William
The entertainment room was filled and William couldn’t think of a spot he would rather be less in the world then in that spot at that moment.
The room was filled with his family. His mother and sister had invited everyone and his brothers had gotten out of it and his father had been off world. His three aunts and numerous cousins filled out the rest of the room his girlfriend Samantha and friend Zoe as well as other friends.
Anders and himself were some of the few males in the room. They weren’t the only ones though, and as long as they kept their mouth shut they would get out of it better then several others who had already voiced their disdain for being there.
The royal wedding that played out over the holo projector was everything William thought it would be. A giant waste of time and gross display of wealth. While worlds all over the Commonwealth were raided and other worlds highly taxed.
William couldn’t understand how anyone could wish to be king. The Commonwealth was under constant threat and attack. The Furse continued to raid from the east but could reach deep into the Commonwealth.
From the north raided the United Worlds of Kaledon. Their harsh worlds united in an ancient bond of independence and struggle against the Fabian Dominion. They were a Tutha people who remained unconquered although attempt after attempt was made by the Fabians before their withdrawal from the Dragon’s Head Nebula. In time the worlds of Kaledon converted to the Fabian Faith but remained unconquered. Year after year their raiders hit the richer worlds of the Commonwealth.
It was the same in the east where the Tutha people of Walhaz raided into the Commonwealth. The kingdoms of Walhaz were all that remained of the many Tutha kingdoms that rose after the Fabian Withdrawal of Drala. The Old Kingdoms of the Furse which formed the basis for the Commonwealth had conquered dozens of kingdoms until only the five of Walhaz remained and their hatred of the Commonwealth and Old Blood ran deep.
Even inside the Commonwealth things were a mess. The Eight Systems were at constant odds with the king. Revolts and rebellions weren’t uncommon, especially in the Dumgarth and old Furse Law systems.
The king himself came to the throne of the Commonwealth of Drala after the death of his elder half brother. William had heard the rumors. How the King’s own father had her own step son killed by her household guards when the king came to visit his younger brother.
William wasn’t sure if King Oswald had anything to do with the death of his brother. He wasn’t smart enough to know that. What William did know though was that compared to his ancestors, such as King Osgar the Great or even his own father Humbert the Peaceful.
Osgar the Great had lost his throne to the Great Savage Host of Rothgar’s sons like all the other Old Kingdoms of Drala. Yet he had fought back and reclaimed his throne only to build the very foundations of the Commonwealth.
All that wealth and grandeur on a King who William didn’t believe had left Bastion since his defeat by Sector-lord Duncan Tusk four years ago. Now the man stood with his former enemy and made peace by handing over his own sister to a man old enough to buy their own grandfather.
William just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand any of it. He thought the powerful lord from the Kingdom of the Salians won. It is something he had tried to understand. If he was to be lord one day, he wanted to understand.
If someone had invaded his home, William would not hand his own sister over for peace. Not after you defeated your enemy in battle and forced them to return home as King Oswald had been forced to after his defeat in the Furmann Sector.
William’s father Lord Stout thought the king was the worst kind of fool. A fool surrounded by fools and bad advisors and who removed all sane advice. He would never admit it in person. It would end his political career. At times William thought that wouldn’t be so bad.
