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Kingdom of Rhevilia
Rhevilia City, KR
11:00 AM
King Adris Balodis I
Staring out the window at the blue sky and the bright sun almost made me want to laugh. Not because the sky was inherently funny, but because of how normal it was. The war has been raging for seven months now, and good men, under my authority, have laid down their lives to kill their former citizens. Not just citizens, these are their brothers and fathers, sons and nephews, uncles and cousins. Families torn apart, friendships broken, relationships severed, all for what.
Sometimes I wonder how we got here. For the majority of our nation’s existence, we’ve lived in peace and prosperity, well at least to me it was prosperous, and now we’re at war with one another. And sometimes I blame myself, after all, I was the one who enforced the ban, in hopes of preventing the People’s Party from taking control of the Assembly. Maybe, I was too harsh, too stubborn, maybe this killing this suffering really is all my fau-
“You know if you keep wallowing in self-pity I’m gonna have to smack in you the head.”
I turned away from the window to the voice of said statement. My beautiful wife filled my visage. Her dark green eyes showed with amusement, as a wry smile graced her face.
“Not many people could get away with saying that to the king,” I responded a smile slowly creeping on my face too.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m the Queen.” She leaned closer placing a small peck on my lips which I happily accepted.
As I settled in, a momentary silence embraced us before she finally broke it.
“So, are you nervous about your speech today?”
“I’m always nervous about these types of things.” I turned away from her once more looking out at the window.
“Oh really, Andris Balodis I, beloved King of Rhevilia, still struggling to give speeches.” She teased, wrapping an arm around my body and leaning on my shoulder.
“You do know I failed my public speaking course.”
“Yes, twice, you always complained your tutor was-”
I interrupted, “Out to get me, he absolutely was, he criticized everything I ever did and I never got full marks from him in anything.”
“Well, I will admit, your court tutor was always a strict one.”
“Yeah, he was.” I slowly looked down, my mind focused on something else.
Another silence lulled over us as the people and buildings of the city flew by the window.
“Still thinking of the war.”
“Yes, I’m always thinking of it these days.”
“I figured,” she paused before taking a short but deep breath, “Is there any update on our daughter.”
“She’s…,” I hesitated, “ still missing. She probably hates me right now.”
She tightened her hold and me, hugging me even closer. “She doesn’t hate you, honey, she’s just mad. She’ll get over it, she’ll come back to us.”
“I don’t think so this time, she was so mad when I made the announcement, called me a tyrant. My own daughter,” I turned to her, “Liana, maybe she was right, maybe this all is really-”
She held up her palm facing forward, indicating for me to stop. She then turned to look me directly in the eyes. “Andris, you know I’ll always support you in your decisions, however, this self-pity is really unbecoming of you. You made a decision, for the best interest of the country, these socialists made their decision. There were already mentions of a revolution even before the ban, the ban was just meant to protect the people, to protect the foundations of our government. They were already planning to end centuries of our traditions if they gained power. You did what had to be done.”
Looking at her steely gaze, filled me with some measure of resolve. She was right, after all, she was always right. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right honey, now look, we’re finally here.”
The car came to a stop in front of a large crowd gathered on each side of a large walkway. Security patrolled the gates established on each side of the walkway. Taking note of this, the door slowly opened.
“Your Majesty, welcome to the capital.” In front of me stood a man, dressed in black typical security gear. He extended his hand to me and I grabbed it and stepped out into the fresh air.
I could hear the loud cheers of support as the crowd on both sides saw me. I put on a smile and waved to them, going into PR mode. I felt someone grab onto my hand, and quickly turned to see my smiling wife, I gave her a genuine smile, before turning away as we began the walk down the walkway. In the distance stood the National Assembly.
It was showtime.
As we began walking I took notice of the crowd, many of them were cheering but some more political people were holding signs saying, “STOP THE WAR” or “FREE RHEVILIA”.
A security guard leading us to the Assembly turned toward me. “Your majesty we can have them removed if you need us to.”
Looking at the people holding the signs, I could feel the anger and resentment in their eyes, some held pure hatred. Yet I shook my head no, I couldn’t take away the people’s right to protest. That would be too much, wouldn’t it?
I felt my wife’s hand squeeze mine tighter. I turned to her and she gave me a look of assurance and support. We continued onward.
As we reached the steps of the Assembly, a number of members of the Parliament came out to greet me. All, of course, coming to show support for the authority of the Monarchy. They led us into the building past the beautiful decorations and hallowed walls of the chamber of the Assembly, toward the large back exit that led to a green field full of thousands of people, all coming to hear the great speech of Andris Balodis. My speech.
I was quickly moved away from the exit as tailors began redressing me in decorative clothing, and the jeweled crown, which always traveled separately, was placed on my head all in preparation for the speech. And then, a few minutes later it was time.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the privilege and the honor, of presenting to you His Royal Majesty, Andris Balodis I, King of Rhevilia.”
I stepped toward the podium, hearing the cheers of the crowd as they all looked belovedly toward their King. All of a sudden, I could feel the true weight and power of the crown blissfully sitting on top of my head. Yet, I slowly raised my hand, palm facing forward, to indicate silence. And the crowd listened.
“Men, Women, and Children of Rhevilia. I come to you today not as your King, but as a fellow citizen of this great Kingdom. It’s been seven months, since the outset of the rebellion. Seven months of pain, of suffering, experienced by all of our citizens. Seven months of disunity and distrust as we reckon with ourselves, the great question, of whether this nation will continue to be guided by the honorable and traditional rule of a Monarch or whether we will be guided by a Socialist Conspiracy masquerading as a democratic republic, that seeks to destroy centuries of peace and prosperity established by the Royal Family of Rhevilia and its people. This question while great, has an obvious answer, the people of Rhevilia must remain united together but must due so under the Monarchy, the timeless institution that was established to protect and preserve Rhevilia, and has done so, successfully, for centuries.
Despite these sentiments, we must keep in mind as we continue this war, that the people apart of this Conspiracy are not our enemies, they have been misguided by powerful forces seeking to destabilize our nation. We will continue to fight against such forces and win, as we have always done. Because of that, I will always hold the diplomatic table open to them if they wish to discuss reconciliation and a return to their home and their people. However, I must reiterate we will not accept the independence of this “Republic”, as stated by our glorious Constitution, the “Kingdom of Rhevilia shall not ever surrender its sovereignty or territory to enemies both domestic and abroad”.
Speaking of these domestic enemies, there has been a surge in the movement calling itself For the People or FTP, however, these terrorists are hardly for the people, not only targeting this government but also civilians, women, and children, without care for what they destroy of who they hurt. I promise to the people of Rhevilia today, that not only with ending this rebellion, we will put them down harshly, as these enemies of the state shall not be tolerated by this Kingdom and this Monarchy.
Speaking of enemies from abroad, there has been recent interest by foreign powers in the affairs of Rhevilia and its Citizens. I must warn these powers, that any interference in the true government’s ability to end this war quickly and successfully may be considered a hostile act against our great Kingdom. I hate to remind these powers, but we are a nation that possesses devastating nuclear capabilities, and we will use them to defend the people of Rhevilia if we must.
On that note, I will end this by saying, that the challenges of today and tomorrow can be immense, but the Kingdom of Rhevilia shall always persevere, by your continued faith and trust in your King, in your Royal family, in your government. I have nothing but a desire to one day see, my loving but misguided people return to us, so we can continue the ongoing peace and prosperity established at our very beginning.”
Thank you, God bless us, and God bless the Kingdom of Rhevilia.”
