Red shivered a bit and he ambled towards the door at the end of the tight hallway. The hallway was so small in fact, that by the time Red reached down to open the door, he couldn’t even comfortably move his body anymore. Opening up the door, revealed an extremely large space like a small town, complete with various plants and trees, covering nearly every surface. A large window on the opposite side of the room allowed light to shine through, revealing the orange and yellow rays of the rising sun. As Red entered the room, he noticed a very young man with an extremely colorful silk outfit on, draped in necklaces and white jewelry, sitting in a decorative silver wheelchair. The young man turned his body to face Red as he entered the room. The young man tilted his head slightly then turned his body back toward the large window.
The young man’s voice echoed through the entire room, “Don’t you Britannius brutes have an ounce of respect? You should bow before King Esa, ruler of Oldum.”
Red immediately got to one knee, and proclaimed, “My apologies, King Esa. Or should I call you Esa the Praemonere? Tell me, my king, are you able to see my future right now?”
King Esa sighed loudly and shook his head, “Don't address me as though we're on the same level. Honestly, the sight of a prolific criminal like you is almost too much for me to bear. In my opinion, you and those other ‘legendary’ malefactors are our nation's number one enemy, right alongside the fools who commanded you. It doesn’t even upset me as much that you fought in that pointless war, and killed so many of our nation's citizens who simply committed the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
King Esa began to become choked up and struggled to speak through sniffles and tears, “No, even though I’ve heard the horrific stories of the things you’ve done, that’s not what makes me mad. What truly upsets me, is that you killed our men so gleefully and eagerly, you tortured them without questioning for a second what the purpose of it all was, and you got away with it. I have limited information on your activities during the last eight years after your exile from Britannius, but I know that you lived. You didn’t starve, you didn’t drown, you lived through it all, through whatever form that took.”
King Esa placed his hands on his head, “My father always believed in fate. He believed it was destiny that we were embroiled in that war, and it was destiny that those men’s lives were taken. I don’t believe in anything as rigid and stiff as fate. I know the future can be changed. It just takes effort and the willingness to take risks. That’s why I’ve brought you before me, Former Celeres Red, the King of Crimson Blood. I want to do something drastic.”
King Esa turned his body towards Red, allowing him to see the tears streaming down his face, “Red, my father perpetuated that war and it lasted for four long, bloody years. Can you tell me what came of it?”
Red with his head still down, spoke solemnly, “A peace treaty between Britannius and Oldum.”
King Esa laughed, “Don’t be so modest Red! A peace treaty was brokered after you killed three thousand men, and easily ripped our most advanced technology, our airships out of the sky. All thirty of them! I was still quite young at the time, but my soldiers tell me it was the most terrifying experience they were ever a part of. They tell me it looked as though a demon had taken over your body, and you even killed some of your own men when they attempted to calm you.”
Red, bowed his head even more deeply, remaining silent. King Esa looked at him for a while, then continued, “But Red, I’m not here to remind you of the past, I’m sure you think about what happened that day every time you close your eyes. No Red, I want to make you a proposal. I want to make you a member of my army, and I want your help in brokering a true and permanent peace between Oldum and Britannius. Not this tenuous peace that could be shattered with the drop of a pin.”
King Esa reached his hand out to Red, smiling. Red continued to bow his head nearly to the floor, “Work for me Red. You have the same goal as me, don’t you? You want to bridge the gap between the three kingdoms, do you not? I’ll give you a rank equivalent to the one you had in Britannius, and I’ll provide you with a squad of soldiers and resources to carry out missions for me so we can reach that goal.”
Red finally raised his head and looked at King Esa’s hand, unamused, “Have you been chasing me around the kingdom to propose this to me? King Esa, please excuse me for speaking out of term. Are you really attempting to recruit me?”
King Esa’s smile faded immediately and he stared down at Red with contempt, “I’m trying to partner with you Red, and I’m disappointed you can’t see that. Like you alluded to earlier, in simple terms I can see the future, so I know I can offer something you desire. You should be glad I’m offering a criminal like you any place in my army, never mind such a powerful one.”
Red thought about it for a short while, then stood up quickly, “I had heard rumors that you were a stubborn and selfish king but this is…” Red’s voice trailed, “You would really gain the ire and disdain of your nation to bring in one knight?”
King Esa turned back towards the rising sun, “One knight? I get to claim one of the strongest warriors in my rival kingdom’s history as my own, and I get to point him at all of my enemies. And the worst thing that happens is, what, that I make my people upset? That’s a trade-off I can live with. So will you accept?”
Red paced around the room for a long time, pacing around the room. On the walls on either side, between the flora on the right and the large desks, they were flanked by bookshelves that extended from the floor to the ceiling. He ambled over to one of the shelves and picked up a book, fingering through it slowly.
“You know, being here with you reminds me, I only met the King of Britannius once. I spent half of my life fighting the wars he and his political party got into, but even as one of the so-called legendary knights, I never was allowed to have an audience with him. The only time I did get to meet him, and I would barely call this a meeting, but it was the day after that final battle at Gunga Waddi when I lost control of myself.”
Red placed the book down and paced back over to King Esa, who sat still, facing toward the sun, ”He had me strung up in the town square, all of the soldiers pointed their weapons and their strongest abilities at me, and he stood right in front of me. He spat in my face, denounced all my actions, my accolades and achievements to that point, everything. Then he publicly declared I was no longer a knight of his kingdom, that I never was, and that I would be executed the next morning.”
King Esa slowly turned back to him, as tears began to fall down Red’s face uncontrollably, “That’s when I realized, all of my struggles were in vain. Everything I tried to do meant nothing. Nobody stood up for me. Nobody defended me, and nobody objected. And I escaped that night, not as a legendary knight going down in history, but as a disgraced soldier, over one mistake. So I’ll work for you King Esa, I’ll fight who you want me to fight, wear what you want me to wear and say what you want me to say. But at the end of it all, after I raze Britannius to the ground and build up something new, something better,” He paused for a second, “I’ll be marching right back here, back into this room, and I’m burning it to the ground.”
King Esa did not respond and only drew an ornate silver sword from the side of his wheelchair. King Esa pointed it at Red, who instinctively bent down, as King Esa passionately shouted, “Do you pledge your loyalties to the Kingdom of Oldum, the royal family of Oldum and to its ruler King Esa?”
“Yes.” Red nearly whispered.
“Do you pledge to defend the king, protect the kingdom, and serve its people?”
“Yes.” Red’s tone got lower.
“Do you pledge to participate in any engagement, and fight in any battle you are assigned to?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Red bowed his head to the ground as King Esa tapped his shoulders with the ornate blade.
“I now declare you Grand Officer Red of the army of Oldum. We’ll have your official knighting ceremony later, but this will do for now. Unfortunately, I don’t have any armor for you, but I will grant you two things.”
King Esa wheeled over to one of the large desks and grabbed a metal badge with an insignia emblazoned on it.
“Keep this visible on your person at all times, it doesn’t matter where. This shows that you are an official member of the Oldum army.”
“I remember seeing them wear these back during the war,” Red thought to himself, as he attached the badge to his tunic.
"And the second thing…“ King Esa’s head turned directly towards a spot in the tree-ridden part of the room, “Yasuke you can stop hiding, we can both see you.”
Yasuke stepped out from behind a tree, a large scar now visible across his cheek.
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"I didn’t see him there at all." Red thought to himself
Yasuke approached King Esa and bowed.
King Esa looked at Yasuke without blinking, “Thank you for being my bodyguard so I could speak to our new friend freely. I didn't see anything dangerous in my visions, but you never know..."
Yasuke went to say something, but King Esa cut him before a sound left his lips, "Did I permit you to speak swordsman? Just because you are the apprentice of my top soldier, it does not mean you have the same favor with me that he’s earned.”
Yasuke did not try to speak again, only bowing his head deeper.
King Esa, with a cold flat tone, spat out his words, “I’ll be assigning Yasuke to your squad Officer Red. If Olo has a problem with it, he can take it up with me, I’m sure I can convince him to see my perspective. I don’t have any healers or support mages to assign to your team, but according to my research, I heard you served as a support mage during your early days in Britannius. Are you still proficient in Patron magic?”
“How could you possibly research something like that?”
Red lied confidently, “I know a few Patron magic spells. And I still have a few Holy healing spells up my sleeve, so I think we should be fine.”
King Esa’s facial expression remained neutral as he replied, “Good. Then I already have your first mission. It's set to begin tomorrow, so you both can rest tonight and head out in the morning. I’ll have Olo show you to your quarters.”
Red turned to King Esa, “Olo is okay with all of this?”
King Esa’s expression didn’t change, but his demeanor was so cold it nearly froze the room, “He doesn’t have to be. He just has to do what I say. Just like everyone else,” King Esa and Red stared at each other for a long time.
“Olo!” King Esa shouted out, abruptly interrupting the silence.
Olo was inside the room in less than a second, staring directly at Red.
King Esa’s tone became slightly more friendly, “Olo, Red has agreed to join our army, so he’s going to be your direct subordinate next to Lyle. Make sure to give him a warm welcome and show him to his quarters. Oh, and Yasuke is joining his squad temporarily too. Do you have any objections?”
Olo immediately got to one knee and bowed his head, “Of course not my king. I shall escort them right away.”
Olo hurriedly walked out of the room with Red and Yasuke following suit.
Yasuke sped up to match speeds with Olo who continued to keep his eyes forward.
Yasuke’s face was red with anger, “Come on Olo! I know you don’t ever go against the king, but you didn’t even suggest that I stay a part of your squad!”
Olo sighed, and talked without missing a step, “Yasuke, we shouldn’t be having this conversation right now. You lost a fight against Red a week ago, and you let him spare your life. And instead of coming to me and explaining that he has newfound powers that exceed your capabilities, you disappear completely and reappear hiding inside the king's throne room, where none of us are allowed to enter without permission! What were you doing there anywhere?”
The question echoed across the walls and lingered for a long time. Yasuke fell silent and started to slow down his walking speed a bit. He scratched his neck and bit his lip, but no words escaped from his mouth.
Olo turned and walked back to Yasuke, stopping inches from his face as smoke began to billow from his body, “Yasuke, what were you doing in the throne room? Did you know I’d bring Red there? Or…”
Red yawned and placed his arms behind his head, “Does it matter Olo? Whatever the reason he was there in the first place, the king placed him on my squad, so that means he’s my responsibility now. It also means that if you mess with him, you mess with me, and I don’t think your king would like it if you battled his newest Grand Officer.”
Olo turned his head and looked at Red, unamused. He bit his lip as a small amount of smoke began to rise from his body. Red clenched his fist as magic runes began to materialize on his arms. Yasuke stared at both of them, grasping at his own sword. They stood motionless and stared at each other without a sound like statues. After a while, Olo sighed and turned around, continuing to lead them back to their quarters.
They walked through the lavish castle halls adorned with red carpets and complex grey brickwork. Guards stood at the ready on every corner, and through their masks, Red could see the disbelief on their faces as he proudly paraded the badge of Oldum to them.
Olo sped up his walking speed as they began to pass the rooms of the nobles, and he nearly ran over a young woman draped in a flowing white dress and followed by a golden halo hovering over her head.
As the young woman began to fall, Olo grabbed her hand and brought her to her feet. At the same moment, he placed a knee to the ground and bowed.
“Please forgive me, Princess Emere. I am escorting the new Grand Officer to his quarter and I decided to cut through the noble wing as a shortcut. I didn’t -“
Princess Emere smiled sweetly and patted him on the head, “Olo, you don’t need to apologize so much! I shouldn’t even be here right now, I was supposed to attend a meeting twenty minutes ago,” Her voice was pleasant and calm as if she had never had any anger or ill intent in her life.
She turned to Red and bowed slightly, “You must be Red! It’s an honor to be in the presence of such a prolific knight, and it makes me so glad you decided to join us! If you’re able to serve us well, then we’ll make sure to reward you in turn.”
Red smiled at her and bowed deeply.
Princess Emere bowed for a second then quickly stood up and began to jog, grabbing onto her halo with one hand and waving to the trio with the other.
“Who was that?” Red asked bluntly.
Olo looked at Red for a few moments, confused, and then his eyes grew large with realization.
“Right. It didn’t occur to me until just now that you probably know next to nothing about this country, and the little you do know is more than likely exaggerated or flat-out incorrect. The person we just came across was Princess Emere, the second eldest child of our previous king, King Ogun. King Esa, the youngest child, assumed the position since his father died of a heart disease five years ago.”
“That makes more sense. I was wondering why King Ogun would send one of his sons to conduct a meeting with me.”
The trio exited the castle into the town as they continued to walk. After a short silence, Red interjected, “I was under the impression that the Royal Family is huge, so why was King Esa chosen to succeed over his older family members who might be more experienced?”
They walked past a few individuals in the pale light of morning as Olo answered, “There are two reasons. I’m sure the first is obvious, King Esa was the oldest direct male descendent of King Ogun who is still officially recognized, so he was the top candidate. Of course, that isn’t the only criteria that would allow you to run one of the largest countries in Stolid, which is where the second reason comes in.”
Olo turned and stood an inch away from Red’s face. Yasuke reached for his sword and stepped back.
Olo leaned in and whispered, “He proved himself,” He backed up and shouted it out, “The king proved himself! After our brutal and bloody war, and especially after our blood bath during the last battle, thanks to you mostly, this kingdom was one bad decision away from being erased.”
A small crowd had gathered around them as Olo sighed deeply and placed a hand on his head, “Even during his dying days, King Ogun did what he could to bring us from the brink. Economic recession. Famine. Overwhelming crime and corruption. They all ran rampant during the three years after the war, leading up to King Ogun’s death. But once King Esa was instilled, just six months later, he turned us completely around. He turned us back into a flourishing country in just six months and he gained the name King Esa the Praemonere. That’s why he’s king, and he’ll remain king, despite his physical condition.”
Olo backed away from Red slowly, maintaining eye contact the whole time, and then turned back to continue walking, pushing through the large crowd that had gathered around them. After a short while, they arrived at a nearly abandoned and broken down. The style of brickwork was different from nearly all of the other buildings in the area, making it completely stand out of place.
Olo turned to Red, nearly spitting the words at him, “This is where you and your unit will lodge, I hope it’s to your liking. I’m not sure how you were treated in Britannius, but here, you’ll have to prove what you're worth. I’ll have the details on the mission you both are slated to complete late into the morning, so rest tonight and acclimate yourself to this area. I’m also going to check and see if Holy or Patron mages are available to join this unit, and I’ll let you know the status of that in the morning as well. Make sure you’re in the common area in the building by noon for the debrief.”
Olo turned and walked back in the direction of the castle. Before he left, he turned back one more time. “This is a special operations unit, so there won’t be any easy battles for you Grand Officer Red. I hope you’re ready, I’m eager to see what you’ll do.”
As Olo walked away, Yasuke turned to Red and examined him closely, placing a hand on his chin, “Tell me something Red, what are your goals here? Did you join us because of some change of heart against your home country?”
Red smiled as they both walked towards the rusted front door, “Yasuke, does it matter why I joined Oldum? Every man has their own reasoning for the actions they take. Here’s what we can do though, I’ll tell you exactly why I joined Oldum instead of trying to take it over but you have to tell me, why were you in King Esa’s room? What were you planning to do?”
Yasuke looked away solemnly, and simply opened the door and stepped inside. They were immediately greeted by the common room, a wide-open carpeted area with no furniture, and stains splattered everywhere. The space smelled foul, so bad it nearly knocked Red off of his feet. Red held his nose as he stumbled through the dark room. He summoned a small fire spell in his hand and made his way to the rickety staircase in the back of the room.
Yasuke slumped down on the front door and held his hand in his hands, murmuring to himself and shaking his head.
Red approached him slowly, and Yasuke scooted backward away from him. Yasuke screamed out, “This is all your fault! Since I first saw you three weeks ago, I went from being a respected high-ranking soldier in luxury quarters to a disposable pawn they can throw in any suicide mission. And it’s all because of you!”
Red just shook his head and bent down to Yasuke’s level, “Did you honestly think you were beyond reproach, that you could -“ Red breathed heavily, “Let me put it like this. Did you think that your position was untouchable under Olo?”
Yasuke stammered over his words, “No I just…”
Red continued, “Look Yasuke, I don’t know everything you’re going through, and I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking, but we’ve been presented a perfect opportunity. Just like I told you a while ago, I can help you fight that madness, the enemy within, but in turn, I need you to work with me.”
Red placed a hand on Yasuke’s shoulder as Yasuke calmed down and lowered his hands from his head, “Yasuke, I need you to be strong, and help me fight against whoever they point us to. If you do, I can teach you to be the strongest, mentally and physically, but most importantly, I can teach you how to be free.”
A solemn look remained on Yasuke’s face, but he moved into a bowing position, “I’m at your command.”
Red sat back and breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at the water-stained ceiling.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, but if this it what it takes, I'll do it Valafor," Red thought to himself, "I hope this is the right way."