Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn by Douglas R. Brown Page B

fine.
    The teller grinned. Alina returned his gesture. He sat upon his stool again and continued. “By the time Matthew was one, Thadius had severed all ties.
    “The castle staff and servants raised the young Prince, where it is believed he gained his compassion and common touch.
    “Thadius went on to sire 12 more children by 12 different women; some say in hopes of changing what had already been done. Because of the King’s influence, those half-siblings grew to resent Matthew as well, seeking to undermine him in every forum they could. Through all of his efforts, Thadius couldn’t change what The Light had decided. Prince Matthew, the one he considered the murderer of his wife, would one day be King. That knowledge chewed at his soul.
    “Over the next few years, Thadius withdrew from his many families and isolated himself from the world.
    “That’s when the whispers began anew. The Kingdom lost confidence in his leadership, so he tightened his grip. First, he raised taxes on everyone to poverty-inducing levels. His closest advisors pleaded with him to change his course, but that only made him angrier.
    “The Light could no longer hold back the blackness of his deeds and soon Thadius believed that even his closest advisors had turned on him, that they supported the masses, and he became infuriated. Their treason in his eyes forced him to enact martial law upon the entire country. When his advisors and the few friends who remained warned him of the growing unrest, he locked them in the dungeons to never be free again.”
    The teller’s voice saddened.
    “Thadius sat alone in his room brooding over threats both real and imagined. He feared Epertase’s neighbors built armies in preparation for war and he was probably right. He was convinced that his new enemies schemed with his own commanders to bring about his demise, so he ordered his borders fortified. His neighbors responded in kind, which escalated the tension.
    “War was coming to Epertase, first from abroad while building from within. The Light feared the end of all drew nearer each day. Any hopes that The Light had of Thadius seeing his errors slowly faded.
    “When Matthew turned thirteen, Thadius declared war on the kingdom’s neighbors. The Light saw a war that could not be won so it made a choice. A chain of events began that once started could not be stopped.
    “Never before and never since had The Active Light taken such drastic action against its bearer.
    “Nearly a thousand years ago today, the two suns stopped their rise behind the mountains to our south.” The teller pointed past the roof to the tips of the mountaintops. “Thasula hid in the shadows of the tallest mountain’s peak for a day, or maybe longer. The skies rumbled and filled with fire. The people feared the end of times had come.”
    The teller paused, not like he was thinking but more to let the tension grow.
    “King Thadius stood high upon his castle’s perch and stared into the skies. The Elder Three were right. Matthew was to become King and Thadius could not bear the thought.”
    The teller’s voice rose to a boisterous crescendo, “‘I will not give my power to my son,’ Thadius shouted to the gods from his secluded castle perch. ‘He is not ready. He is not worthy.’ He climbed upon the cantilevered balcony rail. ‘I will end this world and all in it before I will surrender The Light!’ Thunder crackled in the sky. The King leaped into the air.
    “And Matthew became King.”
    The crowd applauded as they always had. The storyteller bobbed his hands up and down. “Quiet. Quiet. I will take questions,” he said.
    A small girl no more than seven years old stood with her hand raised. The storyteller nodded to her.
    “Did the world end?” she asked.
    The storyteller chuckled along with a few of the adults. His voice was again gentle. “Oh, no sweetie. We are in Epertase now. The skies of fire signaled The Light’s awakening inside of Prince Matthew. As King, he