He stood there, legs apart to give himself stature, sword shining brightly, eyes hard and determined. He looked down on those who stood before him, as if to signify they were nothing compared to him, the new king.
But in reality, he was terrified! He was scared to death! In addition to the former advisers of the queen, dozens and dozens of soldiers crowded to see who had emerged victorious from the throne room. If they decided to launch an assault against him, he would have no chance of getting out alive. But his deceiving attitude and appearance had the desired effect, and everyone agreed: he was impressive. To convince them even more, with a bit of showmanship, he slowly raised his sword to face level. He held the blade horizontally under his nose without taking his eyes off the crowd. Suddenly, with a swift and abrupt movement, he struck towards the ground. The fresh blood on the blade splattered on the floor with a dry snap. He twirled his katana in the air which landed in the sheath he held in his other hand.
When the queen's former servants and soldiers saw with what skill and dexterity he drained his blade, they decided that this unknown man, tall, strong, bulky, was a beautiful sovereign, clearly legitimate.
"Is that Ragan?"
Ogai raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Is that Ragan himself?"
"What a physique! No wonder he managed to defeat the queen's bodyguard and the queen herself!"
"Look at that magnificent sword studded with precious stones!"
"That glittering brooch he uses to close his cape!"
"He's clearly not just anyone!"
Thus went the glowing comments of the queen's entourage and her former soldiers. And then, Ogai had a brilliant idea. It wasn't the initial goal, but it was worth trying. With a gesture full of vigor and majesty, he raised his arm towards the crowd and... the former advisers of the queen rushed to serve him.
"The queen is dead! From now on, I, Ragan, am the king of Genib."
As he spoke haughtily, some advisers dusted off his clothes while others crouched down to clean his boots. He almost burst into laughter but refrained himself in time by breaking into a slight smile.
The border between the two kingdoms was far from porous. On the contrary, it had been closed for a good twenty years and no one ventured into the neighboring country. Thus, almost no one knew what the sovereign of the neighboring kingdom looked like. Ogai was counting on this shared ignorance to carry out his plan.
I tricked them! In the eyes of the people of this country, Ragan and I are one and the same. However, they will quickly realize that there are two Ragans: one in Arcadia, the real Ragan, and one in Genib, me. From then on, I will need to act just as quickly to quell potential disputes and rumors. Moreover, Ragan will not just sit there. I promised him that I would bring him the queen's head. In the end, I certainly took her head, but it was to better place her crown on mine! He who thought he could kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of me and the queen at the same time, he who wanted to unite the two kingdoms into one under his rule, he who wanted to avoid a war at all costs... He will be quite surprised to learn that a look-alike has taken his place in Genib. He will be furious when he finds out and he will probably send his army to try to conquer my kingdom. But the people here are proud and tenacious. They will not let it happen and will defend their sovereignty... and my kingdom too! To prove it, I...
"Ogai! Wake up. The time has come. Arcadia, your native country, needs you. You..."
"A woman?..."
Indeed, when Baris woke up, he was simply a blacksmith in the kingdom of Genib. He worked for the queen and was responsible for maintaining and repairing the weapons of the royal soldiers exclusively.
Yet, at first sight, one could believe that this massive man was a monarch at the head of a kingdom of several thousand hectares; broad as a pillar, with a sad and piercing gaze like the last rays of the sun bursting from the horizon, finely trimmed mustache, he had an undeniable presence and emitted a majestic aura around him... especially for a blacksmith.
These days, his sleep was restless. Perhaps because the once fiery blood flowing in his veins began to boil again, awakening in him the remnants of past glories. And it was on this apparently ordinary morning that his true destiny was about to unfold. It was on this day that the history of great men: the Pleiades, was about to begin.
Baris thus rose and shook his head with a grimace.
I dreamt again that I was taking power, that I was king... he thought.
He woke his son Riga.
"Wake up Riga... Get up..."
Riga was his only twenty-year-old son. He had no sleep problems. He had much more trouble each morning opening his slanted eyes and pulling himself out of bed. His thick lashes and eyebrows, as well as his short ebony black hair, contrasted sharply with the fineness of his facial features. Everything seemed to give him character but despite that, his gaze was totally devoid of expressivity. And when he opened his mouth to speak, the poor unfortunate lad stuttered in every sentence. Moreover, his poorly trimmed small goatee, his insecure demeanor, and his clumsy gestures robbed him of any possible consideration.
He had been helping his father in his profession since he was very young and therefore hadn't really had a chance to mingle with his peers; of course, he had tried to make friends but was always rejected for reasons that were difficult to name. Worse, the inhabitants, especially the queen's knights, mocked him as soon as they saw him by calling him the gnome.
Despite the mockery, Riga never reacted: he squinted his eyes to the point where it was impossible to tell if they were open or not and endured the slander in silence as if nothing was wrong. Not a wave of sadness or anger disturbed his impassive face. On the other hand, Baris could not accept the humiliation his son was going through. In fact, he never hesitated to defend him because Riga remained hopelessly silent:
"You there! Be careful! Watch your tongue, you wretches!"
And faced with unjust words, he only replied with disjointed sentences, with little relation to one another. He was unable to keep his cool and would have loved to thrash this gang of ruffians. He kept asking himself:
How dare such scum mock my son like this? How dare they?
Why? Riga was not bad. Far from it. But having been cosseted during his childhood like a chick in its nest, he had come to nurture a peculiar fear of strangers. A fear that was reflected in the attitude and behavior of those who crossed his path. With no other relational exchange than insults and oblique looks, the young boy had ended up withdrawing into himself and let nothing out. Not a feeling, not a reaction, not a scream, not a sound. Nothing.
Riga is an empty shell, thought Baris. And at times, I don't understand him either...
Every day, he cried for him in the depths of his heart.
Fortunately, Baris was not alone in showing complacency towards him as Queen Andora herself had numerous and long discussions with him. It was a privilege that she did not grant to many, so in addition to the contempt for Riga, there was hatred from other officials. These meetings with the sovereign seemed to be the only moments of distraction for the young boy who tried to spend as much of his free time with her as possible. In return, he willingly did her favors, the nature of which he always kept secret. When Baris questioned him about it, he always remained elusive:
"Oh! Nothing, really nothing: she just gave me a mission, as usual..." Thus, the young boy divided his time between the blacksmith shop during the day and the throne room at night.