Nora cleared her throat and gazed out from behind her mourning veil. Of the hundred or so high-ranking leaders out there amongst the crowd of people mourning the loss of Seivalt, a very vocal minority had tried to stir up trouble. She made a mental note of the particularly egregious offenders for later and began to speak.

“I was born to a legacy I fully assumed that I would never truly inherit. The line of Seivalt had gone on for so long and intermingled with so many others that I likely should not have had the strong connection to his bloodline that I do. Perhaps by some twist of fate, my power is great, owing to the randomness of genetics and perhaps the luck of the draw. My siblings were born so weak that they died shortly after birth, and it was expected that I would face the same fate. Yet, here I stand, not only as strong as many of you, but much more so.”

“Seivalt taught me everything I know. He raised me on legends and fables that told of Lord Vaile’s greatness, and I tried to emulate that through my deeds. I quickly realized that I was not cut out to be a Tamer, and rather than being angry with me for failing he taught me martial arts and helped me grow and evolve my fighting style into what it is now. I was not the most agreeable family member he could have had, but despite my crassness and rude behavior, I truly cared for him. The ‘old man,’ as I called him, deserved a better heir to his legacy than me, and I was sure that he would live long enough to get it.”

“Seivalt was ancient by the time I was born. By all rights, he should have been in his grave long before I was even a sparkle in the eyes of my parents. Perhaps it was his power that kept him alive, or maybe he was just too stubborn to die before Lord Vaile returned to us. Either way, he outlasted his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as those that followed them. I personally like to subscribe to the ‘too stubborn to die’ theory, but no matter what the truth was I fully expected him to outlive me.”

“Yet, here he lies. He sleeps eternally now in a coffin fit for a king. Seivalt should have been king a long time ago, and he would have been had his bastard of a brother not ousted him and installed a regime built on genocide and suffering. So, we do what we can here to honor him as the rightful king of the Trelawney Kingdom that he was. Here he shall sleep, beneath the cold earth and in a mausoleum that was built ages ago but never used until now.”

“Yet, even as he took his last breath there were those who sought to destroy his great work. Not just to take control of the organization he built but shatter it into pieces that could never be put back together. Such people, in any other group, would be called traitors and given the punishment befitting of the crime. However, I am not above forgiveness.”

As Nora said that line, Seivalt’s Personal Guard, now Nora’s Personal Guard, entered the cemetery and began to apprehend the traitors.

“I believe that, had Seivalt not died, you would have remained loyal to the end of your days. As such, I am willing to give you a chance to prove your devotion and allegiance. To honor the mercy my old man was known for, I will not have such traitors killed. Instead, they will be stripped of power, position, connections and wealth and will be forced to climb the ranks as if they had just joined. Any who seek to give them back what they had stripped from them, however, will meet with the full and unbridled wrath I now can muster.”

Nora nodded at the guard who pulled the traitors away from the funeral and out of sight.

“Seivalt would have rolled in his grave to hear of these events had he already been buried. That so many who were so loyal would turn against Red Mountain so easily is a stain upon all of us that we may never be able to remove. As the new Tyrant of Red Mountain, I fully intend to fulfil my great ancestor’s dream. The Trelawney Kingdom WILL fall, consumed by the flames of revolution, and from its ashes we will build something better; a nation where all are free, where no chains bind anyone and there truly is justice for all. I ask that you prove that you are still loyal to Seivalt’s dream, to my dream, to our dream. I may not be as good as he was, but I will lead us to victory.”

Nora raised her right arm in the air and clenched her fist.

“For Red Mountain! For Freedom! For Seivalt! The Trelawney Kingdom must fall!”

The crowd was silent, but then Vaile stood up and emulated Nora’s pose.

“For my friend! For the dream! For a better tomorrow for all! Hail the Tyrant of Red Mountain!”

One by one more people rose from their seats and repeated the line “Hail the Tyrant of Red Mountain!”

Nora looked over the mass of over five thousand people, now 34 traitors less than before. She felt a surge of pride and a sense of accomplishment at what she had done. She had (with the helpful nudging from her beloved Vaile) pulled Red Mountain from the brink of destruction. She would have to create some new policies regarding succession and the right to claim the organization, among other things, just to prevent this kind of situation from happening again.

She was glad that Seivalt had taught her the intricacies of paperwork, rulership, governance, economics, politics and more. Had he just focused not teaching her things she was interested in she would have been unprepared for his death. Mind you, she still was, but she was more able to deal with the mess that was before her than she could have been.

Nora stepped down from her soapbox and took off her gloves. She ran her hands over the lacquered wood that made up Seivalt’s coffin and then placed her hand on his chest.

“I will never forget you, old man, and I will make sure that your legacy lasts long after you are entombed.”

…

The rest of the funeral went as one would expect for a member of royalty. Seivalt’s body was preserved via magic for a good two weeks after the funeral began so people could look upon their former Tyrant as he lay in an eternal and peaceful slumber. It was not just people from Red Mountain who came to pay their respects. The patriarchs and matriarchs of smaller crime groups that were effectively puppets of Red Mountain came to offer their condolences and to offer their allegiance to the new Tyrant. Nora had to deal with no end of ceremony and ritual needed to make sure that they obeyed without question.

However, she still needed to show her power, and what better way to prove she was worthy of her mantle than to finish what Seivalt had begun? A week after Seivalt had finally been entombed, Nora gathered the top brass (and Vaile) and the end of the current line that ruled the Trelawney Kingdom began.