[RPG] [FEI][SoC] A royal mind

[Greg McGlynn]

Xerxes abruptly ordered his servants to leave him and wait outside the 
doors to the room until he was ready. He had some thinking to do, and he 
didn't want anyone else around while he was doing it. Once the servants 
had dutifully departed, he tried to clear his mind of all the 
meaningless and trivial tasks and concerns of being King and focus on 
important matters.
The first of these was safety. Was his throne in any danger? The 
question was particularly important because Xerxes had become King 
through an overthrow of the previous ruler. He had taken advantage of 
circumstances to rally the entire realm to his cause, and he had ridden 
the wave of their support into the palace. But what if another should do 
the same to him? He had tried his best to play the part of kind and 
generous King, but some might harbor secret ambitions or resentments.
 
For there to a be a rebellion, for whatever reason, there would have to 
be someone to lead it. Who? He doubted any of the untitled nobles of the 
realm would have the ability or reason to start an insurrection. Adala, 
Dranor, Goram, Jac, and Janice all seemed relatively unconcerned with 
the affairs of the realm and lacked the prominence and support they 
would need to get others to side with them. On the other hand, any of 
the more important nobles would be more likely to be able to 
successfully rebel.
 
So. There was Victor, Count of Ansopen, Arch Priest of the Sanctum of 
Casshern. But as far as Xerxes could tell, Victor was absolutely loyal 
to his King.
 
What about Royal Treasurer Karpur? No, Karpur showed no sign of excess 
ambition or dislike toward Xerxes.
 
Ijil, Duke of Palnasos? Of course not: it seemed that Ijil had just left 
the island on a ship. Xerxes would have to appoint a new Duke, and would 
consider that problem soon.
 
The only noble left was Cesari, Count of Zarimel, High Marshal of the 
Sanctum of Casshern. Cesari seemed rather ambitious. He had worked with 
Xerxes' most closely to bring about the revolution, but Xerxes would not 
be surprised if Cesari had had no particular loyalty to Xerxes. It 
seemed likely that Cesari had only supported the rebellion in order to 
stay on the winning side of things. Thus Xerxes had tried to ensure 
Cesari's loyalty by showering him with titles. He had granted Cesari 
Zarimel because of his support for the rebellion, and Xerxes hoped that 
his recent appointment of Cesari to be General would strengthen his 
loyalty to the King. That strategy might backfire though: if Cesari 
called for rebellion, he was much more likely to be listened to because 
of his titles, importance, and prestige. Xerxes resolved to be watchful 
for any sign that Cesari wished to hold the throne himself.
 
The King had satisfied himself that there was little danger of a violent 
insurrection. What other pressing problems were there for the King to 
consider? Well, there was the matter of the Duke of Palnasos. Or rather, 
the lack thereof. For no particular reason Ijil appeared to have, upon 
recovering from the wound suffered in a duel, departed immediately from 
the island. Xerxes supposed there was little hope of finding out what 
had impelled him to do such a thing, and turned his mind to the 
practical matter of choosing a new Duke. Fortunately, the list of 
candidates was short. Only two nobles could be elevated in the hierarchy 
to the Dukeship: Dame Adala and Royal Treasurer Karpur.
 
Xerxes had no particular liking for Karpur, though he harbored no 
dislike for the man either. He did not really want to grant Karpur 
Palnasos. On the other hand he rather doubted that Adala would be a very 
competent Duke. He had a strong distaste for Adala's mixture of ambition 
and naivette: the Dame seemed to instictively desire the prestige of 
titles but appeared to lack the strength of personality and character 
and the experience necessary to fulfill them. But Adala was young and 
Xerxes could probably mold her into a steadfast ally by appointing her 
and helping her out.
 
The King made his decision. Adala, Dame of Palnasos would become Adala, 
Duchess of Palnasos. She would take careful watching and management, but 
Xerxes believed he could make Adala into a competent Duchess and a 
strong ally of the King. Perhaps if she was competent and loyal enough, 
she might eventually become Xerxes' wife and Queen.
 
With those important decisions made, Xerxes had found solutions to the 
most pressing matters of state. Still, though, he didn't think he had 
finished what he had set out to do. What other decisions were there to 
make? What other questions demanded answers? Xerxes didn't know, but was 
determined find out what was bothering him.
 
Once again the King tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, so that the 
problem might float to the surface and make itself apparent. He found 
himself staring at the ceiling of the room, seeking answers, perhaps, in 
the swirling patterns of the wood. After a while he realized that that 
was where the answer, or rather the question, lay. Up, above the 
ceiling, above the sky, in the realm of the gods.
 
What bothered him was that he knew nothing about that place. What divine 
entities regarded the mortal world below him, perhaps peered into his 
mind even now, or perhaps disregarded the sphere of men as irrelevant, 
low, and vulgar? What gods guided men's paths through life, or watched 
them for sin, or observed and toyed with them for their own amusement? 
He shuddered inwardly at the thought that he was ignorant of the 
immortals' identities and goals.
 
Perhaps, though, he could determine something about them with reason and 
thought. Thus Xerxes began an attempt to know the gods.
 
He shied away from belief that the gods had set down some divine 
morality for humans to follow: what if such a moral code declared his 
rebellion against Franklin immoral, a corruption of the natural way of 
things? He rationalized this by asking, "If the gods did not wish me to 
be in power, why didn't they stop me?" Indeed, for Xerxes the path to 
throne had been rather smooth.
 
Xerxes instead gravitated to the opposite end of the spectrum: the 
belief that the gods were unconcerned with the action of mortals, or 
perhaps that they played with the lives of men to amuse themselves. He 
liked the freedom this concept gave him: no one could accuse him that 
his actions were an affront to some god's rules for human behavior. And 
Xerxes thought it made him a kind of god himself: if a god was one who 
had dominion over men and could disregard them or move them about as he 
wished, then that must make Xerxes, King of the Sanctum of Casshern, a 
kind of god himself. And this provided an explanation for his success: 
clearly some god had taken a liking to him and protected him and 
promoted his goals. Suddenly, Xerxes was consumed with a desire to know 
his protector's name.
 
A third time the King emptied his mind of all thoughts, willing the god 
who watched over him to let himself be known. Sounds flitted through his 
head -- the whisperings of a god?
 
"Sss... Puh... Pah... Puhar... Susp..." 

"Parsus!" Xerxes exclaimed softly.
 
Xerxes, King of the Sanctum of Casshern, slid from his chair and knelt 
to offer up a prayer to Parsus, the god who was his guide and protector.
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