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The King of the South: the Lord of Lies
Of the Coronation of Medrios II

Of the Coronation of Medrios II

XVI. On the 20th of the eleventh month, 1715, the bells of the old Palace Royal tolled unchallenged for the whole of the tenth hour, at the city's forum the masses gathered around the paved path to the Hallow City*(1) whereupon a grand procession took place. Euras' golden knights*(2) opened and guarded the parade, behind them went the magistrates and tribunes chanting the old and sacred laws of the Realm, some dating back to the times of Belyus and Pacyus, behind them, on came the officials and high status members of both basilicas headed by the Prefectur and Consul. Next on the line, were the high clergy—among who was also Carédock the elder—and after their sung litanies came the lesser priests followed by the patriarchs of Culgarost, the lords and heads of the great houses of the realm along the now proclaimed 'Royal family'; every witness recalls the opulence of their carriages, their guards and banners, their trumpets and drums, as well as their white horses. The procession marched on to the Basilica of Belyus, the highest temple of the Sagrary, there the Susére*(3) wearing his purple capirote-hood—the only man with the authority of crowing the King—and his Eniméres waited the arrival of the elected king. First to enter the Basilica were the lesser clergymen of the city, then was the high clergy—those appointed to the archtemples of the city and the ancient bishoprics of the old realm of the Argaeron, followed by the politicians, the Prefector and Consul, the patriarchs and the lords of houses both great and lesser, last entered Medrios accompanied by the electors. Many testimonies convey that although the coronation had a clear protagonist, Elbracht, whose duty was to attend the ceremony against his father's will, was the object of everyone's intrigue and curiosity; the young prince who stole his father's glory in the civil war. He entered the basilica along other lords, heralds and princes yet all eyes where set upon him alone, even the icons and saints of stone glanced at him from above the parapets; the Edoran himself made mention to general Caradon, that some looked at him with either distrust or fear, while many others stared at him in awe and wonder.

According to gossip, alone his golden hairs were enough a crown for him to proudly bear and the sun himself came uninvited to illuminate his heavenly guise. To this scene bore witness the old Susére Vaxar V, an eldery man, who had managed to outlive two kings already. the age of Vaxar V had been a matter of discussion among the lords months before the coronation, some went as far as to jerk about the likelihood of "His Hallowness" waning asleep on his cathedra, crumbling on the steps to the throne, or worse, that his frail fingers couldn't bear the hallow crown's weight.

The incumbent of Pacyus' chair seemed very sane that day, he anointed Medrios with the sacred oils, carried the Sword of the Faith from the altar to the king's hand, and last saw him be seated on the coronation chair by the High Eniméres, who bore crimson hoods. The tension in the basilica reached its zenith when the Susére was given the tall Crown of Cross, he held it in his hands and walked his way to the holy chair, yet he had not reached its steps whence he glanced upon the bench of the lords, among whom, still with divine presence and sunlit, sat Elbracht. The Susére almost left the altar reaching out to that bench, when he lifted the crown before him proclaiming; "all hail our king and conqueror!". The highest member of the clergy broke the sacred ritual by speaking those words, all clerks and lords recall; 'the old man had gone mad', the young king himself felt a wrath, which, upon having borne witness to this, matched the red of his hairs and robes. Many were the lords in that bench, although it was plain, that Susére did not refer to neither to the Medrios, nor to any other prince, or lord there sitting other than Elbracht. Thereupon the Eniméres guided the every steps of his Hallowness until the end of the ceremony. So much momentum and consequence had attained this event that in all crownings there to come, the same shout would be added to the sacred ritual.

Though much was said thereabout afterwards, Medrios was crowned King of the High and Lesser Men nontheless, and under the advice of Osguald Guelmo, he dismissed all non-essential lords and families of prince-electors back to their corresponding kingdoms, among them surely counting Elbracht. The defamed Elreck, having abdicated his own crown, abolished and reintegrated his kingdom to the Realm of Men. He stayed for two weeks in the capital, along the other prince-electors for the first three official meetings of the Council of seven. The new King had also given the order to disperse all armies stationed at Culgarost or in the lands of Cadia. General Caradon was for the same reason forced to leave his lord and former king in the hands of his diplomatic advisors and at the mercy of his corrupt peers.

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XVII. Elbracht led his father's armies back to the Haradland, among the victor-soldiers there was a feeling, this retrieve was a march of shame, yet their pride never wavered, every time theys strode nigh a previously taken city; the armies would blow their horns and raise their banners as they marched homewards to not let the Grayth*(4) cities and towns forget who had been their conqueror. This went on all the way through the kingdom of Thindur, Caradon recalls in his memoirs the expression of his prince-commander as they passed by the city of Fyore; lit by dusk; his golden face, undimmed and unmoved, like a limestone statue of some fair hero of yore, yet from his green windows, escaped a thin stream of lament, for the city he took without a drop of blood closed its gates once again to his armies. The order was given at a given point to environ Fyore twice without attacking and with shields always at the ready; the horns were blown and banners rose, and thence the company marched on south; A cold demonstration of power so as to not let the Sovarós forget neither the tiring siege, nor the city's breach, nor the victor. Now, one must make note of the fact that Elbracht never hated the Sovarós unlike his father or countrymen, he respected many aspects of their warcraft and history; the discipline of their soldiers and the flexibility of the troops, so it is save to presume that Elbracht would not show power unnecessarily by ordering this move. It is likely that general Caradon, who shared in the mind of Elreck, gave the order instead, this would insinuate, however, that there was a certain level of scrutiny among the ranks of the Harad army, since Elbracht could have simply canceled the command. Some propose, there was no such scrutiny and that Caradon gave the instruction and Elbracht, to boost the hurt morale of his men, merely gave way to it. Regardless of the cause, the incident eventually came to the knowledge of Elreck and the King himself.

XVIII. The news of the 'almost-siege' incident reached the capital by pigeon flight, before Elbracht could even reach Ceor. The common folk told of Eldershold castle*(5) fuming in anger as the tensions rose in court. Jaerech of Fitz demanded the new King for retaliation and condemnation. King Medrios proposed that Harador should pay Thindur an extra tribute in reparation of the Sovarós honour. Yet the 'Old Gold Crow' told the king, the Sovarós had no more interest in coins and that his house's dishonouring had to be paid with humiliation. Lord Elreck irascibly responded against such indignity, and reminded his peers of his sacrifices in taking the city; Lord Gunder recalled him saying: "Elorio III was unfit to rule, I merely did what none of you had the courage to do, and end his miserable reign..." he was confronted repeatedly afterwards by all members of house Sovarós present at the council; spitting on his name for taking both Fyore and the holy Culgarost. The contention almost grew into a fight if the lords had not been contained by the golden knights. Jaerech cursed Elreck's name and all of his ancestors—who in the past had been good allies to his family. Lord Guelmo, commanded the mood in the chamber to quell, and his words restored the silence.

Under the advice of counselors, King Medrios ordered the death of several officers of the Harad armies who had been complicit in either the sacking of Culgarost or the almost-siege of Fyore. General Caradon's name was one of them, the Haradlord's most trusted advisor and friend; once the meeting was ended he begged the King to pardon the general, in exchange of Elreck's absolute obedience to the crown. Medrios accepted the offer. The King's sentence, however, was applied to several other officers, of about thirteen in number, who had played a pivotal role in the war, and they were all executed in the sight of the gentry in public squares; among the punished, three officers were executed in Fyore, with their corpses later impaled and publicly displayed at the city's gate, further damaging the Clasthaur' name. The character of lord Elreck took a dark turn thenceforth; the crows left the roofs of the palace as they heard Elreck's sanity crack, the King's sentence would poison his heart and followed him for the rest of his days, yet loathed Elbracht for bringing such a shame upon his legacy; in his eyes there was no one more guilty than his own son.