THE LOST GRACE [PK]

[Olox_ 4318]

 

 

Spoiler

 

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Depiction of Conkerhove c.1957

 

“Do not falter, son, God will guide your hand.” 

Words attributed to John of Aaun

 

These words repeated by John Alstion to his son, Charles, have forever been etched in his memory. The old and ailing man, bearing no resemblance to his former self - the young and adventurous Prince of Alstion and later King of Aaun - was bedridden in his chamber, given to him by one of the few Houses still loyal to him. Each time he woke up from his sleep his breath was heavier; he had undergone a stroke that permanently paralysed his left arm and hand and left him with an additional impediment to his speech, which did not ease his elderly years. Charles has experienced a lot in his life - definitely more than he ever wanted to.

 

From a very young age, Charles displayed a high level of intelligence, observing and learning from his father, John, who became King by the will of God, or as some believe, by sheer chance. It was hard to deny the boy's zeal and dedication to the position he was one day to take over from his widely respected father, a position which fate would eventually take away from him just ten years after his coronation. To rule the Kingdom like his father John and grandfather James, was his dream.

 

King John of Aaun passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack in the year of our Lord 1979, leaving the vast Confederation in the hands of Charles and the young Queen of Petra. It was a responsibility for which, although the young prince had been prepared all his life, he was not ready for. His father was his rock, his best friend and his role model, even if they had not spent as much time together as Charlie would have liked. Now given his years of education and the events of his teenage years, including the terrible Coalition War, he ascended the throne as King Charles II, together with his beloved wife Hedwig of Warsovia.

 

Were their deaths necessary? 

Was it really James who murdered Alexander?

 Did Tiberias really persuade James to commit these foul deeds?

 

Despite the joy of becoming a monarch, the King's head was occupied by thoughts of his lost brothers Alexander and James. For many years Charles tried to keep the peace in his homeland, now linked by the ties of confederation with its neighbours to the west. However, as it later turned out, this task had outgrown the young King and his government. Corruption, conspiracies and schemes were something Charles was unable to control. These plots culminated in Marna's march on Courteis Hale and the chain of events that followed this perilous endeavour. The destruction of the Confederacy was now inevitable. 

 

Charles prayed to God for guidance and each year lit candles for his lost brothers, in the Temple of the Exalted Prophets, but to no avail. He had been taught from a young age that all sins would face punishment - even if these sins did not tip the scale of good deeds. After the loss of his two brothers and the fall of the Confederacy, the greatest and final test in history came for the Godwinite Realm - the Ravenmire invasion, in truth perpetrated by the exiles of Veletz and their soldiers eager for revenge.

 

After enemies of the Alstion dynasty orchestrated a raid on the Hand of Horen, and within it found the corpse of the disinherited James Whitespire, within the grounds of the palace chapel, Charles was branded a “kinslayer”. The march of the armies of both countries followed shortly afterwards. The Ravenmire hosts, led by Tiberias van Aert and supported by Norland, the Dwarves of Urguan, as well as other minor factions proved overbearing - the Crown’s allies, some old enemies, found personal gain in letting the war play out without honouring their treaties of alliance. Aaun, disgraced and left without her allies, turned to the Church for help.

 

“You have no say in the matter anymore.” 

Words attributed to Marius III of Haense

 

The royal children could not have known how much their lives were to change in the coming months, forthwith after the King signed the Lesanov Protocol, abdicating in favour of his son, Godwin. High Pontiff Deunoro became his son’s regent for a short time. He has formerly been a teacher and role model for Charles, but at the time of signing the act of abdication a person Charles was unable to recognise, as if he was someone else. Without the crown, Charles was a nobody. Deposed and hated by many he went into exile with his wife. It later became evident that Godwin was too weak to carry the burden left on his shoulders - it was another factor which haunted Charles until his death.

 

A different memory was that of Cardinal Jean. He was one of the few who stood by the young King all the way - from the beginning to the bitter end. Jean was the one who stood up for him and took on himself practically all the responsibility for everything that transpired after the launch of the armed conflict. The teacher and friend of Charles faced excommunication and soon afterwards a shameful death - something he did not deserve, at least in the Alstion’s opinion.

 

Having spent years blaming himself for everything, Charles eventually came to the conclusion that nothing could change what had happened. His complaints and frowns cannot correct his mistakes or return the crown to him. The old Alstion resolved to spend his last years with those who remained faithful to him, despite his abdication and the public shame he had to face. The solace he found among Alstreims and Ivanoviches, especially the presence of his sister Josephine, was something he cherished until the very end. In his final days after suffering from a stroke, news of his daughter’s death reached him. In the following few days, he refused to eat or speak to anyone, even though he did not talk much before Cecily’s death. Then on the 3rd of Owyn’s Flame, Charles Reman closed his eyes for the last time.

 

Charles II died at the age of 93, in the year of our Lord 2047 following a second myocardial infarction.

 

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1954-2047

 

His Royal and Apostolic Majesty, CHARLES II ALSTION,

by the Grace of God of the Apostolic Kingdom of Aaun and of other Alstion territories King, Prince of Alstion, Duke of Vienne, the Lowlands, the Franklands, Balemena and Corazon, Margrave of High Peak, Count of Whitespire, Florentine and Talentine, Baron of Blanchet, Gotfridcher and Virdain, Protector of the Realm. 

TANDEM TRIUMPHANS.

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Spoiler

Apologies if the formatting is ruined, forums haven't been a faithful ally in the recent months.

For what's it worth I would like to thank everyone who took part in the story of my first and most likely last Royal character. Charles was the greatest opportunity I ever had, but unfortunately, things turned out the way they did. I am terribly sorry to everyone who I have failed and who has felt insulted by my decisions during my short reign. I have always tried to do what I thought was best, but often was blinded by ambition and the many great things my precedessors @seannie @LithiumSedai @Caranthir_ and @Ramon have achieved. For that and everything I've done wrong, once more, a heartfelt apology on my end. I hope that this new map will bring more interesting narratives and characters who will shape the history of Humanity, now in its united form.

 

Thank you.

 

[ibiou 2397]

There was a wife somewhere far from the lands that they both had called home, grief-stricken and mad. Hedwig wasn’t at all what she used to be, and neither had Charles been. Both had become vessels of their old selves as they got older, though Charles was more desperate to hold on. Age had worn them into two very different people, and so when her husband had departed to return to Aevos Hedwig had simply let him do so. Oh, how wrong was she for he would never to return to her. 

 

In her dreams tonight, she would imagine them as she always did: the girl with the birds and the tarot cards, and him the boy with the crown and the wildest dreams.

[LithiumSedai 5750]

"Oh, the vile serpents offered up this man and the lives of all his subjects as sacrifice, driving a knife into his back so they might escape their sin - and then Tiberias stomped upon their bloodied fingers with his boot, and made them grovel before him. They are united now in slavery to the Empire, rather than in brotherhood of the Confederation. God is good," wheezed out Conrad Vanderrecht, another elder, enjoying the immense irony. With shaky fingers he lit a candle for the soul of the last true King of Aaun, a man scorned and betrayed.

 

[Axelu 4333]

Elsewhere, in the heavens, were titulage and blood bent before virtue, a father was welcomed by his daughter, and his siblings, and his ancestors. God would forgive, what had since been long ago repented for. There, they embraced.