The Son of Fire

[Oneida]

Culebria, the Kingdom of the Sun, now stood as the most powerful in all of Auraria. The Eastern Kingdom’s defeat of Andaluz – the largest and most populous of the three Kingdoms – positioned it directly to assume chief political and economic strength. At the head of this power is King Roberto II. However, King Roberto II went on to become High King of Auraria and did not abdicate his throne in Culebria. As a result, his younger brother Duke Simón leads as Lord Regent.

The Lord Regent was walking down a hall in the palace. Simón Calderón was Duke of Castellon, a prestigious position usually held by the King of Culebria. He was a tall man, and equally thin. At 43, Simón had short, dark hair and dark eyes, a common trait amongst the Calderóns.

He always dressed formally, clothing that the common folk confused with military uniforms. Over his right shoulder was a sash that was orange with red and yellow bands on the edges, the colors of House Calderón. At his side, where the two ends of the sash met, was the sigil of House Calderón. This sash was worn by all nobility within the Family. Around his neck was the collar of the Order of the Golden Sun. The collar was gold with nine rubies and a pennant of a sun hanging from the middle, which bared an eerily resemblance to the sigil of House Calderón. The obsession with the sun that House Calderón had was embraced fully.

The Lord Regent approached the end of the hallway and two guards opened the door for him. In the room sat Josué Araya. Chancellor of Culebria. He quickly rose at the sight of the Duke.

“Your Grace,” he said.

“Lord Josué,” Simón answered.

The Duke took his seat behind a desk. Behind him was three large windows, opened, which allowed the breeze to blow the curtains. The warm air was comforting.

“His majesty, High King Roberto II, intends to return to Castellon in the coming weeks,” the Chancellor said.

“What reason did my good brother give?” Simón asked.

“None, your Grace, I was simply given the message from Chancellor Calderón in Solis,” Araya said.

“Well then, begin preparations. Since we have no idea what we’re preparing for, you might as well keep it broad,” the Duke said.

“Of course, your Grace,” the Chancellor replied, standing, and bowing to the Duke.

The Chancellor existed the room and the Duke went back to work.

 

[Oneida]

The Royal Palace of Castellon was one of the oldest buildings in all of Auraria. Its grandeur was nothing in comparison to the Royal Palace in Solis, but that was to be expected. Despite being a coastal city, the Royal Palace did not sit at the sea, but instead atop a hill. The walls were brown with black roofs. The base of the Castle was obscured from almost every angle by trees and foliage. The Castle served as the ancestral home of House Calderón, the rulers of Culebria.

“It has been far too long since the last time we saw each other,” said the High King.

“Nearly a decade, but that’s to be expected from the High King,” replied Simón.

“Can you believe my own daughter is to be married,” Roberto II proclaimed.

“Yes, daughters of Kings tend to be married,” Simón replied.

“You’ve never had children, so you wouldn’t know what it’s like,” Roberto II stated.

“I’m infertile, the parts don’t work, such a curse to have,” Simón answered, candidly “Being born of House Calderón makes it rather inappropriate to dedicate my life to screwing, the curse intensifies.”

“Maybe, but such is life. We don’t choose who we are, we just are,” Roberto II replied.

“So, my King, what brings you back to the Kingdom of Culebria after such a long time,” Simón asked.

“Culebria has existed for too long without a King dedicated to her needs, you’ve served the Kingdom well, but it’s time to get things moving, Culebria needs a King,” the High King proclaimd.

Simón’s heart raced. He had long held the title of Duke of Castellon, the traditional heir to the Throne. He had served as Lord Regent in the stead of Roberto II.

“After years of waiting for the proclamation of a new King,” Simón thought “could it be that today he declares it?”

“Who is to serve as the King of Culebria, do you mean to abdicate the throne?” the traditional successor asked.

“My daughter is to become Queen of Tiburtina one day. My eldest son, Francesco shall not be denied a title. I will abdicate the Throne of Culebria in order to allow the ascension of Francesco VII. He will be King, as is his birth right,” the High King declared.

At with that, two sentences of speech, Duke Simón Calderón’s world, his dreams and aspirations, were crushed.

 

[Oneida]

The joint chiefs of staff were discussing the situation when an order to rise was issued and in walked the High King with an unexpected guest, the Crown-Prince Francisco IV. The council took notice to the youth and had a noticeably puzzled look on their face.

“They’re all staring at me,” thought the Crown-Prince.

“The Crown-Prince will one day be High King, therefore his presence here is essential, it is time that the bothers of state are brought before him,” Roberto II commanded.

With some looks of disapproval, the council sat and allowed the High Kind and Crown-Prince to sit at the table.

“Your Grace, nations are reporting piracy across the Long Sea, in a most unexpected turn of events,” one of the Generals reported.

“Why is that unexpected?” asked the Crown-Prince.

“Because there was no attack from pirates. The trade ship was destroyed by a vessel in the Royal Armada. We made great effort to ensure no survivors, but even if there were, they would not have known what hit them, only that pirates did not,” the High King declared.

“The plan, Your Excellency, was to convince the Parliament and nation to begin putting more focus onto the Navy. If the High King simply ordered it, there’d be resistance and suspicion from other nations. Now, we have the world nodding in approval, and some even calling on the Royal Armada to act,” another general added.

“Through cooperation with other nations, namely Arretium, Ionia, Eiffelland, and Vittoria. That is not something we wanted, now we must deal with the fact that Auraria’s naval capabilities are going to be proudly displayed throughout all competition in the region. Especially in Arretium, which I am still not positive on trusting,” Admiral García proclaimed.

The Crown-Prince and High King were paging through correspondences between Ionia and Arretium*.

“These letters are remarkably insulting,” the Crown-Prince said.


“The Empire is being quite confrontational,” the High King stated “I say good, we’ll let them take the mantel for now. Ionia does have a sizable force, and I’d rather we not be so anxious to jump onto the situation, let it grow for a moment.”

The council nodded.

“I think the naval cooperation is a brilliant idea,” the Crown-Prince stated.

“And why would that be, Your Excellency?” asked Admiral García.

“Send our weakest ships. Send less experienced soldiers, commanders, but not so much as to compromise safety or dignity, just enough to show a degree of weakness we do not possess,” the Crown-Prince suggested.

The council was actually intrigued by the Crown-Prince’s proposal.

“I mean, realistically, who cares what any of our neighbors think of our military capabilities. I find it better that they think us not a threat than a major threat. If we send our greatest, it’ll result in an arms race, and an unnecessary one. We should at least observe the capabilities of all nations in the region. While these exercises are going about, we simply observe.”

The High King smiled.

“It’s not a bad plan,” The High King said “I say we begin work immediately.”

*I assume now that Auraria and Arretium are going to begin working more closely, the level of information sharing that I RPed Auraria and Arretium having is acceptable. If not, I’ll edit the post.
[MENTION=1673]Asylan[/MENTION] [MENTION=1714]Arretine Empire[/MENTION] [MENTION=1678]Ionia[/MENTION]