It was early when my day started, even earlier than the days before.

The dormant sun burst to life and with it evoked screaming. In the cobbled courtyard, a dozen Cynn-Blood were tied to posts. The moment the sun's rays reached them, their curse set itself in motion. Their skin burned black, and steam rose from their flesh. Their hair burst into flame, smoke escaped their lungs, and their blood boiled.

I hurried through the courtyard, looking down and away from them, bearing their eyes on me. Above me, Kes's king basked in the obscenity, his head high and eyes upward, taking it all in. My lip curled in disgust; nevertheless, I had much to say to him, and, hopefully, this would have left the king amenable.

The castle guard straightened as I approached and opened the palace's outer gates wide. The inner door was a few gilded halls more, where beyond lay the throne room.

I twisted my ring around my finger, breathed in, steadied my frayed nerves, and breathed out. It had been years since my departure, but he needed to heed my warnings. There was too much riding on this.

A footman stood nearby and passed along my urgent request for entry. The king wouldn't be in the throne room yet, and his aides would be getting ready to serve him. The door attendant earnestly requested I find a comfortable space to wait in, but I politely shook my head. Several passersby stumbled awkwardly or jerked their heads sharply upon seeing me. I smiled in greeting and stepped forward to speak with them after so long, but something struck them fearfully, and they hurried away. More so, few of the factotum and guards were recognizable. What had become of my teachers, the house servants who had known me since birth, the guards who struggled to keep up with my youth? Their unusual absence set a stone in my stomach.

The aperture opened, and the door servant announced, "May I present to his royal highness, Valspear'Ronlin'Kes, son of-"

"He knows who I am," I interrupted.

Ministers who ate out of the king's hand, councilors who existed to agree with everything, governors whose positions and lives were dependent on the goodwill of the whimsical, ambassadors whose foreign diplomacy remained unheard, and more where all could be simplified to the useless, ignored, and corrupt. To crown the obscene contest sat Kador'Ronlin'Kes.

"You shouldn't dismiss the staff like that," The king chastised. In King Kador's hand was a dead snake he nibbled on raw. He smiled in amusement as blood and poison dribbled between his teeth. "After all, his job depends on being remotely useful."

"Father," I approached. "It has been some time, and I see the sun has blessed your youth. I'm glad."

My father smiled even as bile rose in my throat. The source of his youth was in sacrifices, or so it is claimed. I had never seen a man cheat death but never say never to a king.

"And you have grown tall in your years in Ire." Kador returned, "Here your little brother was hoping to gain something over you. Pity he is not here to be measured." He chuckled. I breathed out in relief. My brother is the last person I need to see right now. "I trust your time has taught you something practical."

I frowned but revealed nothing, despite the insult. The Ire-blood nobles had flaws but were honorable hosts and treated me well despite the hostage exchange.

"Yet," My father frowned, "It hasn't passed my notice that your presence is early. I never sent for your return. Why is this?"

"I was released to deliver a warning. The Ire fear the Ne's rising actions more than upholding treaties with you."

The attendants and ministers paused to hear, and my father leaned forward. I pressed on, "The sun has changed. Its cycles have shifted, but I have found it is not feral. The newly risen Empire and the sun are connected. The Ne has become united for the first time, and the one to unite them is the same man to have set the sun to its pattern!"

Whispers rose around us, and the king frowned even further. "How?"

"That, I do not know," I admitted. "The man's magic is beyond me."

"Because it is mistaken! No man can bend the sun to his will, but I." King Kador spat. The snake's head flew from Kador's mouth and rolled across the floor to my feet.

"Even so, one thing is for certain is that war is coming. We must end the useless war with Cynn and prepare."

"We will do nothing! We don't need to do anything."

"Father..." I pressed, keeping my tone level and polite. "I witnessed his power first hand. We need to prepare for his coming! Already he makes war with Ire, and he will come for us next. We must rally our forces! You have to aid Ire and prepare our borders!"

"Aid Ire? Ridiculous!" One of the officials cried. "Let the cheats pay for it!"

Others yelled words and curses at me, but I focused solely on the king. In return, the king's attention was on me. The king stood abruptly, his face stoic, and the room fell silent.

"You astound me..." the king whispered. He descended from his throne and approached me.

The king hugged me, and I immediately froze. When was the last time he ever embraced anyone? Did I succeed? Did I catch him in a pleasant mood?

"With how little you listen!" The king hissed.

After he said those words, I felt something wet surround my ear, and a ripping agony tore across the side of my face. His hold tightened around me. Gasping in pain, I shoved myself away from him and fell to the ground. Blood poured down my cheek, and the room echoed with screaming, whether my own or another. I looked up through watery eyes, only to widen in horror as my ear dangled from my father's teeth.

Spitting it out, the king stepped forward and flattened the dismembered ear into the ground. He hissed, punctuating each sentence by twisting his heel into my flesh, "We 'have' to do nothing! Our war with Cynn 'will' continue! If you 'do not' heed me when I speak, your ears must be removed!"

The king motioned towards the back, and a pair of soldiers hastened to seize me.

"Take him away," Kador commanded. He turned and marched to his throne without looking back at the sordid scene. "Next time, he might learn to use his ears."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Valspear!"

I jerked my head in reflex towards the sound. Unfortunately, the physician had a needle up to my bleeding ear, and the sudden motion jabbed me in the face. I hissed in pain, and the doctor placed a towel against my head.

Standing at the door was my childhood friend, Fereren'Kyltu'Kes, and some boy. The boy recognized me first because he came bounding across the room, jumping into my lap to tackle me, knocking me flat on my back, and giggling the whole time.

"Ferer'!" I greeted. "And-" I looked down at the boy. He stepped back for my inspection, but I was, to be honest, coming up empty. Ferer' smugly stood around watching the confusion play out, and the boy's joy in seeing me dropped into instant aggravation.

"You don't remember," he concluded.

"I-I'm sorry? Did Aelius get a brother?" I glanced at the father.

"I am Aelius!!"

Straight away, I saw my mistake. The boy I recalled had grown, and his blond hair had darkened with age. Though some features were recognizable, they had given way with his rapid growth. I had last known him as a toddler; now, he was nearing puberty! I may have been gone for a time, but not so long that I shouldn't logically conclude who the child was.

"Oh, of course! How could I forget my favorite sun-child?" As I hugged him tight and held him close, I glared at my friend, warning him I would get him. He waves cheekily.

"I'm your only sun-child..."

"Shush! Here, let me get a good look at you."

I moved Aelius back to arm's length, and he stood proudly for my inspection. Being my sun-child, I had promised to take him and raise him as my own, as an uncle, if the worst should come to his family. If I could produce no child of my own, or the child died, it also appointed him as my heir and a designated successor to the throne. If I had a surviving child, Aelius would solidify his ascension to the head of his noble house along with the holding and securing close ties with the royal family. His future was assured. During my time away, I often remembered the day he was born. Fereren and I had sworn to change the world for him.

What fools we were, but who could deny us that foolishness?

"Damn, Fereren, what are you feeding this kid! He will be taller than me in a few years. Strong too." I added, grasping Aelius' side to probe him where I remember it tickling.

"Don't I know it? It's a chore having to buy longer robes and larger sandals for Him. His mother and I stopped feeding him the long beans, but he found a way to defy all reason with his antics anyway."

Aelius puffs up his tiny chest and says, "Father is a general now! And even he cannot command me!!" Fereren scoffs, and I smile, leaving the boy's fantasy untarnished.

"General?" I look to Ferer' in amazement. "No messages to tell me about the promotion?"

"Military secret."

"It's a military secret to tell me you were promoted?"

"No, it's a military secret why I was too busy to tell you." Ferer' smiles smugly.

"Doing what?"

"Doing military secrets." He nods sagely, "And I may have been drunk."

"For how long?"

The doctor steps in, interjecting, "I'm happy to see the prince's spirits have lifted, but the work I'm doing is time-sensitive.".

The kid naturally utters, "Huh?"

I chuckled and motioned him away. "There will be plenty of time later, nephew. Why don't you wait outside?"

My nephew protests, but a firm hand from Fereren sends him scurrying out to wait outside. The doctor pulls up a chair, sits down, and advises me to be still.

"What happened?" Fereren asked, his voice deep. "This is new. What animal bit you?"

"It wasn't an animal."

Ferer was still as stone as I explained. Nothing passed through his eyes; then, as I finished, he took the nearest object, an unlit brass lamp, and threw it across the room. It clattered noisily against the wood. "Madness! He is deranged and grows more so by the day!" Ferer's feet directed him in an aggravated circle around the doctor's chamber." One would wonder if the sun cooks his head more than the Cynn-blood!"

I whispered, "This is my father's house. Even if you don't respect him, at least fear him enough to keep your mouth shut; or was this," I motioned to my face. "Not lesson enough for all of us?"

Despite my warning, my friend swept it aside, "Nobody believes that the sun is shifting at his command. Then for him to disregard your warnings and continue this vain assault on Cynn!"

"He thinks it will extend his life."

Fereren pointed at me, aghast, "Don't defend him! Not after what he did!"

"I'm not-" I stopped. My friend was right; I did. I stooped my head and sighed. The doctor jerked my head back in place.

The doctor cut the string tying my ear back in place and patted the area with a medicinal cloth. The day had proven disappointing, and nothing he said could change what had happened. I could barely hear out of my right side.

My options were few. I did not have the support of the court, the military, or the people. If I pushed my authority as future king, I would be able to marshal a fourth, at most, but even then, it would be met with immediate recompense from King Kador. There would be civil war. Our people would be better off united if I followed my father's lead and kept them from fighting each other, but that would still mean waiting for the invaders to appear.

"What am I to do?" I wondered out loud. "The house of Ronlin will not support me, and if I cannot get my own house to support me, who can I call on?"

"You can rely on the house of Kyltu and me, my prince." Fereren stooped down in front of me, grasped my shaking hands in his, and clenched them tightly. "If this threat is what you claim, then you have my men."

I never doubted I had his allegiance, but it was reassuring. I smile and place a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you. I worried everyone I knew had been sent away."

"Almost, but thankfully being head of a noble house means something even to him."

"Even so, my friend, it won't be enough. The one who united the Ne and controls the sun..."

"What did you see?" My friend examined me in the eye, concerned. "What frets you so?"

"It was once, but once was enough," I informed him. The memory unnerved me. "I was permitted special rights to witness a battle Ire was engaging on their border with Ne. The Ne produced an army in the hundreds of thousands."

"Hundreds. Of. Thousands?" Fereren breathed.

I nodded. "What's more, the enemy didn't use it." Noting the confusion in the general's eyes, I continued. "Do you remember the day the sun grew like a tree?"

Fereren nodded. "It is no surprise you would have seen it even from Ire."

The day in question was recent and would have been seen by all in the world. The sun stood high in the sky, and an enormous arm grew from it and extended itself into the ground of Ire. It only lasted a few seconds but was oddly shaped like a tree trunk or great arm.

Most would have thought it to be an omen or a sign that the sun god was trying to tell us something.

"I did more than see the arm of the sun extend out, my friend. I was there where it smashed down." Fereren gasped at my words." The earth trembled, the light blinded, and no survivors remained when it lifted. I was saved only by distance. Amidst the destruction stood a single man. He was named: Aeterna."

"Aeterna," Fereren repeated and gazed down at me in bewilderment. "Just Aeterna? No family name? No national name?"

"His name is a declaration that he answers to no one but himself," I answer. "And he can enforce it between the army at his feet and the sun-god in his hand."

Fereren stood silently, staring at me in shock, before returning aside and looking outside at the sun. He backed off into the shadows after a glance, seemingly afraid of the light.

I knew why. I had come to terms with the fear Fereren was learning. The ever-present sun god that gave life to the land, nourished our crops, gave us warmth, and watched over us, had turned against us. The source of our vitality had become the source of our death.

"Is this the will of the sun?" Fereren wondered out loud. "Who can escape its eye? Shall we burrow ourselves in the soil as Soran-blood? Shall we run in circles beneath its gaze, and towards what corner? The sun god may sleep, but if the 'Aeterna' can call on its strong arm, can he not also rise it from slumber to aid him?"

Fereren turned wide eyes toward me; realization dawned on him. "That is why the sun has been shifting its times... the Aeterna wills when it sleeps and wakes!"

"Yes." I nodded. "Now you see."

That day we had no solution to what to do, but some god must have heard our despair because an answer came to us as word reached me.

The following day, as my father did his morning ritual of burning the Cynn-blood, a giant black spear fell from the sun and pierced his head.

King Kador'Ronlin'Kes was killed.

----------------- (9/18/2021) edit