Under the King's Assignment - Part 2

The scent of alcohol was heavy in the pub. People walked up to get drinks so the sounds of feet shuffling filled the room. Sitting in the corner, the politician, healer and wagoneer reached the moment of truth as Emery used his leverage to live up to the promise he made to Mira. Sebastian bared his teeth like an aggressive dog backed into a corner.

“Fine…but you have to follow all of my guidance.”

Emery launched himself up and his chair slid several feet from the back of his knees. He made a quick run for the door holding it open for Silas and Sebastian. Before they reached the guards to the hall Emery noticed Victor standing by the entrance.

“Sebastian, where have you been? Everyone is growing restless inside. We need to begin.”

Victor tilted his head to the side and saw Emery behind Bancroft and a man he didn’t recognize.

“Emery, what are you doing here?”

The guards lifted their blockade allowing all three of them to enter. Sebastian drew Victor’s attention back to himself.

“Those two are here because they’re going to speak on my behalf believe it or not.”

Victor jerked his head back and made eye contact with Emery.

“You know nothing about the protocol for these meetings Emery, how do you intend to provide anything useful?”

Emery released a long breath while shaking his head.

“Come on, you too Victor? Why does this concept matter so much?”

The group stepped onto the first floor of the grand hall and it looked curiously different from when the king was giving his victory speech. Everyone was on the second floor, even the king’s throne that was previously on the first floor.

“Victor, what’s that glowing orb in the center of the second floor?”

The general looked up and recognized the large ball of light.

“That’s a sound amplifier. A more recent form of magic created by the echo arts discipline. Each one of the boxes that you see politicians, nobles and royals in has a specific spot that allows you to speak from. Your voice is channeled by magic to speak louder for everyone else to hear.”

Emery looked back at Silas and raised his eyebrows a couple times. Silas kept a deadpan face with one brow arched as they all followed Sebastian to his dedicated box.

“Look, you need to pay attention to what everyone else is saying so that you can adapt your story to solve their problems. These people are aggressive and all have their own agendas. Only a handful are truly in support of the kingdom.”

After they took their seats, a man beside the king’s throne took a step forward.

“We are starting late, but it looks as though everyone who is to be a part of this meeting has attended. I will allow the king to begin our proceedings.”

The room remained silent as the king sat in his seat. His eyes glazed over everyone’s face as he took note of every individual person present before stopping at Sebastian’s box. He narrowed his eyes, adjusting his perception to notice Victor in the box. Emery’s face was familiar too, but he was unsure who the last person was.

“Welcome everyone to one of the most important meetings you could possibly be a part of in this generation.”

Silence filled the air as everyone waited.

“I feel like that’s not the first time I’ve said that to this generation though. We just concluded a war, and now we are facing the possibility of a new one. That is exactly the topic we are here to discuss. Is everyone here familiar with the conditions?”

There was silence for a few seconds, but a man from one of the middle booths took a step forward.

“I apologize King Artemon, but I have only heard rumors, would you or anyone else be kind enough to explain the circumstances?”

The king pointed at Sebastian’s booth.

“I think the best person to give us an explanation of how this began would be General Warwick who just so happens to be here today.”

The general took a step forward and cleared his throat.

“Thank you for the recognition, my king. I will do my best.”

The general took a step to his left to approach everyone visually while still speaking through the orb.

“The origin of our circumstances comes from our war with Fenmarch. Everyone is familiar with the war our king recently declared as over, however, shortly after that was presumed at an end there was another unexpected attack from a Fenmarch soldier.”

An individual from another booth took a step forward.

“We were all aware there were still scatterings of small groups attacking our frontlines, but that doesn’t suddenly mean the war is no longer over.”

Victor cleared his throat.

“That Fenmarch soldier was already dead.”

Quiet whispers were shared among the many booths surrounding the king. Until a woman from one of the royal families stepped forward.

“General Warwick, are you suggesting that an enemy soldier had come back to life and continued attacking our troops?”

Victor was comfortable in battle, but he could feel a different level of pressure coming from the eyes weighing down on him.

“Yes madame, this soldier actually happened to be sliced into-”

Sebastian stood up and with an embarrassed laugh yanked Victor out of the way before anything too drastic was said.

“My apologies, we don’t need the vivid descriptions of what the soldiers happened to look like. What our master general was trying to say was we are facing an enemy that cannot be killed using common physical methods. They have risen more than once and proven that no matter the magic or physical strength used upon them they ultimately can and will rise again.”

Felix Montclair took a step forward and smiled as he made eye contact with General Warwick.

“I’d just like to question that claim by Mr. Bancroft. I may not have been present during the action, but if I’m not mistaken General Warwick beheaded the Fenmarch soldier and it ended up remaining dead.”

More whispers echoed through the booths as someone else took a step forward.

“Is there any reason you would choose to exclude that information Mr. Bancroft?”

One of the older members of another royal family stood forward.

“I don’t see why you would claim that to not be a solution.”

Sebastian felt the pressure on him and he questioned if his word choice was accurate. He turned back and gave a cold stare at Emery.

“Just a moment, I actually have someone here who can explain the circumstances much better than I could.”

Sebastian stepped away, grabbed Emery by the shoulder and dragged him over to the spotlight.

“Oh, hi, yes umm. Good…noon…to you all.”

Emery felt his mouth go dry. This certainly felt like a different form of pressure than a complex medical procedure in the middle of a battlefield. He felt out of place, but after licking his lips he began to speak again.

“Mr. Bancroft did explain things accurately. Mr. Montclair wasn’t incorrect to point out the beheading either though. However, while we did originally consider that to be the solution I did some research of my own.”

No one recognized Emery as they all stared at him with puzzled expressions.

“Oh I apologize I should introduce myself, I am Emery Hartwell a close friend of both General Warwick and Mr. Bancroft. I am also a top tier battlefield healer who has taken the time to research the body of the Fenmarch soldier over the last couple days.”

The people filling the boxes seemed a little more willing to listen after the introduction.

“I went back out to the frontlines and I experienced a series of interactions that led to one form of a solution. These soldiers who seem to be returning from death actually have an official name, and this isn’t the first time this is happening either. The difference is that we are experiencing it on a larger scale. Beings in this state of existence are known as Unpronounced.”

Louder whispers echoed along the boxes as people turned away. Some words could be heard questioning Emery’s legitimacy and trustworthiness. Others seemed to recognize the title he gave.

“While I was on the northern front reinvestigating the Fenmarch soldier that was presumed to be slain by beheading, I came across a death wagoneer. I had noticed upon the death of the earlier mentioned soldier, that he gave a short speech before they were wheeled off. It turned out he was reading death rites to the Fenmarch soldier.”

A politician threw himself forward with haste.

“How could that possibly be true, death rites are for those we know and unless this death wagoneer was a spy for Fenmarch, there’s no way he could have done that!”

Emery held his hands down to try and calm the audience.

“I had the same question sir. It turned out though that these Unpronounced reattach themselves to other portions of bodies that ultimately form a single human sized body. The head of that so-called Fenmarch soldier was actually the head of a Wyland soldier that our death wagoneer recognized.”

The king stood up with a groan as time moved slowly.

“Mr. Hartwell, what is it you’re trying to say?”

Emery put his hands together and bowed down for a moment.

“I apologize, King Vanistarr. What I am saying is that the Unpronounced can be brought to rest through the reading of death rites. I brought along the death wagoneer who proved this to me.”

Emery pointed at Silas sitting in the corner of the booth.

“It was after a different soldier had unfortunately taken his own life due to traumatic experiences. That soldier, after dying, came back with a vengeance only moments later.”

Multiple people sprung up to speak. Some were simply upset.

“That’s outrageous!”

Others tried to apply logic.

“How could anyone possibly be brought back to life besides through reanimation magic?”

More and more people grew restless arguing simultaneously over the concept to the degree that the sound orb in the center of the room was deafening. The king stood up.

“ENOUGH!!!”

Everyone in the room went silent and looked directly at the king. Artemon laced his fingers and he leaned on the bridge his hands formed, elbows propped up by the railing.

“Mr. Hartwell, you say that the death wagoneer is with you. May we please speak with him?”

Emery motioned for Silas to approach the king. Silas was still dressed in the same outfit he performed his job in. A black set of robes and hood that covered the majority of his body minus the mask often worn on the battlefield.

“Death wagoneer. I appreciate you taking your time from the battlefield to partake in this meeting. I’m sure you have an important job providing a respectable end for the fallen soldiers on our frontlines.”

The king pressed off the railing and stood upright.

“However, our circumstances here are dire and we cannot afford to let panic spread into the streets.”

King Vanistarr made eye contact with every single person in the room as he asked his question.

“So wagoneer, what is it about reading these death rites that supposedly solves the problem we are facing?”

Silas spoke with the low mundane tone he always did, even while confronting someone as important as the king.

“Well, your majesty, death rites, as I’ve explained to Mr. Hartwell before, are a means to an end for the physical existence of a human being. Once a man is no longer conscious in their physical body, their soul enters what is known as the Hush. A passageway to the realm beyond the physical. Their soul isn’t able to reach that realm unless their existence is accounted for. That includes the pronouncement of their birth, death, significance, and cause of death at minimum.”

The king nodded at the end with his eyes narrow and fingers holding his chin up.

“I see. I can’t say that I’m one to believe in such things that I have no visual proof of. The idea of a soul being tethered to our bodies is intriguing though. Thanaturgy speaks of Ascension in similar terms. Their whole discipline is based on the world of death so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone I trust as much as Felix Montclair would be able to assist you in discovering more.”

Victor’s eyes widened at the mention of Felix. He stepped forward making the Bancroft booth cramped with three people in the speaking section.

“King Vanistarr, with all due respect I’d like to request that my trusted associate Emery Hartwell, would be able to do the research for this.”

The king stood upright and tilted his head just enough to be looking down on Victor’s imposition.

“Why should I allow this? Felix is already well versed in thanaturgy, there’s no reason he wouldn’t be able to assist our death wagoneer.”

Victor stood taller and looked the king dead in the eyes.

“Emery’s knowledge of sanguichurgy mixed with the wagoneer’s knowledge of death rites would be a much better combination so long as access to the thanaturgy library is given to them. No disrespect to Mr. Montclair, but I think he would be of better use doing field work on these reviving bodies. His talents could help us discover more details of the physical aspect rather than purely theoretical.”

The king looked at Felix who gave a nod of approval.

“So be it.”

Victor’s shoulders relaxed knowing Felix wouldn’t be involved as directly with this.

“However, time is of the essence. There is no telling what will happen next.”

King Vanistarr lifted his arms up and commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

“We may have gained a hypothesis for why the Unpronounced, as the wagoneer called them, exist, but we don’t have an answer as to why they are showing up in growing amounts. We don’t have a true solution to the problem either. Even if reading the death rites can end their temporary existence, they are most often soldiers of the opposing side making it near impossible to read rites for unknown individuals.”

He lowered his arms and leaned once more against the railing in front of him.

“Felix and Victor can work together on the frontlines to find temporary solutions to these things. In the meantime we’ll let Emery and the wagoneer discover a solution to the more theoretical sides. We will reconvene in another 3 days from now.”