The next few weeks after Hadar got news of his brother's death were all a blur. The way Hadar remembered his brother's funeral there was a thick fog, and all the color was sucked out of the world as they buried him in that cold tomb. The truth was that it was a bright day, the sun was out, and the field surrounding the tomb was filled with all sorts of colorful flowers. Hadar remembered those who spoke at the funeral having downplayed his brother's accomplishments, when in reality many of them had exaggerated King Amasi's exploits. He remembered the turnout being disappointingly small, when in truth any subject of the realm who could make the journey was there to pay their respects to this wonderful and short-lived king.

The Arch-Bishop himself commended King Amasi's soul to God, just before the burial. “Oh great Creator, we ask that you take this righteous man's spirit to reside with you in the bosom of the earth. May he live forever in paradise with you, and may we one day see him again there.”

The tomb itself was made of granite with a glass statue of an angel standing on top of it, and just beyond the front door was a long staircase, leading deep under the ground, the royal family's tomb. It was there that King Amasi's coffin was placed, deep underground to symbolize the pallbearers giving him to Heaven. The minstrels played a reverent song specifically written for the burial of kings, though none sang the words. When the lock was placed on the door to the royal family's tomb Hadar knew this meant for sure he'd not see him again in this lifetime. At that he lost all composure and openly wept on his knees in front of the tomb. Sarahi and Milo were his side in a heartbeat to comfort him. Some of the nobility nearby were about to object to someone of common birth laying his hands on the soon-to-be-king, but they kept quiet so as not to upset Hadar any further.

Hadar didn't even remember the events that led from the funeral to his meeting with the Council. It was like time itself skipped ahead to that point with nothing happening in-between. For Hadar life had lost all meaning, it was just a string of cruel events. Now Hadar would be expected to assume a throne he never wanted.

The Council consisted of three people; the Arch-Bishop, the Grand Duke, and the Chancellor. The Arch-Bishop, Absolom, was head of the Agalmite Church in Arx, the highest religious authority. The Grand Duke, Eyal, was the head of the military, the leader of all of Arx's knights. The Chancellor, Japheth, was an economic leader. He was elected by the common people to represent them and make laws concerning trade and commerce, which, of course, the king would have to approve. In order to become king, though, a prince had to have the favor of all three Council members. This gave the Council a great deal of power over the king, because even after he had assumed the throne if two of the three decided they wanted him deposed they could oust him any time they wanted.

The three of them sat down at a table in a private room of the castle with Hadar. Their bodyguards waited just outside the door. The Arch-Bishop was the first to speak. “My deepest condolences for your loss, your Highness.” Highness was Hadar's title while he was still a prince, only when he was crowned king would they call him Majesty. “I must say, though, I am pleased that a paladin will rise to become this nation's king.”

“As am I,” said the Grand Duke. “You'll represent both the Church and the army well.”

The Chancellor spoke next. “The people are concerned, however, about succession of the throne. Your brother died before marrying a queen, and as such he had no heirs to succeed him. The people want more stability, you will have to marry immediately. Do you have someone in mind as your queen?”

Hadar stared at him blankly for a moment. It was as if the Chancellor had asked him whether he'd rather have his fingers or his toes smashed with a hammer. “I haven't given that any thought at all...ever...”

“Understandable, since you weren't expecting to inherit the throne,” the Chancellor said, “But we need to get to work on picking out a queen for you.”

“Whatever you want,” Hadar said, shaking his head. Honestly, he didn't care about any of it. At the moment it all seemed pretty meaningless, when all was said and done.

“I think I know who would be perfect for this,” Eyal, the Grand Duke said. “Bear with me, now. The Marquise of Muri is on the border with Nihilus, no doubt feeling quite intimidated because of all the warnings of what those demon-conjurers are planning. If we can show the Marquise our solidarity with her...”

“The Marquise is too old to bear any more children,” the Arch-Bishop said.

“No no no! Of course not the Marquise herself! I'm talking about her daughter, Lady Sarahi.”

Hadar stood from the table, suddenly looking horrified. “What?”

“Strategically it's perfect,” the Grand Duke said. “It strengthens the bond between the royal family and the house of Muri. Also we'd have a queen who can represent the Church well, since she too has been training as a paladin. Furthermore she'd be a friend of his Highness, someone we already know he gets on with well.”

Hadar would have resented the fact that they spoke about him in the third person as if he were not in the room if he wasn't so mortified about the idea of marrying Sarahi. “I've never thought of her that way!”

“Better than marrying a stranger, though,” the Chancellor said. “If you have a young lady you're in love with then by all means...”

“...No, I don't...” Hadar said. He resumed his seat and holding his head in his hands.

“Then if you can't marry someone you're in love with marry your best friend!” Japheth, the Chancellor said. “That's advice coming from someone who knows these things, your Highness, believe me. My wife and I grew up together and our marriage couldn't be happier!”

“Congratulations,” Hadar said, with a mildly sarcastic tone.

“Again, your highness, if you have an alternative then we're willing to arrange that wedding instead,” the Chancellor said. All three of them stared at Hadar, waiting for his response.

Hadar looked back at them. He thought of the countless things he wanted to say, none of them the least bit helpful or, for that matter, pleasant. Eventually he asked, “If I don't take the throne who's next in line?”

“Next in line?” the three of them said in unison. As far as they knew no one ever asked that question.

The Grand Duke said, “Well, either the three of us would have to find some way to rule the kingdom...or some of your distant cousins would have a right to claim the throne.”

While Hadar had no desire to be king he still didn't like either of these options. Historically the Council was known for its in-fighting. The King's role was largely to make them get along and work together, even when they didn't want to, because he got his power from all three. And Hadar's cousins, well, he had so many of those that he could just imagine the civil war that would be likely to break out should they have a chance to claim the throne.

Hadar groaned, as if his body ached. “Fine! Arrange the wedding between Sarahi and I. I can't think of anything better for this kingdom. But I have a condition.”

“And that is?” the Grand Duke asked.

“Normally only knights can become a king or queen's bodyguard. I want to ignore this rule and make Milo our joint bodyguard.” Hadar said.

“The common boy you went to the academy with?” Absolom, the Arch-Bishop asked.

“Yes, the gifted and talented paladin, who's as devout in the faith as the most pious priest. Who's a better warrior than most of the paladins in training there. Who's a more loyal friend than I could ever ask for. Yes, that Milo. Given what happened to my brother would you rather my personal bodyguard NOT be someone so loyal and talented? Not someone I can obviously trust?”

“I see your point,” the Arch-Bishop said. “Very well, I'll make the arrangements immediately.”

The Grand Duke sighed. “The knights aren't going to like this. All of them, with long family histories of being in the army and fighting for the kingdom, passed up by some peasant.”

“Then do what you can to MAKE them accept it.” Hadar said.

The Grand Duke smiled. “Now you're talking like a king!”

“And such an appointment will likely go over well with the common people,” the Chancellor said.

“Alright, then,” said Hadar. “So how does this work?”

“First you'll be wedded to Lady Sarahi, and then there's the coronation ceremony. Do you want to be the one to tell her what's going on? We can send messengers if you're afraid to tell her.”

Hadar cringed at the wording. The way they talked about it he wouldn't really be asking Sarahi to marry him, he'd be telling her she was going to. As much as possible he wanted to give her a chance to back out, while still doing everything he could to persuade her not to. Every selfish impulse in him said, “No! Don't marry her!” but he had to think about the good of his kingdom, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness. Even if it meant sacrificing Sarahi's, and for that matter Milo's. No matter what they did the kingdom of Arx was headed for some hard times, Hadar couldn't bear to leave them dealing with such a crisis without a king. In times like this a kingdom needed a good strong leader, Arx was going to have to settle for him.

The next day Hadar went back to Caelum Academy, but no longer as a student. He arrived just after he knew classes would be finishing, to give the news to Sarahi and Milo. “Proposing,” if one could call it that, to Sarahi in front of Milo, however, was something Hadar just could not do, so he set out to meet them both individually.

The first one he found, just as he came out of a classroom, was Milo. Perfect, he preferred to give the good news first. “Hello,” he said, waving to his friend.

“Hi there. How are you holding up?” Milo asked. Milo gave Hadar a tight hug and then held him at arm's length, his hands on both of his shoulders.

“Everything still feels surreal. I'm going to be King soon, it seems.”

“That goes without saying.”

“And as the soon-to-be-King, I want to offer you a job, my friend.”

Milo tilted his head. “A job?”

“Yes. Milo, I'd like if you would be my personal bodyguard. You're a great paladin and a loyal friend,” Hadar said, “And I certainly do not want to face the terrors of being King without my friends nearby.”

“I'd love that!” Milo said, excitedly. It was a job that was simply beyond anything Milo had ever dreamed he'd be capable of achieving. To have risen from such lowly beginnings to such a high position was truly amazing. He couldn't wait to send letters back to his father about this new position. Furthermore there was the idea that he and his friend wouldn't be separated. It would be hard to live without him after all these years.

Hadar gave Milo another hug around the shoulder. “Good! I'm glad I will have you around. Do you know where Sarahi is? I need to speak to her too.”

“I'm guessing she's at her dorm already studying.” Milo shrugged. “She's been a bit...distant lately.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Hadar said. “I'll see you again soon, Milo.”

“Bye, Hadar.”

Hadar walked off in the direction of Sarahi's room. As he walked the halls of Caelum Academy and looked around at the architecture and the tapestries, it struck him that he'd miss not living in these halls. He'd not stopped to admire how Caelum Academy looked in many years, and now it was like he was saw it for the first time. The castle he was born in, where he was likely to spend the rest of his life, was built for practicality rather than beauty. Oh, sure, there were rooms that were made to look nice, such as the throne room, the dining hall, and the King's bedroom, but overall it was a fortress first and foremost. Hallways were narrow to create a bottle-neck effect in case of an invasion, so that in such a narrow space sheer numbers would not matter. The windows on the lowest level were narrow slits, not big enough to climb through, or even to see out of all that well, but big enough for archers to shoot arrows out at an invading army. The walls were not made of a multitude of different kinds of stone like the walls of Caelum Academy, it was all one form of stone brick, poured from concrete, to avoid any structural weaknesses.

Hadar climbed the steps to Sarahi's dorm, counted the doors, and finally knocked on her door. After a few moments of waiting Sarahi came to the door. Her brown hair that was normally pulled back in a braid hung loose, and she wore a pair of reading glasses on her nose. Upon seeing him her face lit up. “Hadar! I was worried I'd never see you again!” She threw her arms around her friend, who hugged her in turn.

“Good to see you again, Sarahi,” Hadar said. “Can I come in?”

“Of course!” Sarahi hurried Hadar in the door and started clearing books and papers off of one of the chairs so he could sit with her. Her room was messy, which was actually pretty typical for her. Hadar sat down at the table and Sarahi said, “So, you're going to be King soon, I take it?”

“Yes.” Hadar nodded. “I'll be the King of Arx, because there is no one else who can hold this kingdom together through the inevitable crisis.”

“I'm sure you'll be great.”

“One can hope. But enough about me, listen, I want to ask you some questions.”

“What's on your mind?”

“Sarahi...” Hadar thought for a moment. “Has your mother ever talked to you about her plans for your life?”

“Well, she said that after I became a paladin she'd probably arrange a marriage between me and a count's son, to forge a marriage alliance. That way if Nihilus were to invade Muri as their first step towards an invasion of all of Arx we'd be able to get help quickly.”

“I see. And how do you feel about that?”

“No one likes the idea of an arranged marriage at first, but if you're nobility it comes with the territory. I'm just hoping the man I marry is kind.”

Hadar sighed with relief. If she wasn't as opposed to the idea of arranged marriage as he was then it was less likely that she'd be unhappy about his suggestion. “Do you think I'm kind?”

“...Hadar?”

“Sarahi, look...” Hadar scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out the best way to phrase this. “Yes, marrying the son of a count would help your family militarily, but how about marrying the King of Arx? The Council is demanding that I marry before I take the throne, and I can think of no better person to make my queen than you.” Though he wasn't lying when he said those words, his way of saying them was a bit deceptive. He played it off as if he wasn't initially horrified by the idea of being married to her, as if the Council hadn't chosen her for him, but rather as if they brought up that he needed to get married and she was the first person to come to mind. Much more flattering that way. “And think about it, we're best friends. What better person to marry than your best friend? Commoners marry for love, Sarahi. Nobility and royalty? We marry for profit and politics. We should be so lucky to have known each other our whole lives before getting married.”

“You're...proposing to me?” Sarahi gave him a most confused look.

“In a manner of speaking...”

On the one hand Hadar's proposal left a lot to be desired, compared to what Sarahi had always read in old fairy tales and the like. The proposal had no passion, it was all logical. It was as if he was making an argument of all the reasons why she should marry him, rather than actually asking her if she would. As a little girl she always imagined the moment a man asked for her hand to be much more romantic than this. On the other hand, from a more adult perspective, this was better than she could ever realistically hope for for a number of reasons. “I'd be happy to become your queen,” Sarahi said.

It was an exaggeration. A more accurate term would be “satisfied” rather than happy. Nevertheless, she wanted to make the most of their situation.

“You will? Wonderful!” Again, Hadar seemed happy, but nowhere near as excited as Sarahi always hoped the man she married would be after hearing her accept his proposal. It was clear that this marriage was purely for the sake of the kingdom to Hadar. “We will need to get ready for the wedding immediately. The sooner we are married the sooner Arx can have a king again.”

“Flattering,” Sarahi said. “Not even a kiss for your fiancee?” She leaned her cheek towards him. She wasn't going to be bold enough to suggest to her friend of so many years, who probably could see her as nothing more than a close friend, to kiss her on the lips, but on the cheek was acceptable.

Hadar stared, wide-eyed at her cheek for a moment, as if there were some sort of animal sitting there, waiting to bite him. She certainly wasn't helping him feel any less guilty about the whole situation. Hadar took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, briefly. “There,” he said, as if he had just indisputably proven something.