The Butterfly Effect

They got news from the other rebels within a couple of days, then made their march to the capital. By the time they got there, the sky was turning orange with the arrival of Oshye’s comet; something that, until this day was over, held little importance to anyone. Lucas didn’t know whether he should take it as a sign of good fortune or an omen for their failure.

“The capital doesn’t have any civilians in it outside of those in the castle,” Sidyn said. All the important leaders had gathered to discuss their plans for raiding the capital, now that there were only hours left to go. “We won’t have to worry about involving more people than we need to in this.”

“We’re not killing anyone that we don’t have to,” Lucas decided, “no matter if they’re a soldier or not.”

“They’re just going to come back later,” Missa pointed out. “I mean, there’s a reason they wanted to kill you instead of just letting you waste away in a cell. As long as someone’s alive to keep it going, there’s going to be opposition at some point. The more opposition you have, the more likely that you’re not going to be on the throne for very long.”

“She’s got a point,” Sidyn agreed. “I know you want to pretend like everything will be perfectly fine after this, but it’s not. It might not be immediately—it might not even be in our lifetime—but there will be people who will stand up against you, just like you’ve stood up against the king.”

Lucas gave a defeated sigh. “Fine…”

“On the bright side, we’ve avoided a lot of bloodshed so far,” Aredes reminded him in an attempt to help. “There’s definitely been a lot worse. I don’t think this is going to be remembered as an unnecessarily bloody affair.”

“It’s almost against us,” Sidyn remarked. “They’ll only truly believe that we’re serious when we show that we’re willing to make sacrifices to our cause. If the king expects us at all, he probably assumes that the soldiers stationed throughout the city and castle are going to be able to get rid of us. We’ve hardly done anything to prove ourselves to them.”

“Let’s just get this started so it can be over. Maybe everyone can rest a little easier after that.” Lucas got up and started to leave. “Make sure everyone knows what they’re doing. We’re entering the capital in an hour.”

…

According to Sidyn, there were supposed to be soldiers stationed at specific points around the city. Those soldiers switched out often enough and in such a way that there wouldn’t be a blind spot between shifts; that meant they had to fight, not sneak, their way into the castle. No one knew what it would look like inside of the castle, but it was safe to assume that there’d be even more soldiers there. So they would go in intervals: entertain the soldiers until Lucas and his small group were able to get to the castle. From there, they would head to the throne room and Lucas would kill the king.

Personally, he hadn’t been too confident in the plan. The only reason he didn’t say anything about it was because Sidyn had mainly come up with it, and he knew his old friend always thought things through. But it seemed to work when put into action… and work a little too well, really.

From reports they got as each group got into their position, there weren't a lot of soldiers. As time continued to pass, it sounded like the few that were there didn’t put up much of a fight—some even defected to the rebellion. As much as Lucas liked to pretend like it was the case, he knew that it wasn’t because they were afraid of the rebellion. It was more like they knew they had nothing to fight for.

Missa looked at the most recent report, then nodded to Lucas. “You’re up. Sidyn just sent word that everything is ready for you. They’re not even putting up a fight anymore.”

“Do you think the king realized that we were coming..?” Clari worried. “If he’s not even here, that would explain why they’re not trying to protect him. What if this is just a trap to keep us here before they surround us?”

Veradis shook her head. “We have scouts everywhere, and every notable place the king would’ve hid is guarded by our people. If the king is somewhere else… at the very least, they don’t have any intention of keeping us here.”

“We’ll know for ourselves when we get there,” Lucas pointed out. “Then we can figure out the real meaning behind all of this and maybe determine what their plan is.” He grabbed his broadsword and gestured for Clari and the rest of his group to follow him. “We’ve gotten too far to back out now.”

They left with only a couple words of encouragement from those that remained (which were the elders, children, a few that were unwilling to fight, and some to defend the rest in case there really was an attack). They practically waltzed through the streets of the capital, observing how ominously quiet everything had become. The Fleyw Bresh cheered them on as they walked past, the soldiers either doing the same, tied up by some kind of magic, or nowhere to be seen altogether.

Sidyn was holding the doors to the castle open when they got there. With a grandiose gesture, he bowed and said, “Let us all hail the Saint-King.”

It seemed the entire world seemed to echo the phrase: “All hail the Saint-King.”

Then with both resolve and hesitance, Lucas walked through the halls of the castle. The others gained a confident stride beside him, looking around at the castle they assumed would soon be his. He just kept telling himself that he wasn’t going to lose, and everything they hoped would really be true. There was no ulterior motive behind the actions of the soldiers; perhaps it meant that they simply didn’t want to fight.

Lucas stopped at the throne room. This was the end—what happened here would determine the world’s future, he knew it would.

Clari reassuringly put a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t get in your way, but I am going to come with you.”

However unwilling he was to show it in front of the others, he was glad for it. “Just stay behind me.” He turned to the others and said, “Guard things out here, and get me if things suddenly get worse. We don’t really know if there’s any soldiers left here and where they might be, so stay on the lookout for them.”

They all nodded and he and Clari took that as their sign to go in. He shut the door behind him and they carefully started to walk up to the king.

The king didn’t move from his throne. He looked rather comfortable, legs crossed and head tilted in an almost thoughtful way. He didn’t say anything to them. It didn’t even seem like he recognized they were there.

“I am Lucas von Mikkel, leader of the rebellion! Your reign ends here!” Lucas pointed his sword at the king, yet still he did nothing.

Clari cautiously stepped closer to him. When the realization hit her, she slowly stepped back again. “I think he’s dead, Luke…”

“What?” He walked up to the king as well only to be faced with the same conclusion. “Why would he be dead..? Who killed him, since it definitely wasn’t any of us..?”

There was nothing that might have suggested a struggle or any kind of wound at all. It was unnaturally natural, somehow. Everything looked too casual for it to be something that had been planned, yet… it made sense.

“Is that why the soldiers didn’t fight back?” Lucas sat his sword aside and began to look around the throne and the king for something, some kind of explanation or note… “Did they know that their king was already dead?”

“Even if they tried to keep it a secret, news like that wouldn’t take long to spread,” Clari mumbled. “It couldn’t have happened long ago. Which means that they really were planning for us to come here…”

“Then why do they seem to have completely given up? If they planned this, then they have to have an idea on what they’re doing next, right?”

“Maybe it was all pride… he didn’t want to lose to the children of Fleyw Bresh and their rebellion leader, so he chose not to wait for it.”

“But if they really tried, they could have beaten us. It probably wouldn’t have even been that hard if they threw enough soldiers at us.”

“I can’t think of anything else it could’ve been… He doesn’t have any family. The queen died years ago without them ever having children… even the person he was planning on giving the throne to is dead now. There would be no other blood relatives to try to revive his legacy.”

Then Lucas found the note. A quick skim over it didn’t bring them any more answers:

‘To the leader of this so-called “rebellion” and all those who chose to follow under him,

I will admit that you have won this time. Quite well, I might add. But change hardly lasts long, and it is bound to shift once again. When that happens… know that what you have worked to build will fall apart. What you hope to achieve is not as easy of a goal as you think. It takes far more work and cooperation than I believe you realize. So go on, leader of the rebellion. Take my crown, my castle, and my lands. Do whatever you wish with them. Foolishly try to continue on your dream and see where it leads you and your people. I ask only that you remember one thing: just as we return to nature when we die, so will your nation return to mine when it has finally lived out its life.

One day the rightful ruler of Seothia will return to the throne. All you and your kin will do is keep them all entertained until then.’

“We may want to reconsider that possibility,” Lucas remarked as he handed it to Clari.

She stayed silent until she finished reading it. “Should we tell the others? Sidyn, at least?”

“No. We need to keep this between the two of us, no matter what. As far as the world should know for all of history… I killed the king here, and that was the end of his line and reign. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s only meant to intimidate us. That’s all it is.”

Lucas gently took the crown off the king’s head and gave Clari a smile. “Now would you like to be my queen?”

Despite the obvious uncertainty she had about the situation, she smiled too. “All I want is to be with you.”

The rebels cheered when they came out of the throne room with the crown. They made the slow ascent up to the balcony of the castle where even more of the rebels could see them.

He held up the crown. “A new era has begun!”

Everyone that heard it let out a cry of victory.

No one ever learned about the truth of the king and the threat that came with it.