Chapter 19 – King Ezran of Katolis

SL: Okay, so, I'm going to write a note at the beginning here because it's important.

I know this is an AU story, but it's only really around Callum and his adventures. Unless explicitly mentioned, everything that happened in Katolis in the show still happened in this story.

So, Viren still tried to become king, he still sent the messages to the other kingdoms, they still turned him down, he's pretended to be regent, he was arrested for treason, he still went nuts and tried to kill everyone, he still has his 'little bug pal' in his ear, and he's still a son of a b. But yes, everything that happened in the show happened here too. That also includes the Breach, the Sunfire Elves, and everything with Amaya.

Okay, back to the story.

~#~

With Pyrrah giving them a ride over the great water, Ezran, Bait, and Corvus made it back to Katolis in a few short days. They were able to take the direct routes instead of the twisted, undercover ones they had previously taken when leaving.

Two days, and Ezran was back home, lying in his father's bed as king. Bait nuzzled him awake before leading him to the golden crown on the chair. Ezran sighed as he glanced at it, then at the light band on his wrist. "Callum? Can you hear me?" he asked, but it just glowed a faint green. He turned to Bait. "I guess they're too far away now. I wonder what green means?" Bait himself glowed green before walking over to the balcony, looking eastward. "We'll get to Xadia one day," he promised the toad.

Holding the crown in his hands, he walked out of the room, and a pair of guards standing outside retracted their crossed spears. Ezran smiled and stepped back, watching the spears cross once more. Smirking, he stepped back and forth, watching them repeat the action until he got bored and headed on his way. The guards joined him, following behind.

As he walked through the halls, the baker approached, a tray of triangular treats in his hands. "May I offer his majesty a freshly baked jelly tart?" he asked, presenting a view of the pastries.

Crown still in hand, the boy frowned, confused. "Uh, really? It's okay? Um, sure!"

"The king requests a tart of jelly!" the guard behind him shouted, making both Ez and Bait jump.

"Of course." The baker smiled, and allowed him to take one of the tarts.

Ezran looked down at the treats and bit his lip. "May I have another?"

"The king requests another tart of jelly!"

"You don't have to repeat everything I say," Ez informed the guard with a smile.

"The king requests that you stop repeating!" the other guard told the first. Everyone turned to him, and he soon hung his head. "Uh, I realized as soon as I said it."

The baker nodded and held the tray out. "You may have as many tarts as you care for."

Ezran decided to take advantage of the offer and snatched up as many as his arms could hold while a familiar face approached them. "Corvus!" He smiled up at him, glad to have the hunter's company. They had gotten quite close over their trip.

The man smiled fondly. "All packed for your journey to the throne?"

"Would you like a tart of jelly?" Ezran chuckled, glancing at the guard who looked away in discomfort.

The hunter tried to hold back a smirk. "No thanks."

"Don't worry, we can have as many as we want!"

"I wasn't worried."

He shrugged, then turned to his escorting guards. "How about you guys?"

The two looked at each other, then simultaneously shrugged, taking a tart each from the tray before continuing on. Corvus walked behind the king as he scoffed down tart after tart.

As they carried on down the hallways, they were eventually met by a woman in a white and gold robe. Her hair was long, and a silver cornet came to rest on her brow, marking her as a cleric of the High Council. Opeli bowed slightly with a hand to her heart once she saw the young king. "Good morning, King Ezran," she greeted. After snapping her fingers, the two guards behind her uncrossed their own spears.

Guessing he should follow her, the boy walked past them, but once he did, they crossed again and blocked Corvus' path. Opeli held her head high as she looked at the hunter. "High Council meetings are attended by the council itself and necessary security, no others, unless specifically requested by the king."

Behind the spears, Ezran swallowed and looked at his friend. "Oh, well…" He nodded at the others. "I'd... uh, I'd like to request Corvus to come...specifically."

The guards retracted their blades, and the two from his quarters nodded affirmatively. "That checks out."

Opeli allowed Corvus to enter the throne room, and Ezran walked slowly down the long, red carpet to the wooden throne. Advisors like Opeli stood near it, waiting for him.

Ez placed the crown on the throne's side table and sat down in his father's seat, Corvus standing politely to one side. He still felt uncomfortable with the situation. "Well, what do we do now?"

"The first order of business is to review messages received by the kingdom," Opeli explained before turning to the entry door. "Crow Lord?" There was no response and the woman frowned. "Crow Lord!"

A boy with dark hair and dark clothing stepped out from behind a pillar. "Oh! Sorry, the Crow Lord isn't here," he explained sheepishly. "He's taking a personal day."

Not looking amused, the woman frowned. "And you are?"

"The Crow Master. It's similar, kind of like his number two. If the Crow Lord were to die, or to be otherwise incapacitated…"

"Okay, yes, I think we understand." She sighed and held up a hand, "Can you please read the king his messages?"

He nodded, then reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small scroll no bigger than his finger.

"It's so small," Ezran said with a smile, "There can't be too much stuff, right?"

The Crow Master leaned forward to read the tiny paper. "You have 417 unread messages." At which, the doors at the back opened, and a guard came in pushing a wheeled cart full of scrolls.

Ezran looked terrified at the sight, but Opeli just smiled as she offered a solution. "Your Majesty, if the king so desires, we could begin with the messages marked urgent ."

Looking between the papers and the advisor, Ezran nodded. "Uh… I do so desire." Bait croaked in agreement.

The guards from before nodded at the side of the room. "That checks out."

With the decision made, the Crow Master began to search the scrolls for any urgent ones, dropping them to the floor after reading them. With each meaningless letter that was read out loud, Ezran lost a little more of his will to live. He looked down at his wrist, and smiled softly when he saw it was yellow. "Hope that means happy, Cal," he whispered to it, getting an odd look from Opeli, but Corvus just smiled with understanding.

The Crow Master searched through the letters before finding one with an urgent mark. He opened it, skimming quickly before looking up nervously. "Oh, dear. Um…"

"What's wrong?" Ez asked, disinterested.

"I'm not really comfortable reading some of these things out loud."

Also tired of the young man's hesitance, the High Advisor sighed deeply. "Well, can you summarize?"

Reading the letter completely, his face got more and more concerned as he read. "There have been some...bad events," he said, trying to summarize the letter. "Maybe we should just wait for the Crow Lord to return, so he can, uh…"

Opeli walked quickly towards him and snatched the letter away. "Ugh, give me that." She read the letter, and the Crow Master picked up another, reading it before holding it out to her. "This one also has similar…" He drew a finger across his neck. "Bad events."

Now Ez was getting worried as Opeli looked up with concern. "Assassins."

"What?" the king gasped, leaning forward..

"There have been attacks in other kingdoms, successful attacks. King Florian and Queen Fareeda are dead." Gasping, Ezran covered his mouth, but she continued. "King Ahling is gravely injured. It appears that Xadia is finally waging war on all of humanity."

As Ezran glanced at his wrist, there was a knock at the back of the room, and the guards opened the doors. The High Advisor frowned as she turned to face the entrance. "We are in the middle of an important discussion!"

"We've arrested two traitors," the guard explained, "We need the king's judgement immediately."

He stepped to the side, and another guard led two people into the hall: Soren and Claudia.

The sight of them in chains caused a conflict in the young king as they were pushed forward. Claudia stood tall in defiance while the Crown Guard knelt on the floor. Ezran frowned at them. "Uh, what's going on?" he asked, stepping towards them. "Why are they chained up?"

"Your Majesty, they're Lord Viren's children," the guard said with a frown.

"So what?"

"The High Mage is in prison for treason ," Opeli explained calmly. "We suspect they were involved in his conspiracy."

Ezran frowned, glancing at the Crown Guard. "No, you will release Soren at once!"

"Your highness?"

"Soren has done nothing wrong! He's a good man, and has been a good friend to me and my…" He paused, realising only Corvus knew who the 'other person' was. "Umm… someone I know. He's not dangerous! I want you to let him go right now."

"No, you've got it all wrong," Claudia said, trying to explain herself. "When Dad sent us after the prince…"

"Viren sent you after the prince?!" Opeli snapped.

"Uh 'sent' is a strong word." The mage winced. "My point is, he wanted us to rescue the prince, not kill him!"

"'Kill him?!" the advisor snapped again, "Who said anything about killing the prince?!"

Holding up her hand, Claudia tried to relax. "No one. That's what I'm saying, or not saying. Ugh, Soren, help! Tell them we didn't do anything wrong!"

Soren glanced at her, then stood up. "We did," he confessed. "We did do things wrong Claudia!" he snapped in her face, "We attacked a dragon, causing it to burn a whole town! If we had let it go, no one would have been hurt… we… we did bad things Claudia."

"But we aren't traitors!" his sister snapped back.

Soren looked away. "Perhaps we are."

"I've heard enough!" Opeli glared at the two, silencing them. "King Ezran, they need to be locked away. Give the order."

Ezran stared at them both again. "I know Soren is a good man. My… friend believed in him, and so do I." He turned to Opeli. "This isn't fair on him. He may have done bad things, but… his intentions were good."

"That does not excuse him of treason. My king, you need to make a decision."

Ez looked down at the floor, then to the crown he had yet to put on. "I need time to think."

"Very well," the advisor said firmly. "Take them away, and lock them up."

The king turned. "But let Soren out of his chains."

"My king?"

"He… he can't do magic… he doesn't need to be chained up."

"And… the other?"

"Keep them on her. Chain her to the wall as well," he snapped, glaring across the room at the mage. "See how she likes it."

Claudia swallowed, but said nothing as the guards took them both away to complete their assigned task. As the pair were taken out of the room, Soren glanced back, and Ezran mouthed 'I'm sorry' to him just as the doors closed.

Opeli turned to the king with a confused frown. "Your highness, you mentioned… a friend who believed in Soren. Who is this friend?"

With a slight smile, the king rubbed his wrist. "Someone important to me," he said cryptically. "Sh-shall we get back to the letters?"

Guessing the subject was to be changed, the advisor turned back to the letters and continued.

~#~

Claudia groaned, pulling on the chains at her wrists. "This is ridiculous. How long are they going to keep us like this?"

"It's no more than we deserve," her brother sighed, "I knew there would be consequences for coming back. I don't blame Ez for locking us up."

"Soren, we didn't do anything wrong! We were sent to get the prince back."

" Princes , Claudia," he reminded her, sending a cold glare in her direction. "You were sent to get both princes back!"

"Oh come on, the dragon…"

"His name is Callum! He's the Dragon Prince of Xadia, and you wanted to lock him back up…or you wanted to kill him!" He backed away slightly. "And… and Dad… he… he told me… he wanted me to kill Ezran…if I got the chance. So…we're guilty."

"No, Soren… that's wrong! I don't know if you misunderstood, or mis-remembered, or mis-listened, but there's no way Dad would tell you to do that."

He huffed and shook his head. "I thought I knew what kind of man Dad was… but after meeting Callum...after seeing what he did to him… I realise… I hardly know him." He sighed, walking over to the bed against the wall and sitting himself down.

~#~

Back in the throne room, Ezran had finally made his way through the backlog of letters and was ready to do something else. Before he could stand, a guard hurried in and bowed to him. "King Ezran, a visitor has arrived," he explained, "Prince Kasef of Neolandia, eldest son of King Ahling."

The entrance doors were opened, and a collection of men with spears and flags dramatically parted to reveal an older, muscular man with dark hair and a dark complexion. His garb was black and gold, and he wore an elegant crown which rested above his brow.

He walked across the carpet and bowed respectfully to Ezran who stood from the throne.

"Prince Kasef, I heard about what happened to your father. I'm so sorry."

"Thank you for your condolences," the prince spoke firmly, "And the tragedy of your father's loss breaks my heart. But the important thing is that we're here now."

"Yes, I'm happy to meet you," the king said, holding out a hand, but Kasef didn't take it. He kept his head high and hands behind his back before realising the boy was waiting. So, he tentatively shook it.

Hand behind his back once again, Kasef stared at the younger boy. "My army stands outside your city gates, at the ready."

"At the ready?" Ezran frowned at the wording. "What do you mean?"

"Forgive me, but was it not a week ago your regent called on us to unite against the rising Xadian threat?"

"Uh, I'm not sure." Ezran looked at his advisor, who just hid her face in her hand.

Kasef was clearly disappointed and irritated, raising his voice. "Xadia has attacked the human kingdoms, all of us. There must be a proportionate response."

"I'm sorry, but, um, I'm kind of new at this. I'm not really sure what you mean. What kind of response?"

"War."

"What?" Ezran gasped, "No! The people of the human kingdoms and Xadia want peace. I know they do!"

"How can you possibly know that? Xadia has attacked us!"

"No! A part of Xadia has attacked, but the majority of Xadia hasn't! I won't attack them!"

Kasef glared at him, then turned to the others in the room. "Am I missing something? Why is a child on the throne now? Isn't there an adult advisor I can speak with?"

"I'm right here! You can speak with me," Ez snapped.

"If you can't take action against Xadia, you have failed as a king!" The other royal paused, "And you have failed as a son."

The words stung Ezran's heart as he lowered his head, but Corvus stepped forward. "Enough!" he shouted, pointing at the Neolandian. "You have a disagreement, but you are in the court of King Ezran."

"Who are you to interrupt a royal discussion?!"

"I'm Corvus," the hunter said proudly, "I was specifically requested."

Kasef frowned as he glanced around at the others. "I'm sure once King Ezran has had proper council, he will make the correct choice. I will remain in Katolis awaiting your decision."

As he turned and stormed out with his guards, Ezran sat back in his throne and sighed. He looked at his wrist, but for once, it wasn't glowing. The boy smiled sadly at it. "Don't worry, I won't let it come to war, Cal. I promised you peace."

~#~

In Xadia, Callum frowned at his wrist. "Ez is going through emotions so fast… fear, anger, hurt… I hope he's okay."

"He's gone back to become King, Cal," Rayla explained as they walked through the forest. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"I wish I could still speak to him…but we must be too far apart now." The prince sighed, then looked around and smiled. "I wish he was here to see all of this. He'd love it."

"Yeah… he would," the elf agreed, then reached to her side to grab a water skin for a drink. She frowned, and tipped it upside down. "Empty..."

"We should stop and refill. And maybe a rest? We've been walking non-stop for hours."

"If by 'non-stop' you mean you wandering off every few minutes because you saw something sparkly, then yes, we have."

He smirked and bumped shoulders with her. "Oh come on, I only did that a few times. Those musical flowers were amazing."

"Just be careful. Xadia is wonderful…but dangerous."

"Alright, alright," he conceded. "You know better, oh fearless warrior of the Dragonguard."

Snorting at him, Rayla looked ahead. "There! A stream. We can stop there and resupply."

While Rayla stopped to fill up the water skin, Callum looked around at the plants and trees around him. Xadia was stunning . He reached down for a flower, touching the petals delicately and sniffing lightly, but even that was enough to over power his senses. He chuckled as he walked a little further away, coming across a collection of plants with yellow petals and pink stigma at the top. He reached out to touch this one as well, but suddenly found himself being pulled back by the tail, Rayla smirking at him. "Careful, or you would become your royal stink-ness."

"What do you mean?"

"That flower? It has a few names. Flatu-lillies, toot-lips, peri-stinkles," she chuckled, picking up a stone and throwing it at the flowers. They opened up and released a powder into the air with an unflattering sound.

The dragon coughed and covered his mouth and nose, gagging. "Gah!"

"But at the end of the day, it's a fart flower. You pluck one of those, you'd stink for a week." She gave him a smirk. "Well… more than you already do."

"I don't stink!" he huffed, "You stink!"

"Hey, neither of us smell like a bunch of Moonberries, let's put it that way. Hazard of travelling for weeks."

Folding his arms, Callum sighed and looked around. "So… where are we going?"

"To my home, it's not too far. And… well… we can deal with our smell then."

The dragon chuckled and followed after her, silent in his internal thoughts regarding his brother.

~#~

Back in Katolis, Ezran lied on his back, and stared at the blue sky above, his mind swimming with so many worries.

Eventually, a familiar face came into view. "May I join you?" Opeli asked with a kind smile.

"Sure," he sighed, sitting up. "Have a seat."

Kneeling as delicately as she could on the grass, the advisor looked at him before speaking. "I noticed you… aren't wearing it."

"Wearing what?"

Her gaze turned away. "Ezran, the crown is a heavy burden to carry."

The new king looked away from her as well, fiddling with a letter in his hand. "There's so much happening. I don't know what to do."

As Bait leaned against his leg, Opeli held his shoulder and hand in comfort. "There's no shame if you aren't yet ready. No one blames you for being a child."

"I feel like I'm letting everyone down. I feel like I'm letting…" he trailed off, pulling his wrist back and seeing it turn an excited yellow.

Seeing it clearly for the first time, the advisor frowned. "Ezran, you keep mentioning this someone. The friend who believes in Soren's innocence, and the someone you made a promise to? I…I would like to know who this is."

Staring at her, Ezran sighed and turned away. "His name's Callum."

"Callum?" she repeated, thinking over the name. "Katolis?"

"No, Xadian."

"A Xadian named Callum?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "He…he travelled with me, while I was away. He's my friend." He traced the mark on his wrist gently. "He's more than a friend. He's my brother."

"Brother?"

Ezran nodded, holding up his wrist. "He gave me this , so we can stay connected. He's a good guy, looks after me, and he's always curious, wanting to learn… he's really smart, and he can do the most amazing drawings."

Opeli smiled at him. "I hope I can meet him one day."

"Yeah… I hope you can too." He gave her a big smile. "It will be an amazing day when you can."

"Why's that?"

Glancing at Bait, Ezran shrugged. "No reason."

For a while, they just sat in peaceful silence, but then, Opeli slowly stood up. "There may be a way out."

"What?"

"There are capable people around you who can take up the burden of ruling for a few years, while you…" she paused, giving him a soft smile, "Just focus on growing up."

"You're saying a regent?"

"Yes, someone you trust." She allowed the idea to sink in for a moment. "You choose who it is, for a few years. The crown will be here for you when you're ready." She bowed politely. "Just think about it." With that, she walked away.

With more thoughts than ever swarming his mind, Ezran really wished the others were here to give him advice. He closed his eyes, got up, and left to go think.

It was almost sunset by the time he'd headed for the throne room, the guards allowing him entrance. Soren, Claudia, Prince Kasef, Opeli, Corvus, and several advisors were there waiting for him. Sighing deeply, he headed towards the throne, still thinking over everything. He glanced at Soren and Claudia as he passed, and stopped at the steps of the throne itself.

"Have you given thought to what we discussed?" Opeli asked as she stood beside him.

"I have," Ez said, eyes closing as he spoke, "And I have something to say." He glanced at the throne, steadied himself, and turned to the gathering. "All of you knew King Harrow as a great king. He was a leader, a warrior, and a champion. But I knew him as my dad, who loved me and my mom, and sometimes told really bad jokes."

He chuckled lightly at the memory. "I didn't see everything he had to do as king, but I do know that my dad had to make very hard decisions. I'm just a kid. I haven't fought in any battles. I haven't read many books of wisdom. I haven't gone through the things that made my father the king he was." He paused, thinking about his dragon brother, and feeling the resolve.

"So, I've decided… that I don't have to be the king my father was. My father made choices to keep fighting battles that started hundreds of years before he was born." He squeezed his hand tight into a fist. "To punish enemies for crimes their parents committed. I don't want to be that kind of king." He turned to the two siblings.

"Viren did bad things, and Claudia did bad things… because of what he taught her, what he told her to do. So… I'm going to give her a chance to change the way she is, to stop hurting things for her own gain, and to choose a new path. So… Claudia can go free… as long as she swears to give up Dark Magic."

He looked at his wrist. "It may not be what… what he would want, but I've decided… to give her another chance. And as for Soren?" He smiled over at the Crown Guard. "He's amazing! He's a brilliant fighter, and a great friend, to more than just me. Sure, he made mistakes too, but he made up for them! He tries to do the right thing when he can. Perhaps he can teach his sister how to be a better person."

Soren gave a small smile at the kind words and nodded his head in thanks, while Claudia looked slightly upset.

He turned to the guard beside them. "Set them free. Soren and Claudia will not pay for the mistakes their father made, nor his influences"

One of the advisors turned to them. "But Your Highness, they are criminals!"

"Take their chains off!" Ezran demanded, and a guard soon stepped over to take the chains off them both. The king, meanwhile, turned to the prince of Neolandia. "Katolis will not go to war," he said firmly. "I'm sorry about what happened to your father, and what happened to mine, but we don't have to avenge them. We don't have to strike back. We can choose peace. We can choose a new way, end the cycle of death and destruction! There is a chance!"

The Neolandian's frown deepened before he bowed curtly, and stormed out of the room, the guards pulling the door shut behind him.

Opeli turned to the young boy with a slight frown. "King Ezran, I admire your courage, but peace will require just as much strength as war. Are you prepared to defend it?

"Yes." He turned, and finally put the crown on his head. "I am."

SL: Okay so a chapter that was… very much similar to the original episode, but there was some new stuff. Anyway, hope you liked it!

RK: The biggest change was probably Soren telling his sister straight. ^-^