Beast Empire

The King's Concern

Two days later, in the royal palace of Valdris...

King Aldwin Brightward sat in his private study, reviewing reports in the afternoon light. Documents covered his desk—trade agreements, border disputes, grain shipments. The usual work of running a kingdom.

"Why did you come here?" he asked suddenly, not looking up from his papers.

A figure appeared from the shadows near the bookshelf. His envoy, covered in dust from the road.

"Your Majesty," the envoy said, his voice controlled. "The situation in Seabreeze has become complicated."

The king put down his pen. "Complicated how?"

Before the envoy could answer, the study door burst open. The envoy vanished back into the shadows immediately.

A small figure ran toward the king Princess Ana Brightward, fourteen years old and the king's only daughter. Her personal maid, Elena, followed close behind, slightly out of breath.

"Father! Father!" Ana called out excitedly, holding a thick book against her chest. "I found something amazing in the ancient library!"

King Aldwin's expression softened. He stayed seated as his daughter approached.

Ana opened the book on his desk, pushing aside reports. Her eyes sparkled as she pointed to an illustration of a fearsome figure with serpents where hair should be.

"Look at this! It's called Medusa!" she read aloud, tracing the drawing with her finger. "The book says she was one of the most powerful creatures that ever existed in our world! Do you think she was real, Father? Do you think creatures like this still exist somewhere?"

The king smiled at his daughter's enthusiasm, though his mind was heavy with the urgent news waiting in the shadows. "Perhaps they did, little scholar. The world was very different in ancient times. Magic was stronger then, and many things existed that we can barely imagine now."

"I want to study all the ancient creatures!" Ana declared, hugging the book. "When I grow up, I'll travel everywhere and search for traces of these legendary beings! Maybe some of them are still hiding somewhere in the world!"

"I'm sure you will," the king said, reaching out to stroke her hair. "You have the heart of a true explorer."

He glanced at Elena, who immediately understood.

"Princess," Elena said gently, stepping forward with a warm smile, "it's getting late in the afternoon. Your father has important work to finish. Perhaps we should take your new book to your mother? The Queen might enjoy hearing about these magnificent creatures."

Ana's face lit up. "Oh yes! Mother loves the old stories! She'll want to hear about the ancient creatures!" She turned to her father. "Can I show her the book, Father?"

"Of course, my dear," the king nodded. "Give your mother my love, and tell her I'll visit once my work is complete."

"I will!" Ana kissed her father's cheek quickly, then hurried toward the door with Elena following. "Elena, do you think Mother will know a*********s about these creatures? Oh, I can't wait to ask her about..."

Their voices faded as they disappeared down the corridor.

Once they were gone, the guards shut the door. The king's expression changed immediately. The warmth drained from his eyes.

"Continue," he said, his voice hard now. "What happened in Seabreeze?"

The envoy reappeared from the shadows, his face grim. "Your Majesty... Marlin's wife is dead."

The king's entire body went rigid. "What? That's impossible! Marlin should have protected her!"

"Marlin wasn't there when it happened, my lord. By the time he returned to the village, she was already gone." The envoy's voice remained neutral. "From what I could gather, she died protecting the boy when the villagers discovered his power."

The king's voice was tight with disbelief and anger. "They killed her? They killed Lila for protecting her own son?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. She threw herself between the boy and an axe meant for him."

The king closed his eyes. His hands clenched into fists on the desk. When he opened them again, they burned with cold fury. "And the village? What was Marlin's response?"

"That's the surprising part, my lord." The envoy hesitated. "Everyone in the village is still alive. Marlin took the boy and fled into the deep forest. He killed no one, despite what they did to his wife."

The king looked genuinely shocked. "He showed mercy? Even to those who murdered his beloved?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. He left them all unharmed."

The king was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped to barely above a whisper. "Now I'm wondering... what exactly is that boy's secret that could make even Marlin show such restraint?"

"A few hunters witnessed his power, my lord. Something about death magic plants withering at his touch. They spread word through the village, which is what caused the mob to form." The envoy paused. "Marlin took down the villagers who pursued the boy into the forest—knocked them unconscious with thrown stones from a distance. But the witnesses who started the rumors are still in the village, talking."

"Then silence them," the king said flatly. "Use gold if they'll take it. Use fear if they won't. I want that village sealed tight—no travelers hearing tales, no merchants spreading gossip. The story of what happened in Seabreeze dies there."

King Aldwin stood and walked to the window, staring out at the palace gardens. Somewhere in the wilderness beyond his kingdom's borders, a man who could have leveled that entire village had instead chosen exile.

"Very well," he said finally. "You have your orders. Make sure no word of this spreads beyond the village. Use whatever measures are necessary. And leave Marlin be. He has chosen exile, and perhaps that is safest for all. He and the boy will find their own way in the wilderness."

"And Marlin, Your Majesty? Should we attempt to make contact?"

"No." The king's answer was immediate. "Leave Marlin be. He has chosen exile. If Marlin wishes to remain hidden, no one will find them."

The envoy bowed low. "It will be done, Your Majesty."

"One more thing," the king added. "Place watchers on the village. Discreet ones. If anything else unusual happens if the boy returns, if Marlin changes his mind, if word begins to spread I want to know immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

When the envoy had disappeared through the hidden passages, King Aldwin remained by the window. He could hear Ana's laughter echoing from somewhere in the palace. Her innocent joy was a stark contrast to the weight pressing on his shoulders.

Somewhere in the wilderness, a fourteen-year-old boy carried power that could topple kingdoms. A boy who had just watched his mother die protecting him. A boy whose father was one of the most dangerous men alive, yet who had chosen mercy over vengeance.

How long would that mercy last? How long before grief turned to rage? How long before the boy learned the full extent of what he could do?

The king had no answers. He had helped protect Marlin's secret for fourteen years, had kept the boy's existence quiet. Now that protection had a cost measured in blood.

"I hope you know what you're doing, old friend," King Aldwin murmured to the empty room. "I hope that boy is worth everything you've sacrificed."

The afternoon light continued to stream through the windows. Somewhere in the palace, Ana was showing her mother pictures of ancient monsters, unaware of the real dangers that existed in the world.

And in the deep forest, miles from civilization, a father and son were beginning a new life one built on survival, secrets, and the hope that isolation might keep them safe from a world that feared what it didn't understand.