You want to know how I became king? I'll tell you how. It wasn't the way most laguz become king. It was a combination of chance, my anger, and the old king's depravation. Our way of doing things usually involves violence. Some people regret causing someone else's death, but this death I still don't regret to this day. I think it's what gave us a little more time.

Chapter 10 -- Your Death for Kilvas

In over a year and a half, Kilvas had become like a foreign country to Naesala. The streets were desolate, and few dared wander from their homes out of fear that the plague would return. Kilvas had no heir, and it would be only a matter of time before another country would try to invade. Naesala soon found himself wandering through the castle every day, straining his ears in a hope that he would hear little Prince Rian's laughter. Since Reyson was now living in Phoenicis, he was often quite lonely.

One day a sudden curiosity led him to the king's private corridor. Part of him was hoping that he would find the two senators from Begnion in there so that he could rip them to shreds. However, the library was empty, though he noticed several books lying open on the floor. Various papers had been strewn all over the place.

Naesala walked over to the desk to find another messy pile of open books there. The top book on the stack was heavily worn, and the pages had yellowed with age. He began skimming through it out of boredom when one word in particular grabbed his eye. It was written in the ancient script of the Old Tongue, but he translated it as "blood pact."

Sounds like some ancient ritual or something, he thought, but he decided to read on:

"The blood pact was developed by sages in the olden days to enslave the foolish ruler. The first party becomes subservient to the second party in exchange for protection. The first party must fulfill the wishes of the second party, or else all citizens descended from the first party will slowly die off. It is believed that this practice first originated in Begnion in the early days of the empire."

Naesala refused to read anymore. He picked up the book and angrily threw it across the room. "That idiot!" he shouted. "That stupid, stupid, stupid--"

"Wh-what are you doing in here?"

Naesala turned to see the king in the doorway, watching him with wide, fearful eyes. His face looked as though it had aged twenty years in the last few weeks. However, Naesala could feel no pity for him at the moment.

"How could you have signed that damn blood pact with Begnion? Begnion, that nation that nearly wiped out the heron tribe!"

The king froze. "H-how did you..."

"It's in the book! I saw you all those years ago in this very room signing the contract that nearly wiped out Kilvas!" Naesala glared at him. "All those stupid missions we went on were because of those damn humans, weren't they?"

The king slowly let out a deep sigh. "I had no choice, Naesala. Kilvas wouldn't have survived without Begnion's support. I didn't realize that the consequences would be like this..."

"You didn't ask first?" A deep rage was boiling inside Naesala. "This is all your fault! It's all your fault that Kilvas is dying out!"

The king's eyes deepened in pain. "Naesala, just listen to me. Before you were born, the ravens and hawks lived together in Phoenicis. However, the ravens felt that they didn't get enough representation. We left Phoenicis and created a nation of ravens here in Kilvas. Unfortunately, the hawks threatened to take us back. We tried to avoid war for as long as possible, but about fourteen years ago it seemed inevitable. Begnion must have found out about our plight, because they sent two senators here to make a deal with us."

"The blood pact," Naesala growled.

"I only thought it would affect me!" the king cried. "I had no idea so many ravens would die! Even my only son! My wife!"

Naesala had to clench his fists to keep himself from springing forward and killing him. "Is there any way to cancel the pact?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I... I have been researching that same question," the king replied in a shaky voice. "Few books even mention the blood pact, but there is one book--" he gestured to the one Naesala had been reading "--that mentions a possible way to break the pact."

"Well? What is it?"

"The signer must die." The king gulped. "But it seems that I cannot take my own life; otherwise, I would have done that when little Rian..." He sank to the ground. "I'll admit it! I have failed! I have failed Kilvas as her king!"

"So now we're supposed to wait until you die before Kilvas is free? That hopefully won't be much longer," Naesala muttered.

Suddenly, the king gasped and looked at Naesala with crazed eyes. "Naesala! You're a strong fighter! You can take my place!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You will be the next king of Kilvas! In fact, I have declared it. Please, Naesala!" The king crawled toward him. "I have no heir. Once I die Kilvas will be leaderless. But I know you can do it, Naesala."

Naesala gulped. "You're crazy."

"I am crazy. I've lost everything. I have nothing to live for," the king whispered. "I can only hope that I am killed soon in a raid to end my misery."

"I'll gladly grant that wish!" Naesala crouched forward, ready to transform.

"Oh, Naesala! Do not kill me! I am not a sick buzzard who needs to be put out of his misery!" The king cowered back.

"I'm not doing it out of pity. I'm doing it because I hate you, and I want to save Kilvas!" He transformed into his raven form and lunged forward.

The king screamed one last time before Naesala silenced him by severing his throat with his talons. Then he transformed back and leaned against the desk, panting for breath.

I just killed him... I've killed the king of Kilvas. They'll think I was staging a coup or something.

Footsteps approaching caused him to catch his breath. Nealuchi burst into the room and gasped at the gruesome sight. "Nestling?! What have you...? How... Why--"

"Shut the door and bar it shut, Nealuchi!" Naesala ordered.

The frightened crow obeyed and then ran over to the bloody remains of the king. "H-he's dead! His majesty is dead!" Nealuchi turned to Naesala and eyed the blood on his hands and clothes. He could only stare helplessly, unable to find the words he wanted to say.

"Nealuchi, the king had betrayed us all," Naesala whispered. "He signed a blood pact with Begnion that killed off most of the population--"

"Nestling, what are you talking about?"

Naesala sighed. "Look in that book over there. It explains what a blood pact is."

Nealuchi picked up the book and read through the section on blood pacts. When he had finished, his face dropped, and the book slipped out of his hands. "So it wasn't a plague," he whispered. "And the signer has to die... the signer meaning the king..."

"You see, Nealuchi? It had to be done. But believe me, it gave me a lot of pleasure to do it." Naesala began wiping the blood from his hands onto his clothes. "That idiot should never have ruled Kilvas in the first place."

Nealuchi shook his head and breathed a heavy sigh. "But now who will rule Kilvas? There is no heir! The nation will be in an uproar!"

Naesala slowly took a deep breath. He didn't like the idea of ruling a nation at such a young age. "Nealuchi, before I killed him, he requested that I take his place as king."

The old crow gasped. "Nestling?! You?! You rule Kilva--"

"I'm pretty sure he was already going crazy," Naesala interrupted. "I only killed him to save Kilvas."

There was silence for a while as Nealuchi thought this over.

Naesala pulled out the chair from the desk and collapsed into it. "Besides, Nealuchi, they'd never let me be king once they found out that I was the one who killed him," he muttered, rubbing some sweat off his forehead.

"No one has to know," the old crow whispered.

Naesala nearly fell out of his seat. "You can't be serious! You think I could rule Kilvas?"

"Nestling..." Nealuchi flashed a partial smile. "I've been raising you all these years now. I know you well enough to know that you have the right kind of heart to lead. You love Kilvas."

"No way! That's not..." However, the idea was slowly becoming more appealing to him. I could prevent Kilvas from entering any more stupid blood contracts. I could find a better way to bring in money and rebuild this country.

Nealuchi sighed. "Nestling, I guess you don't realize this, but... you are the next in line for the throne. Prince Rian was first, and then the retainers, and then the king's first cousin. All of them were taken by the blood pact. You're the king's next of kin."

"Are you... serious?" He leaned back in his chair. "Then I guess I don't have much choice... But you know, I think I... I will do it. I will become the next king of Kilvas..." Wait a minute, think about this! How are you going to convince the ravens that you didn't just do this for power?

Nealuchi took off his outer robe and wrapped up the king's body. "First, we need to have a funeral for the king. It is only proper."

"Then you're going to announce me as king? Oh, this will be fun..." Naesala closed his eyes. Then again, maybe I can improve Kilvas. They always joked about how I was one of the strongest raiders. Maybe that will make them listen to me. I need to get us out of the mess that the old king got us into.

After Nealuchi finished with the body, he went over to Naesala and patted him on the shoulder. "You are Kilvas' only hope now. But I know you can do it, Nestling. I will give you my full support."

The citizens of Kilvas were shocked to learn that their king was dead. The news spread that he had killed himself in a fit of insanity. Naesala almost wished that the truth had been spread around instead, only because he was worried that the ravens would be smart enough to see through such a stereotyped lie. Nealuchi discussed with the few remaining captains and convinced them to name Naesala as the next king. They were fairly eager to do so, since they knew the young raven well from their raids.

Three days after the old king's funeral, a small ceremony was held outside of Castle Kilvas. Naesala was named the next king in front of the rest of the citizens of Kilvas. The whole affair seemed like a dream to him, yet the thrill of being in front of so many ravens kept him awake. Each one was staring at him attentively, not in an accusing way, but in a trusting way.

They all trust in me, he thought as he looked out among the small population of the raven clan. Then he noticed a young woman raven carrying a newborn fledgling. Some other young fledglings were scampering around her. Naesala realized that since the plague had stopped, the ravens were no longer afraid to reproduce. The population was slowly rising again.

I have to do this for them. He smiled softly. I'm going to bring Kilvas back to life, as long as there is hope in the young ones. We can do this. We can make Kilvas a better place again.

Hm, maybe not how some people imagined it, but that's how I always imagined it. Why else would the whole affair have seemed to sketchy to Tibarn later on in Radiant Dawn? Anyway, now on to the fun part: Naesala's reign!