Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Throne room (II)

"Eldi Hnefa, why have you come to our kingdom? Your time has passed long ago," the queen received him.

Her tone was solemn and proud. Nonetheless, those who knew her could feel the irritation in her voice.

"Time may have passed, but the promises are still valid. I have come to demand their compliance, to ask for explanations for their breach," the high human accused.

He didn't point anyone in particular, although quite a few felt they were his target. There were some who couldn't even help but tremble, or their teeth from chattering. He had come exactly for what they had feared.

"You made promises with our grandparents or great-grandparents, even great-great-grandparents. What does that have to do with us? Why do we have to be bound by oaths that others made?" the queen refused to take any kind of responsibility.

Denying her ancestors was anything but honorable. Some of them felt shame and indignation, although others supported her. What did disgrace matter if they could save their necks and their privileges?

Eldi sighed. His allies had already warned him that they weren't going to make it easy for him. Despite this, he had to keep trying, to force them to give in or take action.

"The promises came with benefits. You are free to give up both, but you can not deny one and keep the other. Your titles, your positions, are tied to fulfilling the conditions, the promises," he demanded.

Several noble houses had fallen by then, and others had risen. Even the old royal lineage had been replaced, as the heirs had died in a fratricidal war of succession.

Eldi had stopped a civil war with many factions aspiring to the throne. He had given them all the opportunity to obtain it through more peaceful methods, by establishing the rules of succession. At least, to those he had deemed "worthy".

With the Book of Judgment in hand, Eldi had judged those who had committed atrocities. He had also given opportunities to those who had protected the people, no matter if they weren't nobles.

The conditions of that mission had imposed that the next kings had the blood of the previous ones. It was something that practically all the nobles fulfilled.

It had been common for some members of the royal family to marry nobles. Their children with other nobles, and so on. It had reached the point where royal blood could be traced if one went through the family tree of any noble. In fact, they were all related in one way or another.

The mission had also allowed him to impose conditions, as the bearer of the Book of Judgment. He had only demanded the fair treatment of vassals and the non-abuse of power. At least, that was what he had written. Somehow, the book had transformed it into a long list of detailed demands.

Perhaps, the most significant was that all nobles had to swear them upon assuming their position. That tradition was still kept, even if it was only to keep up appearances. Therefore, they couldn't argue that they didn't know, that they were ignorant of the promises. After all, the nobles had reaffirmed them themselves.

"With what right do you tell us what we have to do!? We don't even know if you're the real one! Even if you were, you have no legitimacy in MY kingdom!" the queen burst.

The murmurs that had started after the visitor's demand increased when the queen refused. That was a statement that went against her own coronation oath, but she was the queen after all. She had the ultimate authority here.

Then, a signal told the nobles on the royalist side that it was time to act.

"That's it! We don't need you! This kingdom is prosperous without you!" a count exclaimed with hostility.

"The oaths are nothing more than a formality! The work we do every day for the kingdom is what's important!" a duchess argued.

Several nobles, servants and rebels looked at her in disbelief at such a blatant lie. Working wasn't exactly what she was famous for.

"You're no one to tell us how to run a kingdom! What does someone who doesn't even belong to this world know?" another argued, while Eldi looked at him impassively.

"Run a kingdom? Work?" a countess refuted them sarcastically. "The only thing you know how to do is squander and suffocate the economy for your interests!"

"Damn traitor! What does an ignorant rural noblewoman know!? You have no idea how complex the government is! You have no right to speak here! Go back to your pigsty in the south!" another tried to silence her.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," Eldi sighed.

Unlike the others, he pronounced those words without raising his voice, without wanting to impose himself by shouting. Despite that, silence fell again. As much as they wanted to deny his legitimacy, it was one thing to say it, and another to believe it.

They saw him raise his hand, and it shone with a strange but majestic aura. Quite a few swallowed when they saw a book appear. Some recognized it instantly, and others when they heard the murmurs.

"The book of Judgment..." was all that was whispered.

With a thought, it opened. Its pages began to turn quickly, until it stopped on one in particular.

"Contract between Eldi Hnefa and the leaders of the kingdom of Engenak," Eldi read aloud.

His voice was solemn, even more so than he had thought himself capable of. Although it wasn't that what made all the nobles present shudder, but the aura that emerged when saying them.

They could feel the bond that tied them to that contract through the oath they had accepted with their title. They could feel the power, a power with the authority to judge them.

Many held their breath as they watched the page turn.

"First law, on the fair treatment of vassals," Eldi continued reading.

The nobles may not have known the words by heart, but they all knew more or less what it said. Those who had breached the oath felt an invisible collar surrounding their necks, threatening. They seemed to feel an invisible hand capable of squeezing their hearts. Perhaps, a barrier that could prevent air from entering their lungs.

It wasn't entirely real, but rather the expression of their fears about the pressure emanating from the book, of their guilt. That didn't mean it wasn't dangerous, though.

They were going to be demanded to explain their acts like they had never imagined. The Book of Judgment was supposed to have disappeared long ago, and to be nothing more than a record with some prestige.

Just a few sentences had shown them how wrong they were, its power was real. The entire royalist faction panicked. Their time was running out.