King

A small detachment of troops from the kingdom of Milvette was approaching the suspension bridge over the Millvete-Lotivelle chasm. The commander of this group was none other than Mart van Serdon, known for his great cruelty and love of bloodshed. For this very reason, he became the king's favorite and subordinate only to him. Killh ven Menthe had ruled the kingdom of Milvette for ten years. He was an experienced and wise ruler. He governed his kingdom very well. Of course, this doesn't mean he didn't incite bloodshed, didn't behead people, didn't burn people at the stake, and wasn't a terror to his subordinates. The kingdom owed its position to these qualities of the king. He led to Milvette's rebirth. The previous king, Glerion ven Fleym, despite not beheading his subjects, burning villages, and being exceedingly kind to everyone, had brought about the kingdom's downfall. Despite this, he ensured that the "noble house" of Fleym would remain in power after his death. Milia ven Fleym bore him a son, who, according to the law, inherited his father's scepter. Santre ven Fleym, from his earliest years, was groomed for succession. His father instilled in him all the "noble" principles that had led to the fall of Milvette's kingdom. Instead of teaching him to wield a sword, he entrusted him to priests who would teach him to "do good." The king's advisors and everyone in his inner circle knew of Glerion's actions. They also realized that nothing good would come of it. It was clear that when Santre took power after his father's death, the kingdom would practically cease to exist. Instead of conquering ever more territories, his son would begin to give them to the "poor and needy," and these "poor and needy" would not prove foolish and would establish free cities, which would be approved by the king at a special meeting. Eventually, all the free cities will unite and create a new kingdom that will pose a great threat to Milvette. Immediately afterward, fighting will break out between the towns comprising this "new entity," while Santre will continue to sit idly by and negotiate with the elves, who will "discord" to the point of hatching plans to create a new, independent elven principality, which will theoretically be subordinate to Milvette. Of course, after some time, the elves will become so confident that they will want to destroy Milvette and will persuade the remaining kingdoms, of which there will now be four, to join in, as the reigning king, Santre, will have had time to negotiate with the dwarves and goblins. The dwarves and free people will refuse to fight, but the elves and goblins will march on Milvette. The war will drag on for years. Eventually, the elves and goblins will convince the free people to fight, and they will convince the dwarves. Milvette's Great Kingdom will fall, and a new one will arise – the United Kingdom of Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins. The age of humans will end. Other races will take over. Humans will remain miserable, humble servants. Servants,Who will polish the elves' shoes and comb the dwarves' beards. Dwarves will emerge from the dungeons and live in palaces. Elves, instead of sleeping in the treetops, will give advice. Advise on what to do with wizards. Wizards, for they will remain in the best position. They will always be needed, regardless of who takes the throne. Their potions and spells will always be needed and highly valued...

The king's advisors decided to prevent Glerion's son from seizing power and took certain steps. They secretly convened a meeting of all those with any influence in the kingdom. The most influential figures gathered in Milvatras, the kingdom's capital. Merion ven Sontre, the wealthiest craftsman in the kingdom, who crafted bows said to be superior even to elven ones, honored the meeting with his presence. Bistl ven Helt, the governor of the knights' guild, also arrived. He was extremely important to Milvette, as the kingdom's army always included two or three knights, which was rather unusual. Knights rarely fought alongside ordinary soldiers and differed greatly from them in both skill and culture. Their abilities far surpassed those of common "soldiers." An ordinary soldier learned only to swing a sword and was immediately conscripted. A knight, on the other hand, was a master of his craft. He wielded a sword with such ease as if it were a spoon. One swing and blood gushed like from a slaughtered pig. No conditions were too harsh for a knight. He slept on a sharpened axe and slept soundly. He didn't know pain. He didn't know fear. He was simply born for combat. Despite his "calling," he never behaved like a soldier, meaning like a boor. He didn't shout "You bitch" at women, or urge the innkeeper to "Get your ass in gear and get some booze!"...

So every knight in the army was worth his weight in gold, which is why the kingdom of Milvette sought Bistl's favor with great zeal.

To all the others, the kingdom's councilors sent a simple letter by messenger, and Misterel ven Sorris himself, the main instigator of the meeting, also visited the guild.

In addition to the craftsman and the knight, there was also the manager of the bank from which the kingdom had been borrowing so frequently lately – Zondel ven Soyt. Priests and wizards were not invited. It was certain that they would have no interest in who would take over after the king's death. "Besides, wizards don't interfere in our affairs anymore," Misterel thought as he elected the council.

The meeting was planned to be held in the Hall of Embassy in the king's main palace. Everything was to take place on the Day of the Gods' Gifts. Misterel, however, had a serious problem. He didn't know what to do with the king, who, of course, was not to be informed of anything. However, the solution presented itself. Glerion was officially invited by the ruler of Vorningen, Mets ven Beyl, to ceremonial prayers and a dinner. Vorningen wasn't a large town, but it was known for an age-old tradition – every year, on the Day of the Gods' Gifts, the ruler invited the current king, Milvette, along with his wife and son, to pray at the Temple of the Deity, followed by a ceremonial dinner. "Phew... that's lucky... you don't have to worry about Glerion, Santre, or Milie anymore," Misterel rubbed his hands together.

On the 299th day of the year 300, according to the official calendar of the kingdom of Milvette, for the first time in history, a council was held, of which the king knew nothing. Ten of Glerion's closest entourage waited at the gate that "guarded" the king's palace. At high noon, three men stood before the advisors.

"Greetings, Merion," said the oldest of the advisors. "Greetings, Bistl, greetings, Zondel.

" "Greetings, friends," said a rather old man with black hair braided in a braid. "I, as Merion, am extremely pleased to see you today."

Silence reigned for a moment, and then a booming, cheerful voice could be heard:

"What am I going to tell you!? Greetings, friends? It may be so." Another short pause. "But I will tell you differently: Greetings, my dear debtors."

The company laughed.

"Eh... Zondel." We all know the kingdom is in decline, and that's why we've gathered here today," Misterel replied

. "Exactly, friends," said the man with the sword at his belt, "we've gathered here to discuss something. So let's get straight to the point.

" "First, I'd suggest moving on to the Hall of Embassies, not to the point," one of the younger advisors spoke up

. "Hmmmm... If I didn't know you, friend, I'd think it wasn't meant as a joke, but as an insult," the knight said

. "But you know him. Let's go." Misterel felt like a leader .

The gate swung open, thirteen men entered the royal gardens, and along the cobbled street, they headed towards the palace...

The assembled people sat on comfortable, soft chairs. One could even say armchairs. The throne, where the king usually sat during his embassies, was occupied by Misterel. The meeting, due to its secrecy, was also organized differently than usual. Typically, a large table was set up in the Hall of Embassy. While conversing, everyone gathered feasted on delicacies available only to wealthy courtiers. They also drank various types of alcohol. The most expensive, most exquisite spirits were on the table. A goblet of such a liquid cost 60, and sometimes even 120,000. Ordinary beer was never served on royal tables; it was considered a drink fit only for taverns. This time, all these delicacies were omitted. Misterel stood up at the very beginning and delivered his introductory speech:

"Once again, I would like to welcome everyone gathered here. I will not mention the names of those present here, as we all know each other very well. So, I will get straight to the point." He spoke in a solemn tone, the one he always used when advising the king on his next moves. "We are gathered here, dear friends, on a matter of immense importance to the future of the kingdom of Milvette. As you yourselves know, our kingdom is in decline. And as you yourselves know, this is happening thanks to our current king, Glerion vey Fleym. He, through his stupidity and lack of responsibility for the kingdom...

" "Do not utter insults about the king here, Master Misterel, without first providing at least some evidence to support your words. By uttering such words, you are committing an abomination against the king, against yourself, and against all of us." So if you still maintain your desire to "reach an agreement with me," as you put it during our last meeting in Memphelion, then watch your speech," the knight sitting opposite Misterel interjected.

"Yes.... Mhmmmm...... In that case, I'll start from the end of the speech I wrote. So... the first thing I accuse Glerion of is undoubtedly his lack of efforts to expand the territories of our kingdom. You must certainly admit that Our Respected King is doing absolutely nothing in this matter.

" "Forgive me for interrupting, but what could he possibly do about it? After all, the kingdom's borders are already so vast that they can hardly be extended any further," one of the king's "pets" spoke up – an advisor who never actually gave any advice. "

He could, for example, my friend, try negotiations with the free cities. I'm quite convinced that under pressure from us, each of the five free cities would cede a piece of land."

"Yes, yes," the bank manager interjected, "Misterel is absolutely right. It would certainly be possible to wheedle a piece of land from the free cities.

" The subdued councilor quieted down and resigned himself to the fact that he had no say today. "It's better not to expose yourself by risking your life."

"So I think the first objection has been accepted. I'll move on, then. Secondly, I think Glerion gives wizards too much freedom. Even in the days of our former king Krehl, wizards sided with us in all our battles. Sometimes they even fought alongside us. And now what? And now, this venerable profession remains neutral. Remains indifferent! I dare say that their change of attitude stems from the king's attitude towards them. I believe that Glerion, by giving them control of Mirtel, made a great mistake. An undeniable great mistake!" Misterel spoke ever louder, ever more resonantly. "Until now, wizards felt a certain respect for us. They felt we had some power over them. And the day the king gave them control of Mirtel, they felt they were their own masters and changed their views on matters of kingdom politics." At one of their gatherings this year, twenty-one wizards and fifteen sorceresses decided that the time had come to finally allow themselves to be indifferent, if not to oppose the kingdom. In this way, we lost some rather important allies. Hmmm... no... they couldn't exactly be called allies, as they never supported our wars with elves, dwarves, or goblins. They never firmly took sides. The Archwizard always sent a few wizards to Milvatras to stand alongside our army, but he did so solely to avoid offending our kingdom. I didn't like this. I believed that wizards should finally choose sides. If not on their own initiative, then under duress. However, Krehl didn't want to resort to such drastic measures, and that was one thing I didn't like about his actions. However, we haven't gathered here to discuss ancient times, so I return to Glerion. The final, and also quite significant, matter is the deprivation of the kingdom of income. As an example, I can cite the case of priests and priestesses and the new law established by Glerion, according to which priests and priestesses are exempt from paying taxes on all their profits. Thus, the "templemen" keep all the profits from tuition fees at temple schools, which amount to 60 urbs per month. Over the entire chronology, one such school will now earn 12,000 urbs. Previously, as a result of the tax, the school earned 200 urbs less per month, meaning 2,000 urbs less per year. The moral of this is that the kingdom will lose a full 2,000 clay coins per year. Whether this is a lot, you can judge for yourselves. It seems to me that it is a lot. I also think we cannot expose ourselves to such losses.

"Of course we can't!" Zondel shouted. "But that's not the worst part! My greatest objection is that all these servants of the Gods will live carefree! It's unacceptable that they simply don't pay taxes! This is also a clear injustice! My bank gives away 350 levies a month, that's 3,500 throughout the entire crown! And how am I worse than them? Are all these sloppy priests really so valuable to the kingdom that Glerion pays them such honors? No, I don't agree to that!

" "Calm down, Zondel. Remember, you're in the company of a knight. And I won't allow you to speak about priests that way," said Bistel. "

If it hadn't been the knight who admonished the steward, he certainly wouldn't have restrained himself at all.

But anyone, even the most heroic man in the kingdom, wouldn't have dared to oppose the knight.

" "Yes. I apologize." I went a bit overboard. But that doesn't change the fact that we need to reinstate taxes for priests or abolish them for everyone

. "Both options are out of the question right now," Misterel explained. "The new law has come into effect and, according to other laws, it cannot be repealed for the next three months.

" "Well, damn it, we have no choice but to devise a plan to dismiss the king, or at least prevent his son from gaining power in the future, as he threatens the continued normal existence of the kingdom. I presume that's precisely why we're gathered here?" the craftsman anticipated Misterel's words.

"Yes, friends. That's precisely why we're gathered here. We must consider how to prevent Santre from taking power after his father's death.

" "There's no need to overthink anything. It's enough to 'cut out' just the big three: the king, his wife, and their son!" shouted the councilor, known for his foolish and ill-considered advice

. "As usual, my friend, your words are ill-considered. How can we get rid of them all?!" There's no way. It would be too suspicious. All three of them die for unexplained reasons. Think about what that would look like? Misterel reprimanded his "fellow professional."

"Hmm... well, yes... you're right again. As usual, I made a fool of myself. But then what do you propose?"

Misterel thought for a moment.

"Actually, I already have a general outline of the plan, but I need your help and your consent to undertake it. First, listen to my thoughts, and then you can speak." Misterel assumed an authoritative tone for a moment. "In my opinion, the most sensible solution to this situation would be to present the king with 'false' documents. He would be told that he should sign a new law concerning additional contributions from the kingdom to all the major temple schools. Glerion wouldn't read the document, as I would give it to him at the appropriate moment. The best situation would be for him to leave. If he asked if he could do it upon his return, I would tell him no, as it was urgent and every day was precious. I would convince him that if the schools didn't receive these contributions quickly, they would fail. He would, of course, believe this, as he has enormous trust in his subjects, stemming from his belief that no one is evil. The document, of course, would contain something entirely different." It would contain a declaration implying that the king himself is depriving his son of power, abolishing the right of succession to the scepter. According to the declaration, the new king will be elected by the Indicative Assembly, which will include all the king's advisors and the most influential figures in the kingdom. The king's signature and seal will be irrefutable proof that the document was not a forgery. Of course, when the king discovers what he has actually signed, great confusion will erupt in the kingdom. Forgery experts will examine the document in every possible way, but they will find nothing suspicious. The courts will attempt to prove that the king signed the declaration "while drunk" or under threat. However, Glerion will not confirm any such thing. He will not violate his own principles, according to which lying should be abhorred by everyone, much less by the king himself, who is supposed to be an example to others. In this way, the Fleym family will lose power once and for all and will not be able to plunge the kingdom into inescapable darkness... That is my plan, my friends. I think it will certainly work." Misterel's voice indicated he was very pleased with himself.

"The plan is very carefully and cleverly thought out, but something is missing." The bank manager spoke up.

"I understand what you mean, Zondel. You're probably missing information about what we'll do with the king.

" "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Glerion might want revenge. Even though he's "such a good" man, he could explode with uncontrollable anger. Moreover, this is his son, so he could be even more ferocious. You could even be burned at the stake."

"Don't exaggerate. Glerion will never go that far. He might want to dismiss all his advisors, but he probably won't even do that. He'll simply resign himself to the idea that his son won't rule. He might even be happy. He'll be able to make his son a priest," Misterel sneered. "And even if he decides to give me a written dismissal, he'll have to give an official reason, which he doesn't have and won't have. So even if he were to do so, he'd easily prove in court that he can't do it. And if I also paid off the Archjudge and his assistants handsomely," Misterel conceived, "Glerion himself would receive a two-million-dollar dismissal. Hmmmm... that's actually a good idea."

The councilor pondered for a moment, then continued:

"Look, friends. If we were to bring things to this point, we'd have two whole months to dethrone the king.

" "Yes. That would be a good solution." Only one question remains: How to deprive the king of this throne? Zondel interjected again.

"On that matter, I have an idea," the knight suddenly spoke up.

"You, Bistl. You, my friend?" Misterel was incredulous. "And I'd bet my life you'd oppose overthrowing the Fleym family's rule.

" "You see for yourself what a complex character a knight has and how difficult it is to decipher. People will never understand us knights. Never! Because we behave differently than you. Listening to our statements, you get the impression that we are "good people" who always support what is good. For what will not offend anyone. You get the impression that we don't care about our own "interests," and we worry unnecessarily about others. But that's not the case. Because we care primarily about our own "interests," but in a way that doesn't indicate it at all. Now you'll tell me: it's a game of appearances. And I'll tell you: so what?" Playing the game of appearances is the best solution in many cases. In many, but not all...

"We would ask, however, for no philosophical arguments," Merion interjected rather impudently

. "Is this supposed to be some kind of insult directed at me, Master Craftsman?" The knight changed his tone.

"No, no. Absolutely not," the craftsman explained. "I wouldn't dare do such a thing, my friend. I admit, my words were rather impudent, but that's because I'm already a bit impatient.

" "So, hold your nerve. I dislike impatient and impudent people," Bistl replied in a menacing voice. "So, back to the topic. As I was saying, I have an idea for getting rid of the king within these two months. I think the best solution would be the king's death...

" "I said right away that they all need to be killed," one of the councilors interrupted Bistl

. "Perhaps you could let me finish my sentence." I also don't like it when someone interrupts me.

The young councilor was embarrassed and fell silent.

"That's better..." So I'll repeat my last thought. I believe the best solution would be the king's death, but only the king's. We would leave Santre and Milie alone. They would no longer be able to threaten us. They would have no chance after Glerion's death. What do you think, friends?

"Yes, the king's death would be a very good solution," Misterel pondered, "but the question remains how to bring about this death. After all, we would immediately be blamed. Because who else would want the king dead?"

"Not necessarily. We could... hmm..." Zondel thought aloud, "we could fake the king's suicide! That's the idea! Anyone would believe it! The facts would fit perfectly. The king had deprived his son of power with his own hands. He couldn't cope with this realization. What's more, the attempt at revenge backfired, and he was recalled for two months." This completely devastated him, and he decided to forget about it all once and for all. He decided to kill himself!

"That's truly an excellent idea, Zondel," said Misterel. "I think we should make a final decision. Whoever supports Zondel, let them say 'right.'

" "Right," the knight made his decision without hesitation.

"Right," Merion also supported the steward.

The next eight words "right" fell from the lips of the other counselors. The king's "pet" briefly considered voicing his opinion, but came to the conclusion that it wouldn't change anything, and he could only get into trouble.

"Right," he said in a rather uncertain voice

. "Yes, right, right, friends. I can't help but agree with myself," Zondel joked

. "I, of course, also think 'right.'" Misterel spoke with satisfaction in his voice. "And so we have reached the end of our meeting today. I consider it closed." I wish to thank all of you, my friends, for devoting your precious time. I will not use any kind of oath, as I consider it human folly. We all know perfectly well what will happen to anyone who betrays...

*

In front of the gate, three men were mounting their horses.

"As soon as the king signs the documents, he will send his most trusted messenger to each of you, my friends," Misterel said gravely. "

We will wait," the three riders replied, and rode away...