Alrighty, I got bored and decided to write a story. This made me feel better about doing nothing else with my life.
HOWEVER, is it good? Because good is all that matters. So, read the introduction, and feel free to be as honest as is neccessary.
"Long live the king! Long live the king!"
The shouts ring out, echo in the vaulted hall and layer over and over to create a collage of noise. The sound rolls over the crowds gathered at the tables, doubling their cheers and overlapping them into a glorious harmony, and the man finally smiles for the first time that evening. With a wave of his hand, the hall immediately falls silent and all focus turns to him with an audible rustle of clothing.
A man just past his prime, King Shi'Kor is beginning to show grey hairs amongst his mop of blonde hair, above a handsome face that has become an idol to many in the land.
He stands, scarlet robe trailing behind him as he takes to a podium, and began to speak.
"People of Meicia, hear me now..."
With everyone captivated by the speech, nobody sees a small door open behind the pacing monarch. A shape appears, standing in the shadows and fumbling with something on its shoulder and in a bag. Finally assembling something, the figure draws a string then seems to hesitate for a moment.
In front of this unnoticed spectacle, the king has stopped walking and is fixing his audience with an intense gaze. So much depended on this end of the speech; the peace of the known world rested on this man's shoulders. The world could take so many different paths in this moment, and the decision was made by a soft twang from the shadows.
The king stopped mid-sentence, a puzzled expression on his face. Then, with a grunt, he slowly falls forwards on to the stone floor with a crack, revealing the thin, black arrow in his back.
And so, with cries of horror and disgust, running feet and a door quietly closing, a new age begins.
- In my opinion the below is far worse than the above. What do you think? -
There is a moment of shocked silence before anybody moves. Then, people stampede out of the hall, leaving no thought to anything but saving themselves. Guards spring out from the shadows, surround the king and muscle his daughter out of the room and to safety.
To me, it is obvious as I run towards the fallen monarch; he is dead. As soon as he is taken away we scour the shadows for the assassin.
Looking in the darkness behind the kings platform, I spot something glinting in my candlelight. Picking it up, I go to examine it into the light.
The object appears to be a fraction of a wax seal, less than half of the original. The symbol, however, is very clear.
A five-pointed star.
I run down corridors, slide round corners and knock people down in my haste to get to the royal chambers. The seal firmly in my grip, I finally arrive at the huge wooden doors. Barred, bolted and crossed with metal bars on every available inch of wood, the designer must have been big on intimidation. Ignoring the guards on the door, I barge in to the main chamber to look for the queen.
This news can't wait.
I find the queen sitting on her father's bed, puffy eyes and red faced, tears drying on her cheeks. When she sees me, her expression changes to anger.
"You had better have a very good reason for disturbing me now." She rises off the bed and comes right up to me, and whispers in my ear.
"I'm really in the mood for an execution. Someone will pay for my father's death, regardless of their innocence."
I struggle to find words.
"Well?!"
"Err. Well ma'am, I found this on the floor in the hall, and believe it may be connected to the assassin. If you will, ma'am, I believe this symbol is the five-pointed star..."
Five minutes later I am packing.
The small island continent of Meicia is on the verge of civil war. Before the incident, the mountainous, snowy north was at peace with the tropical south, and trade was prosperous. Unknown to the rest of the world, and oblivious to everything, Meicia was an untroubled land. However, a few months before the current events, things started to go wrong. The Northern lord Tukil was assassinated, and the south was blamed. Words were exchanged, councils met to discuss, but nothing was decided. Both sides began to frantically arm their men in anticipation of war, and it seemed inevitable the land would fall. Then the king, Shi'Kor, called a council on the eve of war, hoping to settle matters between the two provinces with an appeasement plan.
However, with the kings murder by a mysterious assassin before the crucial moment in his speech, the land is once again plunged again into uncertainty. Amongst this, I must help bring order and find this killer.
"I" am Steem, a recruit in the city guard, and the newly assigned Sheriff of the Imperial City.
I will bring the killer to justice.
Author
Topic: A story for you to tear apart. (Read 1235 times)