THE TRAITOR OF SELM.

[Cheese 8880]

 

 QUETI TEMPUS ✦ NO TIME TO REST

 

 

ISSUED BY THE

 

ON THE

20TH OF PETER’S GLORY, 154 B.A.

 

˳˙⋆  ──────────────────────༺⠀✧⠀༻──────────────────────  ⋆˙˳

 

 

VERY EARLY IN MY LIFE, I learned that blood does not automatically mean family, nor does a shared name promise loyalty. Traitors have no place within our Horenic Covenant, and they absolutely do not have a place in the Duchy of Sunholdt.

 

IT IS ALSO WITH A heavy heart as both a proud Balianese citizen and a mother that I have come to find out that my own son, Malcolm, has forsaken his homeland and his people to join the Pontifical States in its crusade against Haense, and by extension, Balian. To know my own flesh and blood has turned his cloak so readily upon his kin is a great pain upon my heart, and to have found out this news from my King, rather than being informed directly by Malcolm, is a disrespect I will not tolerate.

 

I CANNOT FORSAKE MY PEOPLE and House by enabling the traitorous actions of my son. And so it is with the penning of this missive that I formally declare that Malcolm is a son of Arkent no more. Not even deserving of our bastard name of Selm, Malcolm shall never associate himself with any of Arkent blood again. Henceforth, he will be known as MALCOLM JULIUS THE LOST, stripped of any name and his lordly titles, and banished from the Duchy of Sunholdt and the Kingdom of Balian until a formal petition is accepted by both the Head of Household and the King of Balian.

 

May GOD bless the Horenic Covenant in its righteous defense, 

and may He strike down any who betray their oaths on either side.

AVE BALIAN.

 

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TO MALCOLM THE LOST

 ──────•༺ ✧ ༻•──────

 

I FOR ONE CANNOT FATHOM what you were offered that was so grand that you would have so readily turned your cloak, but it sickens me. You were my son; I loved and raised you alongside your siblings, and most of those years were on my own. I have no doubt your father would be just as revolted by your actions as myself, and it is to you I write one last time:

 

YOU HAVE CHOSEN YOUR SIDE, and we have chosen ours. This line will not be crossed again, for a traitor once is a traitor forever. Should you lose this war, you will have no home and no family to return to, and you will be alone. Should you win, however, you will have to live with the guilt that you stained your hands with the blood of your kin, the guilt that you abandoned the people who loved you and fought for you, and the guilt that your family will never want you again.

 

I HOPE IT WAS WORTH it, Malcolm, and I hope you wear your new brand of traitor with more pride than you did the great name of Arkent. I will see you again on our Judgement Day before GOD, and He may decide whether your worldly greed was worth your betrayal.

 

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Her Royal Excellency, ESFIR ARTEMISIA  D’ARKENT, 

Duchess of Sunholdt, Countess of Salia, Lady of El Palau del Sol, Matriarch of House d’Arkent, 

Amiratus of Balian, Lady Seneschal of the Crown, and Chief Minister of the Royal Duana

 

His Excellency, ACHILLIUS ARTEMISIO D’ARKENT, 

Baron of Selm, Heir to the Duchy of Sunholdt,

Constable of Balian, Strategos of the Regiment of St. Lothar

 

 

[HIGH_FIRE 5490]

Caliope would stare at the missive, despite the prior letter, she could not stand to think that her twin brother would turn his back on the family in such a devilish manner. Hence she would send a letter to reach out to Malcolm.

[Lalosia 988]

The Procurator of Balian, elder brother to the now traitorous Malcolm, let out a gruff sigh as he fell into the seat at his desk.

 

"Mally, the decisions you make..."

 

Aleksandr lamented to no one in particular, hand sweeping for a nearby bottle of carrion.

[Phoebe202 1057]

A cousin prepares to write a letter...

[Cheese 8880]

Esfir, despite the venomous ink she put to paper and the finality behind her words, could not help but feel a terrible ache in her chest once alone. She had been disgraced as Malcolm once was, though under different circumstances. She swore to herself that she would never abandon her children, but this? Had her hand really been forced so far? Was she really any better than those who had hurt her, all those decades ago?

 

It mattered naught, for it was done. But there would not be any justice or reason that could soothe the pain she felt; the pain only a mother felt when she had lost one of her children, and the pain of being entirely alone behind the facade of strength.

Spoiler

Me when I respond to my own post

 

[Andustar 4143]

"I should have seen it sooner. It wasn't honour which compelled Malcolm, but rather ambition..." The King of Balian lamented, a crumpled letter within his grasp. His stony eyes were now set upon the sword at his hip; Cloudbreaker trembled in anticipation. "Alas, the traitor made his choice. I only hope he doesn't lack the courage to stand by his decision." Mercy was a virtue that John often aspired to uphold. And yet, he understood that treason could not be so easily forgiven.

[zuziee 4004]

Philippa’s brows twisted as she frantically read over the missive, muttering quietly “my god” 

[FireAGN 1207]

Malcolm spoke softly as he looked over the missive, in his room somewhere in the Pontifical States. "I only hope some of them can understand, one day." 

 

Spoiler

Lots of love to the Balian, Haense, and every other Horenic community Mal has been involved in over the last 25 weeks!

[ItsLucy 44]

A sorrowful sigh left Laurelie's lips as she finished reading the missive. "First Ledicort, and now this...? When will the betrayal end?"

[Koodini 854]

"Malcolm.." Dragged an utterance wound in woe. Anaksandr learned of the treachery not from his aunt's missive nor the tongue of another. No, it was from a letter meant for none other than him; ink which detailed a fondness he found frailer with each word. Yet he was never a boy who allowed wonder to fester, and he certainly wouldn't be a man who would. So he made to his desk, an inkpot spilled and a quill drawn — with those tools he sought an answer, one to combat the confusion his dearest cousin's acts brought about.

Things lost could always be found. Sins could always be forgiven. Blood always ran thicker than the binds of a covenant.
 

[Navigator 4260]

Owyn Hector stared at the missive for a long, long moment. They weren't close, but he considered Malcom a friend, much as every other man, and furthermore knight of the realm.

 

"I will bring him kicking and screaming to Sunholdt, so he may repent afront his family, and be made to understand the penance necessary for such backstabbing sin." 

[TaraJess 2848]

Johanna Vuiller was so glad Philippa didn't marry that guy. 

[Jihnyny 5233]

 

“... I wonder, who is next?” Louis stared at the missive;
sitting atop his wooden palisade that upheld his great grape-vines.

His glare broke after a letter fell to his feet.

 

[The Vulgate Cycle 577]

As Arthur heard the last volleys of artillery echo through the wind, he came upon the missive from his mother-in-law and read it in full. Then he read it a second time and a third. Knowing what he knew, this did not come as a surprise to the Marsyr Knight. He however could not help but feel heartbroken, both for Lady Esfir and Malcolm both in equal measure. And as he made his way home, as he carried home the news, he felt as though cracks had become to form in the family he had come to love so dearly, starring out from this defection as cracks so often did on glass. Would he not feel as betrayed had any family of his turned against him? Especially now, in this war whose cause did not resonate in his heart.

As he came through the front door and sat down to write yet another letter, he prayed that this Brothers War came to an end soon. For he worried that the center could not hold.

Edited March 23, 2025 by The Vulgate Cycle
Repetition mistake

[GhostSHTR 1205]

"never had the chance to meet my brother-in-law, but it seems I won't be anytime soon," Edvard Ludovar said looking at the messenger as he comforted his wife over the betrayal