A Question Unanswered

[LithiumSedai 5750]

A Question Unanswered

 

 

A depiction of King Charles Bridge, Whitespire, on a gloomy night, 1937

((Southwark Bridge and St. Paul’s, John Atkinson Grimshaw))

 

O Lord, why did you make me king?

 

Numbed and withering, laid petrified in his bed atop the Hand of Horen that would soon become his resting place, James had not the strength left to utter his question aloud. The stroke had seized his body in the blink of an eye; his chambers were far too elevated and distant, and he knew well no assistance, timely or not, could save him. The only mercy he hoped for was to be received from the one gift-giver every son of Horen, no matter their rank or stature in life, appealed to in their final moments - James, thus, prayed fervently to God in his thoughts, and, upon the prayer’s conclusion, desired to have his question answered.

 

In his youth, he had never believed that his father’s ambitions, the cause of their House, would ever be realised. When the ancient crown of Aaun was, against all odds, reforged from the ashes of usurped Oren and the Confederacy, James was called to service as her successor and the inheritor of his family’s legacy, and he shouldered the burden of that responsibility with outward conviction, despite his earlier doubts. In private, he still doubted; though he laboured still to see to her survival through the many storms which befell Aaun in his father’s life, he firmly believed he would never live to bear the crown, and never shared his belief with a single living soul.

 

Yet the Heartlands endured. Perhaps he was then bestowed the crown as proof that his disbelief was fruitless, he answered himself, that through mere action he could secure prosperity and a future for his people; that the belief of many trumped the apprehension of one. And the Heartlands did prosper: he led his people to safety after the disasters of Vienne and San Luciano, and new towns were quickly raised by the hard-working denizens of Aaun. Above all stood the Jewel of the Heartlands, Whitespire - that Paradisius made anew. He raised ministers and knights; trade flourished in the Union, soldiers flocked to his banners; the Church watched over them from the radiant Temple of the Prophets, the most grandiose hall of worship in the known world. Was such bounty not reason enough?

 

O Lord, why did you give me a family?

 

James persisted in his inward questioning and introspection as his vision darkened and his mind slowly faded. A rowdy, unchained youth in his exile in Atrus, ever a charmer but never desiring any lasting attachment, he had thought his prospects of an actual marriage slim and far-fetched. When the circumstances of his elevation to the heirship of Aaun, and all decorum and common sense demanded from him a royal marriage, he obliged in the search for a fitting companion, yet never truly believed that he could ever endeavour to become a good husband and a father. He rejected such a role subconsciously; in a vicious cycle, he justified his disdain through his children’s excesses.

 

Yet he loved them deeply. It was not out of forced piety or a sense of kingly duty that he embraced and cherished Edith, and resolved never to do her harm, neglect her emotions, or seek base fulfilment in adultery. He harboured in his heart genuine love for her, and found himself longing for her company whenever he was absent, either in body or in spirit. The presence of their children always reinvigorated him, and though their missteps and antics frequently angered him through the decades, he could never hold onto such a sensation. 

 

Their journey to adulthood was not without flaws, but they stayed upon their ordained paths, maintaining in public the decor required of royal blood, and James now realised that all his misconceptions remained private; the Realm, most of all his friends among the Realm’s Estates, such as Alstreim, drew morale and strength from the image of a harmonious Royal House of Alstion, more than it ever would have from the poise of a lone monarch. Such a vision persisted and survived the scandals of his aunts and siblings. It would have remained wholly unshattered were his final query unnecessary - the thought revisited caused him pain even in his passing, pain that transcended his numbness.

 

O Lord, why did you take Henry from me?

 

No answer came, and silence finally settled in the royal quarters.

 

 

Spoiler

Many thanks to everyone who's been part of this journey. You know who you are.

 

[Olox_ 4318]

[♪]

 

In one of many chambers located within the Hand of Horen sat Heinrich II Lothar. The red-haired Waldenian was leaning forward in his chair, his elbows resting against his knees. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he stared at the floor of his chamber. In all his grief, he managed to mutter "Finally, you are with those you loved the most. Remember me up there as I remember you here good uncle. Ruhe in Frieden." The Prince of Merryweather had experienced many deaths of people close to him, but this one hurt the most. Now without James, he had no one he could see as a father.

 

[ferdaboy 3472]

Ser Gawyn mourns the loss of his King, but vows to himself to serve the Kingdom dutifully. Though he was never close to the King, he knew that he had served a good man.

[ncarr 2806]

Adela of High Peak, the Queen Mother, looked upon her son. Her expression was placid as she inclined her head toward him. "Your Majesty." she fell into a curtsey before the boy, only age four. "I shall live to serve you, my King." a smile managed its way onto her lips, leaning forth then to press a kiss against the boy's forehead.

[veganwalmart 1059]

"Long Live the King..." Breathlessly whispered the Lady Melina Dieuxmont to her sister, mother to the young King. With great effort, she steeled herself for what was to come.

[Traveller 2718]

Bane the merchant curled his hairy fingers around a letter informing him of the King's death. Tears welled up in his lids as he began shuffling forth, shaking the paper. "Big King..." He murmured, before wiping the wet with his sleeve, meandering over towards his brother to inform him of the news.

[clonky 1976]

Quick steps clacked through the echoing halls of the Hand of Horen, with Sister Gisele's habit bundled in her hand to ensure her safe journey to the chambers of the now late King. She stopped before the ailing body, her lit candle flame flickering. It was as if the candle was representing the Monarch, that his flame was burning low, soon to be distinguished. The nun left Mother Anna to her brother, and began to pray for his safe journey to the Seven Skies. 

[zuziee 4004]

Marlene von Alstreim froze which shock upon the news, stumbling up the stairs in tandem with other ladies of the court only to confirm her worst fear. 

[Kitomine 902]

Julietta heard the news, shock striking her features as she made her way to the palace. How could this have happened to her beloved Kingdom?

[Franczhiz 4437]

Caius Godwin Alstion received news of his Uncle's death, rushing to the palace to see him one last time; despite their relation having deteriorated over the years due to several circumstances, the kinship remains. He then uttered "Recquiescat in pace, Uncle."

 

Spoiler

@LithiumSedaiwell done at leading the nation forth bro, o7.

 

[aldskar 842]

Mother Anna laments in her sorrow on the eve of her brother's passing, wailing ringing throughout the royal quarters and indeed the towering Hand of Horen itself. The death of her sovereign, her brother, and her beacon; of which he always and indubitably was, was sure to take it's toll on the now aged Alstion woman, further than ever from the court-ostentation she had held in her younger years. Still, behind all of her own miseries, Anna thought to her dearest sister-in-law, her prayers for her on that dark night.

 

@EnderMaiashiro

[EnderMaiashiro 664]

Reserved

[Optimus420 1926]

The Duke-Emeritus of Stran, Ser Jan Ivanovich frowned deeply at the missive, "The end of an era. While I no longer hold my post as Duke, I am glad I got to see him one more time before he passed." He dropped to one knee as his legs gave out from beneath him, he grunted in frustration at the lapse of fortitude whilst he stood in the Church of St. Theodosius. The Ivanovich-Dynast looked upon the cross before him silently signing the Hussariya, "For James shared my vision so that Raev could grow and rebuild once more, be at peace now Your Majesty, be with you father and son, they await you alongside Godanistan." 

[Samson Option 9652]

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

 

The growing orchestra of weeping, grieving, & mourning voices filled Cunimund's office even with its door shut. He dropped his writing utensil back into its paired inkpot and sat back in his chair. How the halls echoed with each choked utterance and cathartic release of emotion. Cunimund closed the tome he was working on and smoothed a letter parchment atop its front cover. Ambactorix, his page, pressed his back against the office door from the inside as if trying to keep it closed against the ramming of a hundred voices calling out to God or professing inner-most love for that perished King. Cunimund scribbled neatly on the surface of the letter, rolled it up, and bade Ambactorix to leave his post at the door and to send the letter to Prince Edmund. Its contents read as follows:

 

"Slanu, Good Fortune to you my King Edmund, King of the United Kingdom of Aaun. My labors as the High Curator and my office, the Office of Enlightenment, are at your disposal. I will serve loyally as I did the late James Leopold."

[Gandhi 3225]

Alfred Barclay remained in the Basilica - after a Landser had informed him of King James' passing. He remained silent - but knew the effects of his great-uncle's passing, and sought to pray extra-hard that day for the Kingdom of Aaun.