The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 18: Kline Wullmont

The King awoke alone. It was uncommon for his bed to be so empty in the morning, but it had been for a few days now. His conversation with the Queen the day before had shaken him more than he cared to reveal. She had such a talent for striking directly at Kline's insecurities, perhaps one of the reasons he could barely stand to be around her. Her words had been ringing in Kline's head, like church bells through the night, keeping him awake. And when he did finally manage to drift into a peaceful rest, the bells only chimed louder and woke him in a frantic terror.

Kline knew the Revolution must be suppressed, but his reasons were his own, different from the High Council's, different from Rebecca's, different from the preceptors locked away in their tower. He needed control, he needed power. And thoughts of The Realm crumbling before him, slipping through his hands like grains of sand, provoked fear, more so than anger.

With the Vanguard preparing for departure, Kline retreated to his study, a separate room within his chambers, to sit and consider the words of his wife, which repeated in his mind, torturing him. He truly despised the woman most days, but he feared there could be truth in what she said, however little truth it may be. There was one thing that his Queen truly loved, and he knew it was not him, nor the children she was forced to claim. It was Ferenor.

Kline sat in the large wooden chair of his study, lined with green and yellow velvet. On the back was a serpent etched into the wood. He wondered how to keep the rest of the world from killing him. If he did as Rebecca suggested and turned his back against the other kingdoms of Miriela, then he may lose his throne to an Esternlund foe. If he strengthened the other cities of Miriela with supplies then he may lose his throne to a knife in his back.

All Kline had ever wanted was a throne. And he had fought so hard to obtain it. After it had been announced that the Devos line had come to an end, Kline's thirst for power took hold. He was young in those days, and foolish. He thought that taking the throne would be the task which proved most difficult. Keeping it, he so naively believed, would only require an iron fist and strong sword. But now he knew that to be far from true.

He was raised in the South, across the Southern Seas. Kline was born into a wealthy family of nobles, who lived among the Northern coast of Kylos, at a city called Golden Water. Golden Water was much smaller than Ferenor, built near the beautiful waters of the Southern Sea. The sun was so bright that its rays lit the sea's waters to shine with a golden hue. It was a common town for trade between Miriela and Kylos, trade that was managed by Alexander Wullmont, Kline's father. Ships often stopped at the docks of House Wullmont, carrying not only goods, but also words.

One day, one of the ships brought with it news of Ferenor's ill King, and the impending end of the Devos bloodline. Any noble house of the South was offered the chance to enter the tournament at Ferenor. The Catredal believed that their Gods would deliver the next King. And so, the tournament was open to any man.

A tournament, a battle to the death, was to be held to crown the next King. Kline was just past his eighteenth birthday, but he was strong, and bigger than most men. He had learned to hold a sword and fight well with an axe. The passing of ships and chores along the dock were a tiresome bore to him, he wanted more. He wanted to rule, something he felt his complacent father would never understand.

Alexander Wullmont was a simple man, and he believed that tending the ships was a better life for Kline, a safe life. He told his son that too often, thrones had poisoned the hearts of good men. 'The docks are an important piece of Kylos, they are its heart. For without the docks, Kylos sits in this world alone'. Kline could still hear the words of his father, just as he said them so many years ago.

Those were the words his father spoke, day in and day out, as Kline begged for his blessing to pursue the throne of Ferenor. His father's disapproval began to burn at his heart, and poison his thoughts. Alexander Wullmont was the only one who could release him. In Kylos, a boy is the property of his father, until he has a son of his own, and so the pattern repeats. Without his father's release, Kline would never be able to depart from the docks. Unless of course, he escaped.