The cheers of the crowds echoed through the palace as Heydar and Afzal returned. The citizens saw them as heroes, and were glad to have them back. Soon Heydar and Azal entered the throne room.
The throne room was a massive room with a ceiling that was two or three stories tall, and it all was built of the finest stone and brick, like the rest of the palace. On the stone walls were magnificent tapestries which told the story of Saddle-Arabia for all to see and take pride in.
In the center of the room was an oval-shaped, stone stage with steps leading up to it. The stage was draped in the finest colorful cloths, and on those were ornate couches for each advisor to sit. In the center of the thrones was a greater throne of gold, with silken pillows for comfort, and on this throne Karam regally sat in his best, blue and silver tack.
This tack included a long draping piece that went across his back and draped down to the floor, fastened to him by a belt underneath, around his middle. On his head was a matching, ornately beaded blue and silver halter, and his chest was adorned with a matching collar of equal beauty. All his advisors were wearing their own best tack, whether it covered the full body like Avram and Kalil’s or if it was merely some halters and saddle-back adornments. Indeed, as Heydar and Afzal returned, they were greeted with everyone’s best face.
“We have returned, King Karam, and are here to report that all is secure on the Aseb border,” Afzal proclaimed as he kneeled down and stretched out his wings in a bow, “And I am ready to return to my place at your side.
“We are honored that you would choose us to check such an important situation, and I have a full report of the area right here, Sire,” Heydar added, using his magic aura to give Karam a detailed scroll.
Karam used his aura to grab the scroll and put it down by his side for later.
“I thank you both, very deeply,” Karam said with a smile, and then lifted one wing, signalling for the guards to close the huge, heavy, doors to the throne room, “Now I have something I would like to ask you,” Karam added in a calm tone.
“Anything for you, My Lord,” Afzal said with a nod, “What is it?”
“...When did you decide to kill my father?” Karam steadily replied, his blue eyes narrowing. His warm smile was replaced by a stoic look that emphasized the old scar on his cheek.
Afzal’s confident smile was replaced by his own stoic look as he glanced at Heydar. Although he remained calm, Heydar felt his heart slow down, and his blood go cold.
“My Lord, why would you say such a thing? Who poisoned your mind?” Afzal asked in an innocent tone as he stood up and folded his wings tightly against his sides.
Karam stomped one hoof on the solid gold throne he sat on, and Zahir teleported in the small pile of forbidden texts.
At this point, Afzal and Heydar knew they were in trouble. Heydar shifted his weight on his hooves while Afzal folded his ears back in an indignant way, keeping up his facade.
“Who had such texts?” Afzal demanded, unfurling his wings quickly.
“YOU did, you traitors!" Zahir snapped as he stamped one of his black hooves on the ground.
“And to think I once praised you!” Ghayth snorted, spitting at them with his last word.
Afzal wiped the spit off his face with one wing and defended himself with, “No, they must have been planted! I vowed to--”
But he was interrupted by Kalil, who leaped up from his couch and shouted, “OH, now you remember your vows, do you? Hmph! Scum like you is not even worthy to be stepped on by the poorest souls in this nation! You are absolutely beneath even the lowest of creatures!”
“How dare you accuse us falsely!” Heydar interjected, the red-brown fur along his back rising in fear as he took a few steps back.
“Alas, we do have proof… much of it,” Jaffar said quietly as he closed his eyes, “And there is no denying it was you two.”
“Please! I beg you: tell us the truth, all of it, and repent before you die!” Avram beseeched them as he stood up from his seat and took a step near the traitors.
Nearby, the guards were gradually closing in on Heydar and Afzal with their weapons drawn.
Seeing it has hopeless, and refusing to repent, Afzal flew towards one guard, knocking him out and stealing his sword with his hooves.
Heydar used his magic to knock out three more with a small explosion, and tried to teleport away, but there was an enchantment in the room so that something could be teleported IN but not OUT.
Panicking, Heydar fired at another guard, but it was too late. The three remaining guards charged the two, and within a few moments the villains were chained with magic chains that glowed vaguely.
Karam icily approached them, breathing deeply. There was not a sound except the clicking of his hooves on the stone, the clacking of the silver beads in his regalia moving with his steps, and the breathing from his flared nostrils.
“...why? Why did you do it?” Karam coldly questioned as his wings twitched with anger.
“Your father was growing soft,” Heydar confessed as his ears drooped, “Afzal convinced me that we’d make better leaders--and showed me the texts. It was all his plan!”
“COWARD! We planned it together!” Afzal snapped angrily as he struggled against the chains.
“HOW could you do such a dishonorable thing? How!?” Kalil wailed as he shoved his pale face near Heydar, “HOW!?”
Heydar head-butted Kalil away, who reeled back with the impact and shook his head quickly to clear it.
“AUGH! You aren’t worth a COIN! You hear me!? NOT A COIN! NOT ONE OUNCE OF SALT! NOT ONE OUNCE OF ANYTHING! May the Most High curse you and your children!” Kalil snapped while feeling a bit dazed and wobbling two and fro on his hooves.
“They will both die today! I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT!” Ghayth shouted as he trotted over and helped steady Kalil with a raised leg for the Unicorn to lean on.
“You are the snake, Afzal! I should’ve known!” Alem sighed as he hung his black and tan head and gritted his teeth quietly.
“We all should’ve known! We should’ve!” Kamal agreed angrily as he glared at the two beasts a few feet away from them.
“How long have you planned such a horrid thing?” Jinan begged, “Was it long? Was this deceit in your heart for long?”
“DID ANY true words ever come from your mouth? Or have you always been lying?” Zahir interjected angrily with another stomp.
“Not everything I said was a lie, no,” Afzal sneered, “But I suppose I have no reason to defend myself anymore. Go ahead and kill me.”
With that, the room erupted into various shouts and wails as the advisors all said their peace. Hooves stomped on the floor, wings flapped, tails lashed, and it all blurred into one furious cacophony.
Karam didn't hear it, though.
Silently, he thought about his father--brave, wise, understanding, Father.
These beasts thought his father was too soft, and THAT is why they poisoned him.
Indeed, they thought his father was too kind to exist.
It occurred to Karam that these brutes thought that his wonderful father was too soft to rule.
How dare they--
HOW DARE THEY!
Karam thought about his father again, and all the emotions he was trying to ignore came back in full force.
After so long of suppressing his feelings and barely dealing with them, they were breaking through the cracks in his facade.
He breathed deeper and harder, and suddenly it all came to a fierce head--no, a tempest.
Feeling his skin twitch and shake in a flurry of emotions, Karam looked at one of the guards and coldly ordered, “Give me your sword.”
The guard looked at him and nodded, using his wing to hand Karam the long blade. Hearing the blade unsheathe, everyone turned and looked at him, and grew silent.
“Move. Out. Of. My. Way,” Karam snarled in a firm voice.
The advisors slowly moved back, seeing a wrath in Karam’s quiet blue eyes they never saw before. All the guards did likewise, uncertain of what he’d do.
All along Karam's young body his fur fluffed up in fury, and he gritted his teeth as he stomped towards the traitors. His horn glowed a brighter tone of gold than usual as he held the blade in his aura. Atop his head, his golden yellow ears folded backwards, while his blue eyes narrowed into a dark, vengeful glare.
“You… killed… Father… and banished Daud…” Karam panted, looking at Heydar and Afzal angrily.
The traitorous Unicorn Horse and Pegasus Pony looked at Karam, and the fur on their faces grew pale. They never thought he could look like that. Karam had the blade in his magic aura, but he moved it to his mouth, and slowly walked towards them.
“Strong Wind?” Avram asked calmly, hoping his young king wouldn’t go mad.
“Be silent,” Karam warned, holding the hilt of the yatagan between his teeth.
Avram backed away, folding his ears fearfully along his black head covering. All the other advisors backed away a few more steps, too. Heydar gulped, and started panting.
Afzal's green eyes darted around as he struggled to think of something.
“W-wait, you must give us a fair trial!” Afzal objected, gulping hard.
He felt his sins crawl along the fur on his back.
“Oh really?” Karam said around the hilt, “But you forgeff somefing….
I AM KING NOW!”
With that, Karam used his magic to fill his body with the power and strength of a tempest, leaped into the air and dived down.
*SLASH*
*ZIP*
*SLASH*
*CLANG*
*SLASH.*
It happened so fast no one was entirely sure what happened, but soon Karam was there, with blood splattered on his fur and coating the blade he held.
Heydar and Afzal were executed.
Karam avenged Father.
Karam avenged Daud.
Shaking with emotions, Karam slowly turned around and looked at the gorey sight he made, and then lifted his crazed, blue eyes to study his advisors.
Everybeast was staring in shock at the scene, and they all slowly shifted their gazes to King Karam.
Abruptly Karam realized something: Heydar and Afzal thought he was soft too.
They were going to use him like a puppet, weren’t they?
They were.
Would his other advisors do that too?
He couldn’t trust anybeast, could he!?
Everyone was wrong, everyone! If one betrayed him why not more?
Why not?
WHY NOT?
No, that didn't make sense!! Why not, though?
Wasn't everyone a little power-hungry, deep inside?
Deep in their hearts, weren't they all corrupted?
If two could betray him, why not more?
Father was a beloved king, yet even he was betrayed.
Why shouldn't Karam fear for his life, too? Karam was but a child compared to his father, and but a speck of dust compared to Khayri's legacy. If they would betray Khayri, why not betray Karam as well?
That's what happened, right?
WHY SHOULD KARAM TRUST ANYBEAST!?
His mind raced so fast he wasn’t even sure it was his own mind anymore.
Turning around to them all, Karam used his magic to hold the blade away from his face while he gathered his thoughts.
He spread his wings wide, reared up, and with a fierce look in his soft, blue eyes, he roared with the power of a dozen winds,
“DOES ANYBEAST ELSE WISH TO QUESTION MY AUTHORITY?”
For a moment, he felt like he wasn’t himself--as if somebeast else was taking over his words.
For that same moment, his words were both amplified and projected with a vast gust of wind that blew everybeast across the floor and to the walls, pinning them down ferociously.
Immediately, everybeast shook their head and declared their loyalty to him.
He barely heard what they said.
“Oh, loyal, are you?
Truly?
TRULY?
They were ‘loyal’ enough to kill my father!
MAYBE YOU SHOULD ALL DIE TOO, JUST LIKE THEY DID!” Karam shouted out another gust, panting hard.
At that, everybeast bowed down low to the ground, assuring him they were truly loyal.
Their eyes were filled with terror and their voices trembled with every word.
However, their cries fell on deaf ears, for Karam was out for blood, deciding who he’d kill next.
They all begged him for mercy as he stepped closer, gripping the blade in his golden aura, studying them all.
However, there was one voice he heard.
“Oh Strong Wind, please, I beseech you, take a deep breath. You have given the traitors what they deserve… now please… just breathe,” Avram said in a soothing voice.
Karam looked at the Earth Horse of the Zarfaim faith.
Avram wore the same humble, modest, black robes he always wore, with the black covering on his head he always had.
In his brave, blue eyes was a deep courage and determination to reach out to the tempestuous young Alicorn and help him.
Something about Avram’s voice reminded Karam of Father.
For some reason, whenever Avram spoke, he felt almost like Father was still there, right beside him, and the feeling bonded him to the old Horse deeply. Slowly, shakily, Karam hung his head while glancing away.
He realized what he had done, and was shocked by himself.
With the adrenaline rush gone, he felt numb and shaky all over, and his horn sparked out, making him drop the blade. His sides heaved with his breath, making his ornate tack billow and fall with each motion. His wings limply fell down, dragging along the ground as he stumbled off to the side.
“You… you are… you may stand up now,” Karam said in a weak voice, staring at the mess he made in shock.
Cautiously the others stood to all fours.
Nobeast said a word.
They stared at the blood and the heaving, terrified prince-turned-malik in astonishment.
Surely this was a nightmare.
In no sane world would Karam do... this.
Tragically, it did happen, and he did do it.
After a few moments of gazing at the blood, Kamal regained his senses.
BLOOD? ON THE FLOOR? INCONCEIVABLE!
“Well, Guards, go fetch the servants! We need this cleaned immediately!... right, Sire?” Kamal hesitated to order anything at this moment as he held up one of his white hooves and waited on Karam.
All the other advisors held their breath and watched Karam's movements.
“What? Y-yes, clean up this mess,” Karam agreed, turning away from the sight, feeling sick at what he had done.
With that, the doors to the throne room were opened and servants were called for.
Repeatedly checking his pale Camel fur for any blood stains, Kamal gave orders to the servants on how to properly clean up the mess, while also trying to not feel sick himself.
Soon everybeast except a few guards and the cleaners were out of the throne room, recovering from the moment.
“Oh Sire… do you… need someone to talk to?” Kalil offered, using his magic to smooth his blonde mane as he talked.
Karam looked at the Unicorn Horse of the Zarfaim faith, and shook his head.
Oh, he needed to talk...
But didn’t know what to say.
“Well… I have two very good ears for listening, if you desire to speak,” Kalil assured him with a bow.
“As do I, Strong Wind,” Avram agreed with a warm smile.
“We all do, My Lord,” Alem added with a nod.
“Thank you… I… wish to be alone now,” Karam said in a steady voice as he walked away.
For the rest of the day, there was hardly any noise in the palace. No beast felt like speaking about what happened, and when they did it was always in quiet tones.
Soon the whole city knew what happened, nevertheless.
At last, the case was closed.
The traitors were executed by the wrathful winds of justice.