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Broken King

Ch. 1 · The Queen at the Gates

Broken King, an original story by HolmesK

Eden's army ranked before Dorman's fortress; Domina rides forward as spears lower.
  1. Narration: The fortress of Dorman stood against the mountains like a wall built to defy the gods.
  2. Narration: At its head rode Domina, Queen of Eden.
The envoy delivers his king's refusal; Domina answers.
  1. Dorman Envoy: Your Majesty, our king will not surrender his fortresses.
  2. Domina: Withdraw from the disputed lands. Allow the neutral envoys inside. Surrender the commanders accused of atrocities.
  3. Dorman Envoy: And if he refuses?
  4. Domina: At sunrise, I will take what he refuses to surrender.
Evening in the pavilion; Doge helps Domina out of her armour and they kiss.
  1. Narration: Doge stood waiting beside a bronze brazier.
  2. Doge: Must you always carry the weight of the world?
  3. Domina: Someone must.
  4. Doge: You will come back to me?
Private chamber after council: Shema presents the Vallerian preparation.
  1. Narration: Shema entered the war council without announcing herself.
  2. Domina: And Kesh has agreed to this?
  3. Shema: No.
  4. Domina: Then the responsibility will be mine as well.
Preparing the southern campaign; then departure.
  1. Shema: That is not armour.
  2. Domina: It has defeated more than one diplomat.
  3. Shema: You trust me too much.
Dorman's court collapses; Kesh stands at its centre.
  1. Narration: Dorman's capital was dying from within.
  2. Narration: At the centre of the collapsing court stood Kesh, the young adult king of Dorman.
The clerk reveals orders under Kesh's seal.
  1. Elderly Clerk: Your Majesty, these orders bear your royal seal.
  2. Kesh: I never signed them.
  3. Kesh: Who had access to my seal?
  4. Elderly Clerk: Someone whose name has vanished from the registry.
Kesh escapes carrying the dispatches.
  1. Narration: For the first time, he understood that ignorance could destroy a kingdom as surely as malice.
Captured, Kesh faces Shema; later she reads Domina's letter.
  1. Shema: Did you order the destruction of Valleria?
  2. Kesh: No.
  3. Shema: My wife died beneath your kingdom's banners. My husband was executed before the city gates.
  4. Narration: Kesh was to remain alive and able to testify. His documents were to be preserved.
Kesh in Eden: dressed, transformed, choosing his own robe.
  1. Domina: The colours suit you.
  2. Kesh: Then admire the clothing, Your Majesty. Do not mistake it for my choice.
  3. Kesh: This is what I choose.
Doge visits with tea and asks to sit.
  1. Doge: May I sit?
  2. Narration: It was the first conversation in Eden in which no one had demanded anything from him.
Returned Domina sees Kesh's changes and anger.
  1. Domina: I did not know the whole truth about Dorman.
  2. Kesh: Yet you decided my punishment.
Night together; Doge speaks of Kesh.
  1. Domina: You have grown fond of him.
  2. Doge: Perhaps. But my affection is mine to decide.
  3. Domina: Yes. It is.
Kesh confesses he meant to use Doge.
  1. Doge: So all those conversations were a plan?
  2. Kesh: At first. Now I cannot bear the thought of losing them.
  3. Doge: Then you should have told me the truth sooner.
Shema confronts Kesh with the records.
  1. Shema: You intended to use Domina's husband.
  2. Kesh: Yes.
  3. Shema: And you call what you feel now love?
  4. Kesh: I do not know what to call it.
Domina apologises privately.
  1. Domina: I approved what was done to you. I cannot pretend otherwise.
  2. Kesh: An apology will not restore what I lost.
  3. Domina: No. It will not.
Council: both queens admit fault; Doge watches from the gallery.
  1. Domina: I permitted punishment before proof. That was my decision.
  2. Shema: And I carried it out while calling revenge justice.
  3. Narration: The investigation would continue.
Quiet night; Doge, then Shema.
  1. Domina: Whatever you decide, I will respect it.
  2. Doge: That is all I ask.
  3. Shema: You have changed.
  4. Domina: Not enough.
Kesh reads the official's letter; far away a figure moves in the ruins.
  1. Narration: The past had not finished with the queens.
  2. Caption: END OF ARC I

End of Chapter 1

Broken King, an original story by HolmesK

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