Good Morning

Early in the morning, when the first rays of the sun crept into the cave, the surroundings were quiet and motionless. Some maids sat side by side, their heads leaned against each other and lightly snoring. Only the guards outside and Nathaniel were still awake. After checking the King's vitals for a last time, Lady Orchid had fallen asleep beside him. A while later, Aston had picked her up from the cold ground, wrapped a blanket around her and embraced her tightly. Despite the rough terrain, he managed to fall asleep after a while, his cheek snuggled on his mother's shoulder. It was quite cramped with so many people in the cave, but nobody seemed to care.

Suddenly, there was a sound in the content silence. A groan. Nathaniel's eyes lazily shifted to the source. He blinked. With delay, realization sat in and his weary body straightened somewhat. "Good morning, your Majesty."

The sea blue irises of the King shimmered behind blonde lashes. He didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings yet, as the eyes gazed at the cave wall, the people, and the white-haired man sitting not far from him. His Adam's apple moved. The dry lips cracked as he opened them, and his voice was coarse. "Where?"

The usual authority was undermined by his obvious weakness. He didn't even move another muscle or tried to sit up as if he knew how bad his condition was just by feeling the pain in his body.

"A cave", Nathaniel responded in a less-than-helpful way. He didn't want to converse much with a person that had disappointed him time and again.

Despite the bratty reply, the King only breathed in and out once, pain flittering over his face. "This priest, who was he?"

Annoyed that the King didn't even ask about Aston and Lady Orchid who had worried about him so much, Nathaniel's gaze got colder. "You were the one planning the marriage, why should I know?"

A sigh of frustration escaped the King's lips. "You can't even answer a single question, can you? If you don't know who it is, just say so. Don't act in such a disrespectful manner."

"You don't deserve my respect if you can't even keep your word", Nathaniel's rebutted harshly.

"You damn - " The King's fist hit the dusty ground and he struggled to sit up, but only managed to inflict more pain on himself.

Nathaniel watched him without pity. "How many years did you hide my existence? When you finally think of acknowledging me, it is at the one and only time I asked of you to keep quiet about it. You broke your word, and then you even married me off without asking for my consent. I don't need to respect a person that doesn't respect me in any way."

Anger seethed in the King, turning his head tomato red. But before he could retort, another voice spoke up. "Please stop the bickering. What is done can't be changed. We are all sitting in the same boat."

Lady Orchid was awoken by the loud voices and yawned behind her hand. The two men were silenced by her remark and looked in different directions. Of course, they knew that arguing didn't help, they were just releasing a bit of their frustrations.

Aston in the corner still slept noisily, while his mother crawled out of his arms towards the King. A smile tugged at Lady Orchid's mouth, beautiful like a blossoming flower. "Welcome back, William. You never stop to make me worry."

A bit of the tomato color remained in the King's cheeks, as he grumbled: "I didn't plan to."

Lady Orchid giggled like a young girl. "You never do. Did you plan to fall in love with me then?"

"I didn't. But how can I stand against the heavens wishes? You don't need to worry as long as they are watching over me", the King whispered back, but in the tiny cave, Nathaniel could hear every word.

Truly, he wished he could just shut his ears and stay deaf. They were a secret couple, so where was their secrecy now? The sugar-coated words could feed an anthill for a year.

Luckily, Lady Orchid took pity on him and soon changed the topic: "I think you need to thank Nathaniel here. Many of his men died while saving you. You even endangered his and Aston's life, and without Lady Katherine I'm afraid ..."

Her voice trembled until the King took her hand. "I'm awake now."

"Yes." Lady Orchid blinked rapidly. "You big idiot, why didn't you protect yourself better?!"

Suddenly, she burst into tears, and buried her face in the King's shoulder. Awkwardly, the King patted her back. "It's okay now, don't cry. Don't cry. I promise I will be more cautious next time."

The promise only made his lover wail louder.

Over her shoulder, the King shot Nathaniel a glance as if to say: 'help me! Do something!' However, Nathaniel only smirked evilly and didn't even bother standing up. Instead, he leaned back and watched as the King panicked.

In the end, it was the sleepy Aston who calmed down his mother. His grumpy gaze told everyone how he was not happy to be awoken in such a way and he stayed like this for the next two hours even after the exhausted King had fallen asleep. Maybe the breakfast of only dry rations and water also played a part in his bad mood.

Meanwhile, the continued sleep of Katherine as well as his own sleep deprivation had robbed all energy off Nathaniel's body. When Aston noticed his brother's eye lids fluttering repeatedly, he sat down beside him. "You can sleep and let me take over. Trust me."

Nathaniel's lips moved, but no sound was heard before his lids finally shut and his head fell forward. His breathing mixed with Katherine's. She laid beside him, her cheeks already rosy again.

"Hm", Aston made approvingly as if he knew what Nathaniel meant to say. "I'll wake you when Sis-in-law wakes up."

.

Shortly after sunrise, a carriage halted on the plains where Nathaniel's magic had eaten an aisle filled with corpses in the grass. It was accompanied by five cloaked riders on dark mares. One of them dismounted and went over to the carriage to open the door. He lowered his head as if he didn't dare look at those inside. A deep voice sounded. "Go get him. He will be of great use in the war to come."

Shortly after, a slim figure emerged, her face hidden under a black coat that opened further down to reveal the skirt of a wide dress. The woman left the carriage and wandered over the dry earth. Her steps were determined, but she took care to not even brush the white bones with the rim of her dress. The skeletons laid there in variable poses, some with their swords still in hand, some already broken as if stomped upon. Finally, she reached the middle of the nearly round aisle of destruction and halted.

Golden bracelets clinked as she raised her arms. When the sleeves of her coat slid down, the sun-tanned skin of her hands and finely manicured nails got visible.

"Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. I call upon thee. Rise again to fulfil your master's wishes."

The voice was crystal clear and rang through the air like a bell. It was followed by a greyish mist-like dust that filled the air from the point where the woman stood. It only lasted for a second or two before it dispersed. The riders all eyed the woman curiously. They didn't know what she wanted to do, but it sounded way more dramatic than what the actual effect was. What was with this grey dust cloud? It didn't do anything.

Then suddenly, one of the riders pulled air through his teeth. "Oh goddess. Is this... ?"

Not far from the woman, something rose from the ground. At first it seemed like a whirl of white and grey dust, then their vision cleared.

Opposite the coated woman stood a skeleton. It was nearly as small as she with overly long arms. In its hand was a sword unlike any other. This was a sword that had killed hundreds and would never leave the side of the one that conquered it. The one and only best swordsman of the Falumor Empire.

"Good", the voice inside the carriage sounded out in a laugh. "Without a soul, this Prince can't disobey. Since his movements and sword style are inlayed in his bones, you should be able to revive them and turn the greatest weapon of the Falumor Empire against them. I can already see their horrified faces. Now, come back to me."

Without a word, the woman turned and went back to the carriage. The skeleton followed right on her heels, frightening the riders that enlarged the distance between them and her. Only the one on the door remained, though he was pale like paper. As the woman and skeleton entered, he heard her talk again. "You promised to strengthen my powers. I hope you can keep your promise."

"Yes, yes, of course. I know you only do this for your brother. Of course, I will help you achieve your aim."

"Good."

Afraid to hear more things he shouldn't hear, the rider hastily closed the door.