Aftermath of the collapse

[Moonitic]

The discussion had taken its toll on Lady Moon. She knew they could never be more than friends, and now she wondered if they could even be that much. How could she ever face any of them again? Arcon understood her pain. He looked her right in the eye when he said, "Do not shoulder the guilt for this. There is nothing to feel guilty about." He explained, softening slightly. "Your actions before the collapse were a result of a potion gone wrong. After..." Arcon took a deep breath. "After the collapse, OUR actions were a result of a very long standing promise. We will always love one another, but not in the same way."

"But what about the future?" she asked.

"The future will take care of itself. Meanwhile, you need your rest..." Arcon almost mentioned the trouble brewing in Arconia, and how her services might be needed soon. But now was not the time. The once strong woman was an emotional wreck, and needed healing. He just hoped that she would have the chance, before another dream attacked. Arcon stood. "I have other matters to take care of. Sleep well. Perhaps Willow can make something for you to keep your nightmares at bay. I will ask her later." He exited the room.

Moon lay alone in her bed, the angry voices subdued for the moment. Arcon looked so tired. So concerned. The events of the recent past must have done a lot to him, and he was not admitting it.

Maybe the time had come for her to return to Schoolcraftia. She had run long enough. It was time to go home, and accept her position rather than hide from it. Yes, that was what she would do. She'd make up for all the rebellious, stubborn things she'd done.

But right now, she needed her rest. A strange peace fell over her as she drifted off to sleep. The kind of peace that one has when the world comes together, and thoughts are clear at last. For the first time since the collapse, she felt safe.

[its_me_mango]

after lolling around, mango bolted to her feet and donning a lace curtain belly danced around the apartment to the wild wild rhythems of the cymbal, cymbal, cybals of the bells bells bells bells bells bells bells, and was rudely interrupted by a bellicose would be ruler: "what do you want" said the ruler, "bring me the head of what's name" and she returned to her thoughts.

[Willow]

Seeing the note from Zarcon made the color drain from Willow's face. Turning to her dresser, she quickly found her dagger. Putting the note into her pocket, she held the dagger in one hand as she opened the door with the other. Looking into the hallway beyond, she decided that no one was out there. She began to make her way towards Lady Moon's room, hoping that the King was still there. It was imperative that he see the note as quickly as possible. The castle had been infiltrated by evil.

Lady Moon, feeling safe for the first time in ages, heard shouts from her bedroom window. Angry shouts that woke her from her much needed sleep. Glancing outside, she saw that another fight had broken out in the courtyard. Prince Nicholas was among those trying to stop the fight. Shouts of "No New Taxes!" reached her ears. What on earth was going on? She glanced down at herself in her nightgown. She yearned to get back to sleep, but she didn't think that she would be able to go back to sleep. It was time to get dressed, or at least get comfortable. Pulling leggings and an oversized blouse out of her wardrobe, she put them on quickly. She exchanged her slippers for comfortable shoes. She then sat down and attempted to write down her dreams...what she could remember of them. Unknown to her, someone was in the shadows watching her through her bedroom door, which she had just opened.

Willow met up with Arcon in the South Hall. The King was rather shocked to see this gentle woman with a dagger in her hand as she kept glancing around the hall. "Willow, what on earth is the matter?" Willow looked at him and said, "Arcon, there is trouble and danger in the castle. We are not alone." Arcon looked at Willow. "What is wrong?" Willow pulled out the note that Zarcon had slipped under her door. The King read it, his eyes darkening with anger. "That FOOL! How DARE he write this drivel! We must do whatever is necessary to protect Lady Moon." Arcon and Willow went hurrying to Moon's room, anxious to see if she were in any danger. The rounded the corner. The hallway was empty. Arcon looked puzzled. "I left guards in this hallway. Where are they?" Before Willow could reply to the king, a scream filled the air.

[ 10-03-2001: Message edited by: Willow ]

[Lord Tellurine]

Lord Tellurine smiled. Then he giggled a little. If anyone who knew him had seen it they wouldn't have believed it. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone around who knew him. He was sitting at a back table in The Bitter End with a view of the empty bar. The fact that it was lunchtime in Arconia and the bar was empty did not surprise the evil Lord. He knew where everyone was. Protesting at the castle about the taxes being raised. Lord Tellurine was very proud of himself. Spreading a lie around Arconia that King Arcon was raising taxes was pure genius. He'd only wish that HE'D thought of it.

It had been Zarcon's idea. Cause confusion outside the castle to divert from his treachory inside the castle. But Tellurine had done it. He had performed flawlessly. Convincing the usually peaceful Arconians to rise up against the king was easier then he thought it would be.

"Stupid Arconians," he said to the empty tables around him. "You'll believe anything. A man comes up to you in the street, tells you the King is raising taxes and you believe him. And of course the man you think told you is Kliff Fauldergraft. If all you blockheads only knew you were playing a part in Zarcon's plan to overthrow your king. You'll see taxes go up once Zarcon's in power." He giggled again, stood, and walked out of the empty bar so he could watch his handiwork down at the castle first hand.

As soon as the door closed behind him the door from the back room opened and Steve walked out. He stopped in front of the bar and looked around his empty establishment, shaking his head slowly. He said to the bar, "Did we have ANY customers?"

From behind the bar a voice said, "Just one guy." Out popped Wooden Bob. "And he was NUTS! He was talking to nobody!"

Steve asked, "Weren't you here, Bob?"

Bob thought a moment. "I think I was."

"Then he was talking to you," explained Steve.

Wooden Bob thought again. "Oh. I think he called me stupid then."

Steve replied, "I wouldn't stand for that if I were you."

"I didn't," said Wooden Bob, "I was sitting on the floor."

"That reminds me... WHY were you sitting on the floor?"

"Well, since you had left me in charge while you were gone, I only wanted to get a low buzz."

"How thoughtful of you," said Steve with more than a hint of sarcasm and he motioned for Bob to reliquish his post from behind the bar.

As he did so, Kliff Fauldergraft entered. "Bob!" he greeted. "How are you?"

"Good," replied Wooden Bob. "But I think it's terrible that you are spreading lies about King Arcon raising taxes."

"I'm not spreading lies about King Arcon raising taxes."

"Oh... Well, then someone is spreading lies about you spreading lies..."

Kliff looked at Steve. "Are you letting this man drink DIRECTLY from the spigot?"

Steve laughed. "No, but at least he's a paying customer! It's lunchtime and nobody's in here. From what I've heard, everyone's at the castle for some reason."

Kliff looked at Bob. "Maybe we should get over to the castle."

Wooden Bob started for the front door and said, "Good idea. Then you can tell yourself to stop spreading lies about yourself spreading lies about King Arcon."

Kliff shot one last look at Steve, who shrugged, and then he closed the door to the Bitter End behind him.

[ 10-03-2001: Message edited by: Lord Tellurine ]

[Lord Tellurine]

Variations of Lord Tellurine’s original lie ran rampant through the crowd gathered just outside the castle. One voice shouted out, “I heard King Arcon is raising taxes so he build a giant moat around the city, but not fill it, making it a moot moat.” Murmurs cascaded through the crowd.

Someone else shouted out, “I heard King Arcon is raising taxes so he can purchase a herd of unicorn so that he can hang his laundry on their horns!” More intense murmuring followed.

A third voice cried out, “I heard he needed to raise taxes because the royal scribe was turned evil and she set free his evil brother and a section of the dungeon collapsed trapping King Arcon and the evil scribe in there for hours.” There was silence.

One of the Marsterian soldiers who had been preventing the crowd from getting any closer to the castle turned to Prince Nicholas. “That was strangest one yet. How could anyone believe such a story?”

Nicholas smiled at his soldier. “You’d be surprised.”

[lochinvar]

["She turned me into a newt!" silence. "A newt?" pause "I got better..."]

[Iwant2bafencer]

Ok that ^ was just totally confusing! Although. yet again I'm used to the fealing.
Loch, I love Macbeth!

--------------------
Carpe Diem

[lochinvar]

Yeah, iwannaB; it's always been one of my favorites, too.

It's just that as I was reading the previous post by Tellurine that I was reminded of a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail....sorry.

[Lord Tellurine]

[ed. note] With this post I have reached the magical number of 100. (Significant only because I have done ALL my posting in Fantasy Land.) Reflecting upon this milestone I would like to thank all of the citizens of Arconia for allowing me to share my weird vision and for all the kind comments and encouragements. I look for forward to another 100 posts and beyond. Thank you all. With that said, I offer to you this bit of fluff:

Lord Tellurine watched with glee the mayhem he had created from a hillside overlooking the front of the castle. Only one thing worried him. The rumors were getting out of hand. People had stopped shouting at King Arcon about the taxes, but were instead arguing amongst themselves about semantics. Who had heard what and at what time did they hear it? Lord Tellurine began to see his grasp on the crowd diminishing. He wondered if he should go down there and organize them, but one look at Prince Nicholas and the soldiers from Marsteria and he thought better of it.

A young man who hopped up on a rock and began addressing the crowd answered Lord Tellurine’s prayers. He was relatively new in town and had been introducing himself as Gregory Thatch, a teacher who had traveled extensively and was willing to “teach for food.” Some of his liberal ideas had fallen on the deaf ears of conservative-minded Arconians, especially his idea that the PEOPLE should run their government. Arconians were happy having a king to make all the decisions. They could live their lives knowing that the king was protecting them and always striving to make their lives better.

These new rumors about taxes were the opening Gregory Thatch had been looking for. Thus far, he had only won-over two Arconians, who themselves had started their very own group called: Citizens of Arconia for a Representative Democracy or C.A.R.D. and Gregory Thatch was a card-carrying C.A.R.D. member.

“People of Arconia!” he shouted over the murmurs of the crowd. “The time has come to make a decision! Do we have the courage to decide our own fates, or do we let the King treat us like dirt?” The crowd roared its approval. Gregory smiled triumphantly.

Exiting the castle was Angel and Dr. Abernathy. Angel approached Prince Nicholas giving a careful glance towards Gregory Thatch, as if he was familiar to him, then turned to Nicholas and asked, “How’s it going?”

“So far so good,” reported Nicholas. “Just a lot of shouting. I would certainly like to know who started all of this nonsense.”

“Well, thanks to Dr. Abernathy, we know who it is. Turns out it is a Muu named Kliff Fauldergraft.”

Nicholas remembered the name and inquired, “Isn’t that a friend of your… um... brother, Meekal?”

“Unfortunately, my brother isn’t the greatest judge of character, or much else for that matter. He’s too trusting of everyone.”

“I’ve met this Kliff Fauldergraft. He helped to rescue Lady Moon and Meekal from Lord Tellurine at Mount Spire. Are you sure he’s the one?”

Angel leaned into him a little closer. “Not only is he the one spreading this lie, but I understand that Lady Josephine fought him off earlier, down in the dungeon.”

Nicholas nodded. “I’ll tell my men to be on the lookout for him.”

“Thanks, Nicholas,” said Angel, patting him lightly on the back. “A.S.S. is far too understaffed to be dealing with this crisis on our own.”

On the other side of the crowd, Kliff and Wooden Bob had just arrived at the rear of the crowd and were scanning it for someone they might know. They found him.

“Hi, guys,” said Meekal, smiling broadly.

“Hello,” Wooden Bob said to a tree.

“What are you doing here?” asked Kliff. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’m rested. Besides, Nigel wanted to see what was going on.” He held up one of his favorite stones.

Gregory Thatch cut Meekal and Kliff’s conversation short. “The days of Arconians living under the oppressive rule of King Arcon are coming to an end!” The crowd once again roared its approval.

“Hey,” Meekal stated, “I know him.”

Kliff gave him a surprised look. “How do you know HIM?”

Wooden Bob asked the tree to move “a little to the right” so he could get a better view.

“He worked for my father, the King of Muu,” he explained. “It was after you were fired. He was always infiltrating rebel groups in Muu and… well, most of them ended up without a head by the time he was done.” A thought began forming in his mind. “I wonder what he’s doing here?”

Kliff answered, “The same thing he did in Muu, but this time it’s King Arcon who’ll be losing his head! C’mon! We’ve got to tell someone!” He grabbed Meekal’s arm and began pulling him through the crowd.

Wooden Bob got frustrated at the tree and kicked it with his wooden leg, not realizing he was continuing an age-old feud that had started years ago when the tree had been part of a larger grove of trees, which had largely given it’s life in the name of medicine years ago.

Kliff pulled Meekal all the way to the front of the crowd, where Angel and Prince Nicholas stood. Meekal greeted, “Hi, Angel.”

Angel gave him a stern glare. “Meekal, what are you doing here?”

Before Meekal could answer Nicholas said, “That’s Kliff Fauldergraft.” He pointed at Kliff. He ordered, “Arrest him.” A couple of Marsterian soldiers grabbed him.

“What are you doing?” asked Kliff angrily.

Angel answered, “You’re under arrest for crimes against the King of Arconia.” He looked at the soldiers. “Take him to the dungeo- Take him to the west tower.”

“You can’t do that!” said Meekal. “I know who that guy is!” he said pointing at Gregory Thatch.

It IS a conspiracy, he thought in disbelief. Angel looked at the soldiers and said, “Take Meekal too.” Two more soldiers grabbed Meekal and they started towards the castle. Angel eyed Gregory and wondered who he was, why Meekal knew him, and what he planned on gaining from all of this. He said to Nicholas, “Craig save us all.”

The crowd was aware that something was happening and Gregory Thatch’s attention was diverted to the scene. He wasn’t surprised to see Meekal the Daft Prince of Muu, he didn’t expect to see Kliff Fauldergraft, a one-time geologist to the King of Muu, and he couldn’t believe his own eyes when he saw Angel, the Prince of Muu, heir to the throne, who’s own father had placed a hefty price on his head. Suddenly, his job became more complicated and much more rewarding.

[Willow]

Willow sprinted down the hall, in her quest to reach her friend. Bursting into the room, she saw Moon standing in the middle of the floor. "What happened? Why did you scream like that?" Moon looked away for a second. Then, she replied, "There was a giant rat in my room. It ran out the window just now."

Willow, looking puzzled, asked her friend, "Are you sure? I've never known you to be spooked by a rat before." Moon, grinning sheepishly, replied, "Well, you never saw one this size before. Looked kind of like one of those ROUS's." Willow, familiar with the ROUS, laughed. "That must be pretty big! Rodents of Unusual Size. I suppose I'll ask the King and Queen to have exterminators check out the castle, make sure that there isn't an infestation."

Moon took Willow by the hand and guided her out. Moon told her, "I would really like to go back to sleep, I think. I've had enough excitement for one day." Willow asked, "Are you sure you want to be alone? Do you want something to help you sleep or guard against bad dreams?" Moon said, "No, I'm ok. I don't think I'm going to have any problems."

Willow, against her better judgement, left the room to go get some supper. As she disappeared around the corner, Moon shut the door. Speaking to someone who was not in sight, she said, "I've done what you asked me to do. I'm alone, now." Zarcon stepped out of the shadows, smiling his evil smile. "Good. I won't have to kill your best friend and her baby. You were smart to do what you were told. Come along, my dear. I have plans for you."

Putting a dark cape around Moon, Zarcon and Moon slipped away down the hall to a secret passage, leading away from the castle.

[ 10-05-2001: Message edited by: Willow ]

[Zelda]

The Queen was still surrounded by boxes from her recent trip. She was attempting to decorate and unpack at the same time (where is Mango when you need her?) when she heard the rabble at the front of the castle. Considering she was in the back wing they must of been pretty loud. Sighing she lay the cultery she had bought on a bed and pulled on her shoes. SHe had no idea where Arcon was so she had better go investigate this herself.

[Lord Tellurine]

The crowd in front of the castle was growing. It seemed if every family in the city of Arconia had a member there. Those who weren’t there to protest the King were there to see the protesters protesting the King. And those who were protesting the King were listening to the words of Gregory Thatch, a man who claimed to be a teacher, but no one knew where he had come from.

Well, two people knew. Meekal the Daft and Kliff Fauldergraft. But they were now locked up in a tower of the castle awaiting questioning. The Arconia Secret Service had reason to believe that they were part of some conspiracy to overthrow King Arcon.

That couldn’t be any further from the truth. The real culprit was Lord Tellurine who was under orders from Zarcon to spread lies about his brother, King Arcon. Lord Tellurine was currently watching his handiwork from a hill overlooking the crowd. He was getting a good deal of help from Gregory Thatch, and he was beginning to wonder why.

Upon seeing the two princes and an old royal geologist of Muu there, Gregory Thatch had ended his fiery speechmaking and had melted into the crowd momentarily.

Prince Nicholas of Marsteria had tried to keep an eye on him, but had lost him in the crowd. Sir Angelo had told Nicholas he was leaving the country to search out Naekos, and was about to do so before Dr. Abernathy had pointed out Kliff Fauldergraft as the one spreading the lie about taxes being raised. He told Nicholas that he was leaving Lady Rosaline in charge of A.S.S. and asked him to assist her in anyway he could. With that, he left.

Lord Tellurine had lost Gregory Thatch in the crowd too, but before he could locate him again he found himself standing next to him. “Enjoying the show?” Gregory asked him taking in the view that Lord Tellurine had.

Tellurine was momentarily spooked, but turned and looked at the young man. “Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked.

“You might. We both do the dirty work of the King of Muu… Only, I don’t fail like you do.”

Tellurine’s eyes narrowed as he tried to place the man. Suddenly, it came to him. “You’re the Headhunter!”

“Keep your voice down!” chided Thatch. “Yes, I am the Headhunter. The King of Muu sent me here to do what you’ve been unable to do. Get rid of Arconia.”

“I was working on it. As a matter of fact, it is I who started these rumors of a tax increase.”

The Headhunter smiled. “I thought I smelled some Muu in that. Good work, Tellurine. Whose idea was it?”

“Mine,” fibbed Tellurine. He decided it would be prudent to keep Zarcon’s name out of it for the time being.

“Sure it was,” the Headhunter said back. “Whoever’s idea it was, I’m running with it. I can get these people so riled up I’ll have them storming the castle doors by sundown. So long, Arcon. Hello, Democratic Republic of Arconia.”

“Excuse me?” asked Tellurine.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said back. “When this is all over Arconia will be so screwed up the King of Muu himself can walk in here and take over wielding a spork.”

“A what?”

“It’s a utensil that’s half spoon- Look, that’s not important. I’m in charge now and if you want to get up tomorrow morning and have a place to put a hat,” he said patting Tellurine’s head, “then you’ll stay out of my way.” He looked down at the crowd, which seemed lost without him directing their anger. “I have to get down there.” Before leaving he reiterated, “This will be a piece of cake.” He left.

Tellurine mumbled once he was out of earshot, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Arconia, it’s that this ‘piece of cake’ might end up giving him his just desserts.”

[Iwant2bafencer]

Rosaline was still looking for the queen. She was walking swiftly down the hall, and passed her room. When she saw a glint of white jutting out from under her door. Stooping down she picked it up and entered her room glancing around curiously. Her room was a little hot so she stepped over, opened the window, then sat at her desk carefully unfolding the note. She read it once, then baffled read it again. "What the. . " Angel had gone to find Nækos and Serena. 'When and where had they gone?' He had left her in charge of A.S.S. along with Nicholas. 'Ok, I can handle that.' She thought to herself. Dont come looking for me? 'Such short time, and he already knows me to well. Glancing up from the note she heard shouts outside her window. She stood, and walked over to look down at the palace entrance. Looking out onto the grounds she saw a huge mob of people shouting above each other to be heard. She spotted Nicholas and a few other guards keeping watch over them. 'Rioters? What on earth is going on?' Rosaline sighed. "Perfect timing Angel. Perfect timing. If there weren't so much to do here I WOULD come after. Just to give you a peice of my mind." She threatened to the forest. Placing the note on her desk. She hurried out of her room forgeting her search for the queen momentarily.
Rosaline stepped out into the bright autumn sun. Squinting she looked at the angry crowd. Then at the man who was speaking to them on a rock. She hurried down the stairs, and worked her way towards Nicholas.
Seeing Rosaline Nicholas beconed her over.
"Angel, as perfect timing doesn't he?" He joked. Rosaline huffed. "Impecable. What on earth is going on?" As Nicholas explained the brief event Rosaline scaned the crowd.
"Meekal and Kliff Fauldergraft are up in the tower, and the crowd has been like this for twenty minutes now." Nicholas finished. Rosaline shook her head.
"Well I can see you have everthing under control here. So I'm going to go have a little 'chat' with Meekal and Kliff." Nicholas nodded, and Rosaline turned to leave. "If anything or anyone starts up let me know. Also, if you hear anything on Zarcon let me know. I'm thinking up some way to smoke him out of his hole. After I speak with Meekal." She took a few steps then turned back. "Oh, and if you see the queen. Tell her to stay put will you?" Rosaline smiled, then the smile fadded. "I dont want anything happening to her." Nicholas nodded again, and with that Rosaline headed towards to tower.

---------------------
Carpe Diem

[Lord Tellurine]

From their tower prison Kliff Fauldergraft and Meekal the Daft had a perfect view of the gathering crowd down below. Kliff noted, “The crowd is growing larger by the minute! Doesn’t anyone in this town have a day job?”

Meekal reported, “Rufus thinks they’re going to storm the castle.” Rufus was one of his favorite stones. He claimed to be very clever, but tended to be a bit overbearing.

“Rufus can think anything he wants. As long as there’s Prince Nicholas, a few dozen Marsterian soldiers, and the castle guards in their way, they’re not getting anywhere near the castle.”

“Rufus says that the Headhunter will convince them to do it anyway.”

“The Headhunter isn’t skilled in toppling governments. From what you’ve told me, all he’s ever done is infiltrate rebel groups in Muu and dismantle them. This is a lot different.”

“Rufus says…”

“Rufus will be thrown out of this window if he doesn’t shut up.”

Meekal was silent or a moment. “Nigel says we don’t have much time before the crowd will be too large to contain.”

“Meekal,” replied Kliff turning from the window to look at him, “did Nigel REALLY say that?”

“No,” admitted Meekal. “It was Rufus.”

Kliff sighed and took a long look his old Muu friend for a moment. Meekal was a young man who he had met years ago at the Muu Castle. He was just a boy then and was ignored by every member of the Muu royal family and every servant in the Muu castle. Kliff befriended him, introducing him to the world of Geology, a love he had had since his youth. It wasn’t too long after that when Meekal started naming the stones he found. Then Kliff would go away on geology expeditions for the King of Muu and come back to find Meekal having conversations with them. Back then Kliff played along to humor the young prince that nobody would talk to, but now he wondered if it had gone too far.

Before he could say anything to Meekal, the door opened and in walked a very cross-looking Lady Rosaline.

“Hello, Lady Rosaline,” greeted Meekal with a smile.

“Hello,” greeted Kliff.

Lady Rosaline looked at them sternly. “You both have got some major explaining to do.”

[Moonitic]

As she was led away from the castle, Lady Moon heard the shouting crowd. "Why are you doing this?" she mumbled from within the heavy fabric that was draped over her.

Zarcon stopped. He removed her hood so that he could look her in the eye. "I think you know by now. I want what's rightfully mine." He glanced toward the castle with a satisfied grin. "My friends do their job well. I wonder how your friends will do. This is a good place to watch...& find out."

"And where do I come in on all of this?" she asked.

"You? Oh, you're the best part. You're mine too. You have been for a very long time." At the look on Lady Moon's face, Zarcon chuckled. "Pretty dreams aren't what they seem, Princess. You see...I was the one who gave you that rose, and the promise of forever. Not my brother."

The revelation hit her hard in the chest. "What?" she squeezed out. "What do you mean?" The dream in the cave...what she & Arcon did...it wasn't real?

"Oh, I know what you did. But that doesn't mean I don't want you. It just makes you more desirable. To know you have that natural evil in you." He eyed her for a moment as she took in great gasps of air. "I put Arcon in that dream. The rest was true. You both were so easily manipulated. It was fun."

"So now what?"

"Now? We watch Arconia fall, then rule together in the new kingdom." He laughed. "When I said I'd have your head, I meant what came with it too."

"And if I refuse?"

Zarcon drew a dagger from a sheath at his side. Hi slid the tip across her throat without making a cut. She winced back, grasping the delicate flesh. "It's your choice."

Then, with a wistful gaze toward the front of the castle, Zarcon said, "I hope Lord Tellurine still has that marriage certificate."

[arcon]

Arcon sat alone. Lochinvar had been unable to attend the dinner. Outside he could hear the roar of the angry crowd. He sat there weary and tired as the rocks came crashing in through the windows around him. One knocked over his mug of brandy and bounced up landing directly in front of him....it seem to be mocking him as it bounced around before coming to a stop.

His thoughts were wandering.....he was thinking of the times with Moon, Zelda and Loch....when they were just kids playing in the forrest of what was to become Arconia.
His thoughts were of his father who'd been so diliegent in training him to become a knight and one day rule over Arconia.
His mother who'd left the world so soon...to soon . His life with Zelda had been a good one.......to see the rise of Arconia with her at his side had been an honor. She was truly a great queen and the only wife he'd ever have. He would not have accepted the thrown without her by his side.
There had been so much unrest so many plots, scemes, battles......he was so weary....the crowd grew louder....rocks were now coming in by the dozens.....yet he sat there calmly.........could he get up.......the weight of his burdens seemed to much to carry......would he get up?.....Slowly Arcon
withdrew his knife.....slowly he twirled it around in his hand watching the light reflect
off the blade.....he lifted the knife into the air...a rock struck it as the knife came to a halt. With the force of three men Arcon brought the knife down........
down into ...........the table with such force that the two inch oak table split in half. He jumped to his feet and yelled,
" DAMN THESE TRAITORS, THESE LIES, STOP
NOW!"

[arcon]

Arcon grabbed his sword on the way to the Palcace Stables........passing his Captain of Arms he said,"Send for Angel and Latenight, now"!
"Send a messenger for Lochinvar, have him come to the Palace right away." "This I order in the name of the crown". Have the A.S.S forces mobilized......including all new recruits.

Then it hit him.....in the middle of his orders.......Where was Moon? He'd asked a chamber maid to check on her and had heard nothing..........

He ran upstairs.......down the long hallway
toward her chambers. Blood in the doorway!
No! this couldnt be... then he say the familiar face of the chamber maid.....she was dead.

Arcon quickly made his way back to the Captain of arms ...he was instucting the messenger as Arcon approached him.
"Captain Zorn, send our messenger pigeons to the out skirts of Arconia.....have our border forces seal off all exiting roads and bridges.........Zarcon has Moon....he must be stopped!"
"Zorn, have my personal gaurds saddle up right away!" "And damn, where is Angel and latenight......I must calm this crowd before we ride."

[Zelda]

The Queen slipped into the shadows by the main gate and looked at the crowd. They were loud and bold. Yelling and cursing the King. In the distance she saw the guards taking a group up to one of the towers. She would have to find out what that was about later. Sulking in the shadows she saw the head horseman Gavrill, looking wide eyed at the crowd.
Silently the Queen moved into the crowd. Dressed as she was people didnt notice or even care who was there. Tellurine had done his work well, they were a baying pack. Calling for the kings blood. When the Queen heard what the problem was, just by a few simple questions to some women at the pack of the crowd, she moved towards the front of teh group.
One of the royal guards saw her and immeadiately came to attention, starting a chain reaction down the line. The queen shook her head. How many times had she told Arcon that she didnt LIKE being made to feel royal? She signaled for one of the guards to come over...
"Get me a stand, and some sort of loud hailer..."
"But your majesty, the crowd....."
"JUST GET THEM!" The venom in the queens eyes sent to guard scampering off to the ready room to find what she ordered.

[Zarcon]

I going to kill him. You know this dont you?
Moon didnt look up. She wasnt going to acknowledge the statement. She felt maybe if she just ignored it there would be less chance of it taking place.

"I think somehow he will welcome his own death. From what ive seen of him, hes a troubled King. Where's his zest? He is weak and the weak must die."

"Now you and I, we are cut from the same mold. You may not see it now but you will as time goes on. You will grow to love me.
I will show you the strenght of a real King."

"I do wonder if your mother had known of this day ahead of time, do you think she would have carried out my mothers wishes?"

"Do you know the anger Ive lived with knowing my own mother wished me dead? Zarcon pulled on Moon's hair, she screamed and he quickly released her.
"Im sorry my dear, call it 'tough love' if you will. Im sure in a few years you'll adjust to my ways."

"I do wish my little brother would hurry. I so look foward to our quiet time.

[ 10-10-2001: Message edited by: Zarcon ]