Joseph VIII

PA 1.1

As the Sunset Kingdom stabilized itself following the brutal war between Joseph and Domenic, it had been forced to look inward, ignoring its borders for fear of being torn apart by internal strife. The first few months had been a panicked mess of fixing problems and reorganizing the kingdom in a manner similar to sailors frantically bailing water out of a sinking boat. Difficult and practically futile.

Eventually, though, they’d managed to stabilize the kingdom into something resembling a working nation. Unfortunately, immediately following that period of internal instability, they were forced to look outwards, following a raid by their neighbors to the north.

The simply named ‘Wen-Olivia Alliance’ was a alliance between two God-Kings, King Wen and Queen Olivia. The two had somewhat united their kingdoms into one in order to form a more united front against their enemies to the north, the ‘Song Cua Toi,’ a Kingdom ruled by the warlord Quang Chang. The Song Cua Toi (from hereforth referred to as the SCT) had rapidly expanded early on, before being boxed in by its neighbors, the Wen-Olivia Alliance to the south and the ‘Wustenreich’ and ‘Two Oasis’ Alliance’ to the north. Following a tense stand off between the four states, a mess of alliances eventually formed, with the Wustenreich allying both the SCT and Wen-Olivia Alliance; the Wen-Olivia Alliance allying the Two Oasis’ and the Wustenreich; and the Two Oasis’ allying the Wen-Olivia Alliance and the Sunset Kingdom.

Ah, I bet you didn’t expect that all to link back around.

But the web of alliances doesn’t stop there. For you see, that’s just the people to the north. To the south is another two nations, the Getoralaind and the Starfell Kingdom. The Starfell Kingdom was ruled by Queen Antonia Santos, who had slowly and steadily conquered herself a kingdom which rivaled the Sunset Kingdom in size, one so big Joseph didn’t actually know how big it really was. Then between the two massive Kingdoms was Getoralaind, a single-city Kingdom, allied to both the Sunset Kingdom and the Starfell Kingdom.

Confused as to why such a small nation has such powerful allies? Well, the answer is quite simple. See, sometime after the Sunset Kingdom first met Getoralaind, it got attacked by the Starfell Kingdom. However, wary of the expansionist Kingdom and not wanting it on his border, Joseph declared that he would defend the Getoralaind if the Starfell Kingdom moved in. Antonia, not wanting to fight a battle she wasn’t sure she could win, conceded and left Getoralaind territory, declaring that the Getoralaind wasn’t worth the effort of attacking.

Krishna Watts, the King of the Getoralaind, was so grateful to the Sunset Kingdom for its intervention that he offered them a gift of as much surplus grains and he had available. The Sunset Kingdom accepted this tribute, doubling down on it’s declaration of protection over the Getoralaind.

However, Antonia worried that Krishna was too beholden to the Sunset Kingdom—that soon he’d be vassalized by them, giving her a direct border with the Sunset Kingdom that wasn’t on her terms. So, she also began guaranteeing the independence of the Getoralaind, offering protection in case the Sunset Kingdom ever tried to assert its authority over the much smaller City-State.

And so, through shear dumb luck, the Getoralaind became an independent border-state between two superpowers, allied to both and surviving solely because neither of its neighbors were willing to kickstart a war with the other over the city.

It was an unstable situation, to be sure, but a welcome one to the weak City-State.

So that’s the political situation surrounding Joseph’s Sunset Kingdom. To the north he’s allied to the Two Oasis’ Alliance, which is allied with the Wen-Olivia Alliance, which is in turn allied to the Wustenreich, which is allied with the SCT, which really wants to conquer the Two Oasis’. Then to the south, they’re locked in a perpetual cold war with an equally powerful enemy with only a single tiny nation acting as a buffer between them.

All told, it was much less complicated than politics back on Earth.

--

Following the return of the King’s ‘Party Boat’ to the capital of Sun’s Rest, Joseph immediately got to work managing the realm.

That included making sure no raids had come from the north, checking on the boats that made up their supply lines, and of course taxes from the other cities. Of course, most of that was in food that would in turn be funneled right back around to them, since his taxes were mostly based around redistributing supplies where needed. People still complained about them though, which he couldn’t really fault them for.

Along with that he also had to hold court—which rarely ever accomplished anything—and also checking with all his servants and soldiers to make sure the capital was running smoothly. Making sure no crime, poverty, starvation, or any other issues had cropped up right under his nose. If nothing else, he’d keep his own city clean thank you very much!

While many people would think of being a King as living a life of decadence and gluttony while everyone around you lived in squalor, the truth for Joseph was that there simply wasn’t enough of anything for him to live like that. He lived in the same basic huts as his subjects, ate the same food as his subjects—more often than not less since he didn’t even need to eat—and walked among them like peer for the most part. For him, being King was all about duty and gave barely any perks. Which was why he was grateful for the few breaks he got.

“Have you ever thought about learning to play?” Kaiden asked. The young former king was sitting across from Joseph in his house, thumping away on a set of drums. “I mean, I could teach you. Or Neri could, since he’s the one who taught me.”

“Hm. Maybe sometime,” Joseph shrugged, whittling away at a small block of wood. He wasn’t making anything special right now, just carving for the sake of carving. “I’ve never really cared to learn any instruments. I think I got put off it back when I was a kid—my older brother thought he knew how to play guitar, and so played it all the time. But he was just, just really awful at it, you know? So I swore to myself I’d never pick up a guitar as long as I’d live. And I guess I sort of subconsciously decided I would never get into music because of that."

“Wait, so you swore off music just because your brother was bad at it? He must have been pretty dang awful then!”

“Oh yeah,” Joseph smiled. “He definitely was. And the worst part was, almost every night he’d show up with some girl who he’d suckered into going on a date with him by calling himself a ‘musician.’ And I don’t think I saw a single one of those girls ever again! Frankly, I’m shocked it took until his junior year of high school for word to get around enough for him to stop. Or maybe he’d finally been rejected by all the girls in our school—either or.”

“Damn. He sounds like he was a douche.”

“Yeah,” Joseph chuckled softly. “Yeah, he really was.”

After that the two of them fell into a companiable silence, focusing more on their respective crafts than each other. Despite that, though, Joseph never felt happier than when he was with one of his friends, hidden away from all his duties as King. These times when he could pretend he was just a normal man, if only for a little while.

It was the small things that kept him sane, after all.

--

Joseph had begun to hate visiting Domenic.

Not necessarily because the man was an entitled asshole that acted like a cartoon villain—no, that was actually kind of funny when he was in the right mood. No, the reason he hated visiting Domenic was because the man just would. Not. Stop. Talking.

“You are a coward and a fool, King Joseph,” Domenic scoffed, breaking off another piece of his too-dry bread from where he sat in his prison cell. Joseph, sitting across from him, merely sighed, taking another sip of water. “For over a year you have ruled this kingdom, with a half dozen weak nations surrounding you, and yet you haven’t done anything! You haven’t conquered them, you haven’t demanded tribute, hell you’ve barely even tried to ally them! It’s like you’re pretending you aren’t a player in the game. Siting on the sidelines, doing nothing, why, the politicians back on earth could learn a thing or two from you about not accomplishing anything!”

“As I’ve told you a dozen times, just Domenic, I don’t want to overextend myself so quickly. Plus, you know, I’m morally opposed to killing people for land.”

“And that’s the problem!” Domenic scowled back at him. “You’re stupid pacifistic ideals! They don’t help you; they only hinder you. Sure, they worked out once, but that was through sheer dumb luck. If Meixiu hadn’t marched in when she did, I’d have killed you for certain! And everyone else around this Kingdom would have done the same! Why, that what’s-it-called, the ‘Standfall’ Kingdom, they’ve been conquering the weaklings around them for months now, and guess what? They’re just as big as you now! What’s going to happen when they’re bigger and stronger? When they can just steamroll their way over that insignificant border-state you’ve got between the two of you? What then?”

Joseph didn’t answer immediately. Because as much as he wanted to just roll his eyes and ignore Domenic, the man had a point. Being a pacifist wasn’t conductive to his long-term health when thousands of people were gunning for his death.

“…I’ll figure something out,” he grunted finally, the answer tasting like ash in his mouth.

“Well, you’d better get to figuring that out soon, oh glorious King. Because let me tell you, there’s only one truth of this world—those who are aggressive reap the rewards, and those who are not are trampled underfoot.”

“Says the aggressive man who got wrecked by a single-city pacifist,” Joseph shot back, scoffing.

Domenic’s face soured. “You’re right, I forgot about the other truth of this world—bad luck ruins everything.”

“Well, I suppose I can agree with you on that.”

Joseph didn’t like Domenic. He was morally opposed to him in every capacity, found him annoying, and would have him killed if he moved even the slightest step out of line.

However, much as he didn’t like it, his advice was often useful—if morally repugnant. Domenic held a different perspective, one shared by many powerful people in this new world. And if nothing else, that insight made keeping him around worth it.

--

“I understand your concerns,” Joseph sighed, forcing himself not to rub his eyes in exasperation. “But that doesn’t mean I can just send you that much food. We simply don’t have the surplus to consider it. That’s the whole reason we gifted you with those sickles in the first place, so that the southern cities could become more self-sufficient!”

Bahiti, the woman he’d chosen (been forced at spearpoint) to put in charge of making sure Nuova Napoli, scowled at him. “You’re forcing your strange customs on us, forcing us to change our ways of life! The least you could do is provide insurance in case it fails!”

The two of them were arguing (again) in Joseph’s throne room, a large open-air pavilion just outside the original city walls. Joseph himself sat on his ‘throne,’ which was a vaguely chair-shaped stone slab covered in red cloth to act as cushions. Bahiti meanwhile stood before him, a line of people gathered behind her at the edge of the pavilion awaiting their turns with the King.

And considering how long they’d been arguing for already, they way have to wait quite a while.

‘We need to finish this quickly.’

Joseph glanced over at Meixiu quickly, tapping a simple pattern on the arm of his throne. The former Queen nodded imperceptibly, before stepping forward.

“Bahiti,” Meixiu frowned severely at her. “Your King is offering you a grand gift already—properly working the stone for the sickles is a brutal endeavor, which takes even the most skilled craftsmen days if not weeks of work! You should be grateful for what he has already given you, not demanding more!”

“You little has-been—!” the other woman turned to scowl at the former Queen.

“Enough,” Joseph called out sternly, raising a hand. “Meixiu, that was out of line. Bahiti was simply worried for her own people, as she should be. It’s why we put her in charge, after all,” he nodded at the woman, who immediately puffed up in pride. Excellent, just as planned. “That being said, Meixiu had brought up a good point—those sickles are very difficult to make, and each one is incredibly precious. As I’ve said before, they are gifts. If you want to use them, our farmers are prepared to teach yours. If you do not, you do not have to. But this is already as much as I’m able to give, and demanding more of me at this point would be in… poor form.”

Bahiti’s mouth twisted, before she sighed. “Fine. I understand. The people of Nuova Napoli accept the King’s gift with gratitude.”

Good. Now if only she didn’t sound like she was eating a lemon while she said that.

Nodding solemnly at the woman, he dismissed her, his servant Hsekiu ushering in the next person.

Or he would have, if someone new didn’t shove their way through.

He was a short but muscular man with prominent Asian features, with a wide mouth set in a permanent frown. He only wore simple trousers and a white linen cloak to protect himself from the sun. But despite his simple attire, he strode into the throne room as though he himself were the King, not Joseph.

Raising an eyebrow, Joseph forced his face to remain otherwise neutral while Meixiu moved closer to his side, gripping her spear tighter. From the corner of his eye, he could also see Gamila move into position, posing as one of his guards.

He doubted he needed the protection, but he appreciated the gesture none the less. After all, he knew who this person was.

“King Joseph of the Sunset Kingdom,” King Cui Xiaoli of the Two Oasis’ said, bowing at a perfect forty-five-degree angle. “Two months ago, you offered your protection to us Kings of the Oasis, creating a mutual defensive pact against all outside threats. Now…” the man sighed suddenly, his shoulders dropping. Discarding the pomp he’d arrived with, he bowed even deeper, falling to one knee before his throne. “We’ve been attacked, Joseph. That bastard Quang has finally decided he’s going to try and take our land. We are now at war.”

A hush fell through the throne room, everyone staring at the foreign King. Even Joseph couldn’t keep the dread from showing as he realized what was happening.

“I was sent quickly and secretly down the river to contact you—no, to beg of you. Please, King Joseph of the Sunset Kingdom, our only remaining ally, help us. Help us fight against the Song Cua Toi, before they kill us all.”

9,901 God-Kings Remain