Page 10 of Dead Crown
“I’m not his real Father,” King Elswere murmured.
Lumi had him. “He looks like you. How could he not be your son?”
“He’s my half-nephew and King Reesing’s bastard from a servant. I got to adopt him so Reesing wasn’t shamed by his infidelity. He never told his wife, and while her sight was bad, if anyone ever noticed the servant’s boy and said something...Aisi would have been heartbroken if she knew he’d strayed.”
“So you took Jaki in?”
The King nodded. “My wife was a recluse at the time, so it was easy to pretend it was her baby. Nobody knew she hadn't been pregnant a second time. Jaki brought her back to life.” The King couldn’t focus on Lumi’s eyes anymore. “I’m a bastard too. A bastard raising a bastard. You’d think after our Mother cheated and had me thanks to another man, Reesing would have known to keep his dick tucked away.”
“A quick fuck can lead to permanent results.”
“When King Wegen ruled, he spoke so highly of his wife and Queen. He praised her for her looks, her wit, and the beautiful son she’d given him. He said a faithful wife was worth ten loyal men. He didn't dare admit it when she later spread her legs forsomeone else, and that’s where I came from. He had to pretend I was Reesing’s full brother.”
And because Elswere was royalty, but came from a different male line, he wasn’t supposed to be on the throne.
“Since Reesing got a boy bastard from a servant, Jaki has true Cleel blood unlike me. Reesing didn’t want anyone to see him and get suspicious, so Preti and I took Jaki." King Elswere looked down. "Our actual son before only lived for a few hours after his birth. I thought Preti would die of a broken heart afterward.”
“The Tree is dying,” Lumi stated in a blunt tone.
“Of course, it’s dying,” said King Elswere. “I know that. The blood has to go through the Father, not the Mother. Truly, the throne should be Jaki's now. He’s the only real heir left.”
Lumi kept his expression neutral, although the King would hardly care anymore. In the embrace of the wine and serum, not much would alarm him except for his personal guilt. Lumi had suspected Prince Jaki wasn’t his real son, and he’d already known the King didn’t have Cleel blood, but he’d wanted to make doubly sure with no shadow of a doubt. Everything he’d suspected was true.
No one could willingly lie on truth serum, and their only hope to keep info hidden was to remain silent. Fortunately, wine made people talkative, and it wasn’t like Elswere suspected anything.
Lumi also knew Reesing and Elswere had fought years and years before the war. It had been so bad, they’d stopped speaking to each other.
King Elswere frowned. “King Tivar has the Crown. I’d hand the throne over to Jaki now…but…”
“But what?” prodded Lumi.
“He’s the only rightful heir left. The soil and the Tree might grow healthy again if he’s ruling East Iceland, but he doesn’thave the Crown, so it still won't save Iceland overall. If the Tree comes back, everyone will know I’m a fraud with no true blood with the male line. They’ll know I lied and claimed this bit when I’m not supposed to have anything. I should have coronated Jaki and simply done the work while he grew up.”
“Why didn’t you?"
“Some friends broke me out of prison because they thought I was truly a Cleel. What if they left me there? They wouldn't have believed Jaki should be the next heir either if I had said I was raising Reesing’s son. I had to get out, and then, I had to keep up the lie to get a hold of East Iceland.”
“Makes sense.”
"Even with Jaki on the throne, I don’t know if the Tree will be fine because he doesn’t have the Crown.”
“I get it.”
The lands would definitely die if the Kingdom split. It was supposed to stay as one under a single ruler from the Cleel line. Info on the Tree was a bit hazy since it had later been a gift from Elira to celebrate the first heir to be born. According to stories, she’d said someone of the true blood needed to own it or it would grow sick. It hadn’t come with the Crown.
“Jaki should have the Crown and all of Iceland, but I also don’t want him to risk his life in war,” said the King. “I love him like my son. If he went against Tivar and died, it would be the true and final death of both sides of Iceland. It would never come back, and I'd be truly alone. I’ve told him he should work on an heir, but he keeps holding off. Even if he had an heir, I don’t want to lose him too.”
“Of course not,” said Lumi. “Tell me why Reesing risked our country to take East Forest Kingdom.”
King Elswere sighed. “His first son was stillborn, and he took a beggar woman’s baby. The real Tivar died. You’d think that baby was sent by Elira herself as a miracle since Tivar passedas their child. Edur was born after, and Reesing knew Tivar couldn’t take the throne with no male, Cleel blood. He still couldn’t admit the truth, and he knew the lands would die, so he decided to take East Forest. It’s a rich Kingdom, and with the resources and farms under his control, we could have made it later on.”
Plenty of people thought Tivar was the true King and had no idea of the truth. Others had thrown their lot in with Elswere.
Elira hadn't wanted the Iceland rulers to go to war with other Kingdoms. Supposedly, it would kill Iceland too, but that was another thing everyone wasn't fully sure of. Some said the King could, but Elira had simply preferred the Iceland rulers to remain peaceful. Others said it would definitely cause Iceland to die. The Kingdom had split, so they still couldn’t agree.
Reesing must have intended to say Iceland’s decline was his fault for taking more land. With the resources of East Forest at hand, the country wouldn't have suffered so much.
“And Edur?” asked Lumi.
