Chapter 19: The King
Fen limped through the smoldering gates of Unger. The city was in disarray. The storm had caught everyone unprepared, shattering windows, ripping roofs off buildings, and causing general soggy mayhem. A whole crowd of guards were gathered in the courtyard around the shattered gate, keeping people from fleeing, and leaving the dismayed common folk to fend for themselves.
A guard held up his hand at Fen’s approach. “Nobody is allowed in or out right now.”
Fen scowled. His ring allowed him to feel the fear and uncertainty at the forefront of the man’s mind, but it had been a long day and he had no sympathy for the man standing in his way. “I need to see the King. I’ve got a huge amount of information about everything that just happened, and he’s expecting me.”
“I… uh…” the guard stammered, looking around the square to try and find a superior officer. After a moment he sighed and looked down at the knots on his own shoulders, resigning to the fact that he was the commanding officer on the scene. “At least give me your name so I can go after you if you cause trouble.”
“I’m Fen.” He smiled. “You’ll definitely be hearing about the trouble I’ve caused by the end of the day.”
Fen was through the blockade and fading into the crowd by the time the uncertain guard realized what he had said. He was still close enough to feel the man’s fear turning into a jolt of anger, but the thoughts soon faded away, replaced by the jumble of the crowd.
The thrill of the day had long since faded, leaving Fen to contemplate his injuries. His heart was thundering, and his head throbbed in time. He could barely keep his legs under him. The thoughts of others swirling in his mind threatened to overwhelm him, so he twisted the fat gold ring on his thumb, canceling the ability now that it was no longer worth the effort.
Each tired step made Fen’s plan to confront the King feel ever more rash, and he contemplated giving up and retiring to Regis’s house. The thought made him cringe, however, as he contemplated the hellish week he had just gone through at the hands of the King’s incompetence. He feared what might happen if he left the incompetent, scheming Royal family in charge to recover from the disaster they had fumbled the city into.
The thought made Fen angry enough to keep going through his pain, and before long he was at the gates of the palace. Much to his surprise, they were wide open. Palace and city guards were bustling in and out, carrying resources and commands in an effort to mitigate the disaster that had struck the city. Fen wondered if this was the King’s pitiful attempt to regain the city’s favor.
Fen walked in, almost surprised when nobody stopped him. He worked his way through the busy palace halls, marveling at the productivity he was witnessing. The guards at the door to the throne room were the same ones that Fen had bullied earlier in the day, and they were the only ones in sight who weren’t keeping themselves busy. They looked him up and down before shrugging and opening the door for him.
The King was alone in the vast room, looking pale against the rich backdrop of his ornate throne.
“Fen.” The King said. His voice was resigned, and his terror was palpable, even with the ring inactive. “Are you going to kill me?”
Fen didn’t answer right away. He walked over to the side of the room, grabbing one of the plush chairs that were waiting in the wings. The dust that puffed off it when Fen sat indicated what the King thought of people sitting in his presence.
“Do you think you deserve to die?” Fen asked. The fatigue in his own voice matched the King’s.
“No.” The King hesitated. “I’ve made a mess…” He grasped for words for a while before falling quiet.
“I’m not going to argue with you on that part.” Fen sighed.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, you’re the one with the power here. You’ve usurped my guards, fixed my mess, and cornered me in my own throne room.” The King said. “It seems that the decision falls to you.”
The mention of usurped guards confirmed Fen’s suspicions that the King had nothing to do with the guard’s efforts to aid the city. “There’s been enough death for one day.” Fen decided. “Abdicate, and though I can’t speak for the many, many people you’ve screwed over, I’ll let you walk out of here.”
A wave of relief washed through the King’s face, but it went away when he saw Fen grin. “You look like you have another idea.”
“You’re not going to like it, but I’ve thought of a way you might be able to regain your favor with the people.”
A few minutes later Fen led the King out of the throne room. His head looked bare with the crown left behind on the throne. The formal papers of the King’s abdication lay under the crown, sealed with official signet that the King had been more reluctant to part with than his crown.
Captain Goran was waiting in the antechamber, and he gave Fen a strange look. “I was certain you were going to do something rash.” The guard said.
“Just you wait.” The former King muttered.
“Captain Goran, meet Petrick, Unger’s new ambassador to Kheltirm.”
Goran’s eyes went wide. “Oh, that’s good.” He smiled. “What are we going to do about leadership?”
“Were you the one that organized all these guards?” Goran looked panicked, but he reluctantly nodded. “Well, then it sounds like that’s your problem. I’m going to bed.”
Notes: This was a fun experiment. I wanted to try writing an entire story with absolutely no outline, just pure pantsing. I mostly wanted to do this because it was something I’ve never tried before. The few times I’ve tried pantsing I always succumb to writing a working outline to keep track of things. That’s actually the main reason this was so short. I just wanted a quick little thing that builds from the beginning and has a rather abrupt ending, and that’s all I knew when I went into it.
It’s obviously quite rough. In order to keep myself motivated on this project and to make sure I kept it 100% pants I posted it week by week as I wrote the chapters. Now comes the editing phase, and I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to edit it like a true pantser or if I’m going back to my old, familiar reverse outline.
All in all, I’m proud of how it turned out. I’m excited to see where editing can take this story.
