TOBIN CANRAREN IS A FAKE KING. As the rightful King of Cardina, he lies about his lifestyle in order to protect his people from the effects of the war. This mission becomes harder when Synketros, an organization aiming to mine manpower, demands his...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
2412, Iclis 05, Jyda
Tobin sighed and leaned against the backrest of the carriage. Ariam cocked an eyebrow at him. "What?" he fired at the knight. "I am tired. That is all."
But it wasn't everything. His heart hasn't stopped pounding since they deposited the purged in a safe spot where they could restart their lives. Gods, just planning for this first task fried the living daylights out of him.
He hadn't counted on the Sovereign being the one behind the purges. At all. And in giving her free reign over Cardina, he had just legalized taking a soul from their own home under the guise of criminal activity and dumping them into someplace worthy of their alleged crimes. He also hadn't counted on the Civil Corps being used for purposes not aligned with the reason for their existence. Instead of protecting civilians, whether they be from the Commons or Disfavoreds, the Sovereign made them the ones dispensing justice. Except justice could have enough meanings with Synketros involved; and Tobin learned how easy it was to make up a crime and brand someone a criminal.
So, when reports from Ariam's platoon informed him of Civil Guards imprisoning people and shipping them off into containment centers to be shipped elsewhere, Tobin had to act. It's a violation of a person's most basic right, which was to go where they wish and not be forced to be anywhere they didn't want to be in. But it wasn't for that sole reason at all. Maybe—just maybe—he felt guilty for not thinking things through with his deal with the Sovereign, and pushed preventable misery towards his people.
That's why he had to fix it, no matter what mess he found himself in, and no matter what sacrifices he had to make. It's a dangerous promise, for sure, but it's something he could make without hesitating because he had screwed up in the most epic way a king could. He thought himself to be smart, but without knowing the rules of the game or even what game they were playing, intelligence could only do so much. No one could win in a game of karavag using the pieces and the rules of metina.
Tobin rested an arm over his throbbing eyes, slumping his shoulders to get rid of the tension still gripping it. Sweat made his scalp damp and his arms and palms slick. He shouldn't have insisted on bringing a cloak with a hood. Unbelievable—how he forgot the notches the heat outside the Nobility region could rise to.
Ariam shifted in the seat opposite Tobin, no doubt crossing and uncrossing his legs as if he didn't know what to do with them. The Captain had been a great help in all of this, starting from securing the routes out of the Royalty and Nobility region for Tobin to travel on without being caught, to working out the finer details of the plan, including the locations of the camps and the resources they'd be using.
Of course, a nagging feeling sat at the recesses of Tobin's gut. What if Ariam was the Sovereign's spy all along? He had done nothing but be cooperative to Tobin's demands. What would happen should he prove to be from Synketros, slowly leading Tobin to committing a crime the Sovereign could easily fault him for?
