Twilight_Moon_ has a minion!

Eclipse the Swagger

I see in your eyes that you fear me. Why should you be any different from the others? I know the looks of disgust and fear, but let me tell you a story. When I finish, we will see if you still feel the same way…..

Long ago, in another time and place, I was a warrior. Celebrated, revered, and feared by all I crossed paths with. None could best me. All that tried, died by my hand. I was appointed to protect the royal family, an appointment I never took lightly. When they traveled, I traveled. For many years everywhere they went, I went. I saw places many only dreamed of, always being treated as one of their own. Whenever the king held court, I was there sitting at his right side listening and advising. He called me brother… I was never happier. Then the war came and, little did I know, my life was about to change forever.

I was ready to go and fight with the troops, but was ordered to stay behind at the last minute by the captain of the guards because he did not fully trust those left behind as guards to the royal family. He told me to lay low, and let no one, not even the royal family know I was there. He said he suspected a traitor within the castle, and if everyone thought I was gone, this may be the only chance we had to catch them. I agreed, but looking back….well there’s nothing I can do to change that now is there.

So I stayed, hidden and lurking. I felt like a traitor myself, leading them all to think I was gone. Listening to the queen talking to the prince and princess about me, hearing their love, care, and concern for me. Many nights I would here them crying to their mother, fearing for my well being and praying for my safe return…it was almost more than I could bear. Then it finally came…the night the traitor finally reveled himself. When I found out who it was, I wished I had been on the battlefield, because at that moment, I died ten thousand deaths.

Of the two voices I overheard in the royal study, only one was known to me. The other, I had never heard before that night. As I listened from behind a secret wall, a sickening feeling arose within me, only to be replaced with fear, and finally pure rage. The two were carefully planning the murder…nay…slaughter of the royal family save one…the king. He would be wounded in a fight with the unknown murderer, but live to tell everyone what had happened. After the funerals and proper mourning periods were over, he would announce his engagement to Princess Cata, daughter of King Senap. The royal wedding would combine the two kingdoms, which would make him, my so called brother, the richest King in our history. The longer I listened, the more my rage grew. To think he would have his entire family murdered for money was beyond any Cardinal sin I could name. I knew then what had to be done, and it sickened me to my very core.

As I reveled myself to these two, I remember my life somewhat passing before my eyes. Something to the effect you hear told by someone who was about to die themselves. Looking back, that is basically what was happening to me. When they saw me, they froze, mouths agape, eyes wide with surprise. They knew they had been caught. The fight lasted an incredible short amount of time, neither of them were worthy opponents…traitors and cowards never are, which is what they both were. Just as I landed the final blow, the guards burst into the study. “By the stars above Twilight, what have you done?” shouted the Corporal. Before I could respond, I was apprehended by the them, thrown to the ground and chained. Just like that. When I looked up, I saw the Queen…my beautiful Queen, ashen and shaking. She uttered not a word, but stood there with her hand over her mouth shaking her head in silent denial. When she finally did speak, she uttered only one word….”Why?”

It never occurred to me until that moment that the King and his unknown partner were not the only ones in on this plot. As I looked into the eyes of the guards, I knew they also had been in on it. How else was the murderer to gain access inside the castle without being noticed? And how would he have been able to carry out his deed? All would have gone as planned had I not been there. But now, their plans foiled, they needed a scapegoat, and they had one…me.

The trial, if you could call it that, was a farce. Everyone, including the Queen, was convinced that I was acting alone, trying to overthrow the King and his ’peace talks’ with Princess Cata. I was never allowed to tell my half of the story. It’s just as well, no one would have believed me. To them, our King was beyond reproach. The Queen banished me from the kingdom forever, and no one was to ever say my name aloud. I was told to go as far away from the kingdom as I could get, and all were told that if I was ever seen, to kill me on sight. So it began. My aimlessly wandering, my damnation on this forsaken planet for doing the right thing.

I am now a creature of the night. It’s easier that way, few can spot me this way. I thought I was to roam this planet forever alone, but the gods above have taken mercy on me and have sent me a guardian. One night I was visited by the Lunar Spirit, Aspar. Of all the things I have seen in my life, she is the most amazing. Without her, I would be nothing. Without her, my life would have no meaning. She is teaching me the one art I will need to pass from this world into the next, but she says I have a hard heart and that it will be sometime before I am ready for that journey. What is that one art you ask?

The art of forgiveness.