The Duke is dead.
That was the word echoing around the streets of Gran Soren. Many were sorrowful, some hid their adulation. A more pressing matter lies n the minds of the nobles of Gransys. Edmund died without an heir and his wife the Duchess Aelinore is nowhere to be found. Tensions and rivalries flair as each house tries to press their claims on the throne. However, in the quiet village of Cassardis a trio of people know what is to come, and their actions will affect not only Gransys, but all the lands around.
Cassardis
"It is true then?" asks one of the women, her voice holding back the sorrow she feels.
"Aye it is," says the man, "I may not be He, but he lives on with me."
"That may not matter as much for our cause," says the last woman, her eyes fixed on the candle in the centre of the room, "I carry his child and that will be incentive enough, and you bear his likeness."
The man nods in silence, already he is feeling himself change, feeling that sense of individuality that was not present before. He can act on his own, and maybe he will become the one they have lost, the fragment of the soul within him growing stronger everyday. The women look at the candle solemnly, and begin to sob quietly.