"Come one, come all. In service of Henry the Eighteenth, I am to announce to you all: the king's announced a royal ball. all citizens are required to attend."

a few murmurs from the crowd arose. A royal crier making such an odd decree with such impunity. It had to be a farce.

a voice, gruff and gravelley from an extended age. shouted with a mix of anger and curiosity "and what proof would you 'Ave that you work under the king?"

The crier blew his horn and a fiery display of explosions littered the sky. Despite the otherwise small-scrawny stature of the Crier, the unruly man with an accent had been convinced.

This situation was common, too common. People from villages big and small, from the orphans, to the eldest would all be required to come. People would, of course, be properly compensated for their commitment. Those who could not move were often abandoned by their families. They understood. It was simply a part of how life worked here.

Loads of people drove themselves like cattle into the castle-city over the course of the next few months. The day for the ball had come and the streets were rivers of people, all flowing slowly but surely towards the podium where the King would give his speech.

With some help from the royal trumpets to bleat out the national anthem, the crowd settled down. becoming almost silent. The midday sun beat down on the fair day, turning the pavement into a broiling hot surface.

From the shadows of the balcony, out walked a feeble man. his eyes sunk into the back of his head. the crown he wore, much too heavy, the red cape that tattered behind him as he walked. He was supported by metallic leg-braces under his clothes that replaced the need for a cane. The slow Gait of this man made thirty feet feel like a mile. Every step made time stop as he paused to figure out if he could even do another step. Evidently, he could... and did, but not without worrying the hearts of all below him.

"People. My... people. Today is my end. I know it, you have all known it for a long time now and I love you all for it. Now, to settle the matter, I sh-"

An arrow pierced his skull, the viscera, blood, and bone fragments had stained his bare chest. The old-man's wrinkled body instinctively moved against the balcony's edge, causing him to tumble over. The fall was ninety feet, plenty enough to cause his rickety body to shatter in a small explosion of blood, intestine, and heart.

The once calm crowd erupted into a panic, pushing at the guards to let them leave. The tower shields of the guardsman was backed soon by pikemen, making the crowd retreat from the threat of becoming a skewer. One woman begged at the wall of shields, "Please, let my child through. he doesn't deserve this. he doesn't even know what's going on."

A gaggle of cackling erupted from the dead-king's lips "Baaahhhahahaa. You all know what day it is."

the adults in the crowd, and a few of the younger ones bowed their heads as the half-corpse of the king rose up. His feet did stuttered shuffling as he walked past the main bulk of the crowd. The woman from earlier clutched her child closely. The young boy's eyes filled with tears as he stared at the lifeless, moving visage of the old king.

"D-Don't touch him"

"M'am, I could never!... but you, on the other hand..."

"W-what are you doi-"

The woman's plea was cut short as the King grasped her exposed throat with his boney fingers. he jabbed some of his skeletal hand under her skin, letting her blood flow outwards and spilling unto his arm.

One man walked behind the king, he put his hands together in a fist. The defiant man's body shook with pure fear as he debated his chances of even hurting the king. His hands came down as He, and thousands of others accepted their fate.