William

Little more than a month out from this summer’s gala, William arrived in the capital aboard the coastal railroad. When a herald brought this news to the estate, I was made to discontinue the rest of the day's work and prepare to make his acquaintance. By the time of his arrival at the palace, Father and I were already waiting in the audience room. Father sat upon the throne while I stood by his side.

After a short wait, William and the herald stepped into the throne room.

“Sir William,” The herald announced, “Captain of the Northern Front’s Seventh Company.”

William was tall with blue eyes and the same cinnamon brown hair as my mother. He walked past the herald and bent his knee before us. “This humble servant greets His Majesty and Her Highness.”

“Rise, Son of Corm.” Father said and William did as he commanded. “It is good to see you after so long.”

“I feel the same way, Your Majesty.”

“Have you been in good health?”

“It has been the case for the most part, thankfully.”

“I am pleased to hear so. As for the progression of your mission?”

“Stagnant. My company has only been able to provide moderate stability to our assigned region. I fear that the people of the north are no closer to unification under the Pact, than they were on the day of my arrival.”

“Such has been the case long before your deployment. I hope, however, that the situation will change in the coming years.”

“As do I.”

They expressed some optimism, but all I wanted to do was sigh. Almost twenty years in the north, yet we had little for results.

“Enough of that for now. As I am sure you have already been made aware of, you shall be receiving lodging in the palace until the summer festival’s end. Until then, all the facilities of the estate shall be open to your use.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“The servant who guided you here shall be your attendant for the rest of your stay. As I find myself busy often,” he found himself busy always, “You must request from him that he petitions me for an appointment if you need to speak to me. Unless there is something urgent you must tell me, I shall have him guide you to your room now.”

“I have things to report to Your Majesty, but I consider none of them to be urgent.”

“Then for now, you are dismissed.”

“Father.” I interjected. “Would it be alright if I accompanied the captain along the way to his lodging?”

“I see no issue with this.”

“Thank you, Father.” I left my Father’s side and took William’s. With his attendant leading the way and Eliza following us close behind, William and I left the throne room.

“It’s nice to meet you, Captain William.” I said.

“I’ll have to correct you; we’ve already met, Your Highness.”

“Oh? Forgive me, but I can’t recall when.”

“You were too young to remember back then. Your mother brought you to Corm with her when I was about six.”

I would have been one or two years old at the time. “I see. No one ever told me that I’d been to Corm before. May I ask how many times you’ve been to the capital?”

“Once when I passed through on my way to Nordenheim. I’d have preferred to take the train if it was finished back then.”

“Have you not returned to Vallis since you left?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Four years in the north. What was it like?”

“Cold.”

My smile widened at that simple answer. “Well, that part can be assumed.”

He continued. “The people outside the cities don’t follow the Pact and the people inside the cities only follow it marginally. If anything goes wrong and they’ll defer to tradition and superstition.”

“It must have been hard for you.”

“It was… interesting.”

“You’ll have to tell me more about it later. Have you been keeping up with your father and sister?”

“Not so much my father, but Cassandra, yes. Since before I left, she’s talked a lot about you.”

“Oh?” I was happy to hear that. “She talks a lot about you as well.”

“Hopefully, she’s said nothing too embarrassing.” Surprisingly, he looked a bit bashful.

“Not at all. She always talks about how proud she is of you.” I paused. “What does she write in her letters to you?”

“I would prefer not to say.”

“Please, don’t tell me she’s been writing embarrassing things about me.”

He didn’t answer. Now, I was beginning to feel a bit bashful as well.

“We’ve arrived at your lodging, Captain William.” His attendant said. The timing was perfect.

“Oh, what poor timing.” I lied through my teeth. “We’ll have to continue this conversation some other time.” Hopefully, that time would never come. I definitely have to have a conversation with Cassandra about this, though. She has some explaining to do once she arrives in the capital. “I hope you enjoy your story.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” William and his attendant bowed to me. Eliza bowed to William in return, and our two pairs went their separate ways.

The Legend of the King's Forest

Once, when I was young, an old maid told me the legend of the King’s Forest. I wasn’t so jaded to these sorts of stories back then, so when she told me, I listened to her with great interest. Even now, as I review the tale, much of it still remains with me. I only need to fill in some of the missing details.

The legend starts with the proclamation that it is known far-and-wide and across the lands that within the King’s Forest, the best game in the world is bred. It is a bold statement, but it’s hard to argue against when reviewing the demand for our export. Yes, without fail, for more than a thousand years, the King’s Forest has been the premier exporter of luxury meat. But the legend doesn’t tell you that. It tells you what story led into that. You see, as these tales tend to go, such a great boon must have a catch. There’s nothing truly free in this world, after all and the King’s Forest is no exception to the rule.

Within the forest, there is a protector. The one for which the forest is named. A king not of men, but of beasts, who sees the denizens of the forest as his own children. To those who hunt, he is their hunter. Not for sport or hunger does he act, but for the defense of his children and revenge for the fallen amongst them. With great force, he smites all who intrude upon his lands. No one man is strong enough to stand against the force of his nature.

But if this is the case, how did we come to our current situation, where a king of men takes from the king of beasts and gives no recompense? Well, you see, like us all, the forest king has his shortcomings. His great power was not meant to be contained in such a form and as such he requires great rest to manage its consuming burden. Half the day he can spend waking, but half the day he must slumber.

The king of beasts made a conscious decision. From dusk till dawn, he’d stay up throughout the night and from dawn till dusk he’d rest. He hated the humans of the day more than the wolves who came at night, but the humans would run and tell their kin never to come while the wolves only thought of their hunger and returned. Still, the hunters of the day would not be given free reign. The King of the Forest was no fool and with what wit he had, he came up with a plan to deal with the few humans who had not listened to their kin. As he laid down in the brief moments preceding dawn, he put his ear to the ground. The forest king had great hearing and he recognized the footfalls of all his children. If an intruder came upon his land, even in his slumber, he would notice them. Their foreign sound roused him from his slumber and though he would only be half awoken, his power was still great and he’d rid himself of the intruders.

For a time, the king’s plan was a success. The number of hunters dwindled everyday until eventually no hunters of the day came at all. The king’s daytime rest was no longer disturbed and the taste of the forest’s game was all, but forgotten. In fact, the taste would have been forgotten entirely, if not for one prince of the valley.

When there was no Vallis and there was only the city of Vallisia, there was a prince who ruled the city. And like the forest king, he too was no fool and with what wit the forest king had displayed, the prince showed even greater wit to counter it. You see, the world of legends was full of magic and what men lacked in strength, the prince could make up for it with his own magic and cunning.

Atop the hill across from the king’s domain, the prince had a bridge built connecting one side to the next. Within said bridge, were runes crafted with strong magics that could deafen the sleeping king to the footfalls of those who crossed it. For the first time in a long time, men could enter the King’s Forest without fear. Day after day, the prince would lead his hunting party across the bridge and collect what was not a small bounty from within the forest, all without the king’s notice. The bridge never failed them.

But like us all, the bridge had its shortcomings. Though it guarded our footfalls from the king’s ears, it could do nothing to hide us from his sight. And so the prince and his men could never stay the night. They’d cross the bridge at dawn once the king laid down to rest and cross back again before twilight when the king was to wake.

To extend the time they had in the forest—upto this point, they traveled to and from the valley below everyday for their hunting trips—the prince set camp in front of the bridge. Eventually that camp became his residence and eventually his residence became a castle. The great wealth he had amassed from the forest was the foundation for this very estate that the royal family inhabits today. And though the legend is not something to be believed now, from the prince’s time to our time, the tradition still stands. Lest we intend to incite the wrath of the forest king, into the forest at dawn and out by twilight.