The Crimson Prince： Awakening

All of the slaves relished in their new freedom. Yes, they had tasks to complete, but Will insured Roland paid them for their work at a steady sage. Soon each one would have the money to truly live within the kingdom.

Will didn"t feel too sorry for Roland, his business was in demand by the kingdom for so long, he had ama.s.sed a large fortune over the years. It wasn"t as hard on him as he had let on in the beginning. All of his complaints were answered by the heat of Will"s flame at his face.

Will watched the middle aged man hauling a cage hand in hand with one of the men who resided in the very same cell. They had formed a line going from the neatly stacked city of cages into a large pile in the center of town.

Will had given the order to stack the many cells within the city in the center where he would destroy them. He himself didn"t stay still and watch the whole time. If he did, his dad would have his head if he found out. The others had to plead for him to take a break every now and then, in their eyes he was a Prince after all.

Will had set the city to work around two days prior. It had taken a few hours for him to explain the benefits of forming a line to the center of town, but when they got the hang of it, it was as if he created a well oiled machine.

He sat atop his hill as he watched cage after cage being brought in lines from all directions of the city, at least six groups from all directions made their way to the city reminding Will of an ant colony.

In his world, if Will saw the same type of work he would often hear complaints. Either the men would feel as if they were working too hard, it not getting enough breaks. It was a surprise that when he gave the men orders, they cheered instead of complained. Even now, after two days of constant work, not one of the freed men had anything but a smile lighting their faces. In their minds, he didn"t give them work, he gave them a symbol of freedom.

"How"s the work coming?" Will heard Maya ask from behind him. She was carrying two platters of chicken legs as she sat down next to him.

"Honestly, I don"t understand these people." Will said as he took a plate from Maya. "They have been doing back breaking work for two days now, yet not one of them has had a fowl mood." he took a bite out of the chicken and chewed thoughtfully as he looked on to the uplifted spirits of his work force.

"What"s so wrong with that?" Maya asked with her head c.o.c.ked to one side. "You freed them from slavery and gave them a paying job," she said as she too lifted a chicken leg to her mouth. Taking a bite of it, she chewed fast and swallowed as she put the leg back on the plate. "Even your father had a hard time employing the entire kingdom in his prime."

Will had heard many great things about his father before he and his mother left, it was hard to imagine him having such difficulty with employing the kingdom. It was especially hard for him to believe since they had something as remarkable as the aura as a resource.

Will and Maya sat in silence as they ate their food and watched the ma.s.s of people working. As the sun set slowly in the distance, the constant flow of cages slowed until Will could see the last being put into place.

Almost as if on queue, a sweat drenched Roland made his way up the hill to Will and Maya. "My Prince," he said as he made a formal bow towards Will. "The cages have been stacked as you requested." there was no resentment coming from the man. Will looked him up and down, his once fine clothes had become ragged and sweat soaked yet the man had no ill will.

"Very good Roland," Will said as he gave the plate of chicken bones to Maya, who then turned to dispose of the trash. "I hope payment to the labor hasn"t put you back too much."

Roland raised his head from his deep bow. "No, my lord." He spoke smoothly, yet Will could see a question forming within the man"s mind.

"Roland," Will said as he patted the gra.s.s next to him. "Come have a seat for a moment." the former slave trader didn"t hesitate a second before taking his spot next to the Prince. "I am not one of those royal sn.o.bs that won"t allow you to put in your own words," Will said as he looked Roland in the eye. "If you have a question, please," Will gestured his hand to the man. "Speak freely."

Roland seemed to fumble for the right words before responding. "My Prince, you are right to ask." Roland responded in a quiet voice. "It"s just that you have effected one of the main sources of economy for Ebonhart." he said as he looked at Will questioningly. "It"s true that your father never approved of forced servitude, yet now that Holtz no longer supports slavery what are we to do?" as soon as the question was spoken, the man looked back at the once full city and noticed that without the cages, there was almost nothing left.

Will left the question unanswered for a few minutes. He focussed his attention more on the once captured men. Not one of the men of women looked saddened, each and every one wore a smile as if their lives had once more been returned to them. He thought of the lessons he had learned in world history from his dad, the importance of having a free world.

"I"m not saying it"s going to be easy Roland," Will said thoughtfully. "Employing such a large force of men is going to be a challenge, but I"m sure we can think of something." Will remembered Maya saying that Holtz was a hunting town, he looked back on the chicken he ate earlier and a thought formed almost as if it were just waiting for him to catch up. "What about hunting and transportation?"

Roland looked as if he had choked on a chicken bone of his own as he thought it over. "We would only be able to trade along the Kings Road in the warm seasons," He said while sizing up the force in front of him. "Even if we had reduced taxes, I would not even be able to pay such wages and come out even. There are only so many times a year we would be able to trade."

"Very true," Will said with a smile. "The way things are now, it would be difficult to travel the winter months." he got up from the hill and offered a hand to Roland. "What if I could introduce change?"

Roland accepted the prince"s hand and was hefted to his feet. "What kind of change would allow trade during the cold months? You would have to find a way to reduce travel time between towns, not to mention you would have to find a way to keep the trade goods fresh while being transported."

Will had already considered the two important points long before they were voiced. As his smile had remained during even the worst part of the conversation, Roland could only guess at the thoughts forming in the young man"s mind.

"How about instead of telling you, I show you." he said as he allowed his gold and crimson aura to shroud him as he took to the sky. Roland looked up and noticed he was flying straight to where they had set up the cages in the center of the city.

The sun had just finished setting as Will made his way to the center of Holtz. He found the ma.s.sive pile of cages in the open s.p.a.ce within the middle of the gated community.

As people looked up at the flying prince, he must have looked like a glowing star in the dying light of the sun.

Stopping in midair floating atop the large pile of what looked like hundreds of cages, Will focused his aura to amplify his voice. "I was just confronted with two questions that may seem impossible to you as you are now," his voice boomed as a large crowd formed within the square. They would finally see why they had been paid to move their previous jail cells. "What will you do now that slavery has been outlawed?" Will let the question hang for a few moments. "Now that you are no longer servants of the kingdom, what will you do?" Many of the men beneath him allowed the words to sink in. Most of them were intelligent enough to know that they were a huge source of income for the kingdom. "What if I were to tell you that I had a way to transport goods in any weather without using the Kings Road in a fraction of the time it would normally take?" many of the freed slaves have questioning glances towards their Prince. "What if I were to tell you I could give you such an ability?"

The crowd began shouting questions up to Will. Before he could answer one, two more presented themselves. "STOP!" He shouted with his amplified voice. "Please, if you have a question raise your hand in the air. I"ll ensure everyone hears."

The crowd became silent instantly. None of them had ever heard of the concept of raising their hands to be heard. A few of the ma.s.sive crowd got the idea and put their hands in the air.

Will counted around twenty hands at first. With a flip of his finger, Will focused his aura upon the twenty heads. He had never tried using his aura on others in a non destructive purpose, but his mind want back to the very beginning of his training. When he was within Maya"s cottage, he was able to split his flame and levitate each individual ball above his head. It wouldn"t be much of a stretch to believe the aura was powered by ones imagination.

Gasps could be heard around the crowd below as the men and women raised from the ground and joined him in the air. A slight crimson hue could be seen around each one.

Will noticed that each person was almost the same age as himself, which seemed to be a normal age for slaves. He remembered Maya"s explanation for slavery that he had heard almost a year ago. If a family within Ebonhart couldn"t afford the taxes, the knights would collect the most able of the family to sell into slavery.

As Will looked at the twenty teenagers, he thought solemnly to himself for only a moment before he addressed the group. "How many of you still have family in Ebonhart?" he looked around the group as he saw many eyes cast down.

"Sir, if we are here," a man responded softly. "It means we no longer have a family."

Will nodded solemnly to the group. It wasn"t easy having a family taken from you, especially if they had to watch it happen. "How would you like to join my family?" he asked as if it were a simple question.

The man had an expression Will knew all too well. He was uncertain as to what Will had meant. Will could almost see the repercussions forming in his mind even seconds after the question was asked.

"Your old family has been taken from you out of the negligence of my father, for that," Will placed his hand over his heart and bowed to the small group of ex slaves. "I am so sorry." he raised his head once more and looked into the eyes of every one of the group. "Let me right the wrongs of my family by giving you all a place among my family."

"Let me extend this offer to every one of you." Will said as he lifted his hands as if he were lifting something heavy. Below him, the cages began to rise from their unruly pile. With some effort, Will stacked them in a perfect tower which seemed to reach the heavens. "With your acceptance of me," he yelled out to the men and women below. "I will give you a badge of pride to wear wherever you go. A way for you to protect yourself, a way for you to make a living for yourselves." as they looked upon the cages, not one of them had a different expression. Each wore a look of astonishment at what they were witnessing. "Join my Royal Flame Crusade and never be chained again!" upon his last word, the tower lit aflame. Crimson and gold reached for the heavens as the crowd reached out.

Will could see the crimson flame spreading among the many thousand as if it were a force that could not be contained.

Will looked at the group with a smile. "So, what were your questions?"

None could find words any longer, he saw tears forming among them and understood that not one of them had ever been given such kindness before. "Welcome my friends, to the new Ebonhart."

As Will allowed a moment of silence among the ma.s.ses, he heard a familiar voice within his mind. Good job Will, we will need all the support we can get.

Will regarded the late king with a smile, yet he could tell something had happened to the resident within his mind. Is there a reason as to why we will need them? Had something happened?

Flashes of images entered Will"s mind, images he knew couldn"t be his own memories. He saw a dome of pure gold energy being swallowed by darkness. The surrounding area should have been lit by such energy, but Will could only see a group within the gold. Among the few, Will could see an old man with a crimson gown which he knew should have looked royal, yet instead had a grimy look to it. His hands were outstretched as if he were holding some immense weight above him. Will"s eyes went wide when he noticed a man to his left, a man which he instantly recognized. He had seen the brown duster many times before, yet it had always remained in the closet. The same dog tags which were around Will"s neck at that moment lay around the man"s neck. Dad? He couldn"t register what he was seeing. The image was showing him two different lives of his intertwined.

"A lot has happened since you left, Will." Cainus said within his mind. It is time for you to join the fight once more.