Fall of an Empire; Tale of the Crystal King

Snow.

Snow as far as the eye could see.

If not for the posts marking the way, large crystalline rods connected with taut rope, they’d have been lost long ago. The crystals served as a constant reminder of the destination they slowly approach, their smooth surfaces beautifully capturing any light shown their way. The light almost seemed to become absorbed by the formations, dancing inside them as if on a stage for a beautiful performance. One could almost become lost in its unique wonder.

More snow…

The white substance was always a treat and a potential merry activity starter in Equestria. Here in the north however, it seemed only to bring hardship, strife, and animosity between companions. It always seemed to get between any clothing you wear to stop it, melting on fur, skin, or scale and simply making it more unbearable. Luna’s own clothing seemed to only to attract the snow, she was sure she would be a snowpony in not time. The entire group, composed of her sister Celestia, fifteen Solar Guards, fifteen Lunar Guards, and herself, wore similar gear. This consisted of the heaviest of coats in Equestria, with hoods that did not obstruct their ears, and boots that ran up their legs.

How a kingdom had survived, and according to those who traveled south from its lands thrived in this climate, would seemingly never be answered. The young Diarch thought to ask her fellow Diarch what she thought of it. Having spoken with the king of its lands through letters and emissaries, Sombra, as he was called, claimed it to be a product of his kingdom’s commitment and struggle, though it was just as likely to be a strong source of magic.

“Sister.” she called, “Do we know how much further until we out of this blasted blizzard?” She winced as she realized she had allowed her frustration to show in front of their entourage. No matter, as surely they too felt the same.

“We should cross the boundary within the next hour by my guess. Though you know as well as I, things may change.” Her sister, the older of the Diarchs said calmly. “This storm will never cease. The magics controlling it are as ancient as Discord himself, perhaps even created by him.” Her eye flinched as a particularly strong guest of wind battered the party, though she showed no other visible discomfort.

“It is as you say, dear sister.” She shuddered slightly, trying to keep her sister’s same stoic demeanor with some success. Holding back a curse of frustration, the young sister looked up into the sky. The storm almost blackened the sky, denying the time of day to be garnered from a mere glance, casting a nightly shroud around the wind beaten snow. She knew that this wasn’t the case however, for when she reached with her magic to the moon, she could feel that it was certainly not high in the sky. Rather her lunar namesake was safe wherever it resided as its sister celestial body had its time.

Luna and Celestia had been in control of the celestial bodies for some time now. So much so that she could not remember exactly how long it had been, a hundred or so years at least. The duties of the pair had not been chosen by them, but rather given to them once they turned a mature age. Since that time, they had ruled over the land of Equestria together in almost perfect harmony. While there had been a few times of trouble, such as Discord, Tirek, and a few much smaller problems, overall their rule had been very kind to the land.

“HOLD.” The lead of the group called from the front of the column, causing all the following ponies to stop in their tracks with practiced ease. The lead, a Solar Guard 1st Lieutenant by the name of Chilly Winds, strode ahead past the view of his comrades. Clad in his gold armor he was only visible for a moment before disappearing into the storm. After about three minutes he returned, with another pony in tow.

As they came closer Luna began to collect details of the new individual. He or she, Luna did not yet know, was quite tall for a pony, and seemingly bulky as well though this could have been that they were clad in gear much better suited to this type of weather than the column. With a heavy black coat covering all but the bottoms of their hooves, and boots covering those, it was impossible to tell even a single detail about the pony. Their face was shielded by some sort of dark grey mask that Luna had not seen in Equestria, not even in the coldest of areas. The mask covered the pony’s face fully and appeared to have a magic field around it that caused the falling snow to fall around the pony’s face and not onto it. It was black in color with a singular slit across its front for the wearer to see, the mask could have been a simple gas mask if not for the lack of a filter anywhere visible on it. The mask also had a point at the top of the forehead, meaning either the stranger was a unicorn, or perhaps the mask just came that way.

The new pony marched straight up to Celestia and Luna with Chilly Winds at their side, stopping within five feet of the Diarchs. Now within distance to touch, Luna could see that the stranger was just slightly taller than her, though shorter than her sister. Looking at the pair the pony tried to speak, at least Luna thought it did, as the sound that came out of the helmet was more of a static imbued gargle. The pony raised a hoof to tap at its helmet a few times before shaking its head in obvious frustration and looking back up. The figure pointed a hoof toward the general direction that the crystals then looked at Chilly Winds before tapping the snow in a distinct pattern. Chilly Winds’ ears shot up as he watched the taps, looking the Celestia and Luna as the figure finished.

“They said its only about twenty minutes till we clear the area of the storm. I believe we should work to make that even shorter if we can, and that we should leave immediately.” He stood at attention and waited for his ruler’s response. Luna of course wanted to leave the storm as much as any of them did, but she knew she couldn’t let her excitement of almost being free of its torment show too much.

Luna and Celestia locked eyes, seeming to share an almost telepathic message between themselves, though Luna knew this was just for show. The pair looked upon the group and nodded.

“Of course,” Celestia began “let us be leave this storm behind us as fast as we safely can.” She looked at her sister, knowing if she hadn’t said as much about safety their guards may have forgotten form and broke ranks to hurry the process. “Though the next time we make this journey we will be sure to more properly prepared.” With this, the group began to trot forward again.

The unknown pony lead at the front with Chilly Winds right behind them. Using her magic, Luna gave a silent sign to Chilly Winds to fall back to the sides of his Princesses, and she could have sworn the newcomers tail flicked in response as she did so. Did the helmet have some sort of magic detection on it, or did the newcomer simply feel the magics presence? The other possible answer was the it was just a coincidence and that she was just imagining things. Her thoughts of the oddity were cut off early as Chilly Winds stopped between his Princesses. His eyes flicked between the pair, unsure of which had called his presence. When he noticed that Celestia was looking at Luna out of the corner of her eye, he knew it was the latter.

Luna cast a very small spell to keep the conversation about to be had between only the three ponies present, she then began. “I shall keep this short; how did the newcomer speak to you? They obviously knew you would understand whatever message they wanted to convey.”

Chilly Winds stood straight. “Of course, Princess, they used a code language used by the Solar Guard, and evidently others, to explain the current situation. Though in my experience it is not often used and when used is mostly done so through eye blinking more than hoof tapping.” He seemed to think for a moment. “While I do not need to explain why they used hoofs in this case, I am very curious to see exactly how they knew the code… This is troubling to me…” Chilly Winds sighed deeply, disturbed by this finding more than he told.

“It is no matter,” Luna started “we will find that out in due time. For now, let us focus on getting out of this storm and closer to our destination.”

“Luna is right of course.” Celestia said with an approving nod to Luna. “We will learn of this and put your mind at ease. This could also be a good opportunity to discover more of our future allies.” Celestia gave Luna a look out of the corner of her eye, letting her know through the simple glance that she planned to fully use this knowledge to her advantage, and for the advancement of their kingdom.

“That will be all Chilly Winds please return to the front of the column as I am sure your troops aren’t too comfortable being led by a stranger.” Luna ordered. “We need them fully focused on their task.”

Chilly Winds nodded once sharply. “Of course, my Princess.” With that note, he trotted back to the front of the column, directly behind the stranger. Luna and Celestia meanwhile closed the gap that had formed between their bodies while Chilly Winds had been between them.

“An important question of course,” Celestia began, “but could it not have waited until we were some where more private and not out in the open?” Luna could hear the puzzlement, or possibly condescension in her sister’s voice, which made her ear flick in annoyance with either option.

“No, I am afraid not dear sister.” Luna kept her voice calm and free of any displeasure at her sisters questioning. “Think for a moment, were we heading to our kingdom I would have agreed. Seeing as we are heading into unknown, albeit friendly, territory, it would be foolish to assume our hosts would not watch us in the same way we would watch them. Better it has been said here in the blizzard where surely none but you, Chilly Winds, and myself are privy to our conversation. Wouldn’t you agree?” Luna’s tone was filled with the patience that her sister would normally use toward her.

“I see, you are absolutely correct Luna.” Celestia said with a small hint of a smile on her lips. “I’m glad to see the years working with the representatives of our lands have taken hold, I thought it would take at least another decade or so.” Luna almost shot back a retort until she saw the grin still upon her sister’s face. “I jest of course, I know you know your art well.”

Luna smiled internally at the comment, glad to have her sister acknowledge her improvements over the years. While some may think years between hearing this is far too long, being an immortal made their sense of time much different than the average pony.

Luna and Celestia let the sound of the snow return to their senses as they ended their conversation and Luna ended the magic spell she had made. Luna hadn’t thought twenty minutes could feel so long but as the snow seemed never ending, she was reminded of the saying; a watched pot never boils. The more she thought about getting out of this damned blizzard the longer it would take, or so it would seem.

She sighed as she tried to distract her mind, which was brought back to the stranger as her eyes found them, though barely, through the storm. It wasn’t until now that Luna noticed she couldn’t see the color of the stranger’s tail, noting that it too must be covered. Odd, but practical she supposed when she considered the problems if ice formed in your tail. She watched his stature, noting that they walked straight, tall and proud, even in this storm, leading her to wonder if this was a guard not unlike those she and her sister kept. Luna again noted how tall the stranger was, able to see the top of his head even when Chilly Winds blocked her view of the rest of him. Having only spoken to and thus only seen the emissaries of the Crystal Kingdom, she figured that not all their kind were this large, as the others were the size of the ponies she was used to.

Her mind stuck of thoughts of the newcomer, Luna almost walked into the guard in front of her. Though she didn’t, as she came back to her proper senses before she could embarrass herself in such a way. Now wondering why the guard had stopped, she looked further up the line and noted that the whole line had stopped. The stranger, standing on the crest of a hill she had not noticed, seemed to stand even straighter as they saw something that Luna could not. With speed she would not have thought possible with all the layers they wore, the stranger launched themselves down the hill at something. Immediately Celestia and Luna both understood something was wrong and ran to the top of the crest to observe. With Chilly Winds between them Luna and Celestia’s eyes went momentarily wide as they quickly understood the situation.

Standing on the crest, the trio was able to see the end of the storm, quite literally in fact. Less than a third of a mile away was a line in the snow where it completely stopped. It occurred to Luna that the storm was not as harsh here, considering how far she could see now. Visually it seemed that there was a wall that the storm and its snow could not pass through. Heaps of snow were piled against this invisible wall save for a location that appeared to be some sort of outpost on the other side of the wall. The other side of the invisible wall was nothing but lands of green as far as the horizon. A forest of pines to the left of the barrier occupied both sides causing a large dark green mass on one side, and white pointing spires on the other. To the right of the outpost was a mountain range they had caught a glimpse of earlier in their journey, before they had entered the furious snowstorm.

Taking a closer look at the outpost itself, Luna could have almost called it a small village. The layout formed the letter T with the bottom of the T extending slightly into the snowy landscape. On this side of the wall, the buildings seemed to be simple defensive structures; many barricades, about six watch towers, each about a hundred feet tall, in a half circle around a large gate, and possibly an armory and barracks directly against the wall with their own smaller walls. Above the gate and on the tops of the watch towers appeared to be great torches, all of which were alite. Luna would have looked at the town more from this high vantage point, until she noticed the state of what she would refer to as the gate.

Four of the watch towers lay on their sides, covered in unnatural icy spikes, while another was demolished and lay across the ground in pieces. A short path of ice led to the where the tower had once stood, which was now occupied by a giant pillar of ice and spikes. The only remaining watch tower was the second to the right of the gate, which currently had a large group of creatures surrounding it. The outpost was under siege. Luna could see tiny flashes of what looked like magic from the single watch tower still standing, as well as from the top of the gate and directly below it.

“Sister?” Luna asked with a tone that suggested immediate action.

“Indeed.” was her sisters only reply as she looked to Chilly Winds. “We are going to assist. Bring everyone as fast as you are able.” Chilly Winds took this and without a word turned and began to gather the rest of the guards.

Celestia and Luna meanwhile charged down the hill after the stranger, following his path as it was not a straight shot and thus suggested reason for the route. For a moment Luna thought to fly to the outpost, however a massive gust of wind shot down that idea. Even if the snow itself wasn’t thick in the air as before, the wind alone could potentially bring down even a flyer as experienced as herself and her sister. Such a thing could bring disaster to this mission, or even worse; their kingdom, were either of them to land horribly. Luna grit her teeth and fell in behind her sister as she used her longer legs to cover more ground slightly faster. Looking on, she realized the path had taken them toward the left side of the ring of towers, which would force the stranger to run past the front of three of the towers, and behind the fourth.

The pair was gaining on the stranger who had just reached the edge of the outpost, and the start of the destruction. Luna watched as the stranger ran straight for the last intact tower, the red glow of magic above his head. Luna almost stopped in awe as the stranger let loose a bolt of magic that shot toward the creatures assaulting the tower. The red bolt tore through the air like lighting as it ripped through the creatures, shattering all but three. The remaining three turned to face the stranger and Luna had finally gotten close enough to make out their details.

Taking a closer look, Luna quickly studied the three standing enough to gain a small understanding of them. The creatures each stood as tall as three normal ponies, almost double Celestia’s size, as they stood upon two legs. The tall creatures, Luna decided she would call Ice Giants for the time being, appeared to be made of ice, or at least covered in it. They had a bluish tint to them in their center, which darkened to black by the time they reached the end of their extremities. They had what seemed to be a head though there were no discernable feature on it. Their chest had a mouth the stretched from each side of the chest at its widest, to just under its neck, and above the middle of their chest. This mouth was filled with sharp teeth that may have been ice as well, or possibly bone but Luna could not tell. The Ice giants hunched over quite heavily due to the fact that they had three arms, one on each side of the head like a diamond dog, along with an extra, much larger arm at the center of their backs. While the two arms on either side of the torso appeared to have limited flexibility, the third arm seemed to have free range of motion similar to an octopus’s tentacle.

One of the creatures let loose a roar at the stranger, a surprisingly high screeching sound, before it sprinted toward the pony. Two of the giants smashed their third hand into the ground and pulled up what appeared to be large chunks of ice, before they used their entire body’s motion to fling the pieces at the stranger with incredible speed. The chunks of ice flew right past the charging giant and towards the stranger who was already charging a spell of some kind. When the chunks were only scant meters away, the stranger let loose their spell. Similar to the first, it came as a bolt of red lighting, that split into two streaks and collided with the chunks, disintegrating both on contact. By the time the debris hit the stranger, it was nothing more than a cloud of fine ice, like a thick fog, which the stranger charged through.

The sprinting creature didn’t slow as it raised two of its arms high, using the third as a stabilizer, and slammed its balled fists into the ground. At the site of contact, ice raced out towards the stranger as speeds surpassing the chunks the others had thrown. Luna immediately realized that the stranger had no way to charge a spell fast enough to overpower this attack, however they didn’t change direction in the few seconds they could have. Instead, the stranger simply barreled forward towards the attack. As the sheet of ice came within a few feet of the pony, they juked to the right before jumping high in the air toward the sheet. Right before the stranger jumped, the sheet began a rapid accession, jagged spikes stabbing right at the stranger’s position before they juked. If they had simply jumped straight, they would have been skewered on the ice. Now however, the stranger was to the right, slightly above the spikes of ice, and still on track to meet the creature. So impressive was the move, that Luna had to increase her speed, as she had unknowingly slowed in awe.

The creature shrieked again as it realized its attack had failed and raised its hands, this time to crush the stranger outright. The stranger was now within fifty feet of the giant running fast enough to bring him there in under a second. At some point when she wasn’t paying attention, the stranger had unveiled a large war scythe, dark grey in color with red highlights throughout. How and when they produced this weapon she did not know, she did know that the stranger was proficient in its use however. As she watched, they easily used their magic to swing the scythe to the right under the creature’s left arm, before slicing through it, then back down through the other arm, before curving down and across through the creature’s torso and mouth. The creature released a groan as it died, its body falling into four pieces as it did.

Upon seeing their fellow neatly felled before them, the two remaining creatures shrieked in anger as they reached to throw more chunks at the fast approaching stranger. As the pair readied their ammo, the one further away from the gate suddenly exploded, a giant simmering bolt where it had stood. The survivor staggered as it turned to see what had caused its companion’s death, which was a mistake as the stranger was now in range to use his scythe. Luna, curious to see what had happened, looked to do what the creature had tried to. She quickly found that the source was three ponies dressed in similar garb to that of the stranger, who seemed to have launched a ballista of some sort at the creature, felling it in a single blow.

The stranger wasted no time, nor did they stop to determine the state of the tower, turning straight for the gate and the remaining creatures. Luna and Celestia were not too far behind now, turning as well for the gate, which at their current speed would put them there at about the same time as the stranger. They ran through the center of the tower ring, now close enough to see the destruction and carnage. Luna saw at least a dozen ponies of the outpost that were completely behind saving. Impaled on the ice spikes, blown apart by thrown chunks, or crushed under the fists of the giants. Many more lay injured, some so severely that even if they survived, they would likely never be the same.

In front of the gate, which must have been at least fifty feet tall, was the last of the battle’s combatants. Defending the wall behind them with their lives, what passed as its front line all wore the same gear as the others she had seen. The last of the ground defenders had made a ring around the gate, with three rows of fighters that could be seen neatly swapping places so that no one fought for longer than a minute or two against the giants. The fighters seemed to be using mainly swords help in a magic grasp, which Luna found odd as they had been told there were no unicorns in the Empire, save for its king. Swinging with practice and discipline, the soldiers attempted to hack of the limbs of the attacking creatures as best they could. It was quite obvious that their weapons were not nearly as effective as the strangers, seeing as his cut cleanly with ease through the creatures. As Luna watched, she saw the grasp on a sword waver for a moment, causing the weapon to lose momentum and bounce harmlessly off the creature’s arm. Luckily for the soldier, someone took his place and delivered a clean cut, as he retreated to the inner circle. Luna would be sure to question this later when she had the chance.

Finally close enough to use her magic, Luna charged an attack, but stopped as she noticed something. The ice that made the creatures reflected ice in such an odd manner. Save for the dark ends of their bodies, the creatures seemed to capture the light rather than reflect…. Then it hit her.

“CRYSTAL, NOT ICE!” Luna shouted at her sister as she changed the attack she had been preparing. Releasing the new spell, one much more potent than what she had been about to use, Luna’s horn unleashed a bright blue beam that cut through many of the creatures standing in the middle at once. Celestia had just released her spell as well, sending many short blasts of bright yellow at those on the left side of the defensive line, each one hit a creature causing each to shatter upon impact. Out of the corner of her eye, Luna saw a familiar red bolt strike forward and clear the remaining creatures on the right side of the defenders.

Still running towards the gate, Luna saw that only a few remained standing, five to be exact. The creatures knew they had lost, scanning the ponies rushing towards them and their destroyed comrades all around them. The defensive line quickly realized how the situation had changed and rearranged their lines to take advantage of this. Making a half circle now in the opposite direction, the soldiers herded the remaining five creatures together, with Celestia, the stranger, and Luna herself to cover the other half. Before Luna and Celestia could ready another spell to take advantage of the grouping, they heard a voice shout through the snow.

“Enough!” All heads, including the creatures, turned towards the stranger who seemed to have gotten his mask’s speaker to work. Approaching the creatures, scythe held behind him in his magical grasp, the stranger got within twenty feet of the massive creatures. “Look what you have done!” He shouted at the creatures. “Everything our peoples had worked towards together, the sacrifices on both sides!” He ripped his mask off, revealing fur the color of coal, with a mane black as the night sky, and eyes red as a burning fire. He spit into the ground before continuing. “Thrown to oblivion, and for what?!” he glared at one creature in particular while as he waited for a response. The creature he glared at seemed to make a sort of guttural moaning sound which could have been its language. The stranger seemed to listen for some time before he decided to speak again.

“If you think that was reason enough for such a slaughter, then maybe those that came before I, were wrong in thinking that you can be reasoned with.” He raised his scythe above his head as if to strike the creature down. The great blade slashed down with amazing speed, seeming to rip the air in its way apart as it did so, before it dug itself into the ground directly in front of the creature he spoke to. The creature flinched as the blade slammed into the ground. It was then that Luna noticed the single slash down the front of the creature’s head. While not a deep cut, it was enough to leave a noticeable mark on the creature. “You know as well as I that your wound will not heal, nor will its mark ever lessen. All that see you will know your shame.” He then picked his scythe out of the ground with his magic.

“This is your punishment, for the rest of your long existence, you shall walk these snowy fields alone… for if you are seen with another being, you will be found, and be finished.” The stranger looked at the other four creatures he had not marked. “As for you four, following your leader should not be punished, however, if you ever follow a leader as foolish as this one,” he pointed his scythe at the marked, “I will not be lenient, and you will be destroyed.” He took a moment to stare at each one in turn, before pointing his scythe towards the mountain range covered in snow. “Now go, do not ever return.”

The group of creatures, except for the marked one, all seemed to nod at the stranger, before they started to walk away from the battlefield. One of them stopped for a moment to moan towards the stranger to which he replied.

“Yes, I assure you, no revenge will befall the rest of your people for your actions this day.” The creature seemed to accept this, turning towards the rest of his remaining kind and walking away. Luna noticed that at some point during all this, their guards had caught up. They made two lines, one for each princess and sorted by their specific guard, Solar and Lunar. Luna watched the creatures walk away, having had no idea that they were sapient and wondered what other creatures these lands held. For now however, she needed to focus on the task at hand; figuring out where they go from here.

Luna looked the stranger’s face up and down, noting one other very important thing she had missed, or just ignored in the moment. Looking carefully at the top of his head, Luna saw a grey horn, the end of which was a crimson red in color. It was at this moment she finally understood who they had been following. She cleared her throat, startling many of the ponies present, and causing all eyes to face her. All eyes, except for the one pair she needed looking at her.

“King Sombra.” She stated with fact. Silence filled the air for what felt like years, until the no longer stranger slowly turned his head to face her bringing his gaze to meet hers. In his eyes she could sense many emotions; rage, hate, bitterness, and sadness. He started to walk towards her, all others, including her sister, stood silent, waiting to see where this goes. He stopped within a few feet of her, close enough that even without leaving his gaze she could see the strong muscles in his throat tense and relax in his inner battle with his emotions.

“Yes.” The king of the Crystal Empire said.

“I’m sorry that our first meeting is one of such….” She struggled to find the right word. “… hardships…. However being that we are here,” she motioned to the rest of her party “allow us to assist you and your people here.” She held his gaze and slowly, she saw the rage fade, then the hate. While the bitterness and sadness remained, she saw also something else start to rise; determination.

“Thank you. I, and all of my people, thank you for your offer, and will accept it.” He closed his eyes for a long moment as he took a deep breath. Opening his eyes again he continued. “Once we have mourned the dead and had proper burials, we can begin the talks that were the reason for your visit.” Luna saw that Sombra’s eyes now shown strong with resolve to honor his fallen troops.

He turned to his troops before he spoke, shouting to be heard by all, be they the lone tower, the furthest edge of the ring, or the top of the gate.

“Today we have lost much,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “but many can still be saved.” The troops around them stood straighter. “Do not wait for a speech from me, save everyone we can!” he practically screamed this last statement and immediately the troops scattered in every direction, searching for those that lay fallen near the dead, but not joining them yet. Luna and Celestia turned to their guards as Celestia addressed them.

“You heard Princess Luna, we have lent them our assistance!” She called.

“Help in anyway you can! If you cannot help one find someone who can!” Luna added before the Diarchs spoke in unison.

“Now go!” They commanded as their guards instantly turned and took off in groups of two each, making a total of fifteen groups. Each group consisting of a Solar and Lunar guard. The Princesses turned back towards King Sombra and walked to him.

King Sombra was sitting on the ground next to one of the many dying warriors that were far to gone to be saved, by any amount of magic or herbs. The King leaned his head down to the pony, listening as he spoke, nodding after a few moments. After this he spoke a few words, too quiet for Luna to hear, before he stood, staring down at the now dead warrior, a small sad smile on his lips. He turned to the Princesses, and they could both see the pain on his face.

“These are my children, as much as they are my subjects…. I’m sure you both understand.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, but Luna nodded as if it was, momentarily reliving some of her battles from the past. “While I may be a unicorn, I am no healer, I have never been able to learn such simple magics in all my years. If either of you have substantial command over such arts, I ask you to do as much as you can.” At this, Celestia nodded and quickly hurried off to the nearest pony she could save. King Sombra turned his focus from the now occupied Celestia, to Luna.

“Being that you stand with me I take it you are like me yes?” Luna nodded gravely remembering once again those battles long ago. “Then I ask that you assist me in comforting the dying. This is not something I would ask of my ponies… I feel it would be cruel of me, especially if I were to do nothing. Though I feel it even crueler to you, having just arrived and now this being asked of you…”

“Please, even with my magic, as I too am no healer, I can only help to collect the dead of this battle or assist you as you asked.” Luna swallowed hard. “I will do all I can to ease their pain of leaving this world before their time.”

The King looked at her with what appeared to be respect, and gratitude, before he motioned her to his side, and they began their sad, sorrowful work…