An Eternity in Bonds 00 - Prelude

Author's Note: This establishes the story context behind my other work. Non-erotica and purely setting establishment. If you want to skip to the erotic content please check out the main series.

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"The king is dead!"

Bells rang while the citizenry fled the citadel. Mothers held their children tight while Fathers called for arms. Soldiers ran every which way, a veritable stampede ensued.

Nemikos, the Lion, was one such soldier. Grabbing his spear and shield, he ran for the nearest armory. The notice had come dead in the night, and no one knew what was going on yet. While the rest of the populace fled the crime scene, he rushed through the Gate of Triarchs and into the Eternal Keep.

Dressed only in a soldier's chiton, he ascended the steps in bounds of three, at last reaching the summit and peering at the carnage in full effect. A veritable battalion was assembled in the Great Courtyard, Lieutenants and Paladins attending their respective Field Marshals.

He looked around. One thing was strange, but the Judicator, the high commander of the realm's forces, was nowhere in sight. Usually the man could not be parted with his armies.

Passing a group of high ranking Knights conversing in hushed voices, the Lion reached the top at last. He could spy the Shimmering Tower behind the Great Cathedral in the center of it all, but that was not his target today. He made for the Tower of Eternity's Descent.

Braziers glowed red hot in the din, but there were no stars out tonight. He climbed up the last group of stairs, panting heavily at this point, and at last reached his destination. The Court of the King.

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Ignoring the two paladins guarding the entrance, Nemikos barged in loudly.

"Knight! What are you doing here? This area is restricted to authorized personnel only!"

There he was, the Judicator. One of his attendants, a Legion Captain, his Legion Captain in fact, had been the one to call him out. The group of officers were attended by several Cabal leaders and the High King's most trusted advisors.

"I just... Had to see... for myself," Nemikos panted, trying to get to closer to the dead body on the ground. Tears welled in his eyes. "Our king is dead...?"

"He is," the Judicator rumbled. His voice was a low rumble, a quake in the earth.

"Get him out of here!" one of the High Lords, by the Knight's reckoning. "What happened to the security! Paladins, escort this man out or I will personally dismiss you from the Legions!"

The two paladins, hurrying behind the insolent Knight, at last caught up, and with a mighty tug, they wrenched him away from the dead King.

"Let me go!" Nemikos was furious. He had every right to be there, he thought. The king had raised him since birth as one of his own. Ever since he had immigrated to the city, a wild orphan boy, the King, passing by on one of his city-wide tours, had been the only to truly see the state of the city. Nemikos didn't know what he saw in him, but ever since then, he had been in the King's service. One day a street urchin, the next a trusted member of the King's own family. He supposed that that was just how royalty worked around here.

"He was like a father to me!" His pleas fell on deaf ears but for a single soul in the crowd gathered ahead.

"Are you blind!? This is Nemikos, ward of the King! It is as he said, he has a place beside any of us here! Let him through."

Low murmuring. He pushed aside the two paladins and approached the dead king.

"Father... "

"He was no father to you boy, " An unknown Captain had spoken up. "You are but his orphan boy, worse than a bastard."

The man was cuffed by the Judicator himself. Cursing, he straightened again. "I stand by my point. You are no son of his." The man stormed out of the building.

"Pay no mind to him," It was Archimond, the man who had let him through. He had been his tutor for his whole life. "He is just a bitter old man, I suspect much of him." He glared out the door again.

"Who is he?" Nemikos asked. He was not angry; he had accepted his status long ago.

Archimond looked back at him. "Ah, nothing, pay this fool no mind," he smiled, as best as he can given the gravity of the circumstance. "An old acquaintance of mine, nothing more."

The group looked on, their attention refocused on the dead King's corpse, the Cabal slowly encircling the fallen king, their chanting rising in tandem with the intensity of their magic. As they wove their unbreaking dance, the Judicator came up behind the young man.

"We shall have much to do in the days to come. Meet me outside, by the fourth pillar when you're done. I have something to discuss with you, ward of the king."

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The ceremony concluded, the procession left the building. The two men met in dusty starlight under the deserted cityscape. Martial law was in full effect. Their voices were soft as an insect's purr, the contents of their talk carried away on the soft breeze.

A mile away, a long shape stretched out on a roof. A young woman, dressed only in rags, watched them closely, her ears pricked to the minute details of the conversation.

"And the King's other wards? What of them?"

"Dead," the low rumble of the Judicator. The woman growled, a feline noise, her body and lean muscles tensing at the low rumble of the man's voice.

The boy, clearly perturbed. "That cannot be."

"See for yourself." He took out the dead kins' ceremonial bracelets. They appeared lightly bloodied. "They were ambushed three nights ago. Their full bodies were never recovered. We found only these in a small puddle of their blood and their souls' expression, each and every one."

The boy looked up. "Then they are not dead. I will find them."

The man shook his head. "You are our best chance of a successor. Until we find the true heir, you must take his place on the throne!"

The young man shook his head in tandem. "I was never born to rule. I cannot do it. You may be my commander, but you are not my father."

The boy stormed off, but the Judicator followed.

"I have a proposition." He began. "Just so happens, I need some things taken care of up in Aurium."

The Knight looked around, weary. "Is this some kind of punishment, Judicator?"

The Judicator smiled. "Not at all son. You go up there, and field rules apply." The Knight was following his every word. "Bring the keystone to me, and I don't care what you do along the way." The officer handed Nemikos a smudged parchment.

"This... are you sure?" Nemikos was aghast. A Mythic Age artifact, here? Have the monks in Aurium really discovered it, after all these millenia?

"Find it. I will be in touch." The judicator leaned in. "The city is full of spies, young one. Tread carefully."

With that, the man leaned back, and made his way back into the inner sanctum of Eternity's Descent.

"Do not keep me waiting for long. We must make haste if we are to avoid a Third war of Holy Consequence."

The gates shut with a clang, the runes lighting up wards of defensive magic. The two paladins resumed their duties, their eyes fixed on the young knight, still gaping at the great gate.

And without a word, he too walked away.

A mile away, the girl leaned back, releasing bated breath. For a second there, she thought that the General had seen her. And maybe he had.

She will have to be careful tonight.