In the city of Haltenhold, the capital of the Kingdom of Kilaxi, a short figure rushes through the halls deep within the gargantuan palace, the residence of the last remaining remian ruler on all of Gaio. He enters the throne room of his friend and king, Uludan Kilaxi.
The room seems to stretch nearly a mile in every direction, the pillars holding up the domed ceiling wide enough that fifty humans could not encircle the base. Banners that could cover a city block hang from the top of the walls, depicting the flying axes of the kingdom upon a plane of steel gray lined with brown.
Windows taller than any other building in the kingdom grace the walls at regular intervals, glass panes thicker than most trees secured firmly within them. Their curtains alternate from each window, one set colored like steel, the next like wood. The figure takes all this in, still driven wide eyed by the grandeur even after many years of seeing it daily.
“My liege, the Empire’s envoy has arrived. Where would you like to receive them?”
The moui man bows before the enormous throne, with the equally enormous remian seated upon it. His voice squeaks out in a respectful way as the giant man stares down at him from high above. The smooth, dark skin of the gargantuan person contrasts nicely with his snow white hair and matching eyes. The regal royalty offers a tired smile to the comparatively diminutive being before him.
“Bring them here, my loyal friend. I am tired of this farcical game of cat and mouse. I will put an end to it. Now.”
King Uludan’s voice is a deep rumble akin to thunder as he shakes his head in disdain, his warm smile disappearing entirely at the news. The Empire has been bombarding the kingdom with their ‘envoys’ for several years now.
“But… Your Grace, they may perceive this as an insult.”
Without looking up, the moui expresses his concerns. Having long been bound to the service of the royal court, his awareness of such matters always brings a deserved look of pride to his face, though this time he has a slight frown. The king sighs, the force of which ruffles the robes of the comparatively tiny person before him. Unperturbed, the mouse-like man stays perfectly still, his eyes in a lowered position so as to not offer offense.
“Then let them. Maurice, you have been my advisor and my friend for how many decades? Five? Six?”
Uludan’s voice is full of weariness, his tone that of a king who has long since grown exhausted by the back and forth of ruling a kingdom beset by its enemies throughout the centuries. The moui responds immediately, having no issue remembering the long life he’s lived by his friend’s side.
“Six and a half, Majesty. Though I’m not sure if I’m to be much longer of the world, it’s sad to say.”
A sorrowful look crosses the ruler’s visage as he hears this. He knows very well how short lived the moui are. His advisors going back the last several hundred years have been primarily from the race in question. Maurice has already lasted a decade longer than he had expected him to.
“I know, my friend. I know. And you know my stance on the Ildan Empire and their… proclivities. I shall not stand by as they steal my kingdom from beneath my feet. They are trying to stick their noses into an internal matter where they don’t belong. We can handle it ourselves. I’ve half a mind to believe those barbarians are the ones that caused this problem to begin with. If not, they’ve definitely been making use of it. Bring the envoy here so that I may send them off with an explicit warning to extricate themselves from our affairs.”
As the colossal king commands this, he shakes his head wearily, soon schooling his expression to the regal visage expected of royalty. He was taught the ways of rule eons before almost anyone else in the entire world was born.
“Yes, my liege.”
The moui strides purposefully from the gargantuan throne room, returning moments later with a pale-skinned alden man. The man’s amethyst hair and matching eyes gleam in the light. His expression is one of smug arrogance, seeming as if he believes himself to be better than the royalty in front of him.
“Hello, your maj—”
The man begins to speak, but is quickly interrupted by the trusted advisor of the king, who seems incensed at the audacity of the simpleton.
“Silence! You will speak when spoken to!”
For such a small being, the moui puts enough force into his squeaky words to elicit a startled twitch from the ald. The ruler of the Kingdom of Kilaxi simply stares down at the man, not needing any malice to be an intimidating sight.
“Your majesty, I have brought the envoy as you’ve so ordered.”
Uludan simply nods at his advisor’s announcement, displaying displeasure as the ald begins fidgeting under the gaze of his enormous form.
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“You may speak now, ald. Mind your tongue, you’re speaking to Uludan Kilaxi, the high king, last of his line.”
Before the moui even takes a breath after his statement, the amethyst haired man begins to speak. His tone is anything but reverent, with the arrogance he had been previously displaying returning in full force.
“Your Majesty, I meant to offer no offense, of course. Have you given much thought to our… proposal? I believe you will find it to be—”
The thunderous voice of the king interrupts the honeyed words of the despicable man before he has a chance to finish his sentence. In a tone bursting with rage, the wave of sound that emanates from him is of such strength that the unimaginably tall stone walls shake ominously.
“You DARE come into my kingdom, my home, telling me what I should find favourable? You do not bow. You do not bend the knee in supplication before me. You’ll find that my patience runs thin, boy.”
The ald bristles at the last, offering a small inclination of his head in response. He still clearly believes that he is socially above the remian seated above him in a more literal sense.
“Your majesty… if you would only—
“If I would what?! Capitulate to your emperor as he ravages my lands, enslaving my people?! I will not stand idly by as he commits such atrocities right under my nose.”
“We only wish to—”
“Yes, the Society of Scoundrels… you wish to help with that problem. The very same issue that only appeared as soon as the war with your people ended. We may be in a short period of peace as your new emperor decides how next to attack my kingdom, but he will not oust me with political foolery and skulduggery.”
The pale alden man’s face gains some color as his voice attains a hint of anger at the king’s implication.
“You wouldn’t be going so far as to say what I think you’re saying, would you, your majesty?”
The man spits the last word with disdain as the king’s mouth quirks up in satisfaction at the man’s slip. The ald as much as admitted to the implied undertone with barely a push from King Kilaxi.
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you could be thinking, alden child. Would you care to elaborate? That way we’re on the same page.”
Uludan manages to put an almost sincere amount of confusion and curiosity into his question, while still maintaining hold of his regal air. The pale, purple eyed man flounders under the king’s scrutiny, as he appears to be searching for any way that he can backtrack.
“Well… that is to say… it’s nothing.”
Knowing fully well that if he were to say anything further on the matter, he would likely give even more truth to the implication for the simple fact of reaching that conclusion unprompted. The king’s smile only widens as the ald struggles to dig himself back out of the hole he’s found himself in.
“Am I to assume, your majesty, that your response is a resounding ‘no’ to our offer?”
Even with his previous blunder, the imperial envoy retains his arrogant tone without a hint of the respect due to a king.
“Feel free to assume that, as you will never usurp me as long as I live. You tell Hamiir that we will not be allowing your armies into our kingdom for any reason. We can handle this problem with the scoundrels ourselves.”
Uludan spits the name of the emperor with such vitriol that the alden man flinches before his final response is brought out with a professional tone.
“As you wish, I will relay this to Emperor Ildan forthwith. Who will be showing me to my quarters?”
The gall of the man brings a scowl to both the king and his advisor’s faces, with the ruler making his stance explicitly understood.
“You will find no repose within my palace. I would suggest you begin searching for an inn.”
Indignation colors the ald’s skin a much deeper shade of red as he turns and storms out of the throne room, a guard following close behind him.
“Are you sure that was wise, my king? You’ve most likely rekindled the war with the Empire. I understand your distaste, as the man was rude to the extreme, but this could have dire consequences for the kingdom.”
Maurice’s tone is one of concern, and Uludan takes no offense to the moui’s statement, as it is a valid opinion to take up. At the heart of the issue, though, politeness would have been pointless.
“That was bound to happen either way. If not today, then in a month. If not at that time, maybe a year. Even if it were to take longer, there is no way that those alden bastards would allow anyone not of their lineage to stay in rule of any lands near them.”
Uludan releases a long overdue sigh, letting the air out for a full minute before speaking once more.
“Inform our allies of this development. If we are to survive the coming years, we will need assistance from as many nations as we can muster. We must bring the war to them on all sides. They may be a large empire, but they are not infallible.”
The weariness in his voice has only grown deeper than it had been at the beginning of the interaction with the envoy, for obvious and understandable reasons.
“Yes, my liege.”
Before the moui leaves, the gigantic man stands to his full height of nearly thirty feet tall, his youthful appearance belying his true age.
“I’m getting too old for this… many times there have been upstarts that have tried to take the kingdom from its rightful remian rulers. Many times my family has fallen in battle. Whether this war will be my last is yet to be seen, my friend, but I’ve escaped the reaping too many times to count.”
“My liege?”
“I’m nearing two thousand years old, my friend. I have seen the rise and fall of many nations since long before I was the ruler of my own. Everything must come to an end, but if the ald think they’ll rule this kingdom before my death, they will need to be taught the folly of their ways. This is my kingdom! I will not see it enslaved as long as there is breath in my chest. With each beat of my heart, I will ensure the safety of my people.”
The moui stares up at the impressive figure, admiration shining in his elderly eyes as he witnesses his king in his full glory. The ruler before him has clearly shown that he is worthy of the mantle he has upon his massive shoulders.
“Of course, your grace.”
With that, the two men nod, turning to walk in opposite directions.
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