The Fall of Faymont

The evening was warmer than usual, and the buzz of cicadas became one with the wind. He could faintly hear the children outside trying to mimic them, their giggles and fits of laughter bringing a small smile to his lips. The king’s mind wandered to his own children, and he looked to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, letting out a small, disappointed sigh at how much time has passed. He was hoping to at least see them before bedtime, ask about their day and thoughts about tomorrow.

He already knew what his eldest daughter’s were and could only imagine the string of complaints that would unapologetically leave her mouth. There would be something about the uncomfortableness of her dress, at least two sarcastic remarks about her siblings, the annoyance of having to smile, and the constant “is this done, yet?“. They annoyed his wife to no end, but he just found them amusing. Who knew an eight-year-old princess could find so many things to complain about? When he finished teasing her about it, however, he always noticed the faint smile she had along with her weak attempt to hide it.

His youngest daughter would be the complete opposite. A seemingly never-ending series of questions would replace her sister’s complaints. They would often piggyback off each other until a butterfly or something of the sorts flew by and the little one’s attention would shift. The youngest princess was curious about everything, and he always knew a question would soon follow after her small tug at his pants. He imagined that she was inquiring about tomorrow to the maid that was tucking her in and hoped that she had enough questions to last the end of this meeting. Maybe she would ask the maid to braid her hair in the way her mother ways worn as well. He noted she started doing this when he and his wife became busier the past few months. It was a shame, truly, and he glanced over to the clock again holding his breath.

Then, he felt a hard nudge to his knee from under the table.

He looked to his wife and exhaled quietly, scrunching his eyebrows in a subtle ‘what was that for?’ sort of way. She pressed her lips together and nodded to the duke sitting across from him.

“Your Highness?” The man raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes slightly at the king. “This is a very, very serious matter. Your people have become restless and I’m not confident that the presence of more guards would quell their behavior-”

“It’s impossible to sleep,” the duchess seated beside him quipped, looking rather annoyed. “I doubt that a curfew would do any good, either. Their singing and chanting can be heard from outside their homes! And they were not friendly, need I remind you. They must have lost all human decency!”

The king nodded, trying to recall what the last minute of conversation was about.

“We could implement a noise ordinance,” the queen suggested. “Threaten them with fines or imprisonment for any noise that you both hear from your estate. Surely you two cannot be the only ones effected by this.”

The king tapped his finger on the table quietly. “These people do not have the means to pay such fines, dear. And our prisons are in need of remodeling. They will not have the capacity to suitably fit everyone-” he looked over to the duke again, showing the slightest bit of a grimace- “especially with the numbers you report.”

The duke lamely threw up his hands in a defensive gesture. His wife rolled her eyes and sat back in her crimson-colored seat to cross her legs. “Sure, let’s keep letting these people interfere with our daily lives for no reason. You are not over there, Octavius. You are not the one having to cover your ears with a pillow at night or tell your children you do not want them leaving the house! Johanna whines every day that she is unable to visit the commons and her friends...” she paused her tangent as she noticed the queen’s glare.

“What?” the king asked, perturbed. He sat up straighter in his chair that was embellished with gold markings. “Why aren’t you letting her travel into town?”

The silence in the room made him uncomfortable and he looked to his wife for some sort of guidance. “Lila?” She was still glaring down the duchess as if she were daring her to speak again.

“We are afraid to, your highness,” the duke replied firmly, resuming his wife’s complaint. “Your townspeople are out of hand. One of them spit on Johanna as she walked home from the academy. After her maid informed us we barred her from leaving the estate.”

“Something happened like that to the Dawsons in Vardia,” chimed a duchess from the other side of the table. She fidgeted with the shimmering rings on her finger as she spoke. “I believe that they moved to Atala due to their circumstances. They lost over half the size of their previous estate during the process... poor things.”

“Yes! I heard a majority of their staff refused to move with them to stay in Vardia, as well.”

“So they are without any help?”

Hushed side conversations began to fill the room. The king tried to pick up bits and pieces of them with an utter loss of words. His eyes darted around the couples conversing with each other.

“Lady Ruby is planning to relocate her family, too. She spoke to me about it last week and advised we do likewise, but our estate has been in my family for generations. I will be damned if they believe we can be moved.”

“I do not even dare to venture into our commons, anymore. It’s a shame, truly.”

“Lila, what...what are they talking about?” The king’s question was hushed below the chatter. He looked over to his wife once more, looking for any hint of reassurance. Instead, she cleared her throat and brought the quiet conversations of the room to a halt.

“Let us move on to discuss taxation, shall we?” It was more of an order than a suggestion. “Since the people are dissatisfied with the current happenings, I propose we lower them by a quarter until the year is over.”

Silence hung over the room like a dense fog. Lila watched each face in the room for a response and clenched her jaw a few times.

“I am refusing to move on until we resolve this unacceptable behavior,” the duke stated. “My family-” he gestured to the couples surrounding him at the table ”all of our families deserve to roam our provinces however we please without fearing our safety.” More silence. Hardly anyone spoke to the queen like that.

King Octavius was hopelessly lost.

“Very well,” the queen replied. “What would we like to see be done, then?” She knew there was no continuing the council meeting while this duke was so adamant on some apparent civil unrest.

The duke was a little taken aback at the queen’s quick agreement. “Well,” he glanced to his wife who gave him a nod, “we would like to see an example set. This has been going on for far too long, your highness.” He spoke firmly, almost like he had rehearsed it.

The queen scrunched her eyebrows and looked at the others in the room. They were hanging on to his every word and some glanced to her, eagerly awaiting her response.

“What do you mean by that, Nathaniel?” the king asked softly.

“Bring back the gallows. The firing squad. Anything to truly strike fear and-”

“Absolutely not,” the king interrupted. His face was twisted into one of disbelief and anger. The lack of astonishment from the rest of the nobles confused him. “How dare you even bring something like that up.”

Nathaniel pursed his lips together and subtlety shook his head. “Just a suggestion, your majesty.”

“And a lousy one at that,” the king scoffed.

“Let’s go back to my suggestion,” the queen chimed in. “Lowering the taxes would alleviate some stress and put some spare change in their pockets for spending. Again, I propose we lower it by a quarter and continue our observations from there.”

Another blanket of silence covered the room. A handful of nobles were looking at Nathaniel while the others were focused on the queen as she finished speaking. She was irritated at this point and let a few more beats pass before she quipped, “Thoughts?” Normally the queen would not dwell on a subject for so long input from the dukes and duchesses was needed. These meetings were only a formality, and she did not value comments from the rest. The energy in the room made her slightly uncomfortable, as Nathaniel was hardly this vocal.

A duchess looked at her husband before replying, “We agree with Duke Nathaniel, your highness. We are simply tired of living in this fear. And his solution seems like the quickest.” She sunk back in her chair and darted her eyes away from the queen after she spoke.

“I cannot believe this. You people are barbaric,” the king spat. Despite his words, a tone of disappointment dripped from his words. “We are not killing our own people over some rowdiness.”

“Lowering taxation it is, then,” another duke, Cassian, seemed to mimic. He sighed quietly and intertwined his fingers together, resting his arms on the table. “I would just like to point out that this type of punishment is nothing new. I remember the days when your father would issue the gallows almost every single day. Twice a day, even, for breaking kingdom law, your highness. Laws that you repealed.” He leaned in towards the head of the table where the royals sat, “and times seemed to be more peaceful then, didn’t they?”

The king’s palms slammed on the table. “You have no business speaking to me like that, Cassian. My father’s rule was merciless and cruel. Even your family would agree.” He shook his head and averted his attention to the duke sitting beside him. “Duke James, your thoughts? You and your family are right outside of the palace.”

“I think lowering taxation will be a good thing,” Duke James replied. “Dakota has not expressed any happenings in the town or whispers in the academy, even with all the mischief he gets in to.”

The woman beside him nodded in agreeance, “Yes. It has been pretty quiet these past few weeks, and we thankfully have not run into any problems.”

“Well, speak for yourself. Of course you are not having any issues! Your province is the most heavily guarded. The king has just left us to fend for ourselves!” Nathaniel’s voice rose with every sentence.

Right as the king began to reply the queen rose from her throne, “This meeting is adjourned. We will station more guards in the provinces, and we hope everyone has a safe travel home. Lower taxation by sunrise and make the announcement first thing in the morning.”

The king was taken aback by his wife’s sudden announcement but was relieved to have the conversation ended. He stood and opened the grand doors but did not stay and see people out this time. Instead, he headed towards the grand staircase, wondering which one of his children he should visit first. Or, who would still be awake.