The King of the Sea

Dear River,

The AllFather must have heard my prayers for the heat which hung over the city has been put to rest. I’m sure the heat will come back sooner or later for summer is not over yet, but the coolness of the days has given me a longing for Fall. I spend my days reading outside under the Great Oak tree and listening to the children of the Knights play in the gardens. The Emperor seems to enjoy the laughter of the children far more than he enjoys the sight of the flowers. I can’t blame him, for it is a simple joy. There is something great about children, and it puts a great joy in my soul. 

At night the joy is gone, and a deeper sorrow enters my heart then I would like. I’m reminded in the dark of my room that I will never have children. My beloved wanted five, three daughters and two sons, but that dream will never come to be true. Maybe, in Avalon she chases our children around the halls of the AllFather. 

I dream about them sitting with the angels. 

I tried not to wake up crying, but sometimes, my dear brother, what I want does not matter.

But I must enjoy the comfortable days while I have them, and one day, while I was reading and watching the children play with the Emperor a squirrel wearing the Sea Red of Wellstone enter the gardens. A dozen Knights walked with the newcomer and a six Whispering Hoods hung out in the shadows around them, watching this squirrel. He removed his hood showing a scared face with deep grey eyes and darker fur. He wore a dozen or so necklaces of different metals, some gold, some silver, and all carrying relics of the sea. He smiled at the Emperor scaring the children away, but he did not bow when the Ruler of the Realm came up to him. 

They spoke for a while, and I watched unsure who this squirrel who be and how he didn’t lose his head at the disrespect being shown to the Emperor. Soon they left the gardens to speak somewhere else in the Palace. I raced to follow, but one of the Knights stopped me, telling me he couldn’t allow me to come. 

Later, somewhere around dinner time, one of the Knights I have built a friendship with found me in the library. My Lord, there are so many Knights I have come to know by their names and most of all their stories. He sat with me at the dinner table and explained the squirrel from Wellstone is ambassador from the Pirate King.

I was utterly shocked that the stories of this King were true, and he had this much power of the sea.

The Knight told me the ambassador was sent to the Emperor by the Pirate King to help stop a war between the pirates and the Wellstone. The Pirate King wishes more than anything to not have the war turn the sea to red and is willing to work with the Three Kingdoms to come to some agreement on the matter. 

“Do you think Wellstone can win the war?” I asked him. 

“That hasn’t been able to stop the pirates ever since they became a class,” the Knight said.

I hope you haven’t forgotten your history brother, but the pirates were born during the Roaming Wars of the Mice. The Royal Navy of Wellstone had lost too many ships to send supplies to the shores during the war and to hold off the Mice. So, they started to use ships allowing the crews of those ships to attack the armies on the edge of the sea. They couldn’t pay this ship for their task and allowed them to take whatever they could from the enemies. They gave birth to the pirates, a class that has haunted the waters of the Black Dragon Sea ever since. There had been many wars over the ages between Wellstone and the Pirates, but no matter the outcome, the class still remains.

The last great war of the sea came around when the Pirate Wizard Creed “Devil Eyes” Oce’Tak build his magical Keep on his massive ships. He sailed the waters, attacking whatever he wished until the King of Wellstone begged the AllFather to send angels to help them. Three angels came down from the Heavens, and the battle lasted for forty days and forty nights. After those long nights and days of battle the Keep of Oce’Tak had been swallowed by the sea. What happens to keep or where does it lie no one knows but the Pirate King himself. It is said the Pirate King hides in the Keep when he must not be seen on the waters. 

I have no idea what has to happen between the Three Kingdoms and the Pirate King, but no word of war has reached the Palace. I have hoped the Emperor did his duty well, stopping the war before it has even started. I have heard the Pirate King has appreciated for the Emperor. Stories are flying inside the walls of the Palace that the Pirate King and the Emperor were once friends in their youth. I haven’t brought myself to ask the Emperor if the rumors are true when I have dinner with him. Maybe, one day I will be brave enough to ask the question. 

I am greatly sorry to hear the little one is sick and I hope she feels better soon. I have asked the Master of my Rank to send word to the Royal Healers in Thornwood to help. So, if the little one doesn’t get better any time soon, please, call upon the Healers, my brother. You and the family are always in my thoughts and prayers. 

Your brother,

Brain Redtales

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