AOC The boy king

Birthright AOC The boy king

….The great halls of of Seaharrow where filled with people of all sorts, commoners, tradesmen, vassals and at some count clergy who strongly support the Archduke and his ways. He would never have though that the weight of rulership would have come so hard upon him and at the absence of true guidance it could prove deadly most of the times. Sitting upon the strong Boeruinean steel Throne the Archduke of the Western Coast and soon to be of all Western Anuire was ready to come face to face with the most demanding crowd of them all, his people.

They flooded his keep, more and more coming with various demands, some offended by a noble, some with crop problems, most with petitions of grants due to the hard winter, some with demands of militia protection due to the alerting rise of brigandry, but one case was interesting at least to caught his ear and was not soon dismissed.

“My lord” with a soft silver tongued voice the priest was already trying to sway his mind and thus far he knew, he could understand the way priests handled words and how they could make the night shine as bright as the day.

“We come in humility our beloved liege bearing proof of our allegiance and scriptures of the deeds our father Haelyn trusted upon our forefathers giving them knowledge and guidance for their children and their progenies to come.”

He felt a ripple of boredom come crushing down his spine that very moment cause the followed words of the priest and his flatteries went past him like running water down the cliff. A huge yawn come out of his mouth which he did not even had the courtesy to conceal.

His eyes scoured the crowd seeking the one man that could help him but the the thought of his absence came crushing like wave over the barge.

“…thus we demand you take action against this so called priest due to the fact as stated in the Red Book of War he is undermining your rulership, the word of Haelyn our one true god in Cerilia and your fealty to the Church of the One God”

The sound of Haelyn’s name in the dukal court made the crowd incite their short prays revering the name of Haelyn, the One God and filled them with an awe that already was taking its place all over the great hall.

Still young and uneasy with his new Dukal duties Edric the Heir of Boeruine was sure that this was not going to end well. His thoughts were lost and surely he could not keep focus in such a tight group. After all he though, I am a warrior, how do they expect me to make such decisions. Lost in his thoughts the words of the priest echoed in his head but his mind was clouded already making impossible to focus. Abruptly and with a violent reflex he jerked from his throne, standing tall over his people, looking like he had made up his mind , he knew what he had to do, exactly as his younger brother instructed him, “….never debate in public, never question the priests, strengthen your people and they support they give you…”, and with the safety of his words he could just bypass everything. He knew that the priest was demanding justice, no matter what he decided he must keep him satisfied, thus he finally spoke.

“ I have made up my mind” he cried to the filled hall forcing them to turn quite and surely giving him their undivided attention. He took a deep breath looking down the throne dais back at his people. “I have decided” he called for a second time with a stronger tone this time, the Dukal Herald poked with strength his rod on the granite floor twice so everyone would know that The Archduke would speak.

At that very moment the courts great doors were flung open and with great speed a man rushed in between the crowd spreading panic and with bursting speed he tried to make his way towards the ArchDuke. The Dukal Guard with a swift response come to the front and defended their masters position but as moments passed the ire was spreading like fir. The Dukal advisors were already taking their place by the ear of their liege, whispering words of the man’s intrusion. Raising his hand Edric nodded to the guards to make way for the man and swiftly he climbed down the stairs. The messenger rushed to his fall down on his lieges feet and as the Archduke reached the bottom of the stairs the all of the room as if they were spoken at everyone one after the other came along to kneel, showing their lower status of their Archduke.

The almost exhausted messenger was already panting trying to catch his breath but the significance of the report obviously was not letting him fall apart. With a swift move he unfurled a scroll case from his belt passing it over his head to his liege. “This report came with one of our northern falcons my lord, the soonest I got the message I spurned my fastest horse at your door. I hope the…” with that Edric grabed the scrollcase from the hands of the messenger with great eagerness showing off, clutching the scroll in hand he turned his head to the crowd and with no response he bolted towards more private courters. A loud chattering was left behind him as he strode out of the great hall leaving everyone unattended, his guards and some advisors came rushing after him surprised by their Dukes behavior.

I can swear I read in his lip the word …”brother..” my lord..