Defender of the king chapter 2

A Chapter by Davy Galloway

The first look into the king of Waykin David's life.

The king sat alone in his room looking at the dimly lit map on the table in front of him. He traced the boarders of his kingdom, Waykin. It didn't feel like it was his kingdom it hadn't felt like it was his since he lost his love. Ever since the attack on his kingdom he felt like a dead man walking around without a propose. The king looked down at the ring he wore around his neck on a golden chain. It was slightly covered by his beard. It had been his wife's wedding ring it was gold with a small, round diamond. He had first got her a ring with the biggest diamond he could find, but she yelled at him. She always cared about her people more than herself so when it came to money she would rather reduce taxes on the people than wear jewelry. He smiled as he thought of how mad she was when she saw that ring. His smile quickly faded, he was hardly ever happy anymore not since she and their unborn baby had been taken away. After she was gone he stopped caring about things, including his appearance. His once handsome form had whitered, his muscular form had dewndled from only eating enough to live, his hair was unkept and matted so was his beard and his eyes held no emotion. He didn't care about his appearance anymore, he didn't care about anything or anyone.
It had been many years, too many to remember and he still couldn't move on it still felt like it was yesterday that everything fell apart. He dreamed of meeting his wife in heaven but then he remembered he had no heir to his throne and if he died his kingdom would be surrendered to Shade the king of Malign. As much as he dreaded waking up each morning he wouldn't let Shade rule the entire world. Shade's magic would bring terror on everyone. All the world's rivers would run red with the blood of Shade's enemies, even the innocent. He couldn't blame Shade for his action though, Shade was the son of a very strict leader who only cared about power. Shade's father died when Shade was thirteen making Him take the throne five years ago at the age of thirteen. Shade had never been thaught anything but his fathers harsh ways, his mother was never able to show him any better because a couple years after his birth she was murdered by her husband.
He slammed his fist on the table and walked briskly out of his room remembering that he would have to remarry soon so that his kingdom would have a heir. He walked outside to the dog kennel to check on his new liter of puppies that would soon be trained for hunting, except for one puppy. There was one puppy smaller than the others, the runt, she would never be trained for she would be killed before the start of the next week. After studying the puppies he walked out of the kennel and headed for the barn. Before he reached the barn he turned to the right and started to walk toward the pasture. There was only one horse in this pasture, she was a spirited black mare, she ran across the field throwing her head up and down,jumping, kicking, and neighing. His wife picked the parents of the horse so their daughter could have the perfect horse. They pre-paid for the horse so they could give it to their unborn baby for their tenth birthday. Nine and a half years after the attack the breeders showed up with an uncrontrollable foal. No one in the seven ish years they had her had ever been brave enough to try to tame her.
After staring at the horse for a while he headed to the barns once again. Once he arrived at the barn he went through his normal routine of grooming his beautiful chestnut stallion. After he was done grooming he gave the horse a carrot and walked out of the horse's stall. He looked out of the barn as rain started to fall so he pulled the hood on his cloak up and began his walk to the castle.
When he returned to his room he grabbed a bottle of wine and started to pour a glass. After the glass was filled he set it down and walked to the fire. He squated down looking at the low flames he thought about the coldness he felt inside him. He debated on letting the fire go out and letting the room freeze or putting another log on. After five minutes of debating he thought of his adviser, Hadrian, yelling at him telling him he was letting his kingdom go to waste. He only took on the basics that his kingdom needed to survive. Hadrian took care of the military and trading services. The king took care of wars issues and law injustments. The king tossed a log onto the fire and walked back to his wine glass and sat on the couch in front of the fire. He stared into the fire letting his mind wander to think what it would be like if his wife was alive. If his wife was alive he'd have a baby boy or girl, he hoped it was a boy. He could teach him how to fight, to hunt and pass his kingdom down to him one day. His wife on the other hand wanted a girl, she could've taught her everything she needed to know, but he feared the day he would've had to walk her down the isle. After finishing the bottle of wine he laid down on his bed and fell asleep.

prev chapter