The Grass is Greener (PK)

[CharmingCavalier 2189]

 

The Grass is Greener

 

Issued and averred by the office of,

Hugh le Gras, Former Imperial Treasurer

 

4th of Horen’s Calling, 653 AA

 

-=-

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of former Imperial Treasurer, Hugh le Gras, who died peacefully at his home last night at the age of seventy-five.

 

Hugh was born in Lougras on the 2nd of Sun’s Smile, 578 AA to Herbert and Matilda le Gras, owners of the Le Gras Hay Company. He spent his formative years apprenticing under John de Unpeesi, a notable Illatian grain merchant in Whitespire. Upon his return to the family business, in 596 AA, Hugh introduced the famous “Red Band of Quality,” which now binds all le Grasian hay bales and has become a gold standard for heartlandic hay quality.

 

Within three years of his financial innovations at his family’s business, in 599 AA, at the age of twenty-one, Hugh le Gras was appointed as Royal Treasurer for the Kingdom of Burgundy. Upon the establishment of the Empire of Man in 603 AA, he was elevated to the title of Imperial Treasurer, a position he held for fifty-four years.

 

Hugh pioneered imperial heraldry, founding the Imperial College of Arms in 614 AA and serving as Imperial Chief Herald until 649 AA. His firstborn son, Guy le Gras, was then elected to the role in 650 AA.

 

His wife, Agathe, predeceased Hugh two years ago. Le Gras is survived by his children: Emma, Alice, Guy, Herbert, and Walter. He also leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

 

✠ The Night Before ✠

 

The clunk of keys echoed through the clerk’s office as an elderly man pulled another set from his pocket. Once more, a thud. And then a sigh. “That should be all of them,” Hugh said in a pained voice.

 

Timothee, the clerk, counted the keys aloud, “Forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one…” As he droned on, Hugh’s gaze wandered to the paintings of Tiberias and Hadrian. He remembered sitting in an office like this, decades ago, begging for a chance to serve the empire. They had given him that, but did they regret it?

 

"Sixty-eight." The counting stopped, breaking Hugh’s thoughts. The clerk nodded, confirming the count, and said, "They are all here, sir. It has been a pleasure." He then gestured toward the exit.

 

Hugh pushed open the heavy door, his arm straining. Muscles aching, he gripped the stair railing and spiraled upward, recalling that trips down to the dark vaults always seemed easier. He cursed the climb.

 

Many moments later, he emerged to the moon’s glow seeping into the bank. He smiled, “Agathe always loved the moon,” he said to the bustling room paying him little mind. He stopped to admire a stack of newly minted coins, bearing another emperor’s face on each. Three emperors he had served, if only there was time to serve a fourth.

 

Rittersberg was quiet, with only the sounds of two children at play ringing through the night’s calm. Hugh smiled in passing. Emma and Alice used to play like that. His heart broke a bit as he moved along.

 

The hinges on his house door screamed as he struggled to open it. Inside, he hung his hat next to the one his father had given him, the one with the plume. The house was empty. Many years ago, there had been a family here: children, a wife, and grandchildren.

 

Hugh slumped at the only table in the barren parlor and poured a glass of liquor. The heavy glass made his arm ache. Old age will do that. After a few sips, he took her portrait from his pocket. There was a woman he had loved, and a woman he had lost.

 

Hugh propped his wife’s miniature against a book from a Petrine bureaucrat. He smiled, turning to his papers. Though retired, he meant to help his son with the family’s accounts.

 

He circled some frivolous expenses to cut later, then squinted. The numbers were fuzzed, more than usual. His head lightened; he tried to stand, but couldn't. He stumbled and fell to the floor. His arm pounded with pain, and the weight of the world pressed on his chest.

 

Walter found him in the morning, ink staining his hand. Under his arm, a mostly smudged message. Except for the ending, “I did my duty.”

 

 

 

[pkdon 1977]

The bedridden Emperor sheds a tear.

[sam33497 7356]

A pair of men of the Empire who had passed to obscurity in their respective ways both felt and acknowledged the weight of this figure's passing. Though history might not revere them, certain people were undeniable pillars of Empire, without which such a prevalent state as the Imperium of all Azuras could never have been able to function nor reach the same heights.

[Wolfy-D 467]

Astrid finds the missive, taking a quick glance as she wonders internally "what is the empire doing wrong to die of old age with half their lives left to live?

[Frisket 4538]

“Thank ****…I’ll drink to his death.”

Vivien

muttered alone remembering the tax system the old fart abused against her for no reason.