AN: I'm not going to pretend this is canon, or even the most accurate reconstruction of these events that I could come up with based on the facts that the books gave me. It's just a story, based on an idea that I had. It's meant to be entertaining, and creative liberties were taken. I don't want to hear anything along the lines of "That's not how it happened." I know that it isn't. It follows the general gist of the Sunbringer plot line. That being said... enjoy the story.
Sadees watched the world burn.
The Church had destroyed not only his own nation of Alethela, but all of Vorin Roshar. Alethela, Velhev, Natanatan, Thaleth, the eastern reaches of Makabakam and Sela Tales, even. It was undeniably tragic. The Church was not meant to rule.
The Hierarchy, as people had already taken to calling it, was incredibly destructive. Alethela should have been able to defend itself - it could have saved everyone from the horrors. That is, if it hadn't been too busy fighting against itself.
"It's a shame, isn't it," Menenelav said as he walked into Sadees' map room, looking at the numerous maps marked with all of the destruction that the church had wrought, supposedly in the name of the Almighty.
"Indeed," Sadees replied, his voice filled with far more sadness than any man of seventeen should possess - it was the sadness of someone who had seen firsthand the horrors of war, and survived. While Sadees was certainly old enough to fight, by any man's count he shouldn't have been fighting long enough to be weighed down by it, not to the extent that he was.
"Something needs to be done about it. Someone needs to take the first step," Menenelav told him, meeting Sadees' eyes directly. The implication was obvious.
"I'm not the man you want," Sadees told him immediately, "I'm not in a place to command respect from enough to accomplish anything. I've got no shards, no armies. I'm in the storming third dahn, and it amounts to nothing."
"Not quite nothing," Menenelav reminded him, "You're in Highprince Tamakal's own palace. He's just down the hall! Think of how easy it would be - grab a knife, slip it into your sleeve. Walk into the room, pretending to have some reason or another to speak to him. The guards won't search you, or even question you. You walk up to Tanakam, who won't be wearing his plate, and you ram the dagger through his heart, kill him before he even realizes what happened. Almighty knows he deserves it. The princedom would follow you without question, especially if you laid out a bold plan to unify Alethela in your first public announcement. You could do it, right now! Storms, you could start today!"
It was tempting - a plan so incredibly bold and drastic that it might actually be able to work. In a moment, Sadees decided that he was going to do it. He picked up a good, solid dagger from the table in front of him, looking it over. It would do nicely. There was just one thing left to ask before Sadees went through with it.
"What will we call it?" Sadees asked, startling Menenelav.
"I'm sorry, what?" Menenelav didn't seem to get the question.
"The new nation that we're to forge. It needs a name. Every nation does," Sadees explained.
"And what, exactly, is wrong with Alethela?" Menenelav asked, confused.
"It was once the name of a great nation," Sadees explained, "but it has come to be associated with the disjointed princedom association which we are trying to purge. So long as the nation remains under the name of Alethela, no one will really be able to see themselves as anything else."
"We're working for unity, right? Alethela, that's what it means. Oneness. I don't know how you can top that."
"We all identify as Alethi, but we don't answer to a king, a higher power beyond our own Highprince. There needs to be one city, in the center of it all, to hold this nation together. With a united nation, we could put the Hierarchy down," Sadees whispered excitedly.
"So do it. Make your 'one city'. Doesn't mean we need to change the name of the storming country," Menenelav said, still not getting the point.
"One city... Alethela Karak. Alethkar," Sadees grinned. It sounded wonderful.
"Not half bad, kid," Menenelav acknowledged, grinning as well, "Now go make that dream a reality."
Steeling himself for the inevitable slaughter to come, Sadees pocketed the knife and stepped out the door, nodding to Menenelav. Today would be a very long, very bloody day. And the first blood shed would be Tanakam's. Sadees grinned - he had the perfect idea for an excuse to get into Tamakal's sitting room, where he'd likely be. Sadees sprinted down the hall, putting a panicked look on his face and shouting, "Assassin!" all the way to Tamakal's room. By the time he got there, legitimately out of breath, the guards had already piled out of the room, guards had piled up around the entrance, making sure that no expected assassin could get in.
"Who's this assassin?" one of the guards demanded, "Who sent him?"
"I don't know about either question, but... he's a full shardbearer. I saw him cut a hole in the wall with his blade, and cut through three guards, before turning to search for the highprince, I'd guess. He's somewhere in the palace. Let me by, I need to consult with Highprince Tamakav. We need to come up with a plan of action," Sadees said, in between pants. The captain of Tamakal's guard nodded, and the guards parted, letting him by. Sadees slipped through the door, and grinned inwardly. He'd managed it.
"Sadees! You saw an assassin? What do we do? " Tamakav demanded, leaning over his desk. He hadn't summoned his shardblade yet - one of the many reasons why he was a poor Highprince; even if you didn't want to face the assassin directly, you summoned your blade in case the man got to you. Well, it did make what Sadees was about to do easier, so he wouldn't complain. Sadees drew the knife and rammed it into Tamakav's chest, right through the heart, in one fluid motion. Tamakal choked and gasped.
"Nothing, Tamakal. Nothing can be done. The assassin is me." Just as Sadees finished speaking, Tamakal's blade formed in the air next to him, dropping to the ground with a loud clatter. Sadees winced; the guards would have heard that. Sadees hastily snatched it up off the floor, arming himself effectively, just as a guard rushed into the room to see what was the matter. The guards, unlike Tamakal himself, were good men. They didn't deserve to die in the coming storm. Unfortunately, they were also quite loyal to Tamakal, which meant that they would all be rushing him in just a moment.
"Now, just wai- Oh, damnation." This was all Sadees was able to get out before the guard who had entered the room screamed an alarm - the exclamation at the end had come after. Sadees didn't want to kill the guards. He needed those men. Oh, bother. It was too late now. Three guards, the one who had sounded the alarm and two more who had rushed in, charged at him with side swords - they were lighteyed, likely between the 5th and 7th dahns. Sadees knew some of these men. He would take no pleasure at all in slaughtering them.
And yet, for the sake of the nation, nay, for that of the entire world, it must be done. Sadees fell into Windstance, spinning his blade into a wide, sweeping blow. It sheared through the weapons and spines of all three men, killing each of them instantly. He spun the blade again, causing the five guards who entered the room next to shy back, narrowly avoiding being killed by the deadly instrument. Storms, but the thing was beautiful. The guards hesitated. Hopefully, they'd stay fearful of the weapon he held long enough for him to get his point across.
"Look," Sadees began, "I know that none of you want to die. That's what will happen if you try to charge me. It's almost guaranteed. Now, given, you might take me with you, there is a slight chance of that, but you WILL be dead." The guards seemed to get the point, and lowered their weapons. They did it in a manner that would allow them to snap their swords back up into stance at a moment's notice, just in case Sadees decided to attack.
"Now, I've got something to explain to you all. I don't want to kill you. You're good men. Tamakal wasn't. That's why I killed him. He was a lazy bastard who sat by while the world around us burned. I won't. I mean to put a stop to it. All of it. All I ask is that you put away your swords and turn over your loyalty to me. You'll have helped found the most glorious empire since the Recreance. Let's put this bit of nastiness behind us, shall we? For the betterment of all mankind?" Sadees thought it was a good speech. Apparently, the guards did, too. Just not good enough.
"It all sounds wonderful, sir, but our honor won't allow that. I'm sorry, sir," the captain of Tamakal's guard replied, and it seemed that his subordinates agreed. There were now some thirty guards in the room, and undoubtedly more on the way.
"I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that it had to end like this for all of you. Like I said before, you're good men. I'd rather let you all live. Storming pity that you haven't given me the choice," Sadees said, genuine sadness filling his voice. It really was a shame. He needed men in an army; he couldn't unite all of Alethkar by himself, a lone man with a set of shards. He'd have Menenelav, of course, but one advisor simply wasn't enough. He'd have difficulty finding enough soldiers to fight this war if they kept trying to attack him even after he took out their leaders.
But Sadees knew, in his heart, that it really didn't matter. He'd committed to this path, without much planning or forethought. He'd simply seen an opportunity and taken it. That didn't change the need the world had for what he was doing. It didn't matter that it was difficult. It didn't matter that he'd encounter problems. He'd deal with them. Steeling himself, Sadees decided that, for the sake of humanity, he would do what must be done. Whatever it took.
He slaughtered them all.
AN: Wow. That was actually a lot of fun to write. I didn't expect something dark like this to be so enjoyable to type out. I hope my super grumpy sounding note at the beginning, but it feels like I have to put one of those on there any time I write a fic like this. I'll try to be more cheerful on future intros. Please do review, as I'm still working out a lot of the details and could use some ideas and suggestions.