Dawn of Dusk

King Lamercal left the idiots he was entertaining in the great Hall. Krakal, King of Fulsimter had been invited to bring his daughter, Lymar to Lamercal’s son, Borrial. Lamercal had not mentioned to Fulsimter that Borrial was interested in marrying Lymar; it hadn’t seemed prudent at the time to tell him that the next king of Karrondor might want to marry your daughter.

Lymar was quite beautiful. She had blonde hair and blue eyes the color of the sky in winter and skin as fair as the Elves’. Her breasts were ample, her waist small and hips well suited for child bearing. Any man would consider her attractive and she seemed pleased enough with Borrial, she seemed to have made up her mind that she would be Borrial’s Queen.

He had done some quiet asking at dinner and found that Lymeel wanted to be a king’s high counselor. Princess Lymar appeared devoted to him as a brother and considered him very intelligent.

She was a beautiful woman. All those who saw her, even Borrial were affected by her beauty. She was kind to all and didn’t put down the castle staff or other, less than noble people as some visitors would. She seemed to have a pleasant word for all.

Lamercal wished that Vistyral had been born first. Had he known then how things would have turned out, he would have switched them and had Thorak put the opposite tattoo on their feet. He would now be able to abdicate so his illness didn’t overcome him.

Borrial was mean. He craved power and he did not lead people he coerced and extorted their subjugation. He cared little or nothing for his subjects; in fact Lamercal thought he cared for no one other than himself.

He knew he was dying. Thorak knew also, and was often called upon to administer relief from the pain. He had done so tonight and then asked to be excused for a time. Lamercal had granted his request but with the disturbances in the feast room had caused an early return of the pain. He summoned a page and sent him to find Thorak for additional relief.

So far, the pain had not been enough to interfere with his duties, but, he knew that it soon would be. What would he do then? Would he need to keep the dukes in line, or the priests under that Mon Treel or Mon Treel himself? If there was anyone who posed a threat to Borrial, it was Mon Treel. He had made his way up into the leadership ranks of the church far too fast to have done it on the basis of competency alone.

The page returned with Thorak.

“Is it done?” he asked. The strain of his suffering was evident in his voice.

“Yes your majesty, he is prepared. He is a fine son, you should be proud of him. He wanted to hear nothing negative about Borrial; yet I think that he will take action rather than let the kingdom come to ruin. Wouldn’t it be easier for me to fake treason on behalf on Borrial, and simply put the man on the throne that belongs there?”

“That is just the problem man! Borrial is the man that belongs there. I don’t know why he is, but, he is. If the Gods wanted Vistyral on the throne, they would have helped him out of the womb first. They knew the implications of each man being king and they sent me Borrial as the first child.”

“Maybe the relations with the Dwarves and the Elves were more important than Kingly Duties. Perhaps that will be the effort that will save us from destruction. We were wise to secure a dukedom for him. He is doing exceptionally well, and you have set the stage if he needs to do something in the future.”

“Can you take some of the pain away? It is about as bad as I have ever experienced.”

“Certainly, your majesty.”

Thorak placed his hands on the sides of Lamercal’s temples and muttered a few tones, instantly, Lamercal felt the pain subside.

“Well, now that you have taken my pain, I suppose there is little excuse for me to not return to the pains of the banquet. When I am Gone, will you be going to Cryarlac?”

“Yes, Vistyral is already building me a tower with lodgings for two.”

“Two? Have you found someone after all these years?”

“No your majesty, she was the only one I’ll ever love, the other will be for an apprentice.”

“My friend, since the loss of my wife, you have been the only person in the world that I have been able to trust completely. I wish you could have found someone else to love; it was difficult watching you go through life alone. As a Sorcerer you did more for me than I could have ever asked. I know it grieves you to have to constantly work your magic on me so I can continue to function. If I can get him married, I’ll let go.”

“I will be required to take an accepted apprentice once I am no longer Court Sorcerer. If I can find someone exceptional, I will make sure he will help one of your sons. Borrial will choose based on his own criteria, not necessarily on who is the best sorcerer for the job.”

“Try and get someone who will supply him with wisdom, not more foolishness.”

“You have my promise your majesty for whatever good that is in dealing with Borrial.”

“Thank-you Thorak, you have been a friend to me. Above all else, I value your friendship.”

Lamercal turned and without further words returned to the banquet. Thorak watched him go with a deep sense of sadness. Lamercal had a stubborn streak through him, and even though he knew that Vistyral should be named heir. His belief in the traditions got in the way.

One time before, Thorak had almost told Lamercal the future with Borrial as king. He knew if he did, Lamercal would kill Borrial himself and in so doing might create a future where there was no hope at all. At least in the future that Thorak saw Thirty years ago, there was hope. Thorak realized why the spell of prediction was prohibited by the guild. It carried great weight on those with the knowledge and tainted their actions for the rest of their lives. Seeing the future became a self fulfilling prophesy. Knowing the future either made you spend the rest of your life trying to bring it about or the rest of your life trying to stop it. It was assumed by the magician’s guild that it is likely, that one’s actions because they knew what the future was, caused the future to be the future in the first place so the only time looking into the future was allowed was for the noble children of a king.

Lamercal believed that the Gods cared, about who was king or who court sorcerer was. Thorak believed in the Gods as much as the king, but he believed that they wanted men to do well, and to make efforts to live good honest lives. He never believed in the predestined absurdity where men were compelled from birth to fulfill their destiny. Thorak believed in making his own destiny.

“We all must be free to choose,” he said aloud. “Once we make our choices we often bind ourselves. If we leave ourselves with no options, it isn’t fair of us to blame our predicament on the Gods. We must make our decisions on what we know, not on what we feel.”

Thorak turned and went to his tower; he would start packing tonight. It would not be long before a new king would rule in Karrondor. Then, may the Gods help us all.

*****

Borrial sat at the table enjoying his evening. Lymar had given him all of the signs. She would do anything to be made queen and Karrondor was where she wanted to be queen.

Most kings’ daughters ended up being married to a duke within the kingdom or a neighboring kingdom. Dukes liked it because it could possibly give their heirs a claim to the throne. Princesses liked it because most of them did not want the responsibility of a kingdom but it gave them a measure of respectability and great comfort. Of course as dukes went there were those who were more desirable than others, but princesses seldom got to choose.

Of all the kingdoms in the known world, two crown princes were unmarried, Borrial and one other in the southern continent. Borrial knew that Lymar wanted to be reasonably close to her home in Fulsimter. He had heard that Lymar wanted no more than two sons and no daughters.

Borrial had been promised to Mirtar from the Kingdom of Artermador on the southern continent. The promise was of course, not binding on either of them. It was made between their parents when Mirtar was born.

Before he could announce his plans to marry another woman, he would have to ransom her dowry. This was done by inviting the promised one to a banquet and then during the meal presenting the prospective bride with gifts greater than the dowry she could bring into the marriage or if the prospective bride was trying to ransom the dowry, it would amount to four times the dowry registered with the court sorcerer. However, if the ransom offered was not enough, offense could then be taken and compensation sought for the offense.

All royalty used their sorcerers in this manner. That is why a sorcerer could not serve more than one king or duke. The new ruler might ask the sorcerer to reveal information that the deceased ruler wanted secret even after their death. This would put the sorcerer in the position of breaking a confidence or lying, and having taken an oath of honesty was above reproach. If one was ever caught lying, he or she would be assailed by all other sorcerers and wizards in the guild. No one could withstand that much power at least that was the theory. No one had ever tested it so far. For fathers of princesses, it was a wise practice to promise out your daughters when they were young. If it worked out your daughter became a queen. If it didn’t, it provided your daughter with a much larger dowry. Princes or dukes needing capital would often find love for one who had an especially large dowry even if she wasn’t especially pretty.

For fathers of princes and highly placed dukes it made sense as well, because they could cement alliances with a promise of marriage in eighteen or twenty years. They could then enrich their kingdom on the profits of the favorable trade. Later, if it no longer suited them for their son to marry the promised, or another alliance had become more profitable, they could simply buy out of the relationship.

By treaty, of all the kingdoms agreed that there would be no loss of face if either party decided to buy out of the betrothal; as long as a fair price was placed on the cancellation. Borrial had spent two years finding out what Mirtar’s dowry was to be, she was going to be expensive unless he could get her to ransom out instead.

Of all the available princesses in the world, Mirtar was the last one that Borrial wanted. She had spent years studying the different kingdoms of the world, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each. She actually expected to help in the decision process of the land she would help rule.

Borrial planned on sharing that right with no one. He had to admit; she had a head on her shoulders, and was the only child to a very wealthy king. A prize someone else could claim. His younger brother, the Duke of Cryarlac had shown interest in her every time that he had seen her, even though he pretended not to care. Mirtar had always been cool to Borrial and didn’t seem to show the deference to him that he felt she should.

Lymar, on the other hand, practically mopped the floor when she curtsied to him that was the way he deserved to be treated. She had even brought her younger brother, Lymeel and indicated that if he chose Lymar, as his bride, he could get Lymeel as a counselor as well.

Borrial summoned a page and handed him a note to deliver to Lymar. It asked her to meet him in the palace garden at midnight. The page knew what he was doing for he ran three other errands before he delivered the note from Borrial. When she opened it, she smiled and nodded her head without looking at Borrial. No one would be able to figure out that a meeting had been arranged.

The merriment had ended almost an hour before midnight as Krakal had asked Borrial to lead them on a hunt the next day. He made his way to the palace garden so that he could strike the bargain with Lymar that would get him his heir, but save him from having to share any rule with her after.

He arrived at the entrance to the garden as the Gong sounded for midnight. A few minutes later, Lymar entered from the other side.

He walked over to her and allowed her to curtsy to him, and he gave her a slight bow. He took her hand, walked her over to a bench nearby, and sat down beside her.

“I thought it might be well for us to discuss a few things.” he said smoothly.

For a minute she appeared not to hear him and studied the garden. Flowers of every variety built on terraces of brick and stone. A fountain was gurgling off to the left and to the right a small waterfall trickled down the stone and brick terraces. There was a wall in a semi-circle around the garden and a door at the north end of the garden from the palace and another door on the southern side of the garden. It looked as though it had been designed to be a place where a couple could be alone.

She turned and looked into his eyes. They were cold and dark even though they were gray like his brother’s. She knew it was unlikely she would ever receive any real love or concern from this man. He could give her what she wanted most, however, he could make her a queen. Would he? That was the question; and if he would, what was his price?

She fluttered her eyelashes slightly and looked up at him; she pulled her hands neatly in her lap and put on her princess smile. “What was it that you would discuss with me my Lord?”

He could go easy on her, or he could be cruel. He weighed his options for a second and proceeded.

“I know that you want to be a queen more than anything in the world. I think that you would sell your own mother into slavery if it would accomplish your goals. I am willing to grant you your greatest wish, but, as always, there is a price.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but, he raised his hand and said, “Don’t interrupt me. After I have said what I have to say, you are welcome to say what you wish.

“I don’t particularly care to share my rule with any woman; it is important that they look pretty and fulfill their place at their husband’s side. You will come to me when I call you, you will run our household, and you will teach the womanly arts to her daughters if we have any into any ladies in waiting.

“Next, I will run this kingdom. Not we, not you, but I, alone. You may sit in on as many meetings as you want and even offer your advice, but, I will make all of the decisions. You will never contradict me in public.

“If I decide to take a lover, I will do so. You will say nothing about it to anyone but me. And you will certainly not take any reprisals against my lover.

“Your duties will be to make sure the palace day to day routines are accomplished and operating smoothly. If there is a problem with that, you will let me know now.”

“Just for the record, my lord, I do want to be queen very much, but, I would never do so to the detriment of another. I will bear your children and run the palace. I will let you run your kingdom as you see fit, but I will always give you my opinion to think about. “In that case, your terms are acceptable my lord,” she said as proudly as she could.

“But,” she continued, “I will not raise the children; I must have a nurse for them. Another thing, I will not prostitute my self for you. Do not think for an instant that because I am your wife that I am yours to offer to any other. Agreed?”

She stood there trying to look proud, but her trembling gave her away. He looked at her and smiled inwardly; this was costing her a lot of dignity. She was wise to make him promise her these things now. She was wise enough to be his wife. She knew that he did not love her; she knew that it would only get worse, yet he would honor his word to her. He might have tried something had she not required it, but, he would honor his word.

“Acceptable.” He smiled, “I don’t much care for children either, but we must have them. I have to buy out a dowry from Princess Mirtar of Artermador. So until I do that, no announcement can or will be made, but your father and I have already signed an agreement, your approval was all that was required.”

“I happen to know the amount needed to buy out her dowry, my lord.”

His smile grew larger. “I’m sure you do. I do as well. Will your dowry cover it?”

Before she could answer, he turned and walked away knowing that it wouldn’t. He had hit a nerve; Fulsimter was even further north than Karrondor. Economically it was not the strongest of kingdoms. Lymar’s dowry was about half that offered by the king of Artermador.

“I will get a smaller dowry, but I will have all of both kingdoms. I would not have access to Artermador except to my heirs, but Fulsimter will belong to me and with the army and navy of both nations, I will be invincible.”

His smile grew broader as he headed toward his rooms. Tomorrow, he would begin his takeover of Fulsimter. It would be a memorable hunting trip.