The Kingdom of Smosh

Chapter 1

Dawn broke. As the morning fog subsided; townsfolk began trickling into their morning routines. Bakers stocked shelves with freshly baked loaves, the muted noise of seamstresses slowly beginning to converse while on the job, the distant clang of the blacksmith hammering against freshly formed guard armor.

The day began like any other, which subsequently included the King of Smosh standing outside the captain of the guards' chambers awaiting on his presence. From past experiences, Ian has learnt not to barge into the room – despite his position – incase of any unwanted viewing. So he stood patiently and waited in the corridor, nodding politely to anyone who passed by, until he soon heard the slow click of the chamber door opening, and with it emerged a scruffy-haired, well-built, sweaty, blonde man that was Shayne. Ian deduced that he had either been training early or had something else on his mind, and chose to question the former.

Before he could make a deduction, a raspy voice cut through the air. "Morning sire." Shayne croaked. "Shayne, you of all people know that you only call me that in public and formal situations." he reminded the tired man. "My apologies" hummed Shayne, with thoughts clearly elsewhere. To cut through the awkward tension, Ian began to meander towards the throne room, gently coaxing Shayne to follow and leave his troubles behind.

With Shayne now fully alert and on guard, he signaled for the two guarded doors to be opened and immediately scanned the room for any threats before allowing Ian to sit atop the throne to begin the day's work.

Ian's voice quietly rang through the hall before his work begun, "So, Shayne" he queried, "are you feeling better after this morning?" Shayne immediately saw what he was playing at, but he decided to go along with it. "What on earth could you mean, sir?" "Well, just before when you came from your chambers, you seemed a bit out of it, you know?" Ian tried to reason. "Well, yes, I had just been training, however it was to combat some thoughts on my mind recently, but truly nothing of your concern, sir." He calmly answered. So Ian assumed nothing of it and signaled for the guards at the other end of the hall to allow for the first visitor, for those in the town never usually came early to seek an audience with the king, it was almost certainly those from out of the kingdom seeking refuge or guidance.

Once Ian had made it through the first few people asking for no more than small pieces of land or requesting refuge, he couldn't help but have Shayne's thoughts in the back of in his mind, refusing to let go. Interrupting the King's inner monologue, Chief Soldier Wes waltzed through the door, clad in battle-worn armor and cape, he made his way to the foot of the stairs separating the throne from the lower floor.

"Sire" he said whilst knelt on the floor "our forces are dwindling, as Shayne may have mentioned, the little severity of the situations that even pose a threat to our kingdom are causing our forces to retire." Wes stated bluntly. "Go on," requested the King, "I either suggest we create a false sense of safety in the town and force people to re-enlist into the barracks and prove that we are needed, or you decree that there must be a mandatory number of soldiers in the barracks and enforce it." To Ian, both the suggestions seemed quite bold, so he posed a question to the second-in-command. "Tell me then, suppose we do falsify a threat, to whom do we entrust the creation of this deception?" The knight to there in confusion and thought, but was suddenly interrupted by a shuffle forward and a voice filling the air.

"Isn't Boze a strategist of sorts?" announces Shayne, "Your point?" gruffly replies Wes, "well, she is quite good at devising traps and maniacal devices in her spare time while she trains to be a strategist, then?" Shayne corrects himself "I've seen her drawing about such things before, I think she'd be good at it" he continues.
The pair of guards had fought in the past, but not in recent memory, or as Ian could remember. "I –" Ian pauses, "I do agree with you Shayne, and this idea of yours Wes could prove useful, but for now, I say try to make your training sessions as public as possible to expose your skills and training to others in the kingdom." He concluded.