The Aeterna Empire

Chapter 15.6 - What was Inevitable

The Chancellor was taken away. All that remained was my brother and myself.

The ray of light beaming down from the sun expanded to envelope us. I shied away from it, but could not move fast enough before its full eye was on us. The first thing I saw to my left was my brother's wide-eyed grin. He was loving this.

"Bring the king of Kes here." The Aeterna said.

Compelled, not by law, but by necessity, I stood up. At the same time, Caius stood. Seeing me rise at the same time, my brother glared at me.

"Now this is interesting." Adam mused. He stepped away from the table to stand before us both. "Two kings."

Caius argued, "He is no king. He gave it up."

"True enough, not by normal standards." The Aeterna agreed. However, he pondered it a moment, and stepping in front of me, looked at me and said, "Answer me this: Which is king? A common man who takes on the burden of others or a royal son?"

I answered, "The royal son."

"Why?"

"By law the hierarchy of kingship is given to the first born son, otherwise anyone can fight over it and there is division."

"Yet you stood when I called for a king."

"Yes." I answered, unsure of myself.

"Why?" He probed. "Why would you stand? Truth be told, you do not belong here. You belong in the north with those loyal to you. Don't look at Izthark, it wasn't through him I know."

I did not answer at first, and Caius snorted, "You still can't leave anything alone."

As opposed to him never troubling himself with anyone but himself?

"Not inherently an evil thing." The Aeterna whispered, whether as rebuttal or to himself, I could not tell. He looked me closely in the eye and said, "The full weight of what I will do to your people will be decided by this. Is that why you stand?"

I nodded.

"If you say 'no' you will be released freely and sent to the north. My time with you will come later, and you may continue to resist at your leisure. Yet, even so, you would speak for these people? The very ones who cast you out?"

I gulp. The smarter choice would be to take the mercy and fight another day, but I won't. I cannot. To allow Caius to be the determination of my people's fate is disaster. Why should I sacrifice the living for future prospects? I shall not!

"I would. I cannot ignore what is before me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself otherwise."

The Aeterna looked between us for a moment and chuckled lightly. "A king by law and a king by responsibility. Young king of Kes, there is more to king than a crown. I tell you that any child that can bear his own burdens is a man, and any man that bears the burdens of others is a king."

I blinked in surprise. The saying reminded me of my teacher. Caius sighed, barely managing to keep from rolling his eyes. "You would have gotten along well enough with the palace tutor. He shares your wisdom." Caius added.

Adam looks on knowingly, and smiles. "Yes, I imagine so. Now come. Caius will be first." 

Caius sat in the chair opposite of him and relaxed, leaning back until the seat was on two legs. He put his hands together in his lap. He roped his feet together on the edge of the table. Adam glanced at his feet briefly, but otherwise said nothing nor showed anything about the impolite posture. But then, would he have found it impolite to begin with? The man I met as Adam was, in some small part the same way of Caius, unbound by culture and rules. This new man, calling himself The Aeterna, is a binder and enforcer of the same, casting judgement and claiming everything as his.

For the Aeterna to make no remark upon it, did that mean that some of the Adam I knew is still there?

"You are named Caius'Ronlin'Kes, king of Kes, and son of Kador'Ronlin'Kes. Correct?"

"Yeah. I presume you spent time in my holding as well?"

I blinked in surprise. My brother had his own land? When had father given him land to govern?

"I did. I spent nearly a month there."

"What did you think?"

"The territory is beautiful, the people hard working, and the general opinion of you is favorable. Unlike the Chancellor you went out of your way to remove laws, even some your father the king imposed over all his kingdom." My ear ached hearing this. Caius was bold to defy father. "I am curious. why?"

"I didn't buy into the stories and superstitious nonsense our father did, so the priests had no power over me and I made sure they knew it. Besides, it can't be unlawful if there is no law against it, unlike that fat oaf where everything was illegal." Caius rolled his eyes. "Making it criminal to ride Ne ash lizards, how absurd! Where is anyone going to get one of those?"

"Mhm. I don't buy it. You aren't lying, but you aren't telling the truth either. What is the real reason?"

Caius hesitated, but smirked all the same, and with only a brief glance in my direction, answered, "To prove myself the superior. While my brother was wasting away partying, feasting, and having a harem in a distant land, I asked for some land to be given as a test."

"You don't think public relations are part of kingship?"

"No. Why would it? Soran are rumored to be the strongest and the most isolated at once. This doesn't strike me as coincidence. Ire are cheats, Ne are dumb, and the Cynn... well they hate us. What profit would it bring?"

"And you were given the chance to win after Kador died. My soldiers reported on your words. You said you would have rather stabbed your brother there." Caius didn't so much as blink. He bore no shame. "And when the time came you set him up to be executed."

Caius scoffed, "Is this what you judge me for?"

"Not at all. It was efficient, ruthless. I would have done no less in your position."

"You aren't any less in your present one."

"Precisely, but with one difference: I see no reason to execute you to prevent rivalry. You pose no threat to me nor my empire."

"Then I am to be judged by what standard?"

The Aeterna rose from his chair and moved the table to the side. He stood in the light and said, "When I judged the kings of north Ire, the kings of south Ire, the tribes of Ne, and the triumvirate of Soran, it was each was with a simple command: Bow."

Bow.

Bowing is the act of lowering your head beneath another, to show your existence is lesser. It is this 'height' that is the reason thrones are placed on ascended stairs and floors even within a room. The tall are proud and the short are mocked. The sun is above all and is called a god.

For a king to bow and show another to be superior, isn't just a reflection of himself as a person, but of his right to rule, the position of his people among the nations, the authority and might of that nation. It makes another taller, not by raising it, but by humbling yourself and lowering your own position in contrast.

Adam the Aeterna ordered my brother to surrender and diminish himself before the sun, before the self-proclaimed Emperor, before the Empire's subjects, and with his nation, his capital, directly behind him as a weight on his back.

Caius was already on the grass with his face to the ground.

They stayed like this for a long moment in silence. At last, the Aeterna said, "Rise, Caius. I could use a king."

Then, looking at me, Adam said, "Come, Valspear'Ronlin'Kes. Time to be judged."