Rise of a Queen

Chapter 23

"This all started a very long time ago." Bernard sank deeper into the cushions of his armchair. For a man about to tell what was sure to be an agonizing tale, he seemed oddly comfortable. Then again, drifting in an alcoholic haze probably helped to calm his nerves, and it was in this intoxicated state from which he listened to himself speak as if he were also hearing it for the first time, "The story I'm about to tell you has been passed down through the generations and as Corinth mentioned, most of the Tribe, to this day, just assume it is nothing more than a story we tell to our young before bed as a way to teach about the risks of trusting evil people who wear friendly smiles. But it is so much more than a bedtime fairytale. It is a retelling of our origins, where the King family comes from, and when our hardships began.

"Thousands of years ago, there was once a King who lived overseas in a small but fruitful kingdom. It was prosperous on its own and maintained trade within the walls, inadvertently isolating themselves from surrounding territories. Although the kingdom was peaceful, it was protected by knights with skills far surpassing any other soldier at the time. They were an unstoppable force, and the King's council of advisors wanted to use the knights to invade nearby kingdoms. But the King believed in coexistence rather than conquering others, and he wanted to negotiate with other territories instead of taking them by force. When his council realized their King would never go to war, his advisors rose against him in mutiny and planned to assassinate him.

"But the King was a very clever man and his council of advisors underestimated the devote loyalty of the knights to their majesty. The knights told their King of the plot to overthrow him and the King instructed his team of alchemists to devise a type of biological curse which he used to poison his advisors. From that moment on, they were cursed with a very horrific disease. A hereditary disease. It was passed from one generation to the next. Legend says only the King could produce a cure but he disappeared with his knights, and the advisors have been cursed ever since."

Dustin had been listening intently but when Bernard fell silent once more, Dustin's hands wrung tighter in his lap, "I have been told that story a hundred times by my father, by our grandfather, by you and Donovan, by practically everyone at the compound. But what does any of that have to do with what happened to me?"

"Each generation of the advisors' offspring have been looking for a cure and each generation of the King's offspring have been exploited and persecuted while trying to find it." Bernard glanced at Brandon, then Corinth, and finally at Dustin, "You see, it has to be a descendant of the King that produces the cure. No one else can do it."

Dustin followed Bernard's gaze to each of his cousins, then down at his own hands, inspecting them thoughtfully before asking, "So we are descendants of this King?"

"Yes. You, Brandon, and Corinth are the last surviving direct descendants, besides myself of course. There once were others but most have died or been killed." Bernard pointed to the series of photographs hanging above the stairs and throughout the room, "The knights themselves were the first members of our gang, and the King was our first leader. The name of the gang has changed many times over the years but the purpose has always remained the same." His eyes were gleaming, "The Tribe, first and foremost, is a form of protection and lifelong servitude to the King and his family."

Dustin struggled to comprehend the magnitude of Bernard's confession, as did we all. Thousands of years worth of secrets was difficult to accept but Dustin, more than the rest, took the brunt of this revelation as if a boulder had been thrown and landed with tremendous weight upon his shoulders, "So what happened to me ... it has happened to others?"

Bernard shrugged, "I can't say for certain. What you went through with the Count is unique but the reason you went through it is common amongst our family."