Raea woke with a start, bouncing in her cot as it shook beneath her. Her eyes scanned about in wild panic before coming to rest on Hermann, lowering his leg after having kicked her cot.

  “If you want to see the King, come,” he ordered before walking out of the room.

  Raea tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. “That motherfucker,” she swore under her breath before pulling herself into a sitting position. She glanced over at Cian to see him sleeping in his cot, unperturbed by the commotion. For a brief moment she considered waking him as well, but decided against it.

  Instead she followed Hermann out through the canvas flaps that served as the door to the room. It led out to the main area of the tent, opposite of the main entrance, though Raea’s view of it and the King’s makeshift court was obstructed by a wooden barrier. She had assumed that it was put in place to shield the private sleeping areas of the court’s members from the more public parts of the tent, and so had not questioned it.

  She walked around the barrier to see the king sitting on his temporary throne, Hermann standing by his side. Before the monarch were four people, two armored soldiers of the Kingdom of Damar, and two civilians. One of the soldiers was standing with his hands bound, while the civilians appeared to be a father and his teenaged daughter, whose shoulders he held as she hid her weeping face behind the sleeves of her dress.

  Raea walked around to see King Marcus’ face as he spoke.

  “Am I to understand that this man committed a crime, captain?” the monarch asked.

  “Yes,” the officer confirmed. “I received reports from some men in my unit that this solider had forced himself on this young girl while passing through her village on patrol last night.”

  King Marcus glanced at the two civilians before turning his gaze back to the bound solider. “What of the others in his unit?”

  “They claimed that they had tried to stop him, but could not do so without violence,” the captain explained. “So they resolved to report it to me first thing in the morning.”

  “I see,” Marcus commented. “Do you have anything to say in your defense, soldier?”

  “Ya Grace, it is all lies,” the accused began. “The men who reported me only want the reward money, I’m sure, and they probably promised these sad sods a cut if they acted as victims.”

  The King stayed silent for a moment, considering the situation before him. “Captain, how many men reported to you?”

  “Four, ya Grace,” the officer answered.

  “Which would make five including them,” Marcus commented, gesturing to the locals. “The reward would not be much after being split five ways.”

  The accused soldier shrugged in response. “Maybe they’re just that desperate for money, Ya Grace.”

  The King stared at the bound man for a moment, a thoughtful glimmer in his eyes. “What of your side of the story?” he asked, looking at the commoners. “What do you have to say?”

  “My-my lord,” the man began, clearly nervous to address the leader of an invading power. “I was returning home from working the fields when I found my daughter-“

  “Quiet,” the King ordered in a sharp tone. “I don’t want to hear anymore second hand accounts. Tell me what happened to you, girl.”

  The teenager lowered one arm just enough for an eye to peer out at the room. An eye that looked between the soldiers and their king.

  “Why would ya…ask me?” she questioned in an uncertain voice. “Rather than one of ya own?”

  Marcus leaned back in his seat, looking as though his interest had been piqued for the first time that day. “I see your concern, child,” he commented. “However, it is my intent that you, as well as your father, will soon be subjects of the Kingdom of Damar. The same as the accused.”

  The commoner girl lowered her arms further, revealing her face, though she kept them crossed in front of her chest. Her mouth opened to speak, but hung ajar as she hesitated. Then she clenched her teeth before speaking with a new vigor.

  “Ya Grace, it’s true, this man…violated me,” she proclaimed, her arms now at her side as she opened up.

  “How did it happen?” King Marcus asked.

  Ya Grace,” the girl began before hesitating and bashfully turning her head away once more.

  Her father tightened his grip on her, pulling his daughter closer to his body. “My lord, this has been a difficult experience for us. I ask that ya don’t make my daughter relive that moment.”

  “Be that as it may,” the King responded. “If you can tell me specifics, I will be more inclined to believe your story to be true.”  “My lord…” the father began before his daughter pulled away from him.

  “If that’s what ya want to hear, then fine,” the girl said, her angry face emerging from behind her sleeves. “I was alone in our home, as I always am when my father is out in the fields, ever since my mother passed several years ago.”

  She pointed at the bound soldier. “This man has come through our village several times, and I gave him some water to drink once. Since then he’s been following me whenever he passes through, and last night he broke into our home, forced me to the ground, ripped apart my dress, and began…”

  King Marcus raised his hand. “Stop,” he ordered, uncomfortable with the graphic details despite the fact that he had asked for them. “I’ve heard enough. Captain, this man is guilty, take him away for the standard punishment.”

  The officer saluted his King before roughly pulling the convicted rapist to his feet.

  “Wait! Wait!” the disgraced soldier pleaded. “Ya Grace, are ya really going to side with some outsider?”

  “I already explained, They are soon to be my subjects, and so I will protect them in the same way that I would have protected you had the situation been reversed,” the King replied. “Now don’t speak again.”

  The man opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it and held his tongue.

  Instead it was the girl’s father who spoke up. “Excuse me, what is his punishment?”

  “Standard punishment for any non-treasonous offenses,” the officer explained. “He will be stripped of all ranks, arms, and armor and then sent home without pay.”

  “No!” the father yelled, raising his voice for the first time. “Ya already decided that he was guilty! He should die for what he did!”

  King Marcus frowned at the display of anger. “Restrain yourself. I have treated you and your daughter as subjects of Damar and granted you the protections that entails. I ask that you return the favor and respect my decision.”

  The father calmed himself before responding. “I apologize my…ya Grace.”

  “Good, now leave my presence,” King Marcus commanded. “Captain, see that these two are escorted back to their home and given the standard recompense. Go see our new treasurer for the payment.”

  “As you command, ya Grace,” the officer responded before leading the others out the tent.

  Marcus shook his head and sighed as the commoners and the soldiers left his presence. “Let that be all for today,” he commented after they were gone. He sighed once more before glancing over at Raea.

  “Is there a reason why you’re watching from the corner, child?” he asked.

  “Oh, um, I had some questions for you and Hermann said you’d be willing to answer them,” Raea answered, turning away bashfully in the face of the King’s withering gaze.

  The King glanced at his Varathian retainer through the corner of his eye. “Did you tell her this?”

  “A professional favor to Cian,” Hermann confirmed.

  “Hmph,” Marcus grunted. “Very well then. What boon would you ask of me?”

  “Well, I just have a question, really,” Raea began. “What have the people of this land done to you that you go to war with them?”

  “Heh,” Marcus chuckled, and for the first time since Raea had met him the day before, he smiled.

  “Most who come to me want a gift, or to punish someone,” Marcus said, his body language relaxing. “But your only wish is to ask me such a high minded question?”

  “I don’t know if ‘high minded’ is the right way to put it,” Raea replied. “I understand wanting to kill someone because they did something to you, there are a few people I want to kill for that. But this war stuff, it’s all so…distant. I can’t see a reason.”

  “Hm, I see where you’re coming from, girl,” Marcus commented. “Come,” he said, standing and gesturing for Raea to follow as he walked to a side room of the tent. Raea did as she was bade and on passing through the canvas flap separating the two rooms she was greeted by a large map table depicting the continent of Terrasolis.

  Marcus walked around the table until he was standing on the map’s northern edge. “Tell me, do you know how big Damar was when I inherited the throne?” he asked.

  Raea shook her head. “I only know that you’ve expanded it since you became King.”

  “Take a guess then,” Marcus responded, gesturing to the map.

  “I don’t know,” Raea began, studying the image before her. “I’d guess something like…that.” She pointed at a swath of territory in the central northern part of the current day realm.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Heh, if only,” Marcus replied. “Instead, this was all the land I had to my name.” He pointed at a small area near the kingdom’s northern shore, barely large enough to fit a single city. “The entire region was made up of small principalities and self-proclaimed kingdoms that sprung up after the fall of the Empire of Vera,” the King of Damar explained. “They would fight each other constantly, land changing hands from one, then the other, then a third. The only thing that could unify them was the threat of an outside power like the Olican Empire. That is, until me.”

  “So you fought wars to unify these tiny kingdoms into one big one,” Raea surmised.

  “That’s the short version,” Marcus said. “When I came to my throne, Damar was on the verge of collapse. Our only port had been taken from us during my grandfather’s reign, and without it our trade had been slowly choked out by our neighbors during my father’s. Our one saving grace was that my father had spent his entire reign building up and training our army, so I used it to take back the lands that had been taken from us. Then I used it to conquer the other principalities that banded together against us, fearing our sudden rise. Over the years that followed the others were either conquered or willingly submitted themselves to my rule.”

  Raea nodded, looking over the map and imagining how the borders must have changed over the years. “What about now though?” she asked. “Even Empress Marie won’t invade you now, so surely you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”

  “That’s true in and of itself,” Marcus responded. “However, over the last 15 years the population of Damar has grown significantly. At some point we will be unable to produce enough food to feed everyone. The territory around Lake Fairview is, along with the Dreite Valley in Lagonia, the most fertile and prosperous farmland north of the Sundials. The opportunity arose to take Castle Fairview with minimal opposition, so I took it. For the good of my people.”

  “What opportunity?” Raea asked.

  “Are you familiar with how the Commonwealth is governed?” Marcus returned.

  “Something about a council of nobles who pick a new leader every few years,” Raea answered, holding her hand to her chin as she tried to recall a prior conversation with Cian.

  “That’s the broad strokes of it, yes,” Marcus replied. “The lord of Castle Fairview, Count Henryk, was the Prince of the Commonwealth for six years, winning two elections in the Diet to do so. However, ahead of his third election a famine broke out in the northern part of the Commonwealth, devastating the holdings of several members of the Diet. Henryk, as both the Prince and the ruler of the most productive farmland in the region, was expected to send aid to his beleaguered brethren.”

  “I’m guessing he didn’t, for some reason,” Raea spoke up.

  “That’s right,” Marcus confirmed. “Perhaps fearing that the famine would soon affect his lands as well, Henryk chose to stock his own granaries instead of providing aid. Needless to say, the other members of the Diet did not look kindly on this. In the next election he was soundly defeated and removed as Prince of the Commonwealth.”

  Raea glanced at the map before posing another question. “Do the other nobles still hate him?”

  “It would seem that they do,” Marcus answered. “When I invaded and it became clear that I was only here for Fairview, the new Prince and the other members of the Diet only sent a token force to aid Count Henryk. They’ve made no attempt to relieve my siege and seem quite content to leave their former Prince for dead.”

  “Sounds like when you invaded Zehlika while Empress Marie was busy fighting her cousin,” Raea commented.

  Marcus nodded as he responded. “Yes, it only makes sense to wait for your enemy’s moment of weakness.”

  Raea looked over the map once more, imagining how the Kingdom of Damar must have grown and changed the borders over the years. “But why did you do so much?” she asked. “Was it your destiny?” she added, thinking back to her conversation with Marie in the Empress’ bedchambers.

  “Hmph, destiny?” Marcus snorted out with a derisive chuckle. “That’s just a word people use to make their circumstances sound more meaningful than they actually are.”

  “Huh?” Raea voiced, looking up at the monarch with surprise. “Why then?”  “For them, for the people,” Marcus answered, pointing at Damar on the map. “I am their one and only King. If I don’t protect them, who will?”

  “What do you mean?” Raea asked.

  “Hm, how to explain it?” Marcus began. “There are those who believe that kings are appointed by God. What do you think of that?”

  “Seems like something anyone could say,” Raea replied.

  “Indeed, anyone could,” Marcus agreed. “Furthermore, what if the king is a ruthless tyrant? Are we to accept that our supposedly benevolent God supports something so terrible?”

  “I wouldn’t,” Raea commented.

  “Many others would feel the same,” Marcus said. “And it is there we reach the truth of the matter. A king only rules because his people allow him to, and if he does wrong by them they have the power to rise up and overthrow him.”

  “So a king serves his people and not the other way around?” Raea asked.

  “Exactly!” Marcus exclaimed with an excited smile. “I am glad to meet someone who understands as you do. Everything I do is to provide for my subjects, now and long into the future.”

  “So then you fight wars to protect yourself by protecting your people,” Raea surmised.

  “In a sense, I suppose you could say that nations are like people,” Marcus commented. “There are of course those who fight for greed or the vanity of glory, but most people fight because they feel they have to.”

  “I get that,” Raea replied. “But I don’t think I would want to fight for other people.”

  Marcus gave a solemn nod in response. “I understand your view, and I felt much the same when I was your age. But I was born a prince, so the royal duty fell on my shoulders. I never truly had a choice in the matter.”

  Raea watched the King for a moment, wondering if there was more of a story behind his comments. The monarch did not volunteer anything further, however, so she did not press the issue.

  The break in the conversation was turned into its endpoint by the sound of approaching footsteps, both the king and the girl turning to face the newcomer.

  “You in here, kid?” Cian asked, walking into the room. “Ah, there you are. Did you get that conversation you were looking for?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Raea answered.

  Cian nodded to King Marcus. “I suppose I should thank you then, your Grace.”

  “No need,” Marcus replied. “It was a welcome distraction from the day to day doldrums of a siege.”

  “Very good then,” Cian said before turning back to Raea. “Let’s go ahead and get going. I wasn’t expecting to come this far east, but since we’ve made this detour I want to cut across the Commonwealth and head straight for Granz.”

  “That’s a journey that shouldn’t take too long,” Marcus commented. “Good luck, Sir Cian.”

  “What’s Granz?” Raea asked.

  Cian grabbed the girl by the shoulder and walked her out of the room. “I’ll tell you on the way,” he said. “Go grab your stuff so we can head out on the road.”

  “Sure,” Raea replied before walking back out to the main room of the tent. She made her way back to the sleeping area, where she had left her sword and other effects. She entered it to find Hermann reclining in his bed.

  “You heading out soon?” he asked as he watched Raea collect her things.

  “That’s what Cian wants,” she answered.

  “Hm,” Hermann grunted. “Good luck then. Hopefully you’ll be a broken wing that can actually learn to fly.”

  Raea stared at the Varathian, wanting him to fully explain what he meant by that. But she held her silence, deciding that Cian should be the one to ask. So she gathered her few things and left.

  ***

  Raea walked a few steps behind Cian along a path that ran through fields of wheat, freshly harvested now that summer had given way to fall. The figure of Castle Fairview was fading in the distance, the tents of the siege camp having disappeared from view some time before.

  Then a great crash boomed through the air, causing the pair to turn around and look back at the castle. Though they were too far to make out details, both could see a cloud of dust billowing up from the fortifications.

  “What’s that?” Raea asked.

  “At a guess, the walls have been breached, and they’re storming the castle,” Cian answered. “It might take a few days to defeat the garrison, but now it’s only a matter of how many lives it will cost.”

  “King Marcus has won then,” Raea commented.

  Cian nodded in response. “Faster than I would’ve thought, too. I guess that cannon really is the future of siege warfare.”

  “You really think so?” Raea asked.

  “Ah, I don’t know,” Cian commented as he turned around and resumed the journey. “King Marcus has a way of making things go the way he wants, but even he has limits. He is but a man, one who will someday die. And when great kings rise, kingdoms fall.”

  Raea followed after the Varathian, her lips twisting in thought as she considered what Cian had said. “I think I’ve heard you say that before,” she commented. “What does it mean? That great kings conquer other kingdoms?”

  “Oh, it’s just a saying that was common when I was younger and the world was bit more…fragmented,” Cian answered. “It’s less about when great kings are born, so much as it’s about when they die.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Raea asked.

  “Well, when a kingdom has a great king, it usually prospers,” Cian explained. “But their successors will inevitably be unable to keep the same standards, and so the kingdom will decline. It might not happen for a couple of generations, but it’s only matter of time. Because assuming that a great man’s son will be a great man too is naive.”

  “So then why do people follow kings?” Raea asked.

  “Because that’s the way it’s always been done,” Cian answered, “and most people won’t question that kind of thing.”

  “That seems like a stupid reason to do anything,” Raea commented.

  “So you’re saying that you wouldn’t follow a king?” Cian asked.

  “I don’t want to follow anyone,” Raea answered.

  The Varathian chuckled, a wry smile on his face. “Good thing you want to become one of us, then!” he exclaimed.

  Raea stared at Cian’s broad back and the sword that hung at his hip. She pulled out her own blade, too small to call a true sword. “Do you really believe that I can be one of you?” she questioned.

  “What makes you ask that?” Cian returned.

  Raea took a deep breath as she contemplated her response. “Hermann didn’t seem convinced, and he kept calling me a broken wing,” she finally said. “Doesn’t seem like something that’s broken would have a good chance as a Varathian.”

  “Right, that,” Cian said, coming to a stop. “Let’s talk about it then,” he added, turning around to face Raea.

  “To start with, what’s the Transfiguration?” Raea asked. “You and Hermann mentioned it a few times but never really explained it.”

  Cian brought a hand to his face, covering his nose and mouth in an attempt to hide his discomfort with the subject. “It is the process by which a human becomes a Varathian,” he answered after some hesitation. “It is…difficult. And very painful.”

  Raea watched the Varathian’s expressions with a discerning eye, trying to be careful with where she pushed the conversation. “And people have visions during this?”

  “Some do,” Cian answered, lowering his hand. “Most believe that it’s meaningless nonsense, but mine felt so…real…so important.”

  “A bird with a broken wing that became a phoenix, right?” Raea asked. “What do you think it meant?”

  “That I have to find an unusual person to become a Varathian,” Cian answered. “One that would normally be dismissed as having no chance of making it. Then they would become something greater.”

  “To what end?” Raea asked.

  Cian shrugged in response. “I don’t know. But something that no one else would ever dream of attempting, I’m sure.”

  “Do you think that I have that kind of potential?” Raea questioned.

  “To be honest, I don’t know,” Cian replied. “But you have as much of a chance as anyone right now, way I see it.”

  Raea bit her lip as she thought on Cian’s words. “But you don’t think I have a very good chance, do you?”

  Cian hesitated before responding. “I’d be lying if I said that I did.”

  Raea looked over her shoulder to Castle Fairview, lost in the distance. She thought back to her conversation with King Marcus that morning.

  “I decided to follow you,” Raea said, turning back to Cian. “I left the only home I’ve ever known and followed you half-way across the continent. You have a responsibility to do right by me. Otherwise, I leave.”

  “Hmph,” Cian snorted. “And go where?”

  Raea shrugged before gesturing around her. “Anywhere. I’m not scared of being alone.”

  “OK, then, fair enough, I guess,” Cian said. “I can’t guarantee your success, that’s on you and fate, or God, or whatever it is that’s out there. But I promise that I’ll do my part.”

  “Good,” Raea said before she began walking, stepping around and beyond the Varathian, continuing on down the road.