[IC] The King of the Shadows

Catherine, Fornoire

"Your majesty!" screamed a messanger

"What is the matter?" questioned the King "Speak of it, please"

"Someone in the palace gates wants to talk to you!"

"Who is this person? Please, tell me"

"He says it is important. I do not know, m'lord"

Who could it be? Sure, the King had his gates open for visitors to speak to him, concerned about the people, but it was a Sunday. The palace was closed to His Majesty's Q&A.

Willihiam wondered. Being in favour of transparency and for his people, he let this stranger in, albeit with security surrounding him.

"Let this person in. It might be an urgent matter of my purview. Escort him, however"

"Yes, your Majesty!"

In came the person who requested a small audience with the King himself. 

There was something familiar with him. "Have I seen this man before?"

"Hello" said the man "You know who I am"

"What? What is this? I do not recall this person"

Intrigued, Willihiam listened attentively.

"I am the true heir to the throne"

"What?! Ludicrous! Why is he even insinuaiting this?! Is he mocking my persona?!"

Willihiam's temper flared a bit, but still, he awaited what this claimant to the throne had to say.

"Clarify your statement" demanded Willihiam.

"It is me. Do you not remember your own older brother? Crown Prince, and now King Alexaneder?"

Willihiam went into a rage. How dare this commoner say such words, when Alexaneder had died in a plane crash 5 years ago?!

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!" screamed the King, throwing the glass of water he had been drinking to the floor, shattering it into pieces "ARE YOU MAKING A FOOL OF ME, OF THE TRAGEDY 5 YEARS AGO?!"

"No" the man who claimed the purple said "Want a DNA Analysis? Or want me to say the only secret you have shared only with me when we were young?"

Willihiam was stunned. Was this man so confident as to claim these things?

"...Explain your statement. Tell me what was exactly the secret I told you" dared the King "The DNA Analysis will confirm your existence, but that will have to wait. Explain yourself before I throw you off of this palace"

"Fine. You broke an antique vase and hid it in the West Garden, right beside the third patch of red roses our Mother used to cultivate"

And, with this, His Majesty fell to his knees.

He decided to give him the power of, but not the crown, in secret. To test this man until the DNA Analysis came back. Willihiam would do whatever this man wished. Or so Willihiam claimed.

He was certain that it was his brother. But he would not let an authoritarian King rule once again. So, if Alexaneder ordered Willihiam to re-take absolute power, he would have to...

To...disappear. For good. For the greater good.

"........."

"See? I am your brother. Give my ancestral rights to their rightful owner"

Standing up, he began his plan.

"...The DNA Analysis will tell the truth. And, until it is confirmed, I will do whatever you wish as King of Fornoire"

"I see. Seems reasonable"

"We shall speak of your new orders later" said the King of the shadows.

The King in the shadows. Of the shadows.

Was he? Will he? And will he ever emerge out of the shadows?

This tale will tell us all about it.

Catherine, Fornoire

"...There. I have closed off the palace to the public" said Willihiam

"Excellent. Your next task is to fortify the palace. The Royal Guard will not let anyone enter, and will slash anyone who even dares to do so with their long and sharp blades"

Willihiam sighed. He had no excuse to defy Alexaneder. This was a test, and Willihiam was ready to take it as well.

"As you wish"

Catherine, Fornoire

"Now, order troops in Northern Fornoire to withdraw and place themselves in the capital"

What? Why? The Northern Fornirian force was there to occupy the area after a failed insurgency by nobles. They were there to prevent the nobility to rise up again.

Still, he relented, and ordered all troops in Northern Fornoire to march to the capital.

A true test of time. Of endurance. On how much either can give or tolerate.

"...Fine"

Catherine, Fornoire

This was going too far. Willihiam was facing accusations of mounting a coup d'etat, when he was just following orders from his older brother.

Alexaneder was laughing inside. Finally! This weak puppet would lead him to restore the true authority of the Monarchy! The old society. A rightful order. A legitimate monarch.

And he got cocky.

Now, a new order.

"Make it so that the troops are stationed the following streets in this list. And make the troops get into the city, no matter what"

These were all streets directly connected to government offices, such as national ministries, the courts, Parliament, and the Prime Minister's Residence!

The DNA Analysis had come. It was a match. It was, truly, his brother.

Willihiam had his chance. It was time to do what must be done. Strike him down, noble warrior.

"I refuse to do this"

"Huh?"

"Do you think I am so foolish as to follow you?" Willihiam said "I am loyal to the democratic government. I was testing you. To the world, you're dead, a faint memory"

"No one will know of your slit throat"

"What?!"

"Guards! Seize him at once!"

Willihiam arrested Alexaneder with his Elite Core, a group of extremely loyal, elite and sometimes even fanatical soldiers of the Royal Guard, and held the Shadow King hostage. But he doubted. He didn't want to kill him, especially his brother. Plus, he did not want to kill anybody for the matter. If only he could arrange a credible legal defense to bring Alexaneder to trial...

Too late. It was time to slice his veins and vanish him from the Earth a second time. And the Elite Core would take this event to their graves. After all, they worked for Willihiam's father too, didn't they?

"Your Majesty, should we?"

"DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" screamed Alexaneder.

"...Grab your swords. It is for the greater good"

"Agreed. Soldiers, take him to the Secret Hallways!"

Officially, the Secret Hallways were just a myth by peasants over the torture of dissidents in the old regime. But they existed in reality.

Willihiam had shut them off, a tragic memory of the dark past, but one last prisoner would had to be slain in the rooms of these underground hallways.

They dragged the monarch of darkness forcibly, even if he struggled, heavily tied in chains and ropes.

"At my mark" said the executioner "One, two, three!"

SLASH! SHING!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!"

Blood had been spilled. Alexaneder was slashed to death. His corpse was burned in a furnace, a standard practice of the old days to hide any evidence of dead bodies. The Elite Core cleaned the room, and threw the ashes of Alexaneder in a toilet, where they were flushed away.

The King of the Shadows was no more.

Still, Willihiam sobbed. He had sent his own brother to be knifed to death!

He looked at the window, night winds blowing, and reflected. He served his people. And, if Alexaneder was King of Fornoire, the nation in entirety would've been thrown into chaos. He could not risk that.

Yet, he had murdered a close relative to keep Fornoire in calm.

"My feelings don't matter" the King thought "It was for my country, and thousands more dead is significant contrary to one soul dying. Sacrifies are needed in life. I must sacrifice once more"

But was it really the best decision? Who could tell?

"Release a statement, saying that I was testing the security system of the government in a surprise to prevent another coup" Willihiam ordered, crying a little bit, yet crushed in the inside.

"Yes, your Majesty"

It was done. Fornoire was saved.