Throne room of the castle, Zamart's point of view.
I slowly approach the king, who is talking to his council. I don't feel much like telling him what I should communicate to him. The king is a tall, broad-shouldered man, though he now has a bit of a paunch. He has short gray hair and a neatly trimmed gray beard.
The only thing that keeps him from looking truly regal are his small, sunken eyes, which give him a sly appearance, more befitting a con man than a king. I have never liked looking into his eyes, not even when he was just the prince consort. I bow and wait for the king to acknowledge me before speaking.
"Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that your daughter, Princess Mericel, did not survive the casting of the spell."
King Raden says:
"Never mind, what were the results?"
I can't believe my ears, how can he care more about the summoning than his own daughter? It's not like Princess Amercy, who was the daughter of the previous Prince Regent, but it's his own blood that just died. Am I seeing things or does he seem happy about it?
"Ahem... We have successfully summoned all fifty available invocations, Your Majesty. Though twenty-two of the forty-nine were non-combat classes, such as artisans and farmers, leaving only twenty-seven combat types."
King Raden says:
"Okay, as long as the other nations can't summon anyone next year during the normal summoning time, everything will go according to plan. Teach the summoners who don't fight enough about the nation so they can survive. Then send the craftsmen to the appropriate guilds and give the farmers a plot of empty land each."
"Yes, we summoned them all and it only cost your daughter her life. I wish I dared to say that to her face. The more time passes since the queen died, the more I wonder what I'm doing here."
"As you command, my king!"
Knight Commander Tarrik says:
"Your Majesty, why bother with non-combat invocations? Just throw them all into the pit."
As usual, Tarrik doesn't think or understand anything. He is a complete idiot and is so out of shape that he has to enchant his armor to support his own weight because he can barely move. I understand that the king needed to bribe his family to support the crown, but to put a jester as a knight commander of the army is just ridiculous!
King Raden says:
"Because economic prosperity is also a weapon, sometimes even more powerful than an army. Besides, we lost many subjects after my wife's death, before we closed the border."
Chancellor Marvok says:
"If you had ever faced them in battle, you would know that there is no such thing as an unarmed beastman, Tarrik."
Marvok served the queen as I did, but he has always been a political animal, and I have never trusted him. He is a tall man and seems absolutely trustworthy, and he uses that to pit the noble factions against each other. I doubt that even the king trusts him, but he is a very useful man.
Royal historian Dammer states:
"Your Majesty, I have consulted the records and have found no mention of a black-furred beastman of any race anywhere in the records. Nor is there any record of a beastman having been summoned before. As you know, beastmen do not have wizards, so they cannot perform the summoning themselves."
King Raden says:
"So you are suggesting that this could be the Great Summoning? Very well, Zamart, you have permission to confirm it."
I bow and approach Dammer now that I have finished reporting. Dammer is the only person I really trust here; he served the queen and her mother before her, just as I did. He is in his seventies and it shows, I fear he doesn't have much time left. It is a pity, for he possesses one of the most brilliant minds I have ever known.
Had I met him at another time, with magical talent, he would probably have surpassed me.
At that moment, a figure emerges from the shadows and kneels before the king. He is a thin, dark-skinned man, a master of the shadows whose appearance reflects his craft. I know for certain that he is not to be trusted; no one associated with darkness is trustworthy. Yet the king seems to trust him and rely on him for all manner of dark deeds.
The spymaster Quill says: "It is done, Your Majesty. Everyone who was outside your council and knew of your daughter's summoning or death is dead."
'What, even the healers? Even the king should be careful not to anger the church! I know he has some kind of agreement with the High Priest, but even so, the disappearance of four healers will not go unnoticed by the church.'
King Raden says:
"Good job, Quill. Make sure the rumors say that the princess died while trying to negotiate with the 'bandits'. We need the people to hate the rebels, so that when we use the army to eliminate them, we'll be seen as heroes. Now we can move on to the next stage of the plan!"
Master Spy Quill says:
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will begin immediately."
King Raden thinks, "Within a year I will be able to conquer the other nations and rule the continent!"
"If that day comes, I pity the people of this continent. Perhaps I should send messages to my old friends to warn them of what the king is planning?"