All the King's Men - Act III: Into The Wood

 

At twenty-seven years of age, Barakai was not the wizened king his father had been, but he was enough of a man to, after seven years struggle, take his aging mother's advice and submit to the armies of Altair.

 

But even after seven years of near solid defeat his ego was not at all deflated. In those years his poorly led armies had held their ground, but every year he received word that the opposing Altairian armies had made their way even further into Mirhame by taking a treacherous route through the Tarta'ian Badlands. King Barakai knew nothing of submission and ordered them to fight on and on until finally much of his outlying armies and territories to the south had been decimated or conquered. All that was left of his kingdom was Mi'Xon, surrounded by the great plains with its weak and unorganized villages and the bustling port cities to the north of the castle.

 

The armies of Altair stood outside of the Elven Wood that bordered the two lands fearing ambush by the elves if they entered. But everyone knew, all to well, that it was only a matter of time before they did enter, and then it would be just the small kingdom of Mi'Xon versus the armies of Altair.

 

However, the surrender he intended was nothing like surrender at all. He intended to surrender only to have King Edward of Altair murdered so that in peacetime he could marry his daughter, the fair Princess Hana, the beautiful flower of Altair. If he were to marry her, it would merge to two kingdoms under his rule. “It's not quite all of Tor, but I can easily conquer the rest with our combined armies.” He said to himself. “Nothing is beyond my reach.”

 

The young king feasted for two days to prepare for the eastern journey, and at the end of those two days he was off on horseback with a group of his most loyal and valuable Knights. They made their way as quickly as they could across the plains, gathering soldiers from the outlying townships as they went along. Many of these “soldiers” were merely townsmen unwilling to go to war, but then will is of little value when your neck is at the tip of the King's sword. And so the army grew until at last they reached the Elven Wood, where he left the men to wait on what could easily be an approaching army if he were to make a misstep in his plot. Barakai prided himself in thinking he wouldn't ever fail, so onward he and his band of Knights marched into the wood.

 

Before he could make any further progress he must ask the opinion of the forest elves. For this portion of the kingdom, being their land, it was diplomatic courtesy for him to ask permission to surrender. Barakai had been taught diplomacy by his father, who himself had been a legendary diplomat. He left his group of knights at their campsite as he ventured alone deeper into the woods to where the elves lay in wait.

 

It was while he was traveling the well managed path to their towns that he came across a feral child. He was not sure if the boy was an elf himself but he had a single portion of his hair made into a braid as was the elven tradition.

 

“Are you looking for the city in the wood traveler?”

 

The boy's diction was clear and crisp and he spoke very well despite his filthy appearance. “This boy must belong to the city.” He thought, “Surely he is more civilized than he appears to be.”

 

“Yes, I am.” replied the King.

 

“Can I show you the way, sir?”

 

“Are we close?”

 

“If you know the way.”

 

“Then you may show me, child.” There was a gleam in the boys eye that he found familiar, a wild gleam, a gleam that seemed to embody the woods themselves. Perhaps it's an elven thing, he had seen many elves since his father made the treaty with them when he was a mere infant.

 

And the child did know the way. he slipped through the woods with ease making almost no allowance for the King. There were a great many hidden dangers in this part of the wood, and the child easily sidestepped all of them rarely giving the King any warning at all, but the King avoided them easily by following closely in the boy's footsteps, which at times could be quite difficult considering the boy's rigorous pace. Finally they came to a wall of brush that even the light seemed to have trouble penetrating. The boy slowed his pace and stopped in front of it and slowly reached out his hand, the branches parting at his touch. The underbrush gave way to reveal a magnificent city that seemed to be built into the trees themselves.

 

He spoke to the council in the city which was headed by the TreeMage himself. They said that they had never wanted any part in the war, and they were glad to hear of surrender. After the council came to a consensus on that point, the TreeMage bid them farewell and the other members of the council filed out of the room.

“I must speak to you now, King Barakai. I know well that the surrender you plan is a false one, and while yours is a well laid plot, it will not go through as you expect. I can promise you that.”

 

“Dear TreeMage, if you think your carefully plotted words will halt my actions you are much more of a fool than I have thought.”

 

“Ah, I knew you would never take my advice, but I have given it anyway in hopes something in you would see the wisdom of discretion. I just thought I would warn you, whether you heed my words or not.”

 

On those words the King hastily left the building and proceeded to the city's entrance. The parted trees framed the feral child who stood waiting for his return.

 

“Leaving so soon?”

 

“Just get me away from here.” The Kind said bitterly.

 

For a while they walked in silence at a much slower pace then when they had come to the city. And the King saw something in the boy, a scapegoat, an assassin.

 

“Boy, how well do you know the woods behind the Castle in Altair?”

 

“I know them as well as anyone.”

 

“Will you do me a favor? Go to the castle and kill King Edward, I need him dead so I can unite our lands in harmony. If you were to do that for me there would be no more war and never again would a soldiers blood stain the battlefield.”

 

“Ah, at long last the peace the trees foretell, yes I can do that for you my King.”

 

And the boy left into the woods, leaving the king quite alone. Somehow he traced his steps back to the path and he was at his campsite by nightfall. In the morning he and his men made their way to the front-lines and announced that there would be no more war. He and his men made there way towards Altair castle under the guise that they were going to meet the king. No one knew of the plot or the boy he had sent to kill the king.

 

They weren't even halfway there when they got news of the king's assassination.