The commoners and people of the kingdom gathered in front of the royal castle and watched in despair, as the body of their king was hung on a wooden stake as meal for vultures.
The sight was horrible and mothers obstructed their children from watching. Only someone who had no heart would do something like this, something so evil and disgusting. The villagers were terrified; never in history has something of that sort occurred; a king murdered and hanged in front of his own castle, it was an abomination of the greatest order.
Even when Kings died in battle by the hands of their enemies, the rivals would usually send back the bodies of the fallen to their respective homes for their last rights, but whoever did this had humiliated the King even in his death and ruined his memory, now his soul would never find peace in the afterlife.
The people of the Kingdom wondered who could have been so heartless to do a thing like this, rumors were already spreading that it was the son of the King's banished concubine but majority of the people refused to believe it, they wanted to see with their eyes.
Amir-Ali would never be capable of this, many of the villagers had seen him when they visited their neighboring village a week back; he was just an ordinary young man struggling to survive. How could someone who barely sees food to eat invade the royal castle, kill all the guards' singlehandedly and murder the King his father, it just didn't make sense.
* * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, inside the royal court, Amir-Ali is sitting on the throne while having a meeting with the Kingmaker and two of the members of the royal court. They all looked terrified to be in the same space with him after hearing him confess to murdering his own father.
The royal court was a long hallway with mats on both sides for the commoners to sit during meetings, at the extreme was a platform elevated above the audience where the peacock throne was placed; that was for the King to sit. Then just below the King's platform were the fancy wooden chairs for the members of the royal court.
The royal court was decorated with beautiful fabrics and flaming torches, with flowers emitting awesome fragrance in the environment.
"You all know why I have called you here, I want you to crown me as the King immediately," he said in a stern voice with a solemn expression on his face.
The petrified Kingmaker opened his mouth to speak but no words left his mouth. He was still in shock, this was not the old Amir-Ali anymore, the person sitting before them right now was something completely different, that look of fire in his eyes was something they had never seen before, it was intimidating for everyone of them.
"Go ahead and speak elder, my problem is not with you so you don't need to fear," Amir-Ali replied, trying to sound nice and less scary, but that did not make the old men any less terrified. A man who could kill his own father is capable of doing anything.
"Prince Ali, forgive me but by the rules of the Land, you cannot be made the King," the old man replied in a shaking voice.
"Why not?" Ali growled and squeezed the arm of the throne.
The men were shocked to see him bend the metal hand of the prestigious peacock throne; that throne had been in existence since the Kingdom was created, so many Kings had sat on it, but he already broke its arm on the first day. What baffled them more was that the throne was made of solid silver, how in the name of the gods was he able to bend it with his bare palm, what kind of power did he possess?
"Please forgive me Prince, I can go ahead with the procedures if you wish, but the people would never accept you as it goes against the laws," the man replied immediately with his face bowed. Maybe he should never have honored the Prince's invitation, well it wasn't much of an invitation; he was literally dragged to the castle.
"And I ask you again, why not? What rules stop me from being the King and why?" he asked in a deep voice, trying to keep his emotions in check this time.
"My Prince, according to the laws, for you to be crowned King, the king should consent to it and in the case that he is no more, then the eldest male in the family would grant permission. Secondly, even if you pass that criteria, you would need to be married before you can be crowned the King." The Kingmaker replied.
Amir-Ali groaned. "So what if I am not ready to marry yet?" he queried. He had no plans of getting married as it would spoil most of his plans.
"Then, you can only be made the crown Prince, you would automatically become the King when you are married." One of the men present explained. Amir-Ali looked at him and he turned his gaze the other way immediately, fear gripped his mind and he regretted saying a word.
"Alright then, you will make me the crown Prince and my mother would be the Queen mother, is there a problem with that?" he asked solemnly.
"As long as you provide us with an approval from the eldest son of the Late King, then everything is settled, we will do as you command and there would be no issues," the Kingmaker replied, trying his best to not choose the wrong words. One mistake and he could be the next body hanging outside the Kingdom.
Prince Amir-Ali clapped his hand twice and two young men of his age walked into the royal court. They were standing at the gate of the hall which was a bit far from the throne, the old men looked towards them and they could tell that they were not from the kingdom, they were certainly strangers.
"Bring him in, my friends," Prince Amir-Ali instructed and they nodded simultaneously, then they walked out.
The old men wondered who he had instructed them to bring. At the same time, they were panicking, was it going to affect them in any way, you can't sit before the devil and not Panic. Amir-Ali was no less than the devil now, not just because of the power emitting from him but because of the kind of heart he has. A man who had driven the sword through his own father, hung him on a stake in public, shaming his own family and proudly confessed to his actions without a sign of remorse, that man was certainly a devil.
Few minutes later, the two men walked in with Prince Sadiq, the eldest son of the King. He looked terrified and panicked at the sight of his younger half brother.
"Go on Sadiq, tell them that you consent to my request to be made King," Prince Amir-Ali instructed.
Prince Sadiq looked towards the elders, "I… I… Yes, I give my… my consent," he stuttered in fear.
His problem was not making his brother the King, he actually had no interest in the throne and his immediate younger brother was no better person either so he had agreed without much persuasion. he was only stuttering because he was terrified to be standing before Ali, what the young prince had done the previous night was something that might haunt his memory forever.
"You heard him, do you still have a problem?" Amir-Ali asked the Kingmaker.
The old man shook his head in the negative. Even if he had a problem with it, he would be a fool to speak up, even at his age, he was not ready to die yet, especially in the hands of this demon prince.
"Good, let's start the procedures already," Prince Amir-Ali instructed.
Just then the tall gate was pushed open and Prince Mustapha ran in, raging like a mentally deranged. He had been out of the Kingdom the previous night so he was not home when Amir-Ali struck.
"Traitor!" he yelled. "How dare you step your foot back in this land, you dared to kill my father, you pig from the trenches and now you sit on his throne, I won't let you take away what is mine, the Kingdom of Manila belongs to me!!" he barked like a dog.
Amir-Ali stood up immediately. "Throw him into the dungeon with his siblings before I lose my mind and feed his blood to the soil like that of his father," he ordered in a hoarse voice, his teeth gritted and his fists clenched in anger.
The two men grabbed hold of the two princes and dragged them away. Ali sat back down on the throne, breathing heavily. The rage and desire to spill blood filled his being and the color of his eyes changed from flame to bloodshot.
The Kingmaker and court members present were terrified; they sat down quietly waiting for his orders, if he didn't spill their blood in anger.
To be continued!!