The Warm Duke of the South

[PollyEsther]

The horses had begun to fall.

Slowly at first, beginning with Edowin's mare. The poor thing had taken far too many arrows to the rear in the break through push, had soldiered on with your men for far longer than any of us had expected her to. It still hurt when she finally fell. Hurt in that place I'd thought I'd buried away decades ago, from when I'd had time for stables and saddles and races.

We had woke to the sight of her lying down in the snow, her breath still billowing out in puffs of white against the morning cold, labored and uneven. Edowin had been the first to reach her, dropping to his knees beside her. His tears had frozen solid on his face, silently stroking her head until the life left her.

I held her a soldier's funeral, swords crossed against our chests as I recited her accomplishments in war. Draped one of the last remaining flags of House Blackwood over her corpse, the last comfort I could offer her. I'd then sent Edowin to scout forward while the cooks salvaged what little meat they could from her body, to keep my soldiers fed for another day.

Anything to keep my troop marching onward a day longer.

And march I did. As the horses fell from exhaustion, as my men fell in battle with the elemental beasts that roamed the mountain, I marched. For countless nights and days I'd marched, as both beast and man fell around me. Each soldier refusing to obey my standing orders to turn back until they eventually fell to the mountain's monsters or simply froze to death in their sleep. Each yet another death to hang upon my neck.

Still, I fought. Carved a bloody path through monsters previously unknown, never slowing even as the air got too thin to breathe and my sword grew too heavy to lift. The men grew more silent with each passing day, their eyes hollow, their faces gaunt. The crude banter of drunken men was now a distant memory, but you still moved as one. United by a desperation that this foolish folktale of mine might somehow set things right.

Fools. Each and everyone of you were fools.

And I was the most foolish of them all.

On the night of the Summit, I stood at the northernmost edge of the world, staring out at the world. Its kingdoms and people so tiny they might as well have been ants, scurrying to and fro between their hills. Insignificant.

"You think they'll listen, Eldric?" Edowin asked from behind me, quiet.

Around me were the last of your men, the three who'd survived. I'd started with a company of a hundred and forty, at the start of this. A hundred and forty good, honest men and women.

I stared up at the night sky, at the twin moons above me. Before long, they'd eclipse for the first time in centuries. The Summit of the Gods.

If only Aelwyn had lived to see it with her own eyes.

"They will." I finally replied. "For there is no other outcome I will accept."

Edowin smiled wistfully at that, shaking his head.

Old Iron chuckled next to him, his once boisterous yelling now a rattling whisper.

"Fuck me. Y'know, kid, I don't regret following you for even a second. Balls of fucking steel."

"Mind your words, ruffian." Uncle Elowic said, leaning against a pillar of ice for support. "You are addressing the rightful king of - "

I held up a hand, and he fell silent.

"I'm a king of nothing and no one, Uncle. I will not insult the dignity of the fallen by speaking of noble business now, of all times." You said, sitting against the cold rock of the mountain's summit. "It is noble business that got us into this mess in this first place."

Uncle's mouth twisted like he wanted to argue the point, but he eventually relented with a nod. None of us had the energy to argue, after so long. My legs felt like they were refusing to ever move again, now that I'd stopped.

"And please, Uncle, sit down. There is no need to stand on ceremony here. We are all equal in front of the Gods." I continued, a weak smile on my face.

"Your knees could certainly use the rest, eh old man?" Edowin snarked, slumped against rock.
The wind howled around us as we sat in a solemn silence, its biting chill cutting into our very bones.

"Remember the campaign at Ironwood Glen?" Old Iron said suddenly. "When we spent the whole day fishing and didn't catch a damn thing?"

"Aye," Uncle Elowic said, a rare soft smile crossing his weathered face. "You swore up and down that the fish were enchanted, cursed to never be caught."

"Turns out we were just shite at fishing," Edowin chuckled, his eyes distant. "I'd Gift everything I had and more to have one more of those days."

"Agreed," you said softly, the longing in your voice surprising even yourself.

"Do you remember the feast we had before setting out? The grand hall filled with songs and that imported Tulipian meat?" Uncle Elowic said.

Edowin's face lit up briefly, cracked lips twitching upwards. "The dances! Gods, how many pints did it take to convince you to take a crack at it, Eldric?"

I smiled despite myself, shaking my head. "Far too little, if you ask me now."

"We had a good run. Didn't we, brother?" Edowin said, all the mirth on his face fading in an instant.

"We believed we could change the world, like all foolish boys before us did."

"Yet perhaps we still can," Edowin said softly, his gaze steady on yours.

I nodded solemnly, taking his words for what they were.

Bits of ice and rock began to rise around me, the air itself growing heavier on my shoulders. Aelwyn would've gone into detail on all the magical effects and implications of the Summit, of it's sources and history. To me, all that mattered was that this was your chance.

I stood, turning to stare up at the stars. The moons were merging before my eyes, blue and red turning into a brilliant green. The sound of rustling metal came from behind me as I stared up at it, steeling myself for what came out.

"Eos!" I roared, raising my sword. I slammed it into the ground in a shower of dust and ice, kneeling beside it.

"I, Eldric Blackwood, Third Prince of Wynlan, beseech you!"

The air grew still, the very world seeming to hold its breath at my audacity. The light of the Summit seemed to pulse, narrow as it turned to gaze down at me. The Divine's searing eyes picking apart every part of my soul in an instant of white hot pain.

A scream was torn out of my throat before I could continue, the world spinning around me as I leaned against my sword for support. Blood streamed down my face, forcing my eyes shut. A different, dangerous type of chill was quickly consuming my body. Far, far too quickly.

No. Not yet. I would not fall yet.

I hacked up the blood suddenly filling my throat, leaning my body weight on my sword as hands reached forward to steady me. A chorus of voices echoed in my head, so loudly and completely that I couldn't hear a word my men were yelling.

YOU WOULD DARE, LOWBORN?

"I call on the accord made- by - the man whose blood still runs in my veins -"

BARELY.

"And yet enough - for you to not just kill me -"

YOU HAVE NO COIN. NO MEN, LAND OR TITLE. NOTHING WORTHY OF A GIFT.

"I offer myself." I said, gasping through the pain. I began to rise, leaning against my sword to stand again. "Take my name, my memories, everything that is dear to me. Kill me, if you must, but grant my men the power to do what I could not!"
The ground beneath us quaked violently, the world once again reflecting the Gods temper. I waited with bated breath as the silence stretched longer, as I fought to stay standing. My knees buckled, sending me back down onto cold rock. The life was leaving me too quickly. They didn't plan to let me live.

A burning anger seized me, pushing me past mortal concerns for a moment.

"You hear me, you bastards?!" I roared. "Take it all! Take it all and more, but you'd best do your part in return!"

The energy left, and I slumped against my sword. Staring out at the world through half closed eyes, as the blood began to dry. Someone's hands were pulling on me, and I finally let them pull me away. Multiple hands dragged me across the icy rock, laying me against something warm. I fought to crack one eye open again, peering blearily through it.

Oh. Edowin.

I hadn't seen him cry like that in ages. I tried to reach a hand up to him, but it falls limp at my side.

Shit, I think, as the hells begin to swallow my soul. I'd bet a hundred gold that he'd die before me, hadn't I?

There's a smile on my face as that last thought crosses my mind, before everything goes quiet.

---

"Sugar?"


I startled forward, gasping for breath. I was leaning against fine tablecloth, pattered in royal purple and gold. I slowly raised my head, not quite registering what I was looking at.

Across the table from me was a woman in the loosest sense of the word, draped in a robe that looked like it'd been woven out of the stars. Twin suns shimmered under her hooded robe, turning into brilliant arcs as she smiled at me. Her sleeved hands held a teapot aloft, gently pouring tea into the porcelain teacup in front of me.

I stared at her, fists clenched against the table. I turned, slowly registering the world around me. I was sitting in a rotunda of white marble and brick, sat in the middle of an elaborate garden. The same that was in the Royal Palace, I was sure. Down to the cracked tile in the corner my brother had gotten the servants to cover up for him.

My eyes were pulled further to the garden around us, the colours surrounding the rotunda more vivid than they'd ever been in my memories. Flowers in hues of gold, crimson, and sapphire bloomed around me, their petals shimmering with a soft, otherworldly glow. The air carried the warmth of bloom, a stark contrast to the biting cold I had spent countless days enduring.

Yet it felt all the more chilling, for this could only mean one thing.

I turned back to the woman, meeting her eyes. Her hand was stretched above a bowl, still patiently waiting for my answer.

"Two, please." I finally said.

"My," The woman smiled again, reaching over with a hand to add the sugar cubes. "You're adapting remarkably quickly, aren't you?"

"I'm told I have a knack for it." I replied, voice slowly regaining strength. By being here, by speaking with one of the Gods, it meant things had gone to plan. Even if I was dead in the physical sense, they would listen to my final request. To ignore it would be to shatter the foundation on which the very world rested on.

"Indeed. Very well, then." She said, sitting back and crossing her arms under her sleeves. "What is it that you wish for, Eldric Blackwood? What is it that you would sacrifice so much for?"

"You already know the answer." I said, frowning. "Why waste your time asking me for it?"

"Indeed." She nodded. "I could simply open up your soul and read your life like pages in a book. But you promised us all of you, Eldric Blackwood. You promised us your every emotion, all of your moments of triumph and loss. That is something we can't feel from mere words on paper."

I burst from my chair, slamming both hands on the table.

"My people are dying!" I yelled. "They pray to you and your kin for aid, they Gift you their very bodies and souls to keep their families safe! Yet you have the gall to treat this all like a game?"

"You've spilled your tea," The woman tutted, vanishing the cup with a wave of her hand. "I'll have to make you another."

My hands twisted, flashing to my hip to draw my sword. My hand landed on fine velvet instead, pulling me up short.

"You have made a deal with me, Eldric Blackwood." The woman rose as well, stepping around the table to meet my furious gaze. "I would caution you that few are the mortals who have made a direct deal with the Divine, and fewer still are those who dared break it."

I stared at her for a beat, registering what exactly I'd tried to do in my anger.

"Now." She continued, stepping back to sit across you again. "Let's start at the very beginning. Like all good tales do."

"That'll take a long time." I finally said, taking my own seat.

"Time is a mortal concept. Here, we have as much of it as we could possibly need." She said, spreading her sleeves wide. "And plenty of tea, if your throat goes dry."

"Right." You pause, taking a moment to calm yourself. "The beginning, then?"

"The very beginning."

"I… was born under the moons of the Serpent."