In the Shadow of Lions - Chapter 2

Though it had been several days since his father delivered the news, William was still unsettled by his uncle’s passing. Once again secluded in his rooms, he grappled with the loss, trying to make sense of what it was going to be like now that the king was gone.

Gavric had been the closest thing to a real father William had had in his life. Edmund may have adopted William shortly after marrying his mother, but that had been a dynastic play. William’s mother was young when they married, so Edmund expected to have trueborn children to supersede William, and only adopted William to help strengthen his place in the line of succession. Bastards, which children from previous marriages tended to be treated as, were never spoken of, leaving little tradition to guide how they should be dealt with in inheritance.

Fate had a will of its own, though. No one could have foreseen the fever that took her. Since then, Edmund kept his distance, choosing to ignore William whenever possible, and barely tolerating him when that wasn’t an option.

Gavric, on the other hand, had taken a genuine interest in mentoring William, taking him to tournaments and even arranging the occasional training session for him. It was one of the reasons he and Serwyn never got along. Though William never intentionally slighted his cousin, Serwyn seemed to resent William for stealing his father’s attention. William never knew why Gavric and his son were so distant, but he certainly had never done anything to slander his cousin.

Now Gavric was dead, Serwyn would be king, and William had lost the only ally he’d ever really had. His thoughts returned to his uncle. He recalled Gavric’s booming laugh and the sparkle in his eye when the sword master would knock William down to show him an error. He remembered the amazing warrior on the jousting field, defeating knights ten years his junior. But most of all, he remembered the kindness beneath Gavric’s gruff exterior.

A knock interrupted his melancholy train of thought. Before he could respond, Edmund entered, sweeping into the room. William rose to greet him properly, having learned a long time ago the penalty for not showing the proper deference.

“Still mourning, I see,” Edmund said coolly, looking at William.

William clenched his fists but held his tongue. The words may have been benign, but the indifference in Edmund’s tone betrayed his true feelings, or lack thereof, about his brother’s death.

Edmund continued, oblivious to William’s anger. “The vigil ends tonight. Tomorrow you will swear fealty to Serwyn, and then you will begin preparations to join your Uncle Aldric when he sails to reinforce our armies in Lynese.”

“Yes, Father,” William said, trying to keep his face neutral.

He failed, unable to hide his displeasure of being sent off or having to swear fealty to his cousin.

“Don’t give me that look. If you are to succeed me, or even become a baron in your own right, you must learn to lead men. You’re old enough to come out from hiding behind tutors and wet nurses and begin to learn like a real man. Hell, when I was your age, I’d already been a squire for two years.”

While that all seemed reasonable, William wasn’t fooled. Edmund had never made a secret of his desire for power, and he’d seen his adoptive father with Serwyn enough times to work out how he intended to get it. As much as he ignored and dismissed William, he coddled Serwyn, quick to find a reason to accompany his nephew on this or that errand. Always offering to help and advise him. Gavric, who’d always had a soft spot for his brother and seemed unable to notice his more power-hungry side, had always acted as if it was a favor and was glad for the help.

Now that Gavric was out of the way and he could become more overt in his courting of Serwyn, Edmund didn’t need a little thing like an unwanted heir hanging around, mucking up the process. Maybe he even hoped the Lynesians would do him a favor and solve the problem of William for him.

“The ports should be clear of ice in about three weeks, and Aldric will be sailing at the first opportunity. Talk to your tutors, take what you need, but I want you on that ship when it leaves. If you have any questions, talk to Aldric.”

Edmund turned and left as abruptly as he came, not waiting for a reply from William. Alone again, William sighed and sank back onto his bed. His uncle’s funeral would be held tomorrow, the final farewell before he was burned on the pyre. William had no desire to see Gavric’s body consumed by flames, even if it was tradition.

William had never given it much thought before as to why the ceremony around death happened like it did. When his mother passed, he’d been young and so sad that he hadn’t been able to think about it beyond the agony of knowing she was gone. When Gavric had turned ill, however, his tutors had decried it as a good opportunity to teach him about their history and why the tradition was done in the way it was.

According to them, it all went back to the time of magic, before the great cataclysm that wiped that power from the world and split the land into three continents. They’d explained that people, especially kings, were burned so that their energy could become part of the bloodline, empowering their descendants with their knowledge and wisdom. While William was skeptical that had ever been true, let alone still held any meaning, traditions died hard. While most people would bury or scatter their loved ones’ ashes, following the burning, the ashes of kings and great men were preserved in ornate urns in crypts and mausoleums. When William asked his tutors why, they didn’t have a real answer, offering only maybes and ifs.

Now, William didn’t care. Tomorrow, his uncle would be gone, reduced to ash, and William would be alone.

The great bell rang in the city square, sounding the beginning of the night watch. Families would be gathering for meals, offering up prayers to their ancestors to watch over them. William wasn’t hungry and had no desire to sit at the table and watch his father dote over Serwyn. He decided instead to head to the Grand Hall to see Gavric one last time.

William chose to give the guards assigned to protect him, as was custom for all the royal family while in the capital, the slip. Maybe not the smartest thing, but most had been handpicked by Edmund while the king was off at war, and they were almost certainly instructed to inform on his activities to his stepfather. While it wasn’t exactly wrong that he’d visit his uncle’s body lying in state, it would be out of the norm at this time of the night, especially after the conversation he and his stepfather had just had.

Thankfully, the streets between the palace and the Grand Hall were only lightly filled with people, making his journey to the massive building quick and hassle-free. Although the market was not far from the main thoroughfare that ran between the palace and the Grand Hall, the merchants had all closed-up shop, and those patrons who didn’t go to their families for dinner had moved off to the far eastern side of town, where the bulk of taverns and brothels could be found.

William entered the vast expanse of the Grand Hall, marveling as always at the unearthly pristine white floors, remnants and reminders of the amazing skills of the ancients. Despite having little interest in books or scholarly pursuits, he couldn’t help but be awed by the sheer scale and grandeur of the ancient structure. Tall marble pillars lined the hallway, reaching up to support arched ceilings painted with intricate murals depicting scenes from a long-ago age.

Acolytes garbed in simple gray robes, many with arms full of crumbling leather tomes and cracked scrolls, were still wandering the halls, coming in and out of side passages. Their hushed voices and shuffling steps lent an air of solemnity to the space as they went about whatever their daily tasks were. While his tutors had covered the acolytes and their preservation of history, the only part William ever paid attention to was when the lectures turned to the seekers, who roamed the kingdoms in search of artifacts from the age of magic. It was impossible not to daydream about mystical swords and powerful amulets while his tutor droned on, even though that almost always ended in a rap on the knuckles for not paying adequate attention.

Finally, he reached the massive central chamber where the body of the king lay in state upon a raised marble dais. Kneeling on the cool white floor next to the catafalque, William bowed his head. This was why he was here, to pay his respects, and seeing the shroud-covered body was enough to focus William’s thoughts. In the morning, Gavric would be taken to his final resting place, and William would only be able to visit his tomb, never able to see the man again.

“He would be pleased to see you keeping vigil by his side,” came a quiet voice next to William, jolting him from his reverie.

He looked up to see his Uncle Aldric settling down on his knees beside him, golden hair falling across kind yet weary eyes. William just nodded. Being here, seeing his uncle’s body, made the feelings of loss all the more real, and a lump had formed in William’s throat.

“I’m surprised to see you here this late,” Aldric said. “Isn’t it time for your evening devotional?”

“I thought … I could do it here just as well as at the sacellum,” William said, referring to the small shrine most homes, even palaces and castles, kept for household members and guests to pay respects to the ancients.

“How are you holding up?” Aldric asked gently, placing a hand on William’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure. Everything is changing, and … I don’t know. It feels like the world is crumbling around me. Did you know Father is sending me with you to Lynese? To the war?”

“Yes, he told me,” Aldric said. “Are you worried?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I know it won’t be like the practice rings. And I’ve never been outside of Starhaven before, except on trips to visit Father’s vassals. But then we had his retainers and guards. This is … different.”

“It’s normal to feel fear when facing the unknown,” Aldric said. “You know what the ancients taught. That courage isn’t the absence of fear but pressing on in spite of it.”

William only nodded again. He’d read the testaments, as every noble child was made to do, and he knew of the virtues. Reading about them and having to face them in real life, however, were not the same thing.

“Did you know Gavric hated battle? He always said it was a waste of resources and lives and saw it as proof that he’d failed in his duties to negotiate on behalf of his people.”

“But … the king was the greatest warrior I’ve ever seen,” William said, surprised at the revelation. “He was winning the war. He won every fight he was in.”

“Being good at something and thinking it right are not the same thing,” Aldric pointed out. “It’s much like bravery. You can exhibit qualities and have feelings that contradict those qualities. Everyone does. You can be brave and afraid at the same time, just as you can be a good general and hate the idea of war.”

“Father is just trying to get rid of me,” William said, finally putting his real fear into words.

“I’m not going to defend my brother’s decisions or actions,” Aldric said. “I know the two of you do not have the best relationship, and he has other things concerning him now that don’t include you. I imagine that’s hard on a young man, and there isn’t anything I can say to ease what you must be feeling. I will say that your best choice is to focus on what’s in front of you. Whatever his motivations, he’s done you a favor.”

“How?” William asked incredulously.

“Did you know I went on my first campaign when I was about your age? Gavric was leading one of our father’s armies. He was just shy of twenty at that time, but already he’d shown his genius on the battlefield. The storm over the maw had been huge that year, and our father sent us to help deal with the Chaosborn that had escaped it and were plaguing the western reaches of the Shadowhold. I wasn’t just worried, as you are now. I was terrified. But Gavric took me under his wing and taught me to control my fear. He taught me the nature of war and how to do what must be done while not losing myself and what I believed in.”

“And that’s what you’re supposed to do for me?”

“Well, it’s what I’ll try to do. I don’t think I could live up to the example that Gavric set for me, but I will do my best. Ignore your issues with your father for now and just focus on learning the lessons you need to learn. This is a great opportunity, and I think you’re smart enough to take advantage of it.”

William fell silent, gnawing on his lip as he thought.

“I miss him so much,” William finally confessed in a small voice. “I … I always wished he’d been my father instead.”

“I understand, and I miss him too. It’s good that we keep him in our thoughts, but dwelling on our grief achieves nothing. We must look to the future now.”

“What future?” William burst out bitterly. “Serwyn’s taking the throne? You haven’t lived with him, spending every day with him like I have. He’s cruel and petty. His favorite game is to see how miserable he can make the servants, always trying to get them beaten for doing things he made up. And he hates me the most, more than I think he’s ever hated anyone. As soon as he’s crowned, he’s going to get even for all the times I beat him on the practice fields or made him look foolish.”

“I don’t think it will be that easy,” Aldric said, holding up a placating hand. “No matter how Edmund feels about you, you are still heir to King’s Heart and the only son of the regent. You have a lot of power in your own right, or you will one day. You’ll also be leagues away on the other side of the Straight of Terrors, and he’ll have other things on his mind.”

“But imagine what he’s going to be like for the kingdom,” William argued.

“We don’t know what kind of king Serwyn will become. He’s young and still finding himself, just as you are. He has people advising him, steering him on how to be a leader. We should give him the chance to show how he will adapt and change with that guidance,” Aldric said, although William thought he didn’t sound as convinced of that as he had of the other things he said.

“He has my stepfather as a mentor,” William pointed out. “And I’m not sure power won’t just make him worse.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. As his vassal, I am bound to follow him, as you will be one day. That can’t be helped. Besides, history has a way of dealing with kings who treat their people badly,” Aldric said, before shaking off the moment and looking back to William. “What you can do is ensure that when you take your place, you do the best you can. You do the best for your people when you become a ruler in your own right.”

“How? How can I do right by anyone if my king is evil?”

“A king has a lot of power, true, but he doesn’t control the daily fate of the average Sidorian. The dukes and barons are who the people deal with on a daily basis. They protect their people, ensure their communities are safe and run well, and maintain the peace. Now is the time for you to learn how to best do that. This could be an opportunity for you, a chance to learn leadership away from the toxic politics of the palace.”

William scowled, “I long to fight as much as the next man, but how can war teach me to govern?”

“War is more than just killing,” Aldric said gently. “It’s strategy, planning, logistics, and organization. It’s leadership. Qualities that every good leader needs, king or not. And you won’t just be with lords and nobles on the battlefield. You’ll get to know the soldiers. Soldiers that come from all walks of life and are more like the people you will lead than anyone you might meet in the palace. That experience will serve you well in the future.”

“I guess I never considered that.”

Aldric smiled, “A smart leader draws wisdom from many wells. Book learning is important, but practical experience is just as important. This campaign will give you that, which is a rare gift. Make the most of it.”

William just nodded, thinking about what Aldric had said, only looking back up when Aldric broke the silence.

“Did you know Gavric spoke of you often?”

“He did?”

“Oh, yes,” Aldric said, smiling sadly. “He was so proud of you. ‘That boy has the makings of greatness,’ he’d say. He regretted leaving you behind when he went to war and thought you’d do well on the campaign when you got older. I think he was even contemplating bringing you with him after this winter ended, before he was injured, of course.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“No. My brother was many things, but he wasn’t good at telling people what he was thinking. He had a bad habit of surprising people, be it good or bad news. It had its uses, playing things so close to his chest, but it caused him problems too.”

“I won’t fail him,” William vowed solemnly. “Or you.”

“I know you won’t,” Aldric said, patting him on the shoulder and standing, giving his brother one last look.

William looked at the king’s shroud-covered form as well, thinking about what Aldric had said. He could do it. If Gavric had thought to take him on a campaign this year, and Aldric was right about what he needed to learn, then William would do whatever it took to learn the lessons his uncle would teach him.

He’d learn how to do right by both of them.