The Dead King

With every day that passed, Nocturne improved. The thirty some citizens of Marin’s kingdom worked tirelessly beside the hired workers to restore the kingdom.

Within the next few days, the kitchen was fully restored. Workers brought in new sets of cutlery and dishes, a full arsenal of kitchen wares, and endless amounts of food. A freezer room was even set up using the outside air to preserve many of the perishable items.

The workers and artisans who were commissioned to work in the castle were no less than impressed as well. Many of them talked with Marin and Loid about the castle. Some even offered to join the kingdom and work permanently in the castle.

After several interviews conducted by Nocturne’s higher-ups, which included Marin himself, Loid, Helva, and Harrel, Castle Nocturne gained permanent chefs to assist Sherry, maids to keep the castle tidy, general handymen to fix most issues that might arise, and a slew of other workers who would maintain the castle.

They even worked with Whitewood’s best plumbers to reroute the water tank to pull from the ground, as well as collect melted snow, to provide the castle with running water again.

Logistic routes and scheduled supply trips were established. Nocturne had a loading dock on the far left side of the castle where carts could regularly drop off or pick up goods.

Down in Heroca, Fern watched a caravan of carts roll up the road to the castle, carrying wooden beams, poles, furniture, and boxes of supplies. Some of the carts were even motorized. He watched in amazement as they slowly traveled up the castle road that he had spent every day working on.

Speaking of the road, Fern quickly discovered that an old road laid undiscovered beneath a few layers of snow and dirt. It was Nocturne’s former road that sunk into the earth as it laid abandoned. This aided in Fern’s effort greatly. He worked to uncover the old road, as well as replacing bricks in many areas that needed it.

Eventually, extra workers were hired to assist Fern in finishing the roads. They even took on the job of redoing the roads from Heroca down to White Forest, streamlining the journey from the bottom of the mountain all the way to Nocturne Castle.

In the next week, all rooms had received new furniture. Old furniture was restored to look new, and placed in the top floors of Nocturne where it would receive the least amount of wear. It was exclusively used in Marin’s personal quarters as well.

The stables were restored to working order and housed the work horses that pulled the carts up and down the mountain.

The kingdom totaled nearly one hundred citizens at this point. Nocturne was nearing completion.

Down in Whitewood City, a woman had received a letter from King Marin of Nocturne yesterday. This letter impressed her, noting that Nocturne had done research on all the librarians in the city, herself included, and she was picked for a specific offer.

She unfolded the paper, and read it once more.

Dear Ms. Marge Halkress,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am King Sullivan Marin of Nocturne Castle. You may have heard about the recent developments of this castle circulating in the city as of late. We are indeed re-establishing the kingdom after a dormant period of roughly two hundred years.

In this restoration effort, one particularly important feature I am interested in making prominent is our library. As you might agree, a kingdom’s true strength comes from the knowledge it pertains, and we are only considering the most quality factors in making this a reality.

These factors of course include an experienced librarian, and I have chosen you as a prime candidate in taking the role, after considering many other bookkeepers in Whitewood. Your accomplishments have singled you out from your peers in this category.

I understand you have lengthy resume from being a scribe in Fairgoth to maintaining the archives in Lonedeep. I am particularly impressed with your involvement in recovering the ancient texts from Niyeton’s first stronghold.

For these reasons and more, I am adamant in requesting an audience with you. At the very least, your expertise would be vital in assisting me with my endeavors. Your compensation will be more than adequate, regardless of how much of a role you take. Your arrival is anticipated at any time.

Thank you again for considering this opportunity in restoring one of Nocturne’s most complex features.

Warm Regards,

Sullivan Marin.

After reading it once more, Marge placed it on her cluttered desk. She leaned back in her rocking chair. The former librarian glanced around in her small apartment. She managed to fit quite a lot of books in such a small space.

Well, it can’t hurt to at least visit, she thought.

Marge stood up, and headed to the door. She threw a leather long coat over her black turtle neck sweater. In a mirror by the front door, she checked her turquoise earrings that hung on her droopy earlobes. She adjusted a necklace with the matching precious stone.

She left her small abode and entered the busy street. As she shut the door behind her, a young man in an apron was sweeping the street in front of her.

“Good morning, Ms. Halkress. Heading out?” He said with a cartoonish grin.

“Don’t wait up on me, Jack. I might be gone for a day or two,” she coldly mentioned, tying the waist of her brown coat.

“Yes ma’am. See you later!”

As soon as she stormed off, Jack’s fake smile melted off his face. His eyes narrowed into a look of resentment, as he stared at her walking away. When she was out of sight, he dropped the broom and walked away.

Marge Halkress was a woman of stature. She walked briskly down the busy street of Whitewood City. The clopping noise of her high heels against the cobblestone pavement of the road let everyone know who was approaching. She held her head up pompously, hinting at her high expectations of herself and those around her.

Most merchants at their vendors were shouting deals and prices, but upon her passing, they quieted down and avoided eye contact, for good reason.

She noticed it, and to be honest, she preferred it. Marge never had time to barter with the merchants when she was out with plans. They had become an annoyance, and a few choice words from her fixed the loud racket they would always maintain.

On this unfortunate day, however, a merchant in their stall was new to the city. He bolted from his vendor when he noticed no one approached her with any deals.

“Ma’am, ma’am. If I could get your attention, please.” His voice disturbed her greatly.

“Off with you,” she scolded. “Don’t you have any manners?”

“Do you believe in luck? I have a few charms that will bring you great fortune.” The short man did his best to walk in front of her with wooden carvings hanging from a stick.

“Bother someone else, I’m warning you!” Marge didn’t slow her walk up at all. Yet the short merchant was somehow walking backwards, keeping with her pace.

“Alright listen, I’ll bother someone else if you buy-”

In that moment, the poor merchant had roughly two hundred gallons of water poured on top of him. It was a miracle that he was able to stand up through it all as the weight of the water knocked all his wooden charms to the ground, including articles of his clothing.

The other merchants roared in laughter. An older man nearly fell backwards as he wheezed for air.

“That’ll teach you to mess with Marge!” One yelled out.

“Your lucky charms really helped you on that one, didn’t they?!” Another squealed through their laughter.

Marge continued to walk until she had made it to one end of the city. She arrived at the northern stables, and spoke with a few carriage drivers who all seemed to be busy hauling wares up to the local mountain.

“Are any of you heading up to Nocturne Castle?” She asked.

A bearded man stationed at the front of a wagon responded. “We’re all heading there, ma’am. Long list of cargo that castle is requiring.”

Marge studied all the covered wooden crates in the carriage that took up all of her potential sitting spots.

“Well, I need a ride up there. And I don’t see any consideration of where I might sit,” she noted. The bearded man was shocked at the assumptions she made.

“You can wait for the next carriage to arrive. One should be here in an hour,” he tried.

“You expect me to wait around that long?” She asked in an offended tone. Marge was shocked he even made an offer to that extent.

“You can sit up here with me!” A driver from behind piped out. He sat in a similarly packed cart, but was younger and of smaller build. That had resulted in just the right amount of sitting room for Marge.

She pursed her lips at the uncomfortable seating arrangement. She shook her head slowly, a noise of contempt escaping her mouth.

“If this is the best you all can muster. I’ll have to make do.” She grabbed the young man’s hand, and she hoisted herself up onto the tight seat of the cart.

“How much is this going to cost me?” She added as a small coin purse was revealed from her coat pocket.

“Oh, I won’t charge you anything. We were heading up there anyway. We’re already getting paid handsomely.” The young lad proudly stated.

Marge waved her hand. “Oh please, I’m not one to receive charity. Name a price,” she demanded.

A dumbfounded look appeared on his face. “Uh… okay. Ten silver?”

A larger silver coin with an engraved 10 was dropped into his palm.

“Alright. Let’s be off now.” Marge waved her hand forward as she looked onto the path before her.

Back at Nocturne Castle, Marin stood in the grand foyer as he answered endless questions from workers. Some were reasoning prices with him while a man hoisted close to the ceiling polished the golden cross.

Loid was just as busy as he barked orders to movers who were gently sitting furniture down. The castle was akin to a busy ant hive, with nameless workers dressed in light blues and whites carrying in wrapped goods.

At that moment, a man entered the foyer with a small brown package. He was not dressed in the same uniforms as the other workers. He wore more tattered clothing.

“I have this parcel addressed to a Mr. Loid Alkaver of Nocturne Castle. Where can I find him?” He asked.

In hearing his name, Loid walked over. “That would be me.”

“Sign here.”

“Did you get yourself something nice, Loid?” Marin asked, trying to delay conversations with price gougers.

“I don’t think so. I’m not necessarily ordering for myself.” Loid took a knife and opened the top of the package. When he peered in, he quickly closed it.

“Ah, now I remember what it was. Marin, when you have a moment, we will meet in your quarters,” Loid stated.

“Very good,” the King responded. He turned to face a salesperson once again.

A shady looking man wearing outrageous clothing held open a book to Marin, trying his best to convince the King to buy his excessive wares.

“Your highness, these are made of pure ivory,” the salesman coaxed in his oily voice as he pointed at pictures of his exotic imports. “Truly, only these high value items are fit for a king as yourself.”

The book contained pictures of furniture made from ivory, cheetah skin pillows, golden lamps, and gem studded adornments. A humble peasant could only hope to make in a year what one item in the book cost.

The lure of the salesman was completely wasted on the undead king, however. It had no effect on his reasoning, but this was not apparent to the seller as Marin happily took the offers of the best items. For the King had a large fortune that would take a generation to deplete.

“It all looks great, please bring it up. I will pay full price for it all,” Marin stated effortlessly.

The seller of exotic goods did all he could to contain his shock. Full price? No negotiation? No discount for a bulk sale?

This King was the merchant’s new friend.

“E-excellent, your excellency. Your… um… Right away!” He snapped the book shut and continuously bowed as he walked backwards.

Well, that was the easiest sale I’ve ever made. I’m going to get a huge bonus for this, he thought to himself. A huge grin sprinkled with golden teeth grew on his face, hidden from sight of the King.

Marin trekked the stairs of the grand foyer and into the office of Helva and Harrel.

“Is everything well in here?” Marin asked as he eyed the growing stacks of papers on both of their desks. It seemed that every time he entered their office, it had become more cluttered.

Helva’s ponytail had nearly fallen apart as she enveloped herself into the paperwork.

“Hello Marin. Yes, all is well.” She wheeled herself to a different pile of papers. “This is mail addressed to you,” she mentioned as she straightened out the letters.

“Have it sent up to my office. I’ll go through it later. If you need my signature on anything let me know.”

Helva nodded. She looked frazzled.

Marin headed for the exit, but before he left, he said one more thing.

“If you get overwhelmed, Helva, we can hire some secretaries to ease your work.”

“I’m okay for now,” she answered while placing a stack of papers into a cardboard box. She looked back up to him. “But if it gets to that point, I’ll let you know,” she said between labored breaths.

Marin nodded. He turned towards Harrel. “Same to you, Harrel. Let me know.”

After a quick visit in the main office, Marin decided it was time to head up to his quarters to meet Loid with that package.

As he climbed the staircases and walked down several hallways, he passed workers who were cleaning and repairing the castle. He waved at a few of his permanent subordinates whenever he saw them.

Nocturne was alive and thriving. Marin was quite pleased at all the activity in the castle once again. He stepped on fresh, bright red carpets with golden trimming. A single fault in the fabric could not be found. He wished he could feel the texture of the new long carpets, but his sight would have to provide enough context for a rough imagination of how it could feel.

He turned towards the door to his personal quarters. It was no longer ripped off and on the ground. In fact, a whole new beautifully carved cherry wood door rested on polished hinges.

Marin grabbed the golden door knob and gently opened the door. When he entered, he saw Loid sitting in one of his refurbished chairs from the before times.

The former innkeeper glared at Marin. Loid had been keeping the package close by him the whole time.

“Your personal quarters are looking amazing, Sullivan,” Loid mentioned.

“I’m quite pleased with it,” the King responded. He walked around Loid and sat behind a desk that still smelled of fresh varnish.

Loid watched as Marin took a rare sigh when sitting down. The King didn’t take a load off for anyone besides him at this point.

“Remind me it’s not going to be this busy all the time,” Marin said while closing his eyes and leaning back.

“The restoration of the castle has been a huge undertaking indeed,” Loid said. “But we’re almost done. Things will calm down soon. I can’t even imagine how hard its been for Helva processing everything.”

“Yeah, she looked to be in a rough state when I visited her. I hope I’m not overworking anyone.”

“All this extra work is only temporary,” Loid reminded him.

They stayed silent for a bit, Loid allowing Marin to recollect himself. Finally, he opened his eyes and sat up straight in his chair.

“Well, what do you have there?” Marin asked as he stared at the brown box in Loid’s lap. “It must be something important.”

“It’s… It’s a gift I ordered for you, Sullivan.” Loid said while looking down at it.

“A gift?”

“Yes, I had to have it custom made since it doesn’t exist on the market. I had to commission some fine people to make it. Gold of course was not an issue so I spared no expense in it’s creation.”

“Well that’s impressive, Loid. Let’s see what your efforts have produced.”

Loid got up from the chair, and stood at the opposite end of the desk Marin sat at. He placed the box on the smooth wooden surface, and slid it to him.

Marin leaned forward and dug his hands into the box. Whatever was in there was engulfed in paper shreddings. He grabbed the item and pulled it out.

The King stared at a mask of much higher quality than the one he was wearing.

It was made of a nearly weightless metal, painted in a shineless matte black. The eye holes were covered in a glowing light blue crystal.

Marin was ecstatic. “Loid, this… This is incredible.”

He flipped it over to the inside. In the mouth location was a filter and a few wires.

“It’s a state of the art, specially designed mask for you, my king. The mask is made of shaconium, and the eyes are covered in gerian crystal. It’s very pristine gerian, as you can tell from the glow. The outside of the crystal is stained in light blue. As you know, you won’t be able to see the color from behind the mask.”

Marin flipped it over a few more times, speechless.

“And inside the mask is a voice filter and enhancer. It will convert the raspiness of your voice and make it sound more smooth.”

“Loid, I-”

“The craftsmen guarantee a lifetime of use on the mask. They weren’t sure why I needed something like this made, but when I mentioned the gold I was willing to spend, they used every bit of their skill in crafting it.”

Marin leaned back in silence as studied his gift.

“Loid, I… I can’t even convey to you how much this means. Thank you so much for thinking of me in this way.”

“Try it on!” Loid said anxiously. He was interested to see his spent gold in action.

Marin set the mask down and flipped his hood back. At this point, Loid almost expected Marin to ask him to turn around or look away, but he didn’t.

Marin removed his old mask, exposing his zombified face.

Loid’s rested look hid his overwhelming feeling of seeing the undead king’s true appearance once again. He gazed at the two holes that made up his nasal cavity. He saw the missing teeth exposed from broken lips, and pale white skin, what was left of it, anyway.

He took a long blink, trying not to cringe at the sight. He wanted Marin to feel comfortable around him, and he dared not make a display from quite an intimate moment.

Loid felt great relief when the mask covered the monstrous face. The King adjusted the black metal mask, and flipped his hood back over his head. The shade of the hood darkened Marin’s mask even more, to the point where only the glowing, light-blue crystal eyes could be seen in dark scenery.

“How do I look?” Marin asked in a new voice.

Loid leaned back then forward with his mouth open, more taken from the new sound than the look.

“More like how do you sound! Wow, that filter is amazing! Sullivan, you sound great!”

“I don’t notice much of a difference in my voice.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re behind the mask, but I can assure you, you sound a hundred times better. And yes, of course, you look far sharper than before.” Loid just stared proudly at his crafted order. He had truly done a marvelous job in thinking this gift up.

“Well, thank you Loid. I had been debating about getting a better mask, but I had nothing of this quality in mind. And your idea to add a voice enhancer… I would’ve never thought that up.”

“A King needs to look and sound his best,” Loid stated proudly.

“Agreed.”

Loid studied Marin’s office a bit more, then dusted his shirt. “Well, I best be off, then. Your quarters are looking great.”

Loid started to walk towards the door.

“Well, hold on. Would you like to look around? Not too many other people will see it, but I’d love it if you spent some free time in here with me sometimes, if you would like.”

“I’d love to. Let’s see you’ve got.”

Upon first entering Marin’s personal wing, one is greeted with the meeting room. This is where Loid presented Marin’s gift. Two plush chairs face a large desk that has a rolling chair behind it. The wall opposite to the door has two windows on either side, Marin’s chair in the middle of them. There are doorways going left and right from this room.

To the left when entering, is Marin’s personal library and office. It is the largest space in the wing. In the center is a large desk with many drawers, containing documents of the castle from long ago. To the left is an organ with brass pipes rising to the ceiling.

It had been restored to full working order, the pipes and keys all dusted. To the right was a fireplace with two plush red chairs. Circling the entire room were bookshelves. The few books that had remained in the two centuries were cleaned and placed together.

“I’ll get more books soon,” Marin mentioned.

Going back to the meeting room, to the right, was Marin’s bedroom. Despite not being able to sleep, he had ordered a large deluxe bed fit for a king. In the room was also a bathroom, a large walk in wardrobe, and dozens of knickknacks and items that held sentimental value. There was also a way onto a private balcony that Marin didn’t care to show.

The whole wing had been restored to new. Everything was clean and organized.

“It’s very impressive, Sullivan. I like what you’ve done,” Loid reviewed.

“Hows your room doing?” Marin asked.

“My wife loves it all. We have everything we need.”

“Good.”

There was a knock on Marin’s door. It caught Loid by surprise, but Marin was unfazed.

“Enter,” Marin commanded.

A maid opened the door. She was younger, with a black dress and white apron.

“Um… there’s a Marge Halkress that’s here to see you,” she meekly reported.

“Ah, the librarian. Very well.” Marin turned to Loid. “Let’s go meet her.”