The Tigroran castle of Caspe had been recently rebranded. The old rock walls that stood firmly as the outside of the castle had been replaced with freshly built walls of rare but powerful stone walls reinforced with Montiante metal. It screamed the artistic flare of the east, as the four massive towers which were now moved towards outside the city of Caspe were painted with exotic colours, namely that of orange and black tiger-like stripes. Lush plants from foreign jungles were growing in pots all around the outside and inside of the border between the castle and the more country like environment and there was a plethora of vines and creepers growing through some cracks on the walls. The effect of the vines were that it made it look like the walls were covered in them and this was very subtly done by the chief Gardener of the Tigroran family to impose the feeling of fear into any attackers. The guards who patrolled the walls, the majority of them archers still found it uncomfortable up on these walls. They could still not comprehend the move into outer Caspe and the countryside. Strategically it did not make sense. When the castle was in the heart of the city of Caspe, they could easily call upon militia and the mass movement of the people to protect them. Now, the castle was at least a few miles from the centre of Caspe. That being said, they were well protected here. If the walls were to fall, they could easily flee to a large keep like building in the centre, made of old stone, it was a remnant from the past that had always been a part of the design. In front of the castle was a separate wide building where men with large wild cats wandered. Large bridges led to this. Behind the back wall was a bridge and pathway into a more mountainous region, filled with craggy rocks which led up to the library. The library was a great spectral building connecting to the back and sat upon rocks based on a hilly pathway which ran alongside with the sea. It was a good distance away but was still considered part of the castle.
Inside the keep, servants paced up and down a red carpet. Paintings of famous Tigrorans filled the walls. Several important maids stood on the sides of the carpet leading up to a rather minimalistic steel chair, made to look like some kind of throne. Normally, a rather hairy man would sit here. Instead, was a tall, old woman with long alburn hair, who placed an elbow on one of the arms of the chair and one side of her head into her fist so that it went into her cheek. She looked tired and bored. She had now sat there for at least a day. Nicknamed 'the Lioness', this was none other than Catherine Tigroran, loyal wife of Leopold Tigroran. Behind a door, yelping sounds could be heard.
"Is it over? Has he been cured?" She asked.
"No Ma'am." A maid answered next to her. She wandered up to the door and put her ear next to it and heard the sound of a man throwing up. "He's very much gotten worse."
Catherine sighed. She didn't know what to think. She had thought that he would have died from his condition in the last few hours. He seemed to have gotten worse. Catherine loved him and cared for him, but she couldn't help feeling all this man did, with all the affairs, that he didn't deserve her love. She was glad to know it would all end when he was dead.
A middle aged to old butler in a black and white tuxedo stood next to the door. He made a gesture with a white glove towards the maid. "Go away." He whispered. "Leave the master alone. He'll be alright if people like you aren't trying to poison him."
"What was that?" Catherine asked. But the butler put his hands behind his back and went silent.
"Nothing...your grace." He spoke.
"Which servant are you? There are dozens around here. I can't seem to get rid of them. They seem to be making things worse."
"Tahris Silvermane, ma'am."
"Silvermane? Leopold goes on about you. You're the faithful one. You've been here since the beginning, haven't you? You go EVERYWHERE with him."
"Yes ma'am."
"I'm told your family used to be nobility like us. I'm told they were important." She smiled at him briefly knowing the Tigroran family had outlasted the Silvermanes.
"Yes ma'am. The Silvermanes were powerful back in the day, but they quickly lost their relevance. I am indebted to you and your husband, for the pair of you have spent much money trying to remove me from my homeless ego outside of court. Without Mr. Tigroran, I would not be in such a good place."
Catherine nodded. "That's why he means so much to you. That's why you won't let anyone get through that blasted door."
"He is wounded...he..."
"Aloysius did this to him! Leopold said so! It was the first thing he said, to me! Our heir, OUR boy, he pushed him down a set of stairs! He induced deliberate wounds to his head and chest."
"Now he's feeling nauseous ma'am. He's complaining all day of a 'sickly feeling' ma'am. We rushed him to the bed as soon as possible."
"I know that! But it seems the condition has gotten worse. They were only wounds. They could have been plastered up. I was ready to forgive Al."
They heard a great sound coming from behind the door. "ENOUGH! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" It was Leopold's iconic shouting voice.
"Oh no." Catherine muttered.
The door flew open. A man in a white, pink and red suit ran out. "It's no good." He shook his head. "The condition has gotten worse! He's gotten infected through the wounds somehow! He started throwing up a few hours ago! His mental condition is unstable!"
"Lucian Goldheart, the Belfan doctor, I presume?" Catherine looked at him.
"Yes yes...I was here all this time with Leopold in his room...but he's refusing to see me now. He doesn't like me very much. He needs help. He's writing letters and doesn't want anyone to see."
"What is it you think he has?"
"Your son...he...made problems that were already there worse. You see, I recently diagnosed Leopold with Cat's heart, a disease that seems to be hereditary in the male line of your family. I have documents to prove this. The disease would normally lead to an early death, but Leopold's previous doctor apparently gave him medication which muted the effects of this disease. When Leopold had his fall, it sped it up. When he found he had cuts relating to the fall your son induced on him, I discovered that the disease, which had gone away, now came back through infected substances throughout the palace. Fortunately, for you, I was authorized to move these substances. But for Leopold it is too late. He lies in a traumatic state and he is on death's door. There is not much I can do for him now."
------
Inside of Leopold's room, he coughed loudly several times. There was a large metallic bath like container filled with his detestable sick. He felt extremely weak. He could have a heart attack at any minute, his temperature and beats per minute were so high.
Yet, he desired to do one last thing before he died. One thing more, one that was on his mind the whole time and had been for a week. He was going to force himself against his will, no matter the cost, his final bowing out moment to the world, his final act on the stage of the theatre of life.
He crawled, red faced towards the wooden desk from his lushous bed. It took him all his might, but he was able with great pain to get into the seat and intending to do so quickly yet slowly because of his condition, he was able to write with a fountain feather pen. On the parchment he wrote a letter which he intended to write to all the leading members of the noble families: Montiante, Dragonheart and Puresoulia. He also wanted to copy one to Michaelis and the court of the deceased king. He was aware of the King's upper circle and had spent time with them.
He tried his best to write this letter. He had several servants copy it out for him. Catherine and the good doctor were surprised to see him up writing and concluded he was still in good shape. However, immediately after he wrote the letter, he started coughing again on his bed.
The letter was immediately approved and sent out to the noble families in their castles using ravens. The contents of the letter were as follows:
Dear Leaders of the Noble families and of the court of the late King,
With great urgency, I write to you all of pressing matters. The times we are living in are a desperate one and increasingly, I feel the need to address the rise of a great corruption, a great evil, one which lurks the lands of Bracia which is now quickly becoming full circle. During this uncertain and desperate times, we, the great families of this realm, the only hope left for it, must band together in the face of great adversity to protect ourselves and its people. I acknowledge the great feats of each family, despite some arguments and some tensions with others, know that I am truly sorry for the problems I have aroused with each of you and know that in my heart of hearts, I have always stood by your side as an ally. I write also to the late King's court, the one who I truly have admired all this time, the one who united the Kingdom under his leadership. With him gone, the question arises for who will be the next heir. One of us must come with the goods. One of us must nominate an heir for the rest to follow.
However, in my foolishness, I have accidently appointed an heir, Aloysius Stripeclaw Tigroran, for the throne. I was not aware of the dark deeds he was involved in up until now. He is the reason why I am in this current physical state, barely able to move, barely able to breath, I have been throwing up for a while because I re-contracted a rare genetical disease caused by my son. You see, I had recently killed off the disease in my family. However, I soon went to go to the castle for our meeting with Al. He quickly turned on me and pushed me down a flight of stairs. The cuts I endured were only part of the pain. After he did this, I fled back to Caspe, the castle where I sit now. I missed the meeting. But I heard of the nasty, rude and arrogant things my 'heir' said. He has endured great pain and suffering himself in his life. At a young age, his older brother left the family and went to another part of the world. His twin sister, who grew up with him, perished early on. He was also convinced that I was abusive and that he was an unfaithful husband to his mother. These are all slanderous lies and are untrue! Do not believe a word he says about me! In short, his personality should indicate an element at least about who he is. He is not a gentleman.
Second, I'd like to draw to Al's political side. I have heard of his idea of ethnic cleansing for the elven race. I have never gone against this noble race and the King's assistant, Michaelis, was a great role model of mine. We must work together to stop the elves from being expelled or persecuted in this noble kingdom. Al's comments have sometimes bordered on the anarchical side. You see, he was briefly part of a vicious and evil cult like organisation known as 'Black Fury'. Black Fury are terrorists. They wish to brainwash the population of Bracia into thinking that the noblemen like us and the families up high are corrupt and money-hogging. Therefore, they throw their men into a war of rage, their conflict with us Tigrorans has been never ending. I have reason to believe that Al is secretly harbouring these brainwashing ideas despite my disciplining of him. He also believes a strong totalitarian leader should be in control of the country. Combined with his anarchical ideas, this kind of brutal dictatorship would great a catastrophic contrast. We should be weary and not allow him to have ANY power whatsoever.
I, Leopold Tigroran, formally denounce Aloysius Tigroran of the title of heir. Let it be said that he does NOT represent ANY of our views as a family. Instead, i'd like the title and nominee for the throne be passed to my wife, to one of Al's brothers or his cousin, Ocarina, who has so neatly taken control of the library.
We are on the brink of destruction here. We can either go one of two ways: dictatorial and brutal OR anarchical and chaotic. We must stop these two ideas from colliding. We need someone who is just and fair, Kind but not crazy.
Black Fury has grown strong in the past few months. They have gathered financial allies from the more mountainous north and some noble families have turned against us. We are losing control here. The wizards who sometimes use our great library have started to speak out against us too. We require URGENT support as soon as possible.
I would like to propose a quadruple alliance of families to watch over these lands and ensure a stable future. Only together can we stop the rise of evil. Please come to our court, the keep in the middle of our great castle, just outside of Caspe. We must discuss a great many things, if not, my wife will be willing and my growing heirs.
But for the love of the elements, please do not be tempted by Al or Black Fury's words against us. We must work together.
I know I am dying. This shall be one of the last things I ever do in life...accept going to the toilet. Ah, my good sense of humour comes in again. It has been a good life for me, but the end really went badly. I hope that my heirs will continue my legacy, my future. They're going to need all the help they can get.
In any sense of emergency, I nominate Puma and Ocarina Tigroran as official heirs.
Thank you for listening to my fair story, and, goodbye.
Lord Leopold Tigroran.
----
That night, the King would be found, surrounded by a pool of blood on the bed. He would be dead.
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