The King & the Stable Boy

LII: The Kids are Alright

Noah

I wanted to be anywhere but here right now, and I could feel the same from the other three in my family. Currently we all were knelt before an altar where the deceased King Dacre's body lay, waiting to be burned. To William's right was Asher and his family, to my left knelt Joshua and his daughter.

"I thank you all for gathering to send this man off to the land of Hades. Even if he has wronged so many of us in the past, it's only proper that we send him off with his burial rights."

I saw William nod out of the corner of my eye. Royals, no matter how universally badly seen, got buried the right way. Sure, in place of the ceremony of honor was the ceremony of disgrace, but at the end of the day, each royals funeral was exactly the same duration of time.

The service was rather boring, many angers were professed, not one person shed a tear for the man, not even his children. They opened up about his years of abuse and I could quickly see why. As it drew to a close, Zion called up every Royal to take a torch and burn the body with her.

We all stood around his body sharing a look with one another as the priestess sends him off. I look at the body and note that the only evidence of his brutal death is a single scar going from his right temple to just left of his chin. They'd done a good job of stitching him up, so I knew the scar was left there purposefully. A mark to forever serve as a reminder.

We wait for her to give us the go ahead before we all catch the stray timber and the entire pyre goes up. We take a few step backs, the fire blasting a green color before settling again, the color of his magic.

The procession was a small affair, the people of Hazelwrenn that bothered coming gathered around trying to catch a glimpse of those assembled, trying to gage our grief. Our faces were covered with thick black veils, no one made a sound, not until the carriages pulled away from Hades' temple, not until we made it back to the castle where we all broke the silence.

The children looked relieved that they could finally go on and play, and we'd sent a governess to watch over them.

A maid came by to pour wine in our chalices as we all sat around the removed common area, waiting for the family of the deceased to say something, anything.

"So, our biggest threat is gone. I hope this alliance holds and we all aren't at one another's throats like in the old days." Zion remarks, causing Ramsey to scoff.

"What a way to break the silence, sister." Ryland says, shaking his head.

If her complexion allowed for it to be more noticeable I'd say she was flushed at his call out, but I couldn't exactly be sure at the moment.

"I still can't believe you all orchestrated this without our knowledge." Robin says.

Winston gives a grunt in agreement.

"To be fair, the man had you both wrapped around his finger. It would have been counter productive." Kyrennia states, sipping from her chalice.

Truth be told, I had no clue Atlantis bothered themselves in this affair, but I guess it makes sense. We all fear them too much to pull a rug out from under them. They must have known.

"This all doesn't matter now. What's done is done. The kingdom is grieving, but we are celebrating." Ryland raises his chalice into the air. "Long live the queen."

We all mutter the same and d ink to that, Zion giving a slight bow of her head.

"I never caught the story of how you were moved to our cause, Prince Ryland." I say, looking to him expectantly.