The Tale of Kingdom Makers: A War of Crowns

JACOB BORNE

Today was the first day he would actually rule the people of Icestone as King Jacob Borne. An eighteen year old king? He'd never heard of someone being such a young ruler, but now, that was the only thing that the North had in common. That and their hate-love relationship with the cold.

Even so, nothing about today was like how he expected it to be. As bleak as it sounded, he knew that his father would die one day, but not this soon. Jake expected that he'd be around the age of forty by the time he'd take the throne and his mother would be around to advise him until she died of natural causes. Now, both his parents were murdered in their sleep and all of Icestone cried out in revenge.

The call for war came from every corner of his city, and Jacob felt honor bound to give it to them.

He already had the first step to that. His Father had created a two man military force known as Phantoms who were tasked with protecting the Kingdom of Icestone from threats whether they be abroad or from within. Jacob never liked them. Not because of their job. They did that very well and Borne would consider it a moronic move to disband or not utilize them. No, he needed them more than ever now. The reason he didn't like The Phantoms was because they looked creepy. Their black, white, and grey cloaks were patterned in a way that made them almost invisible and the fact they had hoods which casted shadows long enough to cover their faces, it wasn't easy to know who he spoke to.

For the first few days, Jacob suspected that the Phantom was the assassin. He had the skills and the lethality to make it happen, not to mention that he knew the city like the back of his hand. However, with only one Phantom at the current moment there was no way he could go to all seven Northern Kingdoms and kill all of them at the same time. Plus, he loved Jacob's father. The two grew up together and were only separated because of duty, not choice. At least, that's what his late father told him.

Yet, what really sealed the deal was the jewel that the Phantom found. A Siagramian Emerald. Jacob had only seen one before and it now rested against his mother's neck in the Diamond Crypt. However, it was unmistakable where the jewel came from.

It had a unique cut where the top of it was wide and then narrowed down to a point so fine it could be used as a blade. The plethora of facets across the dark green gem were so smooth and pristine, Jacob could see his own reflection. Dark bags sat underneath his eyes which had light red veins around the edge. Light stubble lined the side of his face and a bit on his neck, but for what it was worth, he could play his exhausted look off as an attempt to be rugged. However, his mind snapped back to the emerald.

If the Siagamians were behind this, which House was responsible? Or were all of them responsible? Orchestrating a coordinated assassination like this would require many moving pieces, and it wasn't like any of those Houses were strong allies. At least, not to Jacob's knowledge. So this had to be done by one family. But, who? With this information, the young King didn't know what his next step would be. Starting a war made no sense. Who would he start a war against? He still had no idea who in Siagam killed his parents and other royalty in the North. Jacob needed more concrete information.

A banging on the door pulled his attention.

Borne looked around the empty hall and realized how long he had been left alone with his thoughts. There was another knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

The dark oak doors swung open and Winston stepped forward with Myster Honin. His brother wore the black armor of the Royal Guard, but instead of a matching helmet, his was gold to show that he was a Lieutenant. One day, the younger Borne would trade that outfit for the pristine white armor that the General of Icestone's military wore. At least, that's what Jacob hoped. It pained him that one day his brother wouldn't always be by his side, but it felt like war was coming and Winston would have to be out there. He was a fighter, and more importantly, he knew the art of combat. In theory. None of the Borne children had ever been in conflict, but Winston was definitely the one most prepared for it.

"My King," they both said. His brother dropped to one knee, but the older Myster could only bow in respect. Jake nodded in return, but was still a little irked by the behavior. My King. It sounded so foreign.

"We've received Ravens from House Pingott and House Ryng," Myster Honin said.

"What did they say?"

He slipped out the two scrolls from his waistband and held them in the palm of his wrinkly hand. "I dare not read them. The seals are the personal marks from those two Kings themselves."

Jacob's blood froze when he saw the official seal. There were only a handful of reasons that a King would use his own mark for a Raven, and most of them weren't good. He took the scrolls and unrolled then, breaking the colored wax in the process. His eyes scanned one, then to the other, and then back again. Borne massaged the corner of his eyes and let out an exasperated breath before running his face deep into the palms of his hands.

"What is it?" Winston asked. King Jacob stared at his younger brother, but now saw a solider instead. He handed him the scrolls and Winston read over them. His chest expanded so much as he took a deep breath that the chest plate rose as well. The Lieutenant clenched his jaw and asked, "They think it was us?"

Jacob stared at the ground and said, "Lieutenant Winston, call up General Iliayas and Commander Jaxon. We're going to war."

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Don't forget to vote and comment!! Also, follow me on...

Instagram and Twitter: @adeltheauthor