League of Light

The Battle's End

The weapons masters carried the former king and queen down to the dungeon of the castle, holding them there as we went to the city to meet with Aelfdene and the rest of the rebels. As we made our way back through the castle, Rhys walked ahead of us in silence, clearly mulling over what their father had revealed to us. Sahir slowly worked his way up to Rhys' side, placing his hand on their shoulder, abruptly pulling Rhys to a stop.

"Rhys. I'm your partner, these are your friends, we are your family. Not some jackass who sat up here, lying to the world. The rest of the League, all of us, we will be here for you, no matter what. You know that, right?"

Rhys took a deep breath, and turned to face us.

"I know all of this, and thank you guys, but this is something else. I have to speak to Aelfdene about it first. But I'll tell you about all of it as soon as I can."

Rhys had never spoken to me so seriously, emotionless and cold, so I merely nodded, and continued after them through the castle. As we walked in silence, I wondered if Rhys was thinking about the memories I had seen of their father through their childhood. Eventually, we made our way through the castle doors, onto the courtyard where the rest of the League was celebrating a battle won. Already, people of the city were in the streets, celebrating finally being freed from the King. His police had been subdued by the rest of the fighters with us, and it looked like the celebrations would last through the night. A cheer greeted us as we were noticed by the crowd, and as it parted, I saw Aelfdene maneuvering the stone above the palace gates into the symbols of the League of Light. As she finished this task, she turned, and walked towards us, proclaiming us the heroes of the battle. We greeted her as she arrived in front of us, and Rhys asked for a word in private. Myself and the others stepped back, but Rhys shook their head and waved us forward.

"You should all hear this too. Aelfdene, the others are already aware, and I think you may have figured it out, but King Tywyll is my father. I grew up in this castle before running away to Matron's orphanage, but before I did, there was some knowledge I found in the castle that will help us further free these lands."

Aelfdene's brow didn't even slightly raise at the revelation of Rhys' relation to the King as she motioned for them to continue.

"When I was very young, I found a secret library, full of the secrets of magic my great grandfather stole from the world. It mentioned a tree, supposedly the heart of all magical power in this land. I would like to volunteer myself to find this library once more, learn everything I can about this tree, and travel to reveal it to the world, as reparations for my relatives' involvement in the concealment of magic."

When Rhys had finished speaking, the rest of us immediately went to interject. None of us believed Rhys was responsible for this, and I, having seen this library in Tywyll's memories, wanted to see it in person myself. Aelfdene held up her hand, and we all stopped at once.

"You were correct in guessing that I knew of your true identity, for I'm sure you know you look very like your mother. I knew her of course, as well as many of the others in the group she fell in with. Alainn," she then turned towards me, "I told you of a possible traitor within the League when you first joined us. It pains me now to say I did believe it was you, Rhys, but the true traitor was revealed to me during the battle. Someone of no significance to many of us, but you have all met her. The woman in our bathhouse, who heard everyone's conversations and knew all our weaknesses. She attempted to turn against us, but was killed by the King's police as she approached to join them."

She took a breath, and seemed to be awaiting our anger at suspecting Rhys. When we didn't voice this, she continued.

"I would however, still be interested in your offer to find this library, and this magical tree, but I hope you will do so tomorrow... after the execution. And, I hope you will do so with the help of your friends."

We sat with our mouths agape for a moment. Execution? I began to voice my disagreement with this, but Rhys cut me off.

"How will you do it? The execution."

"The King and Queen will be publicly executed by an arrow firing squad, consisting of multiple master archers firing at the same time. We will never know who fired the final shot this way, and their deaths will be instantaneous."

"Good."

And with this, Rhys turned, and walked into the crowd. Aelfdene bowed her head to us before leaving for the message post. She was spreading the word of the regime change to all the cities and towns of Iledrith. Once she left, Sahir left us as well, struggling through the ever-growing crowd to find Rhys. At last, it was Firtha and I, alone in this sea of people. It was all I could do not to hold her then and there, but now was not the time. We joined into the throng of people, celebrating the end of a war.