The Unspeakable Truth (Part One)

Lord Prince Vallois had travelled light for his journey to Drake’s Peak. Most of his court, his advisors, his entourage all remained behind in the comfort of Westeron. He had lost track of how long the journey was. To be frank he did not particularly care what the answer was. He had waited this long for today. What was another week or two?

He pulled out his wand after getting dressed and pointed it at the tent he had been staying in. The tent itself vanished in a puff of smoke. In the middle distance he could see the grassy plain rise into hills and mountains. One of their number was smoking from its peak.

Despite the name, Drake’s Peak was not named such because a dragon lived there. It was an old superstition that one did. After all, what could make the hills smoke except for a dragon? It was only generations after the name stuck that academics discovered what a volcano was.

That a dragon later decided to take up residence inside anyway led to a lot of smug soothsayers berating those booksmarties despite their insistence that it was purely a coincidence.

It was not long before the others who were travelling with him presented themselves ready for travel. Lord and Lady Fournet were early risers and offered him what was left of their breakfast for the start of the day’s trek.

That left his son Shaunce, who finally finished gathering his things as Vallois finished his share of breakfast. His son had not said a word to him since they departed. Lord Fournet had told him that his son had finally learned the Unspeakable Truth. It was a difficult subject for Vallois to broach so he took his friend at his word at how the conversation went.

It wasn’t like he could try to explain the magnitude of what had happened.

Vallois blinked as a large beast soared in from overhead. A dragon flew low just over their heads. He watched it soar into the distance towards Drake’s Peak with a smile. With his heart racing he set off.

Today was the day that all of this might finally come to an end.

----

The climb up Drake’s Peak was not a friendly one.

The only path up the mountainside circled around its sides. It had clearly been crafted to allow for access but twice Vallois and his group had to cross over a large ravine with a river flowing through it.

The first crossing over the ravine still had a small bridge hanging over it. Weathered and rickety, but nothing a nature projection spell to reinforce the planks could not solve. It was the second crossing that gave Vallois’ party concern.

The canyon was two or three times wider than it was before. On the other side was an old tree whose branches had all been cut off some years ago, with one appearing to have been snapped off. Vallois’ son Shaunce created a way across with an ice yearning spell, creating a slick bridge with icicle ropes. Crossing was no issue after that. Vallois saw a part near the edge of each side having cracked. Almost as if someone had leapt across.

The remainder of the climb was just as uneventful as its start. Their mountain path kept circling around the entire mountain before at last reaching a sort of flat platform leading to an opening in the side of the volcano.

Waiting there was a young man (or what Vallois assumed was a man) with short black hair pointing in all directions, his eyes briefly widening in shock before his hands curled into fists. “Lord-Prince Albert Vallois.” The gentleman gave him a curt nod, his voice valiantly failing to keep a neutral tone. “The Weavers are inside. They’re expecting you.”

Vallois’ lips quivered into a smile. “I heard stories the Emperor ensnared a dragon to do his bidding. I never thought I’d meet it face to face.”

Balerifon flinched at his words. “Let’s get this over with. Follow me, please.”

----

The end of the tunnel into Drake’s Peak opened up to an open chamber where what looked like the remains of a castle rose above a grand table. Already seated were Dora and Robert, with Hazel and Lavender standing to receive their new guests.

Balerifon crossed to them first and lingered near Lavender as Vallois and his group followed after. “Do you still feel it,” he asked her. “That burning in your blood when you look at him?”

Lavender bit her lower lip and nodded. “I know I’m just angry over my father.”

“No. I feel it too. I know why.” He did not elaborate before taking a seat at the table.

Hazel tried to keep a smile on her face as the Lord-Prince came close enough to speak. “Welcome, Lord-Prince. I appreciate your candor in our conversations.”

One by one, everyone remaining joined the others at the table. Shaunce and Vallois himself sat at the opposite end of the table from everyone else. Lord and Lady Fournet fussed over their daughter Dora’s actions since the tournament before joining the Lord-Prince on his side of the table.

Hazel could not help but see Balerifon staring at Vallois as if he was moments away from flipping the table over entirely and attacking him. And here Hazel thought she and her sister felt the strongest about this!

“Lord-Prince, you stated you were ready to speak the Unspeakable Truth to us. Did you bring someone here who can speak to it?”

Lord and Lady Fournet each raised a hand.

Hazel nodded. “Do you require time to rest from your journey before we begin?”

“No,” said Lady Fournet. “I suspect those assembled have waited long enough for this.” She looked to her husband and let him take over.

----

Old-time religions weren’t the only things that claimed an origin myth.

Empires and kingdoms claimed they were forged in the fires of war. Noble houses loved to trace their bloodlines through a heroic ancestor who killed the right guy at the right time and let their descendants coast off their accomplishments.

The House of Wea’Vor’s legend did not start with the founding with their house but with the accomplishments of King Halloway Wea’Vor ten generations ago. When he came of majority at age eighteen, his House had won a major war and doubled their domain’s size. But they had only a thousand soldiers, those lands were scarred by the war they’d fought to seize it, and they were surrounded by more powerful adversaries.

A betting man would’ve gotten good odds on the House of Wea’Vor losing it all within five years. And lost their shirt doing so.

Over the next fifty years, the House of Wea’Vor went on a torrid winning streak. Between Halloway’s prodigious magic skills, keen statecraft, timely alliances, and even more timely assassinations, their holdings kept expanding and expanding.

Halloway’s masterstroke however, came on his seventieth birthday. It was the eve of the last battle. He had marshalled all his forces for one last fight to unify what would become the full extent of the Dezerin Empire. And on that birthday, he assembled all of his nobles and asked them to take an oath of fealty. They would serve him, and his first-born son after him.

The fight was won. Halloway Wea’Vor lived just long enough to say goodbye to his son in private before passing away as the first Emperor of the Dezerin Empire.

So began the reign of Emperor Jallico Wea’Vor, and thus were laid the foundations of the Dezerin Empire. There was a kernel of truth in every origin myth. But this one came with one whopper of a lie.

Because it was the events of that very day that birthed the Unspeakable Truth.

----

“The right of House Wea’Vor to rule is based on a lie.”

Lord Fournet’s words hung like a terrible stink over the table.

“Ten generations of House Wea’Vor unbroken. And a secret born right from King Halloway’s oath of fealty the day he died.” Lord Fournet’s hands were planted on the table as he looked around to everyone. “A secret his House has kept for all that time. Erasing any hint of it from books, bestiaries, and oral histories. The Unspeakable Truth is that the Emperor is not dead.”

Hazel and Lavender looked to each other in bewilderment. “That’s not possible,” said Hazel. “My father is dead. It was announced by the Lord-Prince’s men.”

“It is a little more complicated than that,” sighed Lord Fournet. He rose from his seat with a heavy sigh. “We refer to him as ‘the Emperor’ because their current name does not matter. It matters only for the sake of appearances. Because the Emperor of the Dezerin Empire has always been the same person.”