Shadowfall Kingdom

  The Road Back to Vincent

  Week 1 of 3

  King Raymond

  Lord Kaijuu chose to spend the first week of our journey in the other carriage, traveling with my daughters. Sebastian drives their carriage.

  The one I ride in carries only myself and the ever-na?ve red-haired knight, Shanon. She is not much of a conversationalist, which leaves me with time to reflect on the path that led me here.

  Lord Kaijuu brought several of his security forces along to escort the wagons. He personally ordered that their families be brought over from the East Empire. Those who agreed were offered employment and housing. The rest—those able to follow immediately—were given a chance to join our forces under one condition: they must keep up with us on foot all the way to Vincent.

  Those sent to retrieve their families, as well as those currently assigned to distant security details, were told they would have to make the same journey on foot if they wished to join later.

  At present, roughly sixty men run behind the carriages. They set up their own camps and prepare their own meals. They are strong and feral in demeanor, yet a single word from Lord Kaijuu turns them docile. Some even insisted on guarding our camps through the night.

  I find myself bored.

  My thoughts drift.

  I was born Raymond Morris, son of a wealthy farmer beyond the Misty Mountains west of Vincent, in a town called Whiterun—named for the waterfall that turns white as it crashes down the mountainside. The Moonlight District lies northeast of Vincent.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I was the fourth son of six. By the time I reached adulthood, I also had three sisters.

  When my father died, my two eldest brothers inherited his land and estate. The rest of us were left with little more than goodwill. If I stayed, I would have worked my life away beneath them.

  So I left.

  I took what money I could and traveled by wagon to Vincent.

  There, I registered as an adventurer and changed my surname to Shadow-Wolf.

  I grew strong. Very strong.

  At my peak, around thirty years of age, I could maintain my level between 290 and 360, depending on the difficulty of my assignments.

  The Adventurers’ Guild offered me permanent employment. I declined.

  King Michael Banner himself later offered me knighthood in his service.

  When I was thirty-five, he arranged my marriage to his daughter, Mercy Banner—my first wife. He placed me under formal education alongside his blood sons and sons-in-law. Politics. Management. History. Battle tactics. Command. Etiquette. Swordplay.

  By the time I was forty-five, he named me his successor.

  When he died at the age of one hundred—as we all eventually do—I was fifty-two. My coronation took place the following week.

  That was when I first encountered Management.

  I was granted the Force Awake Stone, along with instructions for its use. I was then shown the royal vault, where encrypted records detailed the blessings bestowed upon previous kings. King Michael had received the Absolute Loyalty Seal. It was the foundation of our covert intelligence network.

  At sixty-two, Management issued their first command to me: suppress a rebellion within the kingdom.

  I obeyed.

  At sixty-four, they ordered me to court and marry Roka’s mother.

  She was an otherworlder living in Vincent at the time, working as a project manager for a construction company. Her name was Shiori Nagumo.

  In this world, it is customary for the mother to name the child.

  Roka was born when I was sixty-six.

  Nine years later, Shiori was murdered by bandits along this very road—between the Moonlight District and Vincent.

  In my grief and fury, I mobilized every available force and exterminated every bandit operating in the region.

  I am ninety-two now.

  I have fewer than eight years remaining.

  Two years ago, on Management’s orders, I named my son Wilfred as my successor. He is the child of my third wife, Elizabeth Shadow-Wolf—formerly Elizabeth Butler, also an otherworlder.

  I cannot help but wonder.

  Was I chosen… or merely positioned?

  The carriage jolts over a rough patch of road.

  I wake