“Would you happen to know much about Nocturne falling?” He begged.

Helva unfortunately shook her head no. She looked down for a moment, while eating her food.

“Civil war in the kingdom, I believe. Maybe even a coup. It did not go over well, instead of a forceful transfer of power, everything was destroyed. The king vanished. It wasn’t known if he was killed, if he fled, if it was all staged, nothing. That’s all I really know.”

If Marin could have goosebumps, he would’ve. Could it all be true, or just tall tales?

She added a question. “You’re the heir to Nocturne, right? So your grandfather or even great grandfather was the king at the time?”

“Y-yes, but I do not know much about him,” Marin lied. “I discovered I was the heir and returned to the castle to restore the kingdom.”

“You don’t have any brothers or sisters that could also make claim to the throne, do you?” Harrel asked.

“No. I can assure you, if anyone else attempts to make claim they are the rightful ruler, it will be false.” Marin answered.

Sherry shared her wise advice. “The way I see it, you got here first. No one else wanted it while it was a ruined mess. You’re the one putting the work in to fix it, no one else should be able to say its theirs now.”

Loid stayed quiet. He was one of the very few who knew the truth.

Phil and Rocko talked among themselves at the end of the table, and enjoyed the food greatly. It was some of the best eating they had in a while, and were sure to eat as much as they could.

During all the discussions, Marin could not help but to feel grateful. In front of him were his first 6 members of his new kingdom. They all took a chance on him, and he was determined not to let them down.

After everyone was done eating, and the day was ready to begin, Marin stood up at the end of the table to address his new citizens.

“Again, I want to thank you all for making me your king. You have all chosen to pledge your loyalty to me and work for me. But this is not one sided. As king, it is my responsibility to put in just as much work, protecting you and making sure you’re well taken care of. I also pledge myself to you, to be a suitable king and see that your needs are met.”

Everyone nodded in appreciation.

“Let’s head outside now and discuss with the townsfolk further plans,” King Marin instructed.

Sherry stayed behind and took care of dishes.

Back outside, another town meeting was called close to noon. Many already had backpacks on and possessions packed. It became clear that most people were making their minds up about what they would do.

Marin stood on the town hall porch in front of them.

“If you have decided to join my kingdom, you will meet with me and await further instruction. If you have decided otherwise, I wish you luck on your endeavors.”

Marin spoke more trying to convince whoever in the crowd still had second thoughts, but he was approaching the point of reaching a resolution that those who will join him have made their choice.

Helva also spoke for a while, showing her support and endorsement of Marin. She declared that she and her husband were siding with him.

Despite this, a few families declared they were leaving. They were packed up, and took off down the mountain. Many said their goodbyes before they left. Among them was Gary Hogright and his wife, who gave Marin a hard time yesterday in the crowd.

With a shrunken group, Marin started to talk to a few villagers.

Bob Galrus walked up to the king once again.

“We’re with ya, my whole family,” he stated.

“It’s going to be really interesting having a king in our lives,” his wife Erma said.

The Galrus family had three children.

An older man who looked vaguely like Bob approached the king.

“I am Hemet Galrus, Bob’s father. I hope you’ll have room for me as well,” he said.

“Of course, you’re all welcome,” Marin said back.

The family stomped in the snow, walking around Marin and to Helva.

A familiar short haired lady with cateye glasses walked up next.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” she declared in her snappy voice. She walked over to Marin’s side as well.

“Good to have you on board, Cheryl. We’ll see to it that we restore your reagents,” Marin offered.

Three guards, two from day shift and one from night shift pledged their loyalty next.

Marin shook the hands of guards Corey Beren and Gus Albore.

With the final guard, he approached with two other people.

“I am Max Coronga. I am captain of the Heroca Guard. This is my wife Mabel.”

He shook both of their hands.

“And this is my brother, Fern Coronga.”

“Fern, hello.” Marin shook Fern’s hand as well.

“We are all taking you up on the deal,” Max declared.

“I’m honored to have the guard helping me out,” King Marin humbly stated.

Marin continued to shake hands of villagers and talk with each of them for a bit. In total he had already accrued over thirty new citizens.

The undecided shrunk down to a few people. Those that were left were really struggling with a decision.

One who was left Marin recognized. He had a bald head and a bushy mustache.

“Bronson,” Marin spoke to him. “What are you thinking?”

Bronson Chrisler was surprised to be called out. He scratched the back of his head.

“I don’t know if I like it,” he said.

“What’s holding you back?” Marin asked.

“I’m just not sure if I want a king in my life.”

To Marin, he seemed like a good guy who was trying to hide behind a tough man persona. He remembered that Bronson lost his son in the raid, and seemed so confused as to what to do. Marin could almost feel his uncertainty and fear.

“You don’t have to see me as a king, Bronson. I’d like you to see me as a friend. Someone who will stand besides you, as I’d hope you would stand besides me. We can be united.”

Marin held his hand out to him.

“Come on Bron!” Someone yelled out from behind Marin.

Bronson looked around side to side, then looked over at his fellow villagers standing behind the king.

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He winced a bit, then walked forward and grabbed Marin’s hand.

“Okay,” Bronson gave in.

When the remaining villagers saw that everyone else either left or joined Marin, and had not chosen the third option, which was staying there, they too made the decision to leave or join.

At that point, everyone who was on board with the King stayed, and those who declined him were leaving.

Marin turned to his small crowd of thirty plus villagers.

“As of now, you are all officially citizens of Nocturne,” he proudly stated.

“What is your first order, my King?” Someone shouted out of the crowd.

“My first order is, that we spend the next few days transferring all of your possessions to the castle. Rocko and Phil!”

The two young men nodded.

“You are to help everyone bring their stuff to the castle. We will clean out what is left of Heroca and bring it up.”

“Next,” Marin continued. He pulled out his sack of gold coins. “Bob – I want you to take this pouch of gold and purchase food and essential supplies the castle will need for the next week. I remember you told me you ran imports and the general store here. Can you make that happen?”

“Certainly. I still have carts that weren’t destroyed. I can travel to Whitewood City at the bottom of the mountain and purchase everything we need,” Bob stated.

“Good, and have your family assist you. Just buy essentials, I will soon hire workers to bring up more long term supplies,” Marin explained.

Marin continued to give out orders to everyone, and one by one, they left the crowd to start working on their assigned task.

Marin also discovered that Fern Coronga was in charge of city upkeep. That included keeping the village roads shoveled and clear of snow. He assigned him to begin work creating a more suitable path up the mountain to Nocturne Castle.

“What can I do to help, King Marin?” Sherry asked.

“Sherry Alkaver, how would you like to be Nocturne’s head chef?” Marin asked.

Sherry became all flustered. “Goodness, me?! I don’t know, my king. I hardly believe I am worthy of such a job.”

Marin looked over to Helva and Harrel. “How would you rate her cooking?” He asked them.

“Sherry? Her food is the best in town, we eat at the inn regularly for it.” Helva said as a matter of fact.

Marin nodded. “I think that’s grounds for being my head chef.”

“Oh, dear. I – alright, I will do my best to cook well for everyone. You flatter me greatly, Marin,” she finally gave in.

“And don’t worry, you will have help in the kitchen. I will make sure that anyone assigned in there follows your instructions.”

At that point, the citizens of Nocturne castle, former villagers of Heroca, worked as one to get everything accomplished.

Marin appointed Loid as second in command. He explained that if he was unavailable or preoccupied, Loid could make determinations.

“You were a captain at Neo. I do not think you’ll have much issue getting orders across. You may give orders at your own discretion,” Marin told Loid earlier.

Loid bowed slightly with his head. “I will do my best.”

Marin patted his arm a few times. “You’re my right hand man, I’ve decided. You mean a lot to me.”

“Thank you, Sullivan. I’m honored.”

The Galrus family took off down the mountain to get supplies. Two horses hauled a large empty cart away. Marin had given them his entire sack of gold coins to get whatever they deemed necessary. The other citizens were gathering their belongings and getting them onto carts. Everyone was working.

Marin helped out the best he could too. He gave some villagers a hand in moving boxes.

He entered the town hall, and saw Helva gathering paper work from her desk.

“I have files on all the villagers,” she mentioned. “This will all come in handy in transferring them into the new kingdom.”

“I’m not familiar on legalities these days. Will you be able to handle all the paper work in declaring us a kingdom?”

“It will take time. Letters will have to be mailed back and forth. There will be fees too.” She pushed her glasses up her nose as they started slipping. She placed a stack of papers into a box.

“That won’t be a problem,” he said back.

Marin walked back outside, and saw that Fern Coronga was already starting the effort of creating a better path up the mountain.

“Give me a few weeks,” Fern started. “And I can even have lanterns along the path. I want to widen it up too. Maybe adjust the incline in some areas.” He wiped the sweat off his brow below the knitted black hat he had on.

“That would be great, Fern. You will be paid well for your work.”

Fern tried playing off what Marin said by swatting his hand and grinning. “I don’t need more than what I need to get by. Thanks for everything, King Marin.”

At this point the King walked about the town, waving to the villagers who were packing, getting ready to travel up the mountain.

It’s about time I head up there too. We need to settle the castle and assign rooms.

Loid approached Marin. He opened his coat to an inside pocket and pulled out Marin’s Arkana certificate.

“If I hadn’t forgotten to take this out of my coat, it would’ve been destroyed in the fire. I’m glad it stayed with me this whole time.” He held the yellowed paper in his hands.

“Is there anything left from the fire?” Marin asked.

Loid shook his head. “Looks like it will be a fresh start for me and my wife.”

Marin looked down in despair. He then looked up to Loid. “Anything you need, just let me know.”

“I will keep that in mind.” Loid mentioned.

Marin looked down main street and saw carts heading up the mountain.

“It’s about time I head up too. The citizens will need to know what to do next.” Marin stated.

“I will stay behind a bit longer and help others pack. I should be up there too by nightfall.” Loid tucked the parchment away in his coat again, and left.

Marin hopped onto a cart that was heading up. He sat besides Gus Albore, a former guard of Heroca. Gus was youthful, the youngest of the guard. He was not married and had no family in Heroca.

“Tell me about yourself, Gus.” Marin asked.

Gus was lucky to have a house that suffered minimal damage in the raid. Marin had froze the flames on his house before they got too far.

“My family lives down in Whitewood City. We had a falling out, and I just wanted to leave. I knew there was a village up here in these mountains, and I wanted a change of scenery.”

“How is Heroca versus Whitewood?” Marin asked.

“Not a huge fan of the snow. But the mountain air is quite enjoyable. It’s much thicker in White Forest, I think.” Gus answered.

Marin knew of White Forest at the base of the mountains and knew of Whitewood City. It was an old city that Nocturne had traded with years ago. He knew that trade relations would be opened again.

“Joining the guard wasn’t my first choice, but I needed a job to live up here, and the captain really liked me, Max Coronga,” Gus added.

“What’s your opinion on Max?”

“He’s more than qualified for the job. He never learned an element, but his skills with a sword are unmatched. The guy laughs in the face of danger.”

Marin took note.

“What’s it like being an elemental?” Gus added. “You took down the raid leader with little difficulty.”

“It certainly has its perks. I don’t have to take nonsense from too many people, and I get to protect the ones I care about. That was my reasoning for delving into the elements to begin with,” Marin explained.

“I’d love to learn an element. It would make me a much better guardsman.”

“You don’t need an element to be strong, necessarily. I’ve known some individuals who are elementally inept and happen to be quite a force to be reckoned with.”

Marin looked off to the side, as if trying to remember something. “I just can’t remember who they were,” he said quietly to himself.

The two had conversation the whole way up the mountain. It was troublesome for the horses to get up the snow ridden path, but as more carts traveled the same route, it became easier.

Eventually, Nocturne Castle could be seen once again. The formerly abandoned castle was about to receive its first residents in over two centuries.

“Wow, I had no idea this was just sitting up here,” Gus marveled. His wide eyes fixed themselves to the stone monstrosity.

“Just sitting up here, waiting. Waiting to be useful once again,” Marin realized.

Nocturne Castle was his oldest known friend. Despite not remembering anyone from when he was truly alive, he had full memory of his castle, and the route down every hallway and room.

“What do you think of it?” Marin asked.

“It’s incredible. That’s all I can say. Such a beautiful work of art tucked away up here for no one to see. It makes me feel special being able to live in it,” Gus explained.

Marin guided all the carts into the grand foyer. A few men grabbed the one large wooden door that was still on its hinges, and swung it open. The other had been laying on the floor for quite sometime.

Almost every villager was in complete awe at the castle. There were a few who had visited years ago, and they still nodded in amazement.

“There are stables for the horses on the side of the castle,” Marin explained to everyone. “But until they are repaired and in working condition, we must hold them up here in the grand foyer. It is spacious enough for all of them.”

The villagers continued to file in, talking among themselves.

“Welcome to your new home,” he told them all.

Helva approached Marin and they discussed what would be done next.

“Are there any rooms suitable to live in yet?” Helva asked.

Marin shook his head. “No where near as suitable as I’d like them. I spent a night or two clearing some of them out, but much more will need to be done.”

Helva nodded. “We’ll try to set ourselves up the best we can for now.”

She asked Marin a few more questions before turning to the villagers.

“There are two hallways in either direction, as you can see,” she presented to everyone. “This one,” she pointed to the right “contains rooms the right size for residency. Pick out some for yourselves, and clear them out. You can set your sleeping mats up in these rooms and claim them temporarily.”

“Long term room choices will be done later once we can repair this place properly,” Marin added. He felt terrible having the castle be in the state it was and trying to have people live in it.

“It’s much better than the overcrowding we were doing in Heroca,” Helva reassured him. “Yes, things are in much dirtier condition than the village, but it is spacious here, and that counts for a lot.”

“We will get this castle cleaned as soon as possible,” Marin mentioned.

A young village girl was marveling over the grand foyer. She had never seen anything like it. Marin took notice and approached her.

“Hi little one,” he tried. “What do think of it?”

“Its scary,” she declared. “I like that giant golden cross way up there!” She pointed at the fixture that was nearly touching the rafters on the opposite wall of the doors.

“And look,” she pointed at Marin’s necklace. “That looks just like the giant one on the wall!” She observed.

Marin looked at his necklace and at the one on the wall.

“That’s right, they are the same. This one’s just smaller than that. This little one constantly reminds me of the big one up there. That’s why I like this necklace so much,” he explained.

“Can I have it?” She boldly asked.

The small girl’s mother walked up. “Sofia, that’s enough!” She snapped.

“What a wonderful daughter you have,” Marin mentioned to Koreen Miles.

“Thank you, my king,” Koreen responded. “This is Sofia,” she looked down to the young girl. “And she doesn’t always remember her manners!”

“That’s quite alright,” Marin tried. He turned to the daughter. “I’d give you this necklace, if it wasn’t an important tool for me,” he explained to her. “You see, this is not just a necklace. I need it to run the castle.”

She pouted a little bit.

Marin crouched down to her level.

“But, if you let me keep this, I might have a surprise gift for you later. What do you say?”

Sofia’s face cleared up and she started jumping. “Okay! Deal!”

Marin straightened back up to Koreen.

“Thank you, King Marin,” she stated. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Please, allow me. I have an idea in mind.”

Koreen nodded. “As you wish.”

Marin spent the rest of the evening helping out his newly pledged citizens. Despite being a King, he did not shun manual labor as he lent a hand grabbing large packs off carts and carrying them to various rooms.

Most of the villagers did not expect him to do this. Frequently, he had to mention that he did not mind helping, and he was happy to do it.

“Until we are more established, I will be hands on as much as I can be,” he explained to Max Coronga, who was stunned that the King was helping him push furniture around in a room.

“These are some nice pieces,” Max noticed.

“Yeah, I want to get it all restored. Repainted, refitted. New lining.”

“Most of this is solid oak,” Max added.

Marin was taken back that a guardsman could tell. “Very good, that’s right. Some of these chairs are over a century old.”

All of them were actually over two centuries old, but Marin didn’t feel comfortable mentioning that.

“They’ve all held up to the test of time. The fine details may be destroyed, but the frames themselves are as strong as when they were first carved.”

He sat in a chair, and it barely creaked.

Max sat in a chair adjacent to him. Mabel entered the room with more of her fine belongings.

The evening progressed as the villagers unpacked some food from the carts, and everyone sat around in the old oak chairs in several circles. They sat in the foyer and shared stories. In Marin’s circle was Helva and Harrel, Gus and Bronson. As everyone ate, Marin naturally sat and talked, unable to eat.

Loid and Sherry finally rolled in with the last of the citizens. They joined Marin’s circle, and were caught up on the plans in the castle.

As the evening progressed, the sky became thick with clouds. A freezing wind blew.

“It’s going to storm,” Harrel mentioned as the two of them looked out the front doors. “Bad blizzard, maybe.”

“Is everyone accounted for?” Marin asked.

“Everyone is at the castle except Fern, and the Galrus family. Fern is staying the night in Heroca, due to working on the roads heading up here,” Harrel responded. “And Bob’s family will most likely arrive tomorrow with supplies.”

“I hope they will all be okay.”

Back inside the castle, Marin gave a few more speeches to the villagers. He assured them all that this uncomfortable situation was only temporary, and that they would all enjoy living inside Nocturne once it was restored.

“I will give a tour tomorrow of most of the castle,” Marin explained. “There are so many features that you will all be able to take advantage of. For now, retire to your rooms and try to get comfortable in your bed mats. We will share new plans in the morning.”

The crowd dispersed. As people walked away, he gazed at Helva. She noticed and he motioned for her to stay. He did the same with Loid.

After everyone finished retreating down the right hallway to the lined rooms, he spoke with Helva and Loid.

“I want to discuss some stuff with you two, and show you something,” Marin said quietly. “Follow me.”