Book 7/Chapter 2
Long Live the King
(Year 4, month 5, day 21)
Zeil sat outside the small inner city home for a few more minutes as the door finally opened as Edelweiss stepped outside, “Well… I put away everything, so you can come in now.”
As Zeil entered the home, it was obvious that the home was lived in until recently as Zeil replied, “So… what were you doing again?”
The scholar replied, “I was just putting away a few items that weren’t nessisary anymore. Stuff that you needn’t concern yourself with.”
Zeil looked at a small shelf in the living room and noticed dust on the shelf and places where picture frames used to sit as Zeil replied, “You mean, the belongings of those who lived here until recently. Right?”
Edelweiss nodded, “You don’t miss anything do you? Yes, I felt out of respect it was only proper to put away things of personal value, family portraits and such.”
As Zeil trotted through the home he had to ask, “So… who lived here before?”
Edelweiss gave a disappointed sigh before looking to a shelf and replying, “Two brothers living together. One was a soldier and died in the kings main forces a few days ago. The other… is currently lying in the field hospital at the front of the city… he won’t survive the night.”
Zeil gave Edelweiss a disappointed look, “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.”
The scholar continued, “So many lost in this pointless war… and all for a stupid relic.”
Zeil was curious, “Relic?”
Edelweiss smiled as he shook his head, “I can explain more at the right time but… for now let’s just say this. There are things in this world that we don’t understand. Mysterious relics that predate even the titans. Items of great power that we can’t understand, because we aren’t meant to understand them. Sometimes, it’s better to never know. And other times, it would be better to just forget it and leave it in the hole we found it in.”
Zeil gave the scholar a confused look, but rather then explaining further, the cleaver pegasus continued, “But enough about that. If you want to understand better, I’ll explain more after your meeting with the queen… in fact he is already here to take you to see her.”
Edelweiss looked to the front door as Zeil started to ask, “What? What are you ta-”
At that moment a firm knock was heard at the door as Edelweiss spoke, “Go ahead and answer it… he isn’t here to see me, so you should answer.”
Confused, Zeil trotted to the front door and opened it as he was surprised to see Captain Rose standing on the other side as the captain gave him a disgruntled look, “Stripes…”
Zeil felt nervous as he replied, “Um… Compass Rose… right?”
The annoyed soldier replied, “That’s captain to you… but I’m not here for formalities.” He looked passed Zeil at Edelweiss, “The queen wishes to see the zebra… I trust that this won’t be a problem will it?”
Edelweiss shrugged his shoulders as he replied, “If the queen commands it, then let it be so. If I need him I’ll just be patient till he is available.”
Although he didn’t show it, Captain Rose was surprised to how easy it was as he replied, “Alright then, follow me Stripes. I’ll escort you to the castle.”
With a somewhat dismissive actions, Captain Rose turned away from the door and started trotting up the street as Zeil had to rush to keep up.
As Zeil followed the irritated Captain, he could tell that he was completely unwelcomed as Zeil tried to break the ice, “So… this is Lilith. Strange… the buildings are made of untreated wood, and the rooves are thatch… that and the cobble stone street make this place seem moderately old. Far older than any city I’ve ever been t-”
The captain interrupted with distain, “You can save your acts of innocents for Edelweiss and the Queen… I just have one question for you?... What was your backup plan?”
Zeil gave the distrusting captain a confused look, “Backup plan?”
The captain nodded, “I saw you on that battlefield, and yet you still have the gall to attempt an infiltration on this city… but someone as skilled as you surely would keep a backup plan in case things went awry. I wonder… what would you have done if Edelweiss wasn’t there to save you?”
Zeil replied, “You want the truth?”
Thinking he had him, the captain smiled, “It would be requested, yes… the truth.”
Zeil replied, “Well… you would have killed me, then and there. I told you before, I’m not a spy, and I didn’t intend on even coming to this city. I’m on my way to the coast.”
As the two neared the large castle walls, Captain Rose easily lead Zeil passed the guards as they continued towards the castle doors, “The coast?...”
Zeil nodded, “Yea… I’m on my way back to the mare I love, so I have to travel to the coast the capital city of Prance, to be more specific.”
Captain Rose replied, “Prance? There is no such kingdom.”
Zeil have him a confused look, “What? Of course there is. The Prench border is only a few hours from here.”
The captain shook his head in pity, “Wow… and here I thought you were a mastermind of infiltration. You don’t even know of the neighboring kingdoms. Perhaps you’re nothing to fear after all… unless you turn out to be more of a danger on yourself then others.”
Zeil felt even more confused as the two now crossed into the castle doors and entered the corridor.
Before Zeil could reply, Captain Rose looked down the corridor as he called, “HEY YOU!!!”
Ahead, two soldiers were leaning against a doors talking as they both saw the captain and quickly moved to their positions on each side of the doorway as one spoke, “Y-yes Captain?”
Captain Rose approached the two soldiers as he looked at them, then at the door they were guarding, then back to them. “With the enemy outside the walls, Lilith is currentlyn on high alert. So let me remind you of your duties… Your job is to guard the throne room and to protect our queen… not to lounge about and dull your attentiveness with pointless chit chat!”
The soldier stood at attention as one replied, “Apologies captain, it won’t happen again.”
Captain Rose shook his head, “No… it won’t… otherwise both of you will spend the next three days in the stock. Understood?”
The soldier stood still as they both replied, “Yes sir!”
As Zeil saw the obedience of the soldiers he felt a little confused, He had heard stories of placing ponies in the stockade in the olden days but hearing of a kingdom that still had such punishments seemed odd. Either way, Zeil remained quiet as Captain Rose sighed, “You volunteers are untrained and indiscipline, I for one will not stand for this. You two should be grateful I have more pressing matters to attend to.”
The guards and Zeil kept silent as the captain looked back at the large doors as he spoke to Zeil, “Before we go in I want to warn you… I don’t know what heathen congregation of savages you drive from, so pay attention. When you address the queen it will be either your majesty or your grace. When we enter you may approach the throne but you will go no further than the bottom step of the alter. You will stop before that step and bow, and you will not rise from that bow until addressed. Furthermore you will not speak unless spoken to and prey you don’t interrupt her, otherwise you will have me to deal with and I’ll warn you now stripes, if you show even the slightest hint of deception or disrespect to our queen… I will not hesitate to spill your blood in her presence. Got it?”
Zeil rolled his eyes as he replied, “Sure… don’t worry I won’t do anything stupid.”
Captain Rose turned back to the doors as he replied, “You better not.”
After that was said, Captain Rose looked at the two nervous guards as he hesitated before speaking, “Well… Open the doors!!!”
Worried that they would anger him more, the guards quickly pushed open the doors to the throne room as Zeil and Captain Rose entered. As they trotted into the large room Zeil was surprised. Every throne room he had seen was pristine and magnificent but this one seemed less so. Rather than marble lining a segment of the walls or pillars, the entire room was made of stone. The walls were polished stone brick and the floor was smoothed stone tiles with a long red and blue carpet running down the center to the alter. The pillars holding the ceiling up were one solid cylinder of polished granite that held up a wooden roof high above with poorly made stained glass windows lining the room walls. The alter at the end of the room was three step up that were separated by at least two feet a piece, which led to two large wooden thrones. All in all the room didn’t look like this was a bad or poor kingdom, just widely outdated.
Slowly the two trotted down the throne room toward the alter at the end. When the doors opened the queen was pacing back and forth in front of the two thrones, but as she saw the doors open, she trotted to the right throne and sat down. After sitting, Zeil could see that now both thrones were filled, the right with the current queen of the kingdom, and the left with a crown symbolizing the king’s absence. Doing as he was told before, Zeil followed Captain Rose to the end of the throne room and stopped just before the first step which was about six feet from the thrones. Then following Captain Rose’s lead, he bowed in respect as Captain Rose spoke, “Your majesty I brought the zebra as you requested.”
The queen stood from her throne as she spoke, “Captain, I would ask you show simple courtesy to our guest. Mr. Zeil is in possession of a name after all.”
Captain Rose rose from his bow as he replied, “I will refer to him as stripes and nothing more. He has yet to earn the right to be addressed from me.”
Sighing in defeat, the queen replied, “Very well, I suppose little progress is better than none. Now… leave us.”
Zeil continued to hold his bow as the captain replied, “Leave you? But your maj-”
She interrupted, “I wish to speak with Mr. Zeil in private. So… I want you to leave us so that I may do so.”
Captain Rose took one step onto the alter as he replied, “Your majesty he can’t be truste-”
“Silence!” Captain Rose stepped back down as the queen replied, “Do you doubt my magic? Or is it my ability to defend myself for which you hold doubt?”
Captain Rose bowed in respect as he replied, “I hold no doubt for her majesty. Just as I understand and request forgiveness for stepping out of line.”
The queen nodded as she replied, “Very well, so long as you follow my instruction and trust in my judgment, you are forgiven, now leave us. So saith the queen.”
With that order, Captain Rose held his bow and replied, “Long Live the Queen.” He took one step back, then rose from his bow while turning to the doors before leaving the room, and closing the doors behind him.
As soon as the doors were closed, the queen sighed as she looked to Zeil and spoke, “I must apologies yet again for the disrespect of my captain. Such unruly behavior in a time such as this is troubling to say the least.”
Zeil rose from his bow more intimidated of the queen then before as he replied with as much resect as he could, “He is concerned for your safety your majesty. Since I’m new here, it’s only expected that he would be cautious since you are at a time of war.”
The queen smiled, “You are very forgiving Mr. Zeil, though it baffles me that such nobility has yet to be knighted.”
Zeil nodded, “Well, they don’t really knight others where I come from.”
The queen nodded, “All cultures have their ways, and it is that for which we must live in harmony with one another… as this kingdom’s founding principal, this is the one truth that we know.”
Zeil was confused but before he could reply, the queen turned back to her throne as she spoke, “Now to the matter of why I summoned you.” She sat in her throne, “My name is Queen Anna, High queen of Lilith and… recently widowed monarch to the throne. Since the moment you arrived her I ha-”
As the queen looked back to Zeil, she saw for a split second his eyes shift to the empty throne beside her and back as she stopped the current topic and continued, “My king… is no longer with us. I don’t know if you were informed but… a few days ago he and the majority of our forces set out to face the minotaur invaders before they could reach the kingdoms borders. But… when the two clashed in battle, he and his soldiers were quickly overwhelmed by the enemy. In a last effort to save his subjects, he stayed behind to hold off their retreat with only a small number of our best trained soldiers.” She looked down in sadness, “He…Perished that day on the battlefield.” The saddened queen sighed to collect herself as she continued, “Ten soldiers, were the only ones to return from that battle. Ten, out of seven thousand. A truly sad day for our kingdom.”
Zeil still couldn’t feel the alicorn’s sadness but it was obvious as he replied, “I’m sorry for your loss, I can’t say I know how it feels to lose somepony that close to you, but my situation doesn’t put me very fare from the same feeling.”
Realizing she may be sharing too much, the queen wiped her tear filling eyes as she spoke, “And… this brings us to why I summoned you here. Mr. Zeil, witnessing your abilities on today’s battle, and seeing the nobility of your actions has proven to me that I would be honored to have a soldier of your skill assisting in the defense of my kingdom. I understand this wasn’t your intention but I will assure you that you will be compensated for your assistance. You will be paid a mercinaries’ salary of ninety gemstones and upon this agreement, be hereby knighted as Sir Zeil of Lilith. What say you to this offer?”
Although he couldn’t feel her emotions Zeil still expected something like this since he was summoned by name to see the queen. However he already knew his answer as he replied, “I understand the situation you’re in your majesty, but… I have to decline your offer. This fight isn’t my own, and… I’ve taken a vow to never kill until I return to the mare I love so. I can only say no.”
Queen Anna seemed disappointed as she replied, “I see… one loyal to a vow. Then, I humbly aske that should you find yourself in battle, that you do not hinder the actions of my soldiers and assist in seeking refuge for yourself and the civilians around you. And so this meeting is concluded. You may leave.”
Surprised the queen didn’t try harder to convince him, Zeil replied, “Oh… um… okay… May I ask first… when may I be able to leave the city? I have a long journey to finish.”
The Queen hesitated before replying, “Sadly… I’m unsure. The minotaur soldiers cut down the surrounding forests and are guarding the city closely, so it’s unlikely they will allow passage in… or out of Lilith. I have dispatched a messenger phoenix to request a meeting with General Fist at dawn. But we won’t know for certain until… after he accepts my surrender.”
Zeil was surprised, “Surrender?”
Queen Anna nodded, “Yes… as much as it pains me to do so. We must offer our surrender in hopes that he will spare my kingdom and subjects. By offering both the relic and myself… I hope the minotaur kingdom will spare everypony and allow them a chance to live. Till then however, I would advise that you remain in the city until I can assure safe passage for you. I trust Edelweiss has provided you with temporary residence?”
Zeil nodded, “He did.”
The queen smiled, “Then I will request you remain patient. I understand how much this may burden you in your travels, but I wouldn’t suggest it unless I had your safety in mind.”
Zeil nodded as he replied, “I understand, thank you your majesty.”
Queen Anna nodded, “You are welcome, now if you will excuse me, my guards outside will escort you back into the city.”
Zeil bowed one last time as he replied, “Thank you your majesty and good luck on the negotiations tomorrow.”
Smiling at his polite words, Queen Anna nodded as Zeil took one step back before turning around, raising from his bow and leaving the throne room.
As Zeil exited the throne room and entered the corridor, he was met by the two door guards as one spoke, “Mr… um… Zebra? Is your meeting with the queen finished?”
Zeil nodded as the soldier replied, “Alright… then I’ll escort you out of the castle please fol-“
“That won’t be nessisary.”
At that moment both the guard and Zeil looked down the corridor as Edelweiss approached as he spoke, “Mr. Zeil and I have something to discuss regarding the residence he is currently staying in. While we talk, I’ll show him back to the city. After all, it would be best that you both remain at your post… less we risk angering Captain Rose further.”
Understanding the comment, the guard nodded, “Y-yea… right… As you were Edelweiss, we will trust this to you.”
Edelweiss smiled as he nodded at the comment before turning to Zeil, “Mr. Zeil?... Trot with me.”
As the cleaver scholar started trotting down the corridor, Zeil hesitated. He still couldn’t feel emotions or the presence of the ponies in this kingdom, but it didn’t take his changeling senses to know that the pegasus in front of him, had an ulterior motive to meeting him in the castle. Knowing this, Zeil decided to follow the older pegasus as he and the scholar made their way down the castles halls. As they trotted Zeil asked, “So… what is it you wanted to say? Must be important to come meet me at the castle.”
Edelweiss nodded, “It is… first I want to ask you… the queen made you an offer, to join her army and fight in defense of Lilith, did she not?”
Zeil was confused, “Wait… did you hear the conversation? I thought you arrived just now?”
Edelweiss nodded, “I did… but she always makes that offer… let me guess? Fight for her and be paid a mercinaries wage of ninety gemstones right?”
Confused, Zeil nodded, “Y-yea… she did but… how-”
“And your answer… what was it?”
Zeil still couldn’t feel his emotions, but he could naturally feel that the pegasi scholar was scheming something as he replied, “I said no.”
Edelweiss was surprised, “No?”
Zeil nodded, “No.”
Edelweiss replied with curiosity, “Really… Surprising… I had assumed that one with your nobility would have agreed to such a gracious plea. No doubt your reasoning for staying uninvolved is an important one. Moral or task driven?”
Zeil replied, “Actually… both. This isn’t my fight, so I had no intention on getting invo-”
At that moment, Zeil was interrupted as Edelweiss stopped in place and put his hoof in front of Zeil stopping him as the pegasus spoke, “Wait… stay quiet till they pass.”
Confused Zeil gave the pegasus a strange look as he started to hear somepony approaching from a crossing corridor ahead as he saw Captain Rose trotting through with another soldier as he spoke, “I don’t care if the soldiers need rest! The castle guards have been working for hours and the only ponies we have for relief are the soldiers that returned from the battlefield.”
As the two crossed Zeil and Edelweiss’s path, they didn’t notice them as the soldier replied, “Sir I only ask that you allow the soldiers returning from the field of battle to rest for a few hours before placing them on shift. I do not mean to leave the castle defenseless but if we over work them then it would be no better than leaving none to defend the city. The soldiers exited the corridor as Captain Rose replied without noticing Zeil or Edelweiss, “Fine… allow them time to rest, but don’t take too long. Our numbers are now half from yesterday, and… our defenses are scarce as is.”
As the two soldiers disappeared from sight, Edelweiss spoke, “Good… if they had seen us, we would have to deal with them for the next thirty minutes. And I don’t care to waste the time.”
Zeil gave Edelweiss a confused look as he spoke, “Captain Rose is really strict isn’t he?”
Edelweiss nodded as he continued leading Zeil down the hall, “Yes well… war does that to ponies. He wasn’t always this way… about fifty years ago he was a moderately nice stallion.”
Zeil’s confusion grew, “What? Exactly how old is he?”
The stallion stopped at a door as he replied, “I’ll explain soon… for now… I have to ask, the queen explained everything about our king, didn’t she?”
As the pegasus opened the door, Zeil replied, “Yes, she told me about the battle he died in a few days ago. About how he-”
Edelweiss and Zeil entered a large library as he replied, “About how he lead Lilith’s finest soldiers into a battle and sacrificed himself to save as many as he could when he found the minotaurs army to be too strong.”
Zeil nodded, “Yea… a noble action for a king.”
Edelweiss trotted into a large open reading area of the library as he replied, “Noble… if he had known then… well… At least they only died once.”
As the two entered the open reading area, Zeil saw a large painting on the wall that showed both the king and queen of Lilith standing in front of their thrones. As he examined the painting Zeil remembered something. The queen of Lilith was the exact same as she was moments ago with her pink coat and silver mane. But the king was a very familiar alicorn with a white coat and solid black mane. As Zeil saw the king he suddenly remembered his vision as he spoke, “Wait… That stallion! Is that your king?”
Curious of Zeil’s surprise, Edelweiss nodded, “Yes… that is King Ma-”
“Matthias… King Matthias of Lilith… Right?”
Edelweiss was surprised that Zeil knew the kings name as he replied, “Y-yes… he is… But… how do you know his name?”
Zeil replied as he remembered every detail of his vision, “I had a vision yesterday… a vision of what I thought was the past… but it must have been future.”
Edelweiss was confused, “The future? How so?”
Zeil replied, “Your king… he isn’t dead. He’s alive.”
Edelweiss’s shock became more apparent, “Wh-what?”
Zeil replied, “I saw the future, I saw the day that the monitor attack the city. The king was sitting on the hill outside the city being forced by their general to watch. The general had him chained to a cart, and was gloating about attacking the city. I can’t remember exactly what was said… but… the one true fact that I took from that vision is that your king, is in fact alive, and is being held prisoner by the monitor general.”
Edelweiss tried to think over Zeil’s words as he replied, “But… it’s not possible… how could you possibly know this? How is it possible for an outsider who first enters the city to know this truth?”
As Zeil heard this, he was confused, “Wait… you knew?”
Edelweiss nodded as he replied, “Yes… but that doesn’t matter now. Zeil… my queen was unable to convince you to join her fight, but… perhaps I can ask that you help me instead.”
Thinking he was being dragged back into the war Zeil shook his head, “Sorry but I already told your queen I have no intention on joining you. This war isn’t my fight and as bad as your situation is, I don’t want to help you win this war.”
Edelweiss shook his head, “I don’t want you to help us win this war… in fact it’s a complete loss, even now. What I want you to do, is to ensure that once we all die… once Lilith has fallen and is erased from history, that it remain that way.”
Zeil was shocked, “Wh-what?”
Edelweiss spoke with a determined tone as he replied, “Zeil… I want you to put an end to this endless war. I want to end the suffering that I and my subjects have endured every week for over three millennia. I want my subjects to finally rest in peace.”
Zeil gave Edelweiss a shocked look as he replied, “Y-your subjects?... wait… exactly… who are you?”
With that, Edelweiss gave a bracing sigh as he reached up and grabbed the turban on his head as he removed the rolled cloth and revealed a broken unicorn horn underneath. Showing fully that he wasn’t a pegasus as Zeil originally thought, he was an alicorn. As Zeil saw this, he could see a good resemblance between the scholar and the king in the painting as Edelweiss spoke, “Zeil… that vision you had wasn’t of the future… it was the past. I lived that day over thirty-three hundred years ago, and every year since. My name in truth its Matthias… King Matthias, First and true King of Lilith… as well as… its last.”
Outside the city, General Fist sat in his tent as he looked over a map of Lilith as a minotaur soldier entered and spoke, “General, I’ve come with a scouting report. We fo-“
The general interrupted without looking up from the map, “Did you find King Matthias?”
The soldier hesitated before replying, “Well… n-no sir. But we discovered a campsite on the side of the battlefield.”
The Curious general looked up from the map but didn’t move his head, “A campsite?”
The soldier nodded, “Yes sir, it was discovered during the battle. The resident abandoned the site and ran into the battlefield as soon as he was discovered.”
The general turned his head to the soldier, “And why is this a concern of mine?”
The soldier shook his head as he replied, “Well sir… when we searched the camp, we found this.”
At that moment the soldier handed general fist the mage’s spell book as the general looked at the marking on the cover in shock, “This… is this?…”
The general ran his fingers over the leather bound spell book as he spoke with a devious smile, “These symbols… this book, is written in the tongue of the Titans.”
The soldier asked, “Can you read it sir?”
The general nodded, “It’s been a while since I learned, but I remember enough to be able to understand it.”
The general looked at the symbols on the cover as he translated, “The Tome of the Ma-“
He paused as the lines and symbols on the cover started rearranging themselves making the rest illegible. As he saw this, the general’s expression became confused, “What?”
Seeing what happened, the soldier asked, “I-it changed?… Wh-whats that mean?”
The general smiled again as he ran his fingers over the new placement of the text, “That means… that a powerful spell is preventing us from reading this book.”
The soldier replied, “Is… this an effect from the pony relic?”
The general closed the book, “Don’t be a fool, this book is hiding a secret. A secret fare more superior then any mere relic is capable of… even a titan’s relic. Power like this… would please our king greatly.”
The soldier asked, “But… can you read it?”
The general thought to himself before replying, “You said the one at the campsite fled into the battlefield. Who was it?”
The soldier thought to himself, “According to the squad that discovered the site, it was a zebra that fled the area. Why?”
The general replied, “Because this zebra is the one who can read this book. The only one who can translate despite this spells effects.”
The general took the book with him as he left his tent and walked to the far end of the camp. As he reached the edge, he saw one of his soldiers standing next to a large pile of recovered weapons and armor as he called to the soldier, “You! You are in charge of the mortuary detail for the recent battle correct?”
The soldier stood at attention, “Yes sir I am.”
The general asked, “Did you recover a zebra corps on the battlefield today?”
The soldier shook his head, “A zebra? No sir, I don’t think so.”
The general thought to himself, “No… then he must be in Lilith.”
At that time another soldier approached, “General! Messenger phoenix from Lilith. The Queen Requests a meeting at dawn.”
The general smiled, “Then we have something to discuss.” He turned to the soldier and replied, “Respond to her message. Tell her we will agree to her meeting and expect to see her there.”
The soldier replied, “Yes sir, but there is more. Shortly before receiving the message, we collected a few civilians from Lilith who were trying to flee the city.”
The general nodded, “Alright then execute them ime-… actually… set up a tent for them. Give them food and a comfortable place to sleep. But be sure to keep them guarded… I have a plan for them, just in case the queen decided to be… difficult.” He looked down at the book in his hand, “I will learn the secret in this book… then I’ll destroy Lilith and all who reside there.”