The Kingdom of Secrets and Ruin
Chapter 6

Ruairi

It’s over.

It’s finally over and if it wasn’t for the wound I received at the hand of the younger Leverer bastard, I’d ask someone to pinch me to know that it’s real.

But it is, and with the adrenaline of knowing that my people are well and truly free, the injury bothers me no more than a dull ache. Besides, it barely broke skin and as happy as I am to end this war, we lost lives last night, meaning that I have a bigger burden to focus on right now.

I have families to write to back home in Eradeo, families I will now protect with this crown’s coin and lives I will mourn as well as if they were my own blood.

We’ve been fighting for 15 years, you don’t spend so long in arms without getting to know the men you’re standing alongside, and while it has helped me to be a better leader, it makes moments like these harder to celebrate.

What if I had thrown myself in harder? What if I’d taken the gate without offering a chance for them to surrender? I should have known they’d never take it and maybe the momentum lost as we waited is what cost my people the ultimate price.

No, I know I shouldn’t dwell on such things but it’s hard. Besides, I think I would hate myself far more if such a thing didn’t bother me. My role is about to be different now anyway, requiring a different sort of leader and it’s a role I almost never expect to fill.

King.

I mean, I’ve been a king for years after my uncle’s death but I’d been a fighting king, a moving king and a general first and foremost. Now all I have to do is rule this new kingdom that we have taken for ourselves and I don’t understand how peacetime can feel so daunting for me.

But I suppose that in battle everything was simple, fight with my men and win the war, strategise where possible and trust my gut where it wasn’t. Keep moving forwards and interact to increase morale.

All of this was practically second nature to me but sitting on a throne, creating laws and ruling peacefully is new. So new that I have no idea where even to start.

“You alright Rhu?” Avery asks me, nodding towards my uneaten breakfast and a long-standing mug of ale.

“Yeah, I just-” I rub my hands over my face as if to wake myself up some more, when really all I need is to just give up with that and get some sleep. It’s been days since my lids fully closed and it’s only a matter of time before this rush of energy leaves my body, and me a walking corpse.

“I just can’t believe that it’s over.” I end my statement with a laugh so as to diffuse the tension that I’m no doubt putting out into the room, when really it should be a celebration. A time of joy and happiness for them all.

“Over or not you still need to eat,” Avery mutters under his breath, likely not wanting to be seen telling me what to do in front of our new people, despite being more than vocal over the years in front of our own. I appreciate it and if I knew that it would take the end of the war to finally shut him up, I’d have worked us all 10x harder.

“... But then again, if you don’t want it?” His infamous stomach wins out on him and I roll my eyes while thrusting the plate in his direction, expecting as much from the moment he opened his mouth.

“Have the letters been sent?” I ask before forcing myself to take a sip of the ale and regret it instantly, wishing for some water or something less bitter.

We’d had two sets of letters prepared from the moment we set out for Apheya, one should we fail and one should we succeed. Writing only the latter felt like tempting fate, even if it was on our side and so I look forward to burning the other set at the earliest convenience.

Inside one of the letters, I am summoning my mother and sister to join us where I will be holding my court after all. The rumours weren’t exagerating when describing the sheer size of the castle, and I’m pleased with how the terrain will more easily ward off any attacks, not that we’d leave ourselves unguarded.

In the others, I have directed them to the men I have left in each of the previous kingdoms, once ruled on their own and now part of a bigger picture, my picture. I have no doubt that my people will be happy to read this news and while I will rule over all, it makes sense to have my own leaders running the show in the places where I can’t always be.

They’ve earned the chance of some power and I only regret that I couldn’t have offered something equally as prestigious to Avery after leaving Yeolan to Tedric.

I was hoping that the idea of marrying my sister (should I fall) would be a prospect either of them looked at with less contempt, but no, they continued to butt heads these past few months and so I can’t reward him with that either.

I suppose that just leaves the King’s Hand, something I planned to give him anyway.

“Yes, we had the ravens take flight the second it was over and I expect to hear back from Tedric shortly,” Avery answers me while still chewing a particularly thick strip of bacon that’s coated his tonge and half his teeth.

“What? You asked a question and I can’t keep my king waiting now, can I?” He grins fiercely.

“You can keep the king from seeing your breakfast next time… and chew slower. The last thing I need is for my Hand to be felled by a pig.” I throw back and it takes him a second to realise exactly what I just said.

“Your Hand?” His mouth falls back open in shock.

“You’ve been my second all this time, can it really come across as such a shock?” I joke, never liking things like this to be too serious if it can be avoided, especially with Avery and Tedric.

The past few years have been hard to balance friendship with leadership, so when we’re just sitting down at the table, I try to remind them of the Ruairi they once knew.

“I-I just… I didn’t.” He stutters, falling over his words and it’s hard not to laugh too hard.

“If this is your rejection, I should think that you’d phrase it more carefully… after all, I am the Red King.” I tilt my head to the side and watch as he glares at me, finally getting on board with the jest.

“You certainly were the Red King when I bested you at arms all those years ago, landing you straight on your backside… or at least your face was red.” He mocks and I make a show to roll my eyes, though I don’t particularly mind this being brought up.

Avery has always been a fierce fighter and it’s why I value him so highly in the field. If there is to be a man better at fighting than myself, let it be my brother in arms and let our enemies judge for themselves.

“So you accept then?” I take another sip of my ale through muscle memory and wince again as the bitter flavour hits my tongue.

Usually, I love the stuff but there’s something about this castle’s stock that’s clearly gone sour, that or my stomach isn’t ready for sustenance yet which is equally as probable.

“Will you kill me if I don’t?”

“Most likely.”

“Then you’ve got yourself a Hand.”

I slap Avery on the back in congratulations, for us both really, and as he continues to ravish what little breakfast remains on his plate, my mind wonders to the sea.

I didn’t need the light of the day to tell me that the small town we called at yesterday was beautiful, and now that it’s mine I can’t help wishing to head back.

I was born and bred a Writhage boy and it’s about time that I can enjoy the water again without being caught up in a war I didn’t start. It’s too soon to leave the castle, that much is obvious to me, but maybe after a couple of months, I’ll afford myself a break.

There’s nothing stopping my mother and Odelina from travelling there though and I know that they’ll love it. While my father and I would hunt on our land, they’d both fish in the sea and it’s not been safe for them to do that for a long time.

They’ll likely miss it as much as I do.

“Well, on that note I’m off to inspect my new rooms, care to place a bet on how many looking glasses I might replace?” I say to Avery as I rise to stand.

“At least 5.” He scoffs and I smile at the fact that I was guessing something along those lines too.

Elric Leverer was notorious for his vanity and I have many plans on how to get this castle in better shape, caring less for my image (doubting anyone would dare challenge it) and more for the people forced to stay here.

Here’s to the reign of the us and here’s to the end of the Leverers.