Exaltation

The King, the Crown Prince Theatus IV, and his betrothal, Wilhelmina arrived at my county before anyone else for the wedding. The prince, at 10 years old, was more respectful and kinder than most of the nobility. He was enamored by the exciting technological advances that my lands provided. Theatus IV was the only successor to the King’s throne due to the King’s reluctance to find a new wife after the unfortunate death of Queen Meridath. Theatus IV had mostly stayed in the capital keep due to his chronic illnesses when he was younger, which seemed to subside as of late.

Wilhelmina was one of the many daughters from one of the many concubines of Duke Gregus Palantus. She was held with high regard due to her merits as a child genius in mathematics and art. However, in the grand scheme of the nobility, she was just another pawn to solidify the Duke’s alliance with the King.

I honored an ancient Imperium tradition by preparing gifts of ornate hand cannons decorated with floral designs and vines as gifts to the King and the Prince. The tradition was meant to solidify the alliance between our houses, as gifting a sword to another house signified the trust between both houses. It also signified that the receiving house should use the sword to strike the gifter down if the trust has been betrayed. In this era of technology, it seemed best to gift a hand cannon rather than a sword, especially to the King and his son.

During the days before the wedding, the guests began to arrive. Count Ulises Veraxus and his house, Count Verunda Mystus of Yorkus and his house, and Countess Illia Marxus and her husband. The Counties of Yorkus and Marxus were allies of Veraxus, so I essentially inherited the alliances. It seemed that Count Verunda and Countess Illia were respectful of my exaltation, but distant due to their lack of personal rapport with me. It seemed that Count Ulises had planned to introduce me to them in a grand meeting prior to the wedding.

“My fellow lords, thank you for attending this meeting before my daughter’s wedding to the great Lord Rytus. I want to extend further gratitude to our King and his house for attending this meeting as well, for this is a great honor to us.”

“My pleasure to attend, Lord Ulises. Please, continue this meeting with no mind to my status. We are just friends here.”

Count Verunda offered his hand to me. “It is my pleasure to meet you, Lord Rytus. I appreciate the increased trade to us, despite the distance, and quite frankly, the meddling of Lord Lucius.”

Countess Illia patted my back like a soldier to his fellow lineman. “Rytus, you look like your old man! I am looking forward to great things from you.”

The meeting began like a casual tavern outing with commonfolk, but with expensive wine and food. Further trade agreements were discussed, along with a plan to connect Lythan and Veraxus to the Capital with a large highway. This involved the cooperation of Marxus, since most of the highway would be within those lands. To convince Countess Illia, I had promised to build her several fortresses along the highway to help scare away the rampant monsters and bandits. I believed that it was more efficient to place more technologically advanced and experienced troops, such as my own patrolmen, but the Lady insisted on her own soldiers for “training”. During the meeting, I made an effort to never mention the old Imperium tunnels due an agreement I had with Count Ulises prior.

If other nobles had known about the tunnels, what type of chaos would that unleash on the kingdom? What would transpire if the usurpers had access to the tunnels?

A few days later, on the 25th day of Spring, year 66 of the 10th Era, my wedding had begun. Unlike usual noble weddings, I decided to host the event outside at the meadows by the keep. I invited the commonfolk to attend as a public event. The noble guests were given “priority seating” of course, but I prepared hundreds of seats for those who chose to attend. To my utter surprise, hundreds of extra people were standing outside the meadow area to view the officiation. Some of my guards offered their seats to the extra people, but they did not mind standing, as long as they were able to witness the wedding. Thankfully, my weather watcher was talented, and he had chosen the perfect sunny day.

My announcer stepped to the stage, with an invention that General Phylx developed to enhance the volume of the human voice.

“Attention, all those who have attended this beautiful union of two of the most endearing people in the kingdom: Lord Baron Rytus Paraxus of the Barony of Lythan, and Lady Countess Laila Veraxus of the County of Veraxus.”

The entire crowd erupted in cheers. The most astonishing fact was that the invention worked better than intended.

“The union of these two nobles will exalt the Barony of Lythan into the County of Lythan, and the ownership of Veraxus will be given to Lord Rytus and Lady Laila. This order has been decreed by our King, who is here today to speak to the beautiful people of Lythan and Veraxus.”

The crowd roared again, as most people were not aware that the King had arrived at all.

“My subjects, my lords, and my fellow people. I am here to officiate the sacred union of Lord Rytus and Lady Laila on this beautiful day in Lythan.

50 years ago, I was a young and arrogant man. That was until I met a wonderful man, Lord Baron Tytus Paraxus, who was chosen by a Deputy of that time to lead the army in the Perseus War. He was no older than me by a few years, but I sensed a lifetime of wisdom within him. A lowly Baron, inspiring a Crown Prince. That was what I felt at the time.

This man saved our great kingdom from ruin. Had I borrowed any fraction of his wisdom of that time, he would have been a Duke. Oh, how he is sorely missed in these peaceful times.”

The crowd was quiet. Those wearing hats pulled them down to their hearts.

“We went to war with the powerful Arkan Kingdom. Only one-fifth of our brave soldiers had come home. But, our soldiers came home regardless. Two brave men had saved this kingdom from another ruin. I want to remember Deputy Chrysum Matus, the Hero of the Bazara, Lord of the Royal Court, and my dear friend, who is forever immortalized in the history of this kingdom.

The other man, standing before me today at his own wedding, the son of the great Lord Baron Tytus, the Hero of the Northwest, and another dear friend of mine, will be taking the hand of Lady Laila Veraxus, in the exaltation of the Baron of Lythan, to the County of Lythan, by the decree of the Sacred Words, and by my authority as the Crowned King of Regalius. Stand up, and show your utmost respect to our newest lord, Lord Count Rytus Paraxus of Lythan and Veraxus.”

All around us, the air was flooded with cheers and chants of Laila’s and my name. This marriage had made history as well. Being the first to include commonfolk, the first to have over eighty attendees, the first with the King officiating the union rather than a priest or the Deputy, and the first to be held in the great outdoors.

I quietly prayed by myself before appearing to the crowd.

Mother, Father, Helena, Issac, I dedicate these accomplishments to you. I hope that you are looking from the Great Sky with happiness and pride. I will be telling many stories about this day to you whenever I join you. Please wait for me.

The marching band began to march and play around the meadows. Folding tables, also invented by General Phylx, were placed around the celebration area to accommodate refreshments. I made sure that the tables were available for our extra guests as well. Planks of polished wood were assembled into a center dance floor larger than even a guild center’s ballroom.

I invited Laila for a dance. We danced for what it felt like an eternity that neither of us wanted to end. I forgot to share her hand to her father, so he walked to me and tapped on my shoulder.

“May I steal your wife for a few moments? She looks quite beautiful today.”

Laila’s face showed deep happiness. She cried in her father’s arms. She did not want to let go, but the Count reassured her as much as possible. Meanwhile, Countess Trishia took my hand in a dance. It was very clear where Laila was blessed with her beauty from.

“My new son, we have not had a chance to speak privately lately. I want to thank you for accepting the proposition, and for allowing my daughter to live in your keep. She grew up wanting to see the world, but we could not give her the time, nor could we guarantee her safety during the multiple wars. You gave her a chance to see what it was like outside of our keep.”

“My dear Lady, she has wisdom beyond her years. She proved to be a great help in developing this new county. She can speak as a noble or as a bandit at will, and the commonfolk adore her for this. The people love her as I do. I thank you for being supportive parents to her when she needed you.”

Lady Trishia smiled and looked into my eyes. Her kind green eyes gave me glimmers of hope for the future.

“Give me a grandchild, please.”

I almost tripped on her gown as she said that. Lady Trisha switched her position and grabbed onto Count Ulises’s arms, while Laila grabbed onto mine.

“My mother was not difficult to you, I hope?”

“Not at all. She asked for a grandchild.”

Laila began to laugh loudly like a pirate with too much to drink, to the point that other dancers looked over to her and laughed along. Was this what true happiness looked like? Peace in the kingdom, the commonfolk and nobility dancing together to music that dated since the Imperium, and a clear, blissful day.

At the end of the wedding, I signed the contract between my new family, and the King signed his name on the document to exert his authority. He had his son sign the document as well to show him the ways of the kingdom. The tavern keeper commented that he had never run out of mead in his life, and offered to pay 25% of his revenue to me as tax.

“Regulus, keep your gold. You earned it.”

“Sire, you never collect taxes. Take something for once, boy.”

“It is Count now, old fart.”

“Boy Count. I am proud of you, and I am sure your father is looking down teary-eyed like he always did. Do me a favor and be the king already.”

He lightly punched me in the arm and walked off to carry his things back to the tavern.

The evening descended upon us with a full moon, which was a blessing from the God of Luck. Though the wedding officially finished, most commonfolk stayed in the meadows and continued the party until the next dawn. Laila was exhausted, but she stayed with them until they went home. The nobles left much before then to stay at my keep for a few days to recuperate before traveling back home.

I was able to breathe after the last of the commonfolk left the meadow. I was too familiar with being alone in this world. I had not shared my inner feelings openly to the people around me, no matter how deeply they cared for me. During the wedding, hundreds of people witnessed those emotions before their eyes. I never minded the world and how people viewed me in the slightest. But to my surprise and comfort, everyone at the wedding had shown me that I was someone who accomplished feats that other lords dreamed of for generations. I was shown love in many ways I was unfamiliar with.

If any god could hear me, I wished that this peace would last forever.