North America / Kingdom of Yorkania (Crownlands of Manhattan): November 11th, 1517.
(Gandalore de' Staten's POV)
"AHHHHHHHHGH." Said a voice screaming at the top of it's lungs in agony.
*THOMP* *THOMP* *THOMP*
Heads rolled . One. By. One.
*SPURT* *SPURT* *SPURT*
The hall's floor bloody. Stained with sin and betrayal.
"This wasn't supposed to happen" Thought gandalore as a he felt a metallic object against his neck.
Gandalore closed his wrinkled eyes and thought "I have started with nothing and sacrificed my entire life for the survival of house staten, people only see gain, not hardship to protect ones family"
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
"DIE YOU WRETCHED SUPPORTER OF THE QUEEN MOTHER." Said a man's voice roaring loudly.
*THOMP* *THOMP* *THOMP*
*SPURT* *SPURT* *SPURT*
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
Bodies fell. One. By. One.
"When did I a man of former high principle lose moral for justification" Thought gandalore as he pressed the dagger harder against his own neck. Blood starting to drip from it.
Gandalore made his way slowly towards the middle of the hall and said loudly with tears and the sword plunging into his own chest "HAIL YORKANIA, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL…"
The hall went absolutely silent. Everyone of the fighting ton looked at the vitality drifting away from gandalore's face.
*SPLAT*
*Boom*
*BOOM*
A very beautiful woman bursted into the hall slowly in a opulent black-and-gold jeweled royal gown with enormous puffed sleeves, a towering powdered coiffure, and an elaborate spiked crown-headdress and said with wide bloodshot eyes "What is this."
"Y…your…majesty." Said gandalore weakly as he raised his hand outward weakly.
I glanced down at gandalore and went over to him, the cloaked men and women aiming the swords in their hands at the ton as I said calmly "I am deeply ashamed of you. You have my sorrows and prayers."
"Y…you must…s…survive…a…a…and make yorkania thrive…I bealive in your way and vision." Said gandalore stuttering weakly in a kneeling position and stopped moving.
The hall was absolutely silent. Gandalore not moving at all. He died.
(Morgan's POV)
"I don't plan on dying anytime soon" I thought while looking around at the countless bodies and heads on the floor in the nice former hall that was full of grandness and splendor.
Percival got up from the desk and said with his eyes wide "Your majesty, you must be feeling unwell, I'll have you escorted back to your chamber at once."
"My lords, if you have gathered here to object, do try to be brief. I find stupidity easiest to endure in small doses. You ask by what right I rule. By the right of competence. When this kingdom starved, I fed it. When the treasury bled, I steadied it. When the court fractured, I remained standing while better-born fools trembled behind titles they did not deserve. Some of you call me cruel. And yet it was not cruelty that emptied Yorkania. It was male vanity, noble greed, and generations of men so thoroughly protected from consequence that they began to mistake failure for tradition.That ends with me.The old order is dead.The age of indulgence is dead. And if any of you still intend to drag this kingdom backward, I will have you buried so deep your bloodline will need permission to remember your name. I am not here to be approved of. I am here to rule. So speak now, if you object. I would like to know which side of the hall requires cleansing first." I said calmly with both of my arms spread wide open at both sides of the hall.
29 of the ton in the hall kneeled. 11 scoffed an held up the weapons.
"DIE YOU BITCH QUEEN." Said a man loudly as he swung a sword at me.
I leaned back slightly while sweeping his foot.
"Huh…" Said the man confusedly as he seen a dark skinned calloused hand that a woman should not have getting closer and closer to his face.
*PAH*
*Crack*
*SPURT*
*Boom*
The man's body was limp. His neck twisted unnaturally. The cloaked men's swords didn't move a Inch from each faction side of the room.
The hall was silent. Percival's eyes wide as he Immediately kneeled and said loudly "All HAIL THE QUEEN, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL."
I slowly made my way over to the throne and up the stairs of it.
"HAIL, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL, HAIL." Said 29 of the ton loudly in unison. Still prostrated on the floor.
"I shall be known as morgan I, queen mother of torkania." I said calmly with my voice rising slightly in pitch. My right right hand raised up in the air at all of the ton.
Percival moved in front of the throne with the 29. Now 39 of the ton and said loudly in unison "HER MAJESTY. QUEEN MOTHER MORGAN I OF YORKANIA, PROTECTOR OF THE CROWN, LADY OF THE CROWNLANDS OF MANHATTAN, AND GUARDIAN OF THE REALM."
The hall was silent. I sat down on the throne while thinking "Did you miss me…I sure missed you"
"From this day forward, yorkania will no longer confuse manhood with merit. No daughter shall be denied inheritance, title, steel, or command merely because lesser men fear comparison. Did I hear a hail." I said calmly with my voice slightly rising ln pitched as I leaned sideways on the throne. The royal chronicler writing next to me.
The hall was silent for a moment. The faces of some of the ton ugly.
"Be good boys and give up on your pride and ego" I thought with eyes full of entertainment.
"Y…your majesty. I apologize." Said percival with a stutter, his forehead full of sweat.
I glanced at percival and asked calmly "For…"
"For overstepping my station and becoming arrogant." Said percival with clenched fists an gritted teeth.
I was silent for a moment and said calmly "You are living proof that a bloodline may continue long after dignity has died."
"Your majesty please…" Said percival with his teeth gritted and his jaw clenched tightly.
I waved my tight hand lightly while saying calmly "If there is a thought in this hall worth hearing, let it present itself. I grow tired of counterfeits."
"Your majesty…m…my name is baron big back." Said the hunched over young man with a hump on his back.
The hall was silent. I waited.
No response or continuation came.
"Speak only if you have something rarer than confidence. Next." I said calmly as I looked for a next person.
Baron big back trembled and said "Your majesty. If I may bold and speak, the people will not approve of a women Inheriting anything, the culture and tradition is to deeply rooted in male dominance."
"I see. A title does not make a man fit to rule any more than a saddle makes a horse a statesman so the first lesson in the new schools of yorkania shall be this: being male is not an achievement. A daughter with a mind is not a threat to the realm. She is a threat only to mediocre men, If your son cannot govern, count, read, negotiate, or think, then what exactly are we inheriting besides disappointment. I will not have this kingdom brought low by the very men who fear educated daughters more than incompetent heirs, you call it tradition when a fool inherits over a worthy daughter. I call it organized decline when a house buries it's clever daughters and crowns it's stupid sons, it is not preserving blood. It is thinning it. Any man offended by this decree has likely mistaken his position for proof of his value." I said calmly while looking at every single one of the ton prostrating at the step of the throne.
Baron big back gritted his teeth and said with anger "But your maj…"
"By my second decree, yorkania shall no longer deny daughters inheritance, title, education, or command merely to preserve the vanity of lesser sons. I have seen too many estates handed to men who could not govern a kitchen, much less a duchy, while intelligent daughters were dressed for marriage and buried beneath etiquette. That practice ends today. From this day forward, children of rank, male and female alike, shall be taught law, arithmetic, governance, languages, estate management, and arms where appropriate. If a daughter proves herself the better heir, then only a fool would pass her over for a brother whose sole achievement is arriving at birth with the kingdom's preferred set of limbs. Yorkania has suffered enough from male inheritance without merit. I will not allow it to suffer another generation." I said calmly with a firm tone and cold eyes.
"Yorkania is more rigid, masculine, and disciplinary than europe. Noblewomen have less visible public power and must work through husbands, family, servants, letters, and private rooms. It makes me wish I had ended up in europe instead, the only reason my ladies in waiting came with me to court was because I'm queen mother and was the wife of the king" I thought while standing up from the throne.
I started making my way down the steps while saying calmly with my voice raised slightly in pitch as I left the bloody grand hall "Evoke these decrees and get it done. I will hosting the first ball soon so I do I expect to see wives and daughters there. Court dismissed."
*Boom*
(Percival's POV)
"I will win back your trust, your majesty" Thought percival with clenched fists and gritted teeth.
…
THE END…