News to the Court

If It Were Only A Dragon [Chapter 1]

Our tale begins here, in the grand Kingdom of Reck, within its capital city Recktum. This Kingdom that I called my home was a place of peace and prosperity. Ruling over this land was King Lourd, the greatest king of his time. The greatest king of the kingdom at present, no doubt. Some would say one of the kings of all time.

His court, which I served for many years at that point, had been the source of this land’s stability and constancy that the people of the kingdom enjoyed. You see, His Highness King Lourd ruled through delegation, making sure any possible challenge facing the kingdom would have a Ministerial force behind it. Any niche of our society needing or wanting for something would turn to the various departments and their ministers to find a resolution. If there was an issue of great importance, the troubled party would be directed to a ministry, or in failing to find an adequate one, a brand new ministry and minister would be founded and appointed.

Any functioning kingdom and society needs a few base institutions to keep it running smoothly. A minister of the economy, agriculture, communications, harlotry, all those were accounted for. Ministries of blacksmithing, forestry, waste and sewage management existed as well. The magics that smoothed out the wrinkles in our lives, those all had their ministries as well. Enchanters, alchemists, apothecaries, they all had ministers of their own to oversee them and deter them from the dark parts of their crafts. Far be it for me to name every ministry, as many as there were.

I, myself, served the Ministry of Arms. In fact, my father was the Minister of his Ministry. One might see this as a prestigious position, nepotism or not, but alas I cannot lie about the true nature of this post. As a peaceful kingdom, we had not experienced a war, a battle, a skirmish, or even a tussle in my time in this position.

We had no enemies I could name or even imagine. At the far reaches of the seas to the west of the capital here were lands of fishermen, doing no worse than smelling of fish guts and salt air. Far on the opposite edge of the kingdom were mountains, too high and snowy for anyone to care about crossing.

My father never told any tales of victory or conquest from his time either. In fact, for most of his life, he stood in the same spot as I, within the halls of the castle taking in the pleasantries of his Majesty’s court. For all that I could be doing within the Ministry of Arms, simply hearing the complaints of visiting nobles and ministers was tame and agreeable.

If King Lourd were to be something other than King (gods forbid), he would no doubt be the Minister of Gossip, of Rumors. The nobles, visiting from various corners of our kingdom, always came with their own tales to tell. It was always talk of heirs with them. My wife refuses to produce an heir. An heir has been born, but alas it is a girl. A suitable heir was born, but he passed before he could even wear his tiny heir clothes. An heir was born horrifically deformed and thus has been given to a local family of peasants. We have been blessed with a pair of identical heirs, but I cannot tell them apart and we must smother one to prevent a struggle for power once they become of age. King Lourd, being of a ripe, wizened age of forty-two years old, with a young heir already secured in life, surely indulged in the schadenfreude of such stories.

Alas, court life wasn’t all stories from his Majesty’s distant relatives from the far reaches of the kingdom. Nor was it all performances of court entertainers from the Ministry of Tomfoolery. On the occasion, the court of the king would see to something that had escaped the scope of all the other ministries. The visitor that came before us on that day certainly piqued my interest.

The man was tanned like someone who had seen more of the sun than the halls of a castle— certainly a strange sight to us members of the court. King Lourd, in all his benevolence, allowed himself to be addressed nonetheless.

He knelt on one knee on the carpet before the throne. “My King, I come before you today to beg for your aid—“

The King raised his hand, palm outward, to put the man at pause. “Have you not sought the ministries anchored here in the city for an answer to your plight?”

The traveler lowered himself to both knees before continuing, “My King, yes, I have been in the capital for two weeks now, and have sought out every department that I thought could have aided me, and—“

Lourd raised his hand again. He turned his head and exchanged a glance with the man at his right hand, the wise Adviser to the court, Sir Sacher.

“It is by various referrals that this man comes before us today,” the wise man said with a nod.

“Continue,” the King said back, nodding proudly.

The traveler almost seemed as if he were about to cry, be it through desperation or happiness I did not know. “Your Highness, thank you. I come from the far East of the kingdom, and—“

The King’s palm once more rose into the air. He leaned once more to Sacher, his voice lower. I was just close enough to hear what followed.

“Sacher, is the East… the right, or the left?”

Sacher leaned in closer and nodded, stroking his beard. It was a long but thin and gross beard. Despite having what looked like this rabid rat on his face, Sacher always seemed to know what others did not.

The wise man responded in a concealed tone. “Well, your Highness, from the capital here, the sea is to the West, which you are well aware of. So that means that East is the opposite direction.”

“The sea…” His Highness mumbled. “So, the east then is… the right.”

“Indeed, sire,” Sacher nodded with a smile.

“I surely don’t understand why these people don’t simply say right and left.”

Sacher nodded and stroked his beard more. “Of course, but there is also North and South to contend with, Your Highness.”

The King sucked in a small breath. “Of course, you are correct as usual.”

The adviser nodded and retreated a few steps back of the throne. “I shall perhaps have the Ministry of Cartography organize a new naming system for the kingdom, following your desires of course.”

“Make it so,” The King nodded. At this point he probably realized his raised palm was causing his arm a bit of strain, and that it was in fact, holding a visitor to the court at pause. With a flick of his wrist, he lowered it and placed his arm whole back at his side.

“From the Right of the Kingdom, you say?” The King retraced the conversation thus far.

The traveler was now on all fours, face nearly touching the carpet. “Yes, Your Highness. It is far to the east.”

The King’s palm was put to use once more, but only until he could raise a question. “How far?”

“A… two week’s journey.”

The court members gasped. “By carriage?” The King asked.

“On foot, Your Highness,” The traveler nodded lowly.

A few sighs were released, but others whispered about the possibility and hardship of accomplishing such a trek.

“And this far-off land is still a part of this Kingdom? My Kingdom?’

The traveler nodded furiously. “From the base of the mountains that border our land from… that direction. The province is under attack!”

Hearing this myself, I perked up. I leaned forward and looked at the traveler, then to the King to determine if his reaction was any different from mine.

The King was stony-faced. He nearly raised his hand once more. The strain from the overuse of his arm was likely taking its toll, as the traveler was able to spit out one last line before the King could stop him.

“It is a dragon!” He yelled.

The members of the court choked on their delicacies. The king had to use both hands on his arm wrests to keep himself from falling out of the throne. Sacher stopped stroking his beard. Even the fool frowned.

“I beg of you, you must send a force to slay this infernal creature!” The traveler cried, fully splayed out on the carpet. “Who knows what havoc it could be wreaking on our province! And if it should turn its eyes to other parts of our Kingdom!”

The King nearly stood. He only did so when the bathroom was required, or when he would turn in for the night. Something was quite off, I imagined. King Lourd shuffled side to side, eventually laying his eyes on me, standing off to his side.

“Sir Gladius!” He called out to me. It was one of the few times he had used my name. It was more often to have him mistake me as a servant and demand something of me than to call me by not only my name but my title as well.

Not wanting to strain the King’s neck, I marched to the carpet before the throne. If there was any skill I had befitting my role in the Ministry of Arms, it was the ability to march. I kicked the prostrated traveler out of his position of begging so that His Highness would have an uninterrupted view of me. “My King!”

“Sir Gladius! As Vice Minister of Arms, I shall put it upon you to defeat this dragon. Make use of any of the Kingdom’s ministries and resources to see it to an end. May the gods bless you.”

I bowed. “It shall be done, Your Highness.”

Next Chapter –>