The King at Twilight
Chapter Three
By Maria Szabo
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, and the only profit being made is that of enjoyment.
Asen of Tai believed himself to be a righteous man.
Yes, he was the one who had turned against the King, who had once loved him like a brother. His was the hand that had slain the Black Kirin and taken the little one's horn. It was his troops that rose in mutiny during the King's disastrous campaign in the province of Bai, and he united the coalition of officers who presently helped him rule.
That was, he thought, the way it should be.
Tai had been that way for many years, after the former King had fallen. There was as yet no new Kirin. Asen took it to be a sign from the gods, that he had acted correctly. It had taken a while to subdue the loyalist troops, even after he had shown them the Kirin's horn, even after the news of the Massacre at Bai trickled into the capitol. The youma still roamed the countryside, and crops were sparse, but the common folk were used to that by now. Life in Tai was not easy. Tai had never been a prosperous country.
It was a bit much to expect it to be more than it was. That was where the former King had made his mistake.
Gyousou had always been proud, but when the choice of the Kirin fell upon him, he became insufferable. He seemed to burn with a new fire, blazing from his scarlet eyes, and spoke of a vision for the kingdom, of such prosperity that had not been seen since the beginning of days. He moved with the force of a whirlwind, pushing all before him. He spoke of cleansing, and a new beginning, and other such nonsense. It was as if the mantle of kingship had turned him into a fool.
Asen had watched in wonder as Gyousou had forced changes upon the kingdom, barely taking time to rest once the crown had been set upon his head. One by one, the old guard began to be replaced, sometimes easily, but more often by violent means. Ministers he had known and worked with for decades were suddenly no longer in power. And the profitable relationships he had struggled so long to build were crumbling around him.
He was not the only one in this predicament. Asen knew many others who had benefited during the interregnum. He also knew that the time would come when the trail of profit would lead to him, and all would be lost.
It was then that he decided to slay the Black Kirin.
Of all his actions, he regretted this one the most. Taiki had been very young, and amiable, and it was a pity that he needed to die. If the creature could have only been willing to cooperate…but that would not have happened. It was devoted to the King, in a wholehearted, selfless manner that was almost touching to see.
He still remembered clearly the day that he had taken the Kirin's horn. The King had left on his final campaign and the youngster had gone with him willingly into the garden, for he had a trusting nature. And there, amidst the late-summer blooms, Asen had taken hold of him and raised his sword and…
There was screaming, and blood, and thunder, and light. Taiki was gone, and he held a horn, tinged with scarlet, warm to the touch, in the empty, wind-swept garden.
Things had moved quickly from that point. The troops mutinied at Bai, the King disappeared during the Massacre, and in the chaos that followed, Asen had emerged as the General of Generals, for the gods had long ago decreed there could be no new King without a Kirin.
Asen thought it a foolish law. Had he not ruled in Tai longer than the anointed King? Was it not fit that men should make their own rulers, and not be subject to the capricious whims of the unseen celestials? The common folk may be comforted by such thoughts, but he knew better. He had made his own fate.
And if, at night, he suffered from dreams of screams, and light, and thunder, and blazing scarlet eyes, he dismissed them by the light of day. For he was a righteous man.