World Of Ranicke Bk 03 Ch 08

A/N: there are some errors but I have been working hard to get this out. Please do enjoy. Vote, comment and let me know.

*****

The throne room erupted as if a Neathon hive had been kicked. Every guard in the room pulled their weapons and circled around their lord. The courtiers scrambled to get out of the way and avoid the upcoming bloodbath. They all knew this was going to be messy as hell and none of them wanted to end up part of the mess. The king's guards snapped their weapons out and circled around the throne. One shoved Theik back away from the king. When they did he grabbed the slave and pulled her back with him. When he reached the side of Zephara he growled at a guard. "Secure the female and search her. I am about positive she is the assassin."

One of the king's guards checked on the king and stood up and bellowed out. "The King is dead. Lock down the palace. Nobody gets in or out." His eyes glanced around the room and settled on one person. "Take him, he orchestrated this." He was looking directly at the son Theik had been looking at. That was the wrong thing to do. Even though there were more guards for the king than the various sons' guards combined the son's had more than the King.

The room was silent for a very brief moment before the son in question screamed out orders to kill anyone who approached. That started the fight and it was going to be ugly. Theik glanced at the Captain. "Have your guards work with the kings. Support them; it will make it more likely Zephara will survive."

The Captain bellowed at the troops. "Guard Zephara and assist the kings guards if possible." He already had his massive axe out. The other guards had their weapons out as well and were looking very dangerous.

Even Zephara had his weapon out and was looking dangerous. He had shoved Z'nala behind him and when Theik glanced at the tutor he had to blink since somewhere the man had pulled out two long slender knives. Where they had come from he had no clue but he lashed out and a nearby guard who had been approaching. He barely saw the knives flash before the guard went down with his throat cut. Theik didn't have a chance to make a comment before another guard approached and he was forced to fight.

For some reason moments after the all out fight was started the kings guards charged over towards Zephara and started helping. Theik was going to have to ask why later but at the moment all he cared about was keeping the young man alive. How long the battle lasted he wasn't sure but when it was over the throne room was in shambles. There were dead bodies all over the place, internal organs scattered around, and what seemed like rivers of blood.

Theik was breathing heavily and was feeling rather exhausted. He was forced to drop the head of his axe to the stone floor as he finally had a chance to look around. Zephara was being supported by Z'nala and he looked injured but not badly. The tutor was a bloody mess and had blood dripping off of his face, hair, and clothing. Considering the decapitated bodies near him Theik had a feeling the blood was due to arterial spray. There were only three of Zephara's personal guards, including the captain, left. Of the Kings guards there were more but not many. From the looks of it none of the other son's survived the massacre and that was what it had been.

Shortly after the fight had started more guards had come in and put down anyone with a weapon with brutal efficiency. The only exception was Zephara. Even Zephara was looking the worse for the wear and he had blood splattered all over his body. It was obvious he had used his axe since it was bloody and had scraps of tissue hanging off it. Even Z'nala had her knife out and there was blood on it. "Well fuck, that was interesting." His eyes met the captain of the king's guards as he was speaking.

The King's Captain gave Theik a very slight nod before he bellowed out again. "All guards protect the heir apparent. Ensure he comes to no harm or the punishment will be harsh. Your deaths will be slow and the stuff of legends." The people in the room froze again before looking at Zephara and bowing down.

Zephara paled and started to shake before Theik walked over and quietly spoke to him. "Zephara you are the best hope for your country. I will be here as well your tutor, Z'nala, and your Captain. I know this idea scares you but go with it." Z'nala touched his arm lightly as well. While she was trying to comfort the boy, no, young man Theik turned and stared at the Tutor.

The man gave him a wry grin. "I wasn't always a tutor Theik-Lakal. I served in a special branch of the guards." He wasn't going to say anything else at the moment. Eventually he would since they would need the information though it might lead to his death. If that happened so be it and he would accept it.

Theik gave him a hard look. "You have been around Zephara enough for me to know you could have dealt with him anytime you want. I will trust you for the moment but we are going to talk later." His voice was low and hard. Once he had spoken his piece to the tutor he turned to the former King's captain. "We need healers for the injured and to secure the compound. What do you need from me?" He didn't want to give orders but this was his lord he was talking about.

The King's Captain gave him a hard look before turning and bellowing. "Get the healers in here to take care of the injured. All surviving guards and imperials will be secured. Clean this damn mess up by this evening or more heads will roll." He turned back to Zephara's Captain. "Get him to his room while we clean out the imperial chambers. We are going to need to have the crowning ceremony as soon as possible. As long as he isn't too injured it will need to be tomorrow."

Theik understood but really didn't want the boy strained. "We need to talk Captain. Maybe once this mess has been cleaned up?" He wanted to know why they came to support Zephara instead of one of the other son's. This almost smelt like a setup just to off the other potential heirs. That was not something he liked the idea of.

~~~

By that evening Zephara was treated and though he had a number of wounds they were relatively superficial. He had lost a fair amount of blood but he was doing reasonably well. Theik had been forced to get a number of wounds treated as well. Somehow Z'nala had managed to come out of the blood bath needing nothing but a bath and some clean clothes. Everyone else had wounds which needed taking care of had been dealt with. At the moment Zephara, Theik, the Tutor, Z'nala, and the captain were talking.

Theik gave the Tutor a hard look. "Speak now. Who were you, what is your purpose, and why Zephara?" He was too tired to beat around the bush and his give a crap was used up.

The Tutor didn't even twitch at the implicit threat. "I worked for the former King's clean up squad. That was how he phrased it. It is a group of very special agents who killed on the King's command. When I decided I was ready to become inactive I decided I was tired of the work. I chose to become a tutor so I could hopefully influence anyone in power to try and improve how the kingdom was being handled. The King told me to start tutoring Zephara since he didn't trust him and figured my being close would be useful." He kept his hands on the table and looking at Zephara as he was talking.

"I did as he instructed but very quickly realized that Zephara is an exceptional young man. Even growing up in this environment he was both very smart and very curious. He wanted to know things. He wanted to know history, science, auguries, religions, and laws. He devoured what he was being taught like the thirsty ground with a good rain. He isn't a brute or in it for himself. I see in him hope for the future and for the kingdom. The King did try to have me kill him but I chose not to. I even went so far as to deal with an augur who had seen a future if Zephara didn't inherit. The kingdom would have collapsed into years of civil war."

He kept his eyes on Zephara still as he was talking. "The Augur was somewhat mad from what he had seen. He saw times of great famines, terrible diseases running rampant though our citizens and those of other countries in Cerule. Do with me what you want but I have long since decided to tie my hope and faith with Zephara in the hopes he can save our country."

Theik looked at Zephara to see what he might have to say. Ultimately it was his choice and he was the one who had to make the decision what to do. At the moment Theik was tossed up. He had been around the man and never suspected at all which bothered him. It did show he was a damn skilled operator which could be an advantage. He had a brief flash of pain in one temple but it was quickly gone.

Before anyone could speak there was a knock on the door and then it opened. Theik was impressed when everyone including Z'nala whipped out a weapon of some sort. When the door opened the Captain of all the guards walked in and he grinned. "Nice to see all of you are prepared to protect the soon to be King. Now I only have a few minutes to tell all of you something. The spy holes are blocked and nobody will over hear what I have to say."

Zephara glanced around and shook his head. "Relax Z'nala and come here please." He urged her to sit down next to him and wrapped an arm around her. "What do you have to say Captain?"

The Captain closed the door before speaking. "There was to be an attempt on the King's life and we knew about it thanks to your Tutor. When Theik-Lekal told you about what he had overheard we went and took a look. We did discover who was the root of the attempt and also that he was planning on killing the rest of you. He wanted the reins of power and wasn't going to let a little thing like being a kin-slayer get in his way." His eyes didn't leave Zephara's eyes. "I made the choice to see what was going to happen. Your father was destroying the empire. I made the choice. If you feel I need to die so be it. Trust your Tutor, your Captain, and Theik-Lekal. You are the hope for the empire and the people." He grabbed the baldric and removed his axe and dropped it to the floor. After that he lost the belt with his knives. "My life is yours to do with as you decide your highness." Just to make sure Zephara understood he knelt down and bowed his head exposing his neck.

Zephara gave Theik an almost helpless look before he stood and slowly moved over to the Captain and looked down at him. "I am not pleased by your words. What you did and why you did it are going to require me to think on what I wish to do. Go to your quarters and remain there. I will think about this and decide how to deal with you. Collect your weapons and leave my presence."

He waited till the man left before he snarled something out in a foreign language. The Tutor winced but didn't say anything. Theik did though. "Boy shut up and listen. Things are fucked up at the moment and yes shit happened. I agree with the Captain. You are the only hope for this damn place. Do not bow down to hate, anger, fear, or revulsion. Grab the reins of power and do right by your people. This is what the Bear wants." He wouldn't remember using the term bear in the future and if anyone mentioned it he wouldn't recognize it.

Zephara almost flinched when Theik spoke before he realized there were overtones of that other voice. He stood as tall as he could and gave Theik a level look. "Thank you. I needed that. I will do my best and I expect you to give me a good smack."

~~~

It had been a year since Zephara had taken the reins of power and it had been a rough year. The first month or two in the palace it had been a mess. There had been a dozen or more assassination attempts on Zephara's life. To be honest it had been a very bloody two months for the palace. A good third of all the imperial family had been killed as Zephara took control. Between Theik and the Tutor they had terminated a good portion of them without the boy's knowledge. Though they didn't realize it that was where the term kin-killer had ended up coming from.

They had wanted to keep the boy in one piece and to be honest hadn't spared much concern about how they did it. For Theik it was killing anyone who was a blatant threat. For the Tutor it was in very subtle ways since he was an assassin. It was what he had been trained for and there were any number of heart attacks, illnesses, diseases which killed. He was very skilled with all of them though in actuality most were poisons.

Theik was sitting in his new quarters and sucking down an ale as he was strumming one of the instruments he had picked up. Where the skills came from he wasn't sure but he had discovered he was pretty good. As good as he was as a warrior he found solace in playing the instruments. He had dabbled in writing a few songs but he hadn't shared them with anyone.

He kept thinking as he was relaxing and playing. After the first few months things had started to settle down. One thing Theik had ensured was a visit to the slave trader and ensured he suffered. Having a former male ending up as a slave pleased him. So the man had to sit down to piss? Eh, who cared. Theik didn't. Z'nala hadn't been told since she was slowly starting to bloom. She was right next to Zephara as the Tutor teaching was teaching him. She was learning more than she could imagine.

Theik had to smile at that. The two were starting to really get along and for some reason Theik was pleased. When he had purchased the girl it had been a whim but now he was seeing something more. It was going to be years before anything came to fruition but it was going to.

By the end of the last year the center of the empire had been calmed down though it had been rough. There were still the rebellions in the provinces to deal with but the rules of law was slowly being imposed. A number of the upper crust were not pleased and there were still some ongoing plots and attempts on all their lives. It did help that the core of the guards were beyond loyal to Zephara.

Theik leaned back into the chair he was sitting on and a slight smile crossed his face as he kept strumming. The next few years were going to be interesting and he was actually looking forward to it.

~~~

Zephara looked back over the last few years and had to sigh. They hadn't been easy for him since he had been forced to make some hard decisions. There had been more than a few deaths he had been forced to order though they hadn't deserved it. They had been players in larger plots. Those who had forced him to kill had paid in the long run. He had wanted long slow deaths for those but Theik had lived up to what Zephara had asked. He had smacked him down both verbally and physically once or twice.

Z'nala had been a great deal of comfort as well though he wasn't sure why. She kept working as his servant even though she had been freed. That actually rather confused him. When he had finally asked her about it she simply gave him a slight smile. She hadn't said anything and settled for drawing him a bath before leaving the room. He had been rather disgruntled for several days after that. When he had grumbled at Theik he had simply received a smile but no comment which hadn't helped.

What was even more annoying was that darn girl wouldn't tell him how old she actually was. Since their race developed differently he had no idea how old she was. For them it wasn't till towards the end of their minority that they really started developing. In his case it would be another fifteen turns till he was an adult even though he was now the King. In her case she could be somewhere between forth and his age. He had a feeling she wasn't telling him just to tease him.

Zephara had to admit the last few years would have been so much harder without her help though. She had taken very good care of him and seemed to make it a point to fulfill all of his daily needs. Clothing, food, learning his schedule, and even studying beside him. She was almost as smart as he was and that was both intimidating yet very interesting. At times it made him want to pull his feathers out and scream. What she was doing he didn't have any idea and it was driving him nuts.

As far as Theik he simply smiled and shrugged. Zephara knew Theik had information but the dratted human wasn't giving it up. For a brief moment he considered screaming but that wouldn't do anything but end up with half his guards in his room. "Damn both of you for being so annoying." It was a definite discontented grumble.

When he did figure it out he was going to be rather pleased. Then he could stick it to the two. Eventually he finally headed towards bed and crawled in. Maybe tomorrow he would figure it out.

~~~

Z'nala knew she had been really driving Zephara crazy over the last few years but she was actually close to his age. He had protected her, had held her papers for Theik-Lekal, and taken care of her. She had quickly started to fall in love with him and if he would let her she was going to let him take her. Z'nala wanted him as her mate when they were old enough. Till then she was going to do her best to draw him to her.

For now she simply was going to take care of him. When the time was right she was going to let him know what she wanted and needed from him. It wasn't just a way to get her family name back but someone who would protect and care for her. Somehow she knew that Theik cared for her but he was going to be moving on eventually.

~~~

It had been years since the three of them had taken over the country. An augur and been meditating and trying to connect with those she bowed down to. When she did it wasn't a good message. She received a message of blood and agony if something didn't happen. When she had woken up the first time she had been bed ridden for a good week. Once that time was over she had tried again and again received the message but this time there was a feeling that someone had to start moving on. It wasn't anything but a general feeling and the need to go to the palace.

The old woman finally made it out of bed with the help of her assistant. Once she was up she gathered what was needed and slowly made her way to the palace and hoped they would listen. It was such a generic seeing that she honestly wasn't sure what was to happen. It was simply a feeling that if something didn't happen hell was going to break loose for the Empire.

It took some time before she made it to the palace. When they did arrive she approached the guard. "Sirs, I's is a augur and needs see Theik-Lekal and the King. Is' of importance for the empire." She leaned against her staff as she was talking. The seeing and other information was taking its toll on her.

The guard called for one of the palace augurs and waited. He didn't take much at face value and wasn't going to let some old woman just because she said she had to. He ignored her as he kept processing other people coming into the Palace.

Eventually one of the temple Augar's came down and before much could happen his eyes bugged out. "Let her in or else. The King needs to see her." He had simply glanced at her and could feel... Something which felt like a sea of fire barely touched him and he thought he was going to go up in flames.

With an even more strangled voice he spoke. "I will take her to the throne room." He had a feeling that if he didn't he would end up going up in flames. That was not the way he wanted to go even if it was spectacular.

Eventually they reached the throne room and he quietly talked to Theik-Lekal about the old woman. When Theik came over and talked to her he tensed though he didn't really say much. He gave a quiet order for her to be escorted to one of the side room. Once that was done he walked over to Zephara and murmured in his ear.