In a kingdom by the name of Hundereich
In the kingdom of Hundereich, there was a single German Shepherd that sat on the throne. He lived in the castle with his son, the young prince named Chase, who he was teaching how to rule a kingdom so he could takeover upon his death, which the king knew would happen soon.
The prince was interested in learning, he wanted to learn how to rule so he could eventually take over the crown and improve the lives of his citizens. Despite what the outside world might hear about this king, and how great and strong he was. In reality, he was nothing more than a dictator, that his citizens feared. Chase wanted to be different though, he didn't want to continue the fear that his people felt, he wanted to help them, but he couldn't, not yet atleast.
"Father, the people are clearly struggling and in fear, why can't we help them?" Chase asked, concerned for the citizens.
"Because without fear, they'll overthrow you. The only way to rule in this world is with an iron fist." The king, named Heinrich, replied.
"But what if there's another way? You saved these people only a decade ago and founded this kingdom, I'm sure if you treated them with kindness, they'd return it." Chase said to him.
"There isn't another way! No one cares if you saved them or not! If you give people kindness, it'll result in your demise, and they'll take the first opportunity they get to stab you in the back!" Heinrich growled at his son.
Chase stared at his father in shock before leaving the room, he ran down the large hallways of the castle, decorated in gold and lined with luxurious red carpets, staring at the floor as he headed toward his room.
When he got there, he told the guard standing outside to not let anyone enter, not even his father. Both he and the guard knew the guard couldn't enforce this but the guard agreed. Chase then entered his room and shut the door behind him.
Chase slowly made his way to the balcony that his room connected to and upon reaching it, just stared out upon the capital of Hundereich that he'd rule over eventually. Chase began tearing up as he stared at the capital, feeling horrible for the fear that his citizens live under.
"One day, I'll prove you wrong, father." Chase whispered to himself, he lowered his head while still glancing at the capital, when he heard a commotion coming from the hall outside his room.
Chase turned to face the door of his room before slowly and quietly making his way toward it.
"Young Duke, you heard me. His royal highness doesn't want any visitors at this moment." He heard the guard tell someone.
"But I'm his best friend! Something is clearly wrong and I just want to help, can't you make an exception? I'm sure he'd let me speak to him." The shepherd heard a familiar voice reply.
"He might, but I can't guarantee that. He gave me the order to make sure no one enters his room, and I'm just following orders." He heard the guard tell the person.
Chase then recognized the voice of the person, it was the Duke, named Marshall. He debated with himself if he should intervene but when he heard the guard getting more aggressive, he decided that he had to act.
"I'm making an exception, let him inside!" Chase instructed the guard through the door. He heard complete silence for a moment before the guard responded.
"Yes, your royal highness." The guard responded before opening the door and letting the Dalmatian inside. He then shut the door again and returned to protecting the entrance to the prince's chamber.
Chase led the Duke away from the door, far enough so they could talk without anyone hearing them, then asked him a question.
"What do you want Marshall?" The young prince asked, a bit annoyed, but not at the Dalmatian.
"My lord, I can tell something is disturbing you. May I be of any assistance?" Marshall asked, worried for the prince. The shepherd sighed before walking onto the balcony, with the Dalmatian following him, and leaning on the railing.
"I appreciate you wanting to help, but it's something you can't do anything about." Chase replied.
"Nonsense, I'm the Duke! I can deal with any issue under the king himself." Marshall said, insisting.
"And that's the problem!" Chase growled at him, causing Marshall to almost fall back. Chase calmed himself and looked at the clumsy Dalmatian before sighing again. "I-I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just... the king is the problem." Chase told him, lowering his head.
"W-What do you mean? He's your father." Marshall asked, confused.
"He is, but I hate how he treats this kingdom. I want to change so much! But everytime I propose an idea to improve the lives of our citizens, he vetoes it." Chase explained, getting upset as he spoke.
Marshall approached the young prince, wanting to comfort him, but also wanting to keep his head. Afterall, he was used to the king's way of ruling, and Marshall didn't want to end up like the last Duke had.
"Don't worry, your royal highness, when you become king, you'll be able to make any changes you want. I believe you'll bring Hundereich much fame and glory in the future!" Marshall told the shepherd, Chase glanced at him and smiled.
"Thank you Marshall. Also, you don't need to address me as 'your royal highness' when we're in private. Just call me Chase." Chase thanked the Dalmatian.
"Really?" Marshall asked.
"Yes, really." Chase replied.
In the kingdom of Barkingburg
In the neighboring kingdom of Barkingburg, there was a west highland white terrier, named Sweetie, who had recently been crowned Queen. She was equal, if not worse, than Heinrich. Being even more brutal to the people than the king of Hundereich was.
"Servant!!" Sweetie yelled, her royal guard, named Claw, came running quickly, worried that she was injured or something major happened without him noticing.
"Yes, your majesty? Are you alright?" Claw asked, concerned for the Queen's safety.
"No! Where is busby!?" Sweetie asked, angrily.
"Busby? I'm not sure where he is your majesty." Claw replied, backing up a bit.
"Then. Go. Find. Him!!" Sweetie growled at him, Claw did as he was told, and slowly walked away.
Upon Claw leaving the main chamber, a smug grin spread across Sweetie's face as she leaned back into her throne, happy with herself.
Sweetie sat there in silence, awainting the return of the royal knight. Eventually, Claw did return to the main chamber, with Busby in paw.
"H-Here you go, your majesty." Claw said with hesitation, dropping Busby at the feet of the Queen.
"Thank you, my royal servant. You may remove yourself from my presence now." Sweetie told the knight as she picked up busby. Claw simply sighed before silently leaving the throne room.
Back in the kingdom of Hundereich
Chase and Marshall were walking around the kingdom, visiting the local markets and checking up on the citizens of the capital. Heinrich had pushed Chase to bring a royal guard with him but Chase wanted to visit the capital alone, without anyone keeping the people away from him. Eventually, they both met in the middle with the agreement that the Duke, Marshall, would accompany him on his travels. Chase was alright with this, as he and Marshall treated one another as brothers, and so they traveled around the capital.
Chase and Marshall were walking down the street when a merchant stopped him, wanting to speak.
"Hello, your royal highness, may I have your attention to show you something?" The merchant asked the prince, bowing as he spoke.
"Hello, and sure. Mr..." Chase replied, clearly hesitating a little.
"Richmond, Rocky Richmond." Rocky introduced himself.
"Sure Mr. Richmond, what is it that you want to show me?" Chase asked, a little curious now.
Rocky led both Chase and Marshall to a small building down a short alleyway of sorts. Chase didn't feel threatened now that he knew who he was. He had overheard his father speak about the Richmond family a couple times, and knew that they were a family of brilliant minds that made weapons, amor, and similar equipment for the royal family and the Hundereich's army, which wasn't very large, but it was a professional army.
Upon entering the building, Rocky led the prince and duke to a small room, where they saw a Cockapoo and a Chocolate Labrador having a conversation. Both of them turned toward the entrance and were shocked upon seeing the prince and duke.
"Your royal highness!?" The Cockapoo said, shocked to see him.
"Hello ma'am." Chase greeted her, smiling to seem more friendly.
"Skye, Zuma, I invited the prince to show him what I had made." Rocky told them, they both still looked shocked to see them but they put on a smile while in Chase's presence.
"Speaking of which, where is this 'something' that you made? I've heard a lot about your family and would love to see your work." Chase asked him while looking around the room.
"Over here, your highness." Rocky replied as he walked over to a table and picked up a padded vest of some sort.
"A vest? Really?" Chase asked, kind of expecting something like a greatsword or a large spear.
"It's not a vest, it's called a Gambeson, or a Aketon. It's a defensive jacket made of linen or wool that protects against sword strikes, it can even have metal plates attached to it for increased protection." Rocky explained, Chase was clearly impressed upon hearing this.
"I'll inform the king of this when I get back to the Castle, He'll definitely be proud of this." Chase told him.
"Actually, I'd prefer if you didn't tell his majesty. I don't want my creations to be used by someone like him, he'd likely just use it to conquer and destroy the neighboring kingdoms." Rocky said to him.
"Okay then... why did you want to show me this then?" Chase asked, confused about Rocky not wanting him to inform the king.
"Because... I'd like it to be adopted to be used in the army... after you ascend to the throne, you seem generally friendlier and nicer than the current king." Rocky replied.
Chase stared at him silently for a moment before responding. "Alright, I might do that when the time comes." Chase said.
"Thank you, your royal highness." Rocky thanked him as he bowed.
Chase then began heading for the door to leave when the Chocolate Labrador got his attention. He turned toward the Labrador and listened to what he had to say.
"Your highness, you're not going to inform the king that we're here, right?" Zuma asked, clearly nervous.
"Don't worry, I won't say a word to him about you three." Chase replied, he then glanced at Marshall before continuing. "And neither will the duke."
With that, Chase and Marshall left the building and returned to traveling around the capital.
In another kingdom, far to the north and ruled by wolves
In a small kingdom in the northern mountains, a pack of wolves surrounded the King, a wolf by the name of Tyrannus, and his daughters, two Huskies by the names of Gasket and Everest.
Tyrannus was much more dictatorial than the kings of Barkingburg and Hundereich, but instead of his citizens hating him, the other wolves loved him. the huskies and malamutes were hesitant about him but they followed him nevertheless.
Most of the wolves hated Hundereich and it's king. During a war between the wolves and the kingdom of Hundereich, the king, Heinrich, had killed Tyrannus's mate, the Queen of the wolves, in battle.
As they walked past the crowd of wolves surrounding them, Gasket had a smug smile on her face, while Everest had a nervous smile on her face, she clearly wasn't a very big fan of all the attention, while Gasket loved it. Gasket was the heir to the crown, while Everest, being the younger one, would be left with nothing upon Tyrannus eventual death.
Eventually, they arrived at the location they were walking toward, the grave of the former queen.
"Regina
Queen of the Huskies"
1X31-1X37
Everest lowered her head and bowed to show respect to her mother, while Gasket snickered at her. Tyrannus lightly smacked Gasket while growling at her quietly, with Gasket rolling her eyes in response.
Once they were done visiting the grave, which they did weekly, they began walking back to their home while the rest of the wolves each began either lowering their heads or bowing to the grave to show their own respect to the former queen.
That's the end of Chapter I
Thank you for reading chapter I of this story, expect chapter II to arrive in a couple days.
If anyone can come up with a name for the kingdom of the wolves (and huskies, malamutes, etc.) please do share in either the reviews or via PM. I could not come up with a good name for them.
Anyway, happy new year everyone!
-König der Könige