The Wielder of Death Magic

“Nice to meet you,” they exchanged handshakes in the middle of the set, after which, climbed three brown-colored stairs and sat on comfortable-looking couches.

“I’m surprised,” said the host, a demi-human of very nice facial features, the disposition of the traits was of the illustrious black panther – there was strength and power behind his words, countering the canines and ears were his visage and polite intonation, “-our team took a chance at contacting the royal palace... imagine my surprise when a kind gentleman answered the phone and immediately accepted the offer.”

“It would be my secretary, éclair,” replied Igna, “-besides, coming here is an opportunity to mingle and have a little entertainment.”

“I’m relieved,” he sighed, “-pardon me,” he shot back in his seat with a few cackles, “-I expected his majesty to be stern and very harsh on strictness and manners.”

“What image do you have of me?” Igna said rhetorically with a hint of jest, “-we’re not so heavy-handed.”

“Right,” the host faced the bemused crowd, “-we have a lot of questions to get through.”

.....

“Go right ahead,” said Igna.

“First, everyone’s been dying to know about the marriage.”

“The princess and I are officially married,” he smiled, “-Eia Riverty-Haggard, she chose a compound name to honor her family. As pretty as she is on camera,” the voice softened into a whisper, “-she’s very fickle,” the crowd took much of his jests with open-minds, they laughed albeit for show.

“I’ve been a fan of you since the days of the Alchemist,” a push of a button suddenly covered the set, “-I’d like to see his majesty in action!”

“A kitchen,” remarked Igna, “-the technology sure is impressive,” it didn’t take much to alter the flooring into a full-fledge cooking station, “-the ingredients are top-notch,” he threw on an apron and tied his hair with a fiery-designed bandana, “-how about I whip up an Igna special,” he winked. There, the act of dawning an apron swayed the masses completely. To see the new king in cooking attire and making his way around the kitchen brought a sense of relatability. With or without consent, the subconscious message of him being one closer to the people as to one destined to a life of seclusion in the palace was satisfactory. A brief fifteen minutes was all the time needed for the studio to be ravaged by famished onlookers, the aroma riled the appetite like no tomorrow. Poor Kugan hops in his steps and excitement on the face led his pallet to a serving of cooked meat. The fork reached in timidly, once he impaled his prey, the latter dove heartily into his mouth, what returned was confused, “-houf, houf, hot.”

“I see Kugan speaks the language of the dragons.”

“HA-HA-HA,” the crowd laughed.

“Please,” Igna hailed to the backstage crew, “-I’ve made enough for most of the people here,” a curl of the palm brought them onto the set, “-please distribute this among our guests.”

“We won’t have enough,” said a man in working attire with a tablet in his grip.

“Worry not,” returned Igna, a glance to the man’s badge had, ‘-producer,’ written upon, “-I’ve already asked for more.” Before long, the cacophonous audience breathed and spoke the same language of ‘houf, houf.’ A team of terrifyingly dressed guards barged through the main door and made their way onto said set.

“Place it here,” directed Igna, the inventory of snacks grew spares, and without fail, he dawned the apron again and erupted the stoves in volcanic spews of pure flames. The minutes turned hour, as for the show, the schedule didn’t really matter as Kugan had close to two hours on the air.

“Amazing,” the camera panned onto the host and guest, “-I never expected such deliciousness, I only heard from the accounts of others. Man, we’re lucky, aren’t we,” the set returned to normal.

“Yeah!” said the crowd.

“We should get to reason why we called on his majesty for an appearance,” a shady aura filled the host’s eyes.

‘There we go,’ thought Igna, ‘-he’ll either bring something from my past or talk on the collapse.’

“A new segment,” he smiled, “-please look at the screen,” a holographic rectangle materialized, “-ask his majesty anything!”

‘-I see,’ he exhaled, ‘-a question and answer bit. I guess he’s used up much of screen time. For a pilot episode, the real-time response is very favorable.’

“First we have Elie from Oxshield asking; what are his majesties hobbies?”

“Hobbies,” he paused in reflection, “-researching?”

“Will you elaborate?” inquired the very interested host.

“The University of Rotherham,” he smiled, “-I love looking into the intimate nature of how mana interacts with us and the universe. It’s known all of us that power is a necessity in our evolving world,” he held an open palm to the crowd; spirit-like creatures materialized with a liquidesque texture. They flew with much of the likeness drawn from Adete’s bat-form, “-the hobby’s led us to discover a means of power, unlike the world, has yet to see. There’s more information available on the university’s site,” the chin sharply made for Kugan

“-Pardon me,” he exclaimed, “- I was lost in thought. For the next question we have Mark from Kreston, will the war affect us?”

“A great question, the answer is complex. I suppose not, there are measures in place to safeguard our day-to-day life. One of the greater policies is to bring Hidros’s economy past the threshold of mediocrity and onto the path of stability.”

“Yes, I agree,” interjected Kugan, “-there has been talks of having differing currencies for different countries. The universal Exa currency is making the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer. The less fortunate kingdoms wish to keep Exa, as for their counterpart, breaking from said means of exchange and looking into their own means will definitely add to the prestige.”

“Currency is a topic which will require more than a few snarky replies to cover. Depending on how the council comes to an agreement, we ought to look for both possibilities.”

“Last question,” he said, “-Acie from Dorchester asks, will his majesty keep Hidros unified or will there be diversifications?”

“Hidros doesn’t need to be unified,” he said, “-I say this in a good way. The leaderships are unified and tied by us – while the idea of harmony is appealing, I earnestly think there is more stock in allowing each belief and race to grow at their pace. Elves have a life expectancy of thousands of years, dwarves live for centuries, humans, at most, a few decades. Each will grow on their own, and as for me, my true race is Nightwalker, I was once a human – and now bear the blood of vampires. Us, as a people, have been watching over the world since the dawn of time, I say this with the warmest of intention; for Hidros to become how King Blaine Riverty envisioned, the understanding has to start from the people. To back my words, the current council is compromised of various races, adopting a similar means of passing judgment akin to Arda,” the crowd were mesmerized by the answers – the simple rule of manipulation applying to a person works on the greater picture. A man whomst kind on the eyes, polite in his speech, charismatic in his ways of interaction, will always shine brightest. It doesn’t matter, the truth is so, charisma will always win over competence, sweet words are much easier digested as opposed to the hard truth.

Shortly, at 19:30, the curtains drew on Kugan’s Saturday Night live, “-amazing,” said the host closing the distance to Igna.

“Was it?”

“Yes, look at the crowd, they’re elated and excited.”

“Good job on the questions,” said Igna, in it, a sense of danger riled the panther’s instinct, ‘-he knows,’ he gulped, ‘-his majesty knows the questions were staged by the higher-ups...’

“Please give my warmest of feelings to lord Amsey,” same as he arrived, the king made for the backstage. Building a reputation wasn’t much priority, “-could you please sign my shirt?”

“Sure,” he replied, “-why would you ask for my signature?”

“I admire you,” said the attendant, “-a king who’s not afraid to talk with his people is something I’ve never seen before,” the kind-hearted lass’s round glasses reflected the gleaming overhead lamps.

“Thank you,” returned Igna, “-I may never reach the level of admiration Queen Gallienne held, even so, I’ll make sure I come close?” he winked and left, leaving the bystanders stunned at how friendly and dignified he was.

“Master,” gestured éclair, “-transport is ready. The nobles have been gathered at the castle.”

“Right, what of King Easel?”

“The man’s still in the castle.”

“Should be fine,” they entered a monstrously expensive car of which reflected the passing lights and traffic.

“Master...”

“If you have something to say, do it.”

“The story of the kind king, he who had everything did all he could for his people. In times of pain, he gave his people happiness, in times of drought, he gave his people food. In the end, when the king’s coffers were empty, the very same people turned on his majesty and blamed their situation despite him having cared for them.”

“I know,” replied Igna staring into the passing scape, “-the kind king was a fool. The moral was that people are ungrateful creatures by nature, I understand it very well. My dearest friend, thank you for being worried. Much of the reason I’m pushing forth the persona of a kind and friendly king is to lower the guards of our enemies. The perception of friendliness is often misjudged as weakness – I achieve two goals with one shot, the people grow to accept my claim, and those willing to do harm art be exposed.”

“Is it the reason why you allowed Eia to have a compound name?”

“Correct, long as the Riverty name exists, she has claimed over the throne, doesn’t matter if her majesty abdicated her claim, the belligerent parties will want to gather a revolt behind her, I’m sure they’ll make contact soon.”

“What type of king are you trying to become, master?”

“Me?” the legs crossed, “-the kind who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

The date read 28th of December, the marriage took place on the 10th in a private ceremony. The look on Aceline and the princess’s lover, Nicola, was one deeply engraved in his heart, ‘-she’s a liability, getting rid of her might be the better option in the long run. Ending her will end their bloodline,’ so was his line-of-thinking whilst they exchanged vows. Since then, the days were filled, between transferring all the paperwork onto éclair’s core in the Shadow Realm and public appearances, much was left to be done.

“Master.”

“éclair?”

“I have good news,” he said, “-the unnamed project’s nearing the end. The new proposed catalyst has worked perfectly.”

“Good,” he smiled, “-to open ourselves to the world, we ought to start with a bang.”

Soon rose the arch-way entering the castle. Guards were stationed as usual, “-majesty,” a maid was quick to open his door, “-the guests wait in the council room.”

“Understood,” he glanced éclair, “-let’s go, my friend.”

An air of suffocation gripped the steps the instant the barriers unlocked, ‘-there they are,’ the king entered with chest, ‘-the people who rule the kingdom from the shadows, the true leaders. Nobles, warlords, and the hidden society of elites, Ariel. Welcome to my table, unlike Gallienne who was led on by these old-timers,’ he reached for the chair and sat, ‘-you’ll find, I’m heartless,’ the aura glazed with a single glare.