The rain hit against the window with the vengeance that was expected by this time of the year. The Raining Season, as it was called by the weather experts of Lyvera, was not only going to be one of the worst ever recorded in history but was going to be a long one. As Timothy Augustus stared through the window and into the angry night sky, he couldn't help but wonder whether the rain was showing exactly what he was thinking in his mind, or whether it was just behaving on its own accord.
"Timothy you need to sleep." His Mother said from the corner of his room, as they both watched the rain fall.
He had no idea whether his Mother was being sarcastic or oblivious. How was he supposed to sleep when he had just heard something as terrible as this? How was he expected to know a moment of peace after something this world shattering had happened?
"I will sleep eventually Mother, I just, I want to process my feelings about everything you just said." He said as he turned to look at his Mother slowly walk towards him.
"Your father is dead, the youngest Emperor to ever die in the history of Lyvera. And as terrible a news as that is, the main problem here Timothy, it's the fact that you are not…" She trailed off as she bit her lips and looked down to her feet. "I thought there was still time to find a solution a permanent one."
Yeah. His father was dead, fell off his office floor to his death. He should be mourning his death, he should be preparing himself for the responsibility that would fall upon him now his father was dead. Instead here he was being told that he was not who he'd thought he was all his life while also being told what to do in order to survive.
"I know why I must do this Mother, I just don't know whether it will work the way we think it will. If the truth ever came out before the coronation… we are both dead regardless of the wife I choose for myself." Timothy said as he turned to look at his Mother with his undivided attention. "This is a gamble, a risky one at that."
"A gamble we must take regardless." His Mother said as she looked up to his face before placing one hand on his left cheek. "We can't run from this Tim, we can't hide from this. We only have two choices, we either push ahead or we don't. We either consolidate your power, get that powerful wife and be married before the coronation, or we let your uncle and aunt come together, expose us and burn us at the stake."
The way his Mother put it, he had to admit she was right. He didn't really have much of a choice, not when the alternative was his death and her death.
It wasn't really his fault that he was not his father's son, but in the eyes of the laws of Lyvera, no bastard could inherit his father's or his mother's property or wealth. His place was not in the capital living a life of luxury and having power over the three Kings while being the King of the Crownlands. No his place was supposed to be in the dredges of society at the bottom of the food chain, below the servants even. The best he was supposed to hope out of life was by joining the army and not dying throughout his career as cannon fodder.
The fact he had lived his entire life as the Prince of Lyvera and the Crownlands, while also on the verge of becoming the King of the Crownlands and Emperor of Lyvera, was already grounds to have him executed. He would die, and so would his Mother for having a child that was not the Emperor's.
He was already between a rock and a hard place with no other choice before him. He hated this, but since he wanted to live and since he wanted his Mother to live, this had to be done. He had no other choice but to follow his Mother's plan and keep them both safe and powerful for the rest of their lives.
"Have the scribes already sent out the letters to the Kings about Father's death?" He asked as he let out a deep sigh.
"Yes." His Mother said with a sigh of relief seeing as he was now all for her plan. "They will be here as early as possible by dawn to see for themselves that the Emperor is dead. They will see to his burial and then begin the plan to have you crowned before they also witness that and return to their kingdoms." His Mother said as she let go of his cheek and hugged herself. "You will have to choose a wife among their daughters and marry her before the Coronation Day which would be held two moons from today."
"Do the Kings know that their daughters could marry me before the coronation day?" He asked his Mother before he bit the inside of his mouth nervously.
"They can read between the lines." She said before she let go of herself and pat his shoulder. "Get some rest so that you won't be tired tomorrow morning."
"Yes Mother." He replied before he turned around to watch her walk slowly towards the door to his room and stop. "You don't have to sleep in your room tonight Mother, you know that right?" He asked her.
"Thank you, but I need to show strength even in the midst of my mourning." She said. "Your father's suicide was unexpected, but I have to show strength, and so must you."
With those words, she left the room and walked out the door, leaving Timothy to ponder on the night's events that still had him rattled. He wasn't ready to be King & Emperor, he wasn't ready for that kind of power, he just wanted to be the Prince for as long as possible before he later learned how to rule an Empire as big as Lyvera and then take over.
The normal process was for him to be trained over time and learn how to rule and then become Emperor at fifty or so. Not this. He was only twenty years of age, no where near old enough to be in charge of Lyvera. He was not even close to having the experience needed to rule over the three Kings that had much more experience and self confidence than he did!
The beating rain that calmed down to a drizzle was the only reminder he needed that the night would come to an end at any time now, and dawn would arrive soon. He had to rest, he had to sleep because come dawn, his fight for survive would only just begin.
********************************
The next day came swiftly, almost too swiftly for his liking, but the day had come and with the day came the knowledge of his heritage and the reminder of the stakes should he fail in his quest to pick a powerful wife.
With a sigh, he got out of the bed just as his man servant came into the room to help him get ready for the day. Normally he would be talking animatedly with his man servant, but the mood for that wasn't in him. His mind was instead focused on meeting the potential brides that he would have to choose one from.
Said potential brides would natural have her among them. The girl he hated with every fibre of his being, the girl who had made his life in Salama Academy in the Crownlands a living hell. The girl who had not only bullied him during the four years he had spent in the Academy but bullied him outside of the Academy through letters. He knew she would be among the girls, he could already imagine her arrogant face giving him a condescending smirk as she prepared for new ways to torment him in his own home.
He would naturally not pick her as his bride, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try out new methods of torment on him for the fun of it while she was here.
"You're late." His Mother began as she walked towards him from the other end of the hallway.
"Yet we meet at the hallway at the same time." He said as he pushed thoughts of his bully put of his mind and focused on the present.
"You are the Emperor, you should already be in the throne room to welcome the three Kings, not in you room doing whatever it was you were doing." His Mother said as they both walked down the huge stairs lined with servants and guards at both sides.
"I'm still the Prince until I am crowned, which means you as the Empress Dowager are supposed to have already been in the throne room by now." He replied with a smirk.
"Hold up, are you really talking back at your mother? You my boy, need a spanking." His Mother said with a playful frown that broke a smile across his face.
"Thankfully it's against the law for the Emperor to be struck." He said.
"Well then, thank the heavens you are still a Prince." His Mother said with raised brows that had him chuckle and then laugh out loud, laughter she joined shortly after as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Good to know you've still got a good sense of humour Tim." His Mother said as they walked hand in hand to the throne room to await the arriving Kings.
Moments like this was a good distraction, a good way to clear his mind of the fear he was having of getting caught and burned. However momentarily it may last.
"The Queen of the Crownlands, Empress of Lyvera, and Lady Protector of the Four Kingdoms, Anastasia Augustus and her son, the Prince of the Crownlands, Crowned Prince of Lyvera and the Heir to the Lord Protector of the Four Kingdoms, Timothy Augustus!" The Imperial Herald shouted at the top of his lungs before the great doors were opened by the guards.
As was expected, the throne room was already filled with people from the Cronwlands, Lords and Ladies of the Crownlands, Paladins, as well as the Chief Servants and Head of the Guards. Everyone was there to see with their own eyes the body of his father lying in a glass coffin.
By the side of the glass coffin was his family. His big happy family.
First was his uncle, Prince Andrew Augustus, who gave him a dirty look as if he knew something Timothy didn't know, while also giving his Mother a condescending look. Then there was his aunt, Princess Juliet Augustus, who , like her brother, gave him and his Mother her trade mark scowl. It was almost like they were silently blaming him for something they'd lost. Then there were his cousins, daughters of Andrew whose names he never bothered to find out due to his friendly relationship with their father.
As he and his Mother got to the glass coffin, his Mother laid one hand on the glass and let out a sad sigh. "I will miss you." She whispered.
Seeing his Mother look genuinely sad over his father's death almost made him believe she had really loved the man; his Mother was good at this. For her to pretend to be this loving wife to the now dead man was a skill he didn't possess.
He and his father had never seen eye to eye. His father may have been understanding about the fact that he had been a 'late bloomer', but even he could tell his father hated him for that and probably feared him becoming Emperor after his death.
"The King of Salama, Sylvester Baron!" The Imperial Herald shouted, breaking him out of his line of thought. "And his daughter, Princess Violet Baron."
At his words, a short man with a pot belly walked into the throne room with his royal robes. Beside him was his daughter, a really beautiful girl he had seen many times when he had undergone training on Green Magic at the Salama Academy in the Crowlands. Said girl looked at him with so much awe and adoration, one would think he was her god. He remembered her of course, the girl that many rumoured loved him more than she did herself.
Given his present circumstances, he might have to consider her as a potential bride despite ignoring for four years. Her Grey Magic could come in handy down the road.
"The King of Brexia, Jonathan Ganda!" The Imperial Herald shouted once more. "And his daughter, Elizabeth Ganda!"
At his words, a tall muscular man walked in with his royal robes. Beside him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. He had to blink his eyes twice to confirm that he wasn't dreaming. The way she carried herself with a self assuredness that wasn't loud, but attractive. The way she smiled like she was unable to ever do harm to even a fly, made him break out a small smile of appreciation.
If there was anything like love at first sight, this was it. He might not be in love, but damn did he like what he saw. He wanted to know her more, he wanted to hear her voice, he was intrigued by her.
"The King of Valys, Abraham Faroe!" The Herald shouted once more. "And his daughter Zelda Faroe."
After his words, a man who was as tall as Jonathan but slimmer looking, walked into the throne room and by his side was her.
Zelda Faroe, the bane of his existence, the Tormentor from Hell, Zelda the Bully. Four years he had endured from her, and three more years of endless letters detailing her happy life to him after the scars she had left on his soul. All seven years of endless hell, and yet she had the full to come here with that arrogant smirk and condescending look.
The way she looked at him once their eyes connected, like she was telling him she was back in his life to make his life even more miserable. He was a Prince, a future Emperor but with the truth being told to him and the trauma she had imprinted in his mind from when he was thirteen, he could do nothing but glare at her.
If there was anyone he was going to marry, it definitely wasn't going to be her. Someone like her would look for his weakness and then use it against him in her own favour. He couldn't have her any where near him or she would figure out that he was bastard and end not only his life but his Mother's life.
With an angry huff, he looked away from her and instead looked at the two women who wouldn't hurt him, Elizabeth and Violet, one of whom would be his wife, one of whom would help him on Coronation Day so that he wouldn't be found out as his Mother's bastard. The only question was who would it be?
Elizabeth, the Green Mage, was the daughter of the third most powerful House, while Violet, the Grey Mage, was the daughter of the third richest House. If he had to pick, given his present situation, he could pick Violet. Her Grey magic and his Green magic could work well together during the Coronation where he had to make the thrones glow green and grey. However, with his uncle and aunt looking for an opportunity to destroy him, he had to pick a wife based on political power, not only magical power.
The Gandas were not only the third most powerful House, but they were also the second richest with the third biggest army. With them, he had both more money and more soldiers, which were useful and could help should he have a Civil War on his hands. There was however the high likelihood of them having a child that couldn't use both Green and Grey Magic like every Augustus before him.
The Barons on the other hand, were the third richest with the fourth biggest army. With them he didn't really have much in the case of money or army since the House of Augustus was first in every category. But with Violet, there was the high likelihood that he could have a child that would use both Green and Grey Magic. However, should a civil war break out, he would lose before it even began once the Gandas and Faroes united against him under his uncle's banner.
Both girls were great, both had their pros and cons, but he could only choose one of them. Who would he choose? The girl that could secure his present but doom his future or the girl that could secure his future but may doom his present? He had to choose wisely if he wanted to protect his Mother and himself, but who would it be?