Wholly Undead

Jack turned his focus back on the court. He looked back down on the Officials he noticed earlier that rattled as he looked over them. "Grand Minister Lucius."

Lucius placed his right hand over his left rib cage, where a heart should be, in acknowledgment. "Bring the court in order, and list Our issues of the Kingdom."

[Ah, so it begins.] Grand Minister Lucius thought. He turned and spoke to the Officials, and so began The Holy Witch King"s court session.

Grand Minister Lucius" voice rang out "Let Court come to session, his Grace, The Holy Witch King presides! The floor is open. You may state your business."

For a short time, only the sound of bones and few sticky coughs from the zombies were heard. The Officials were comprised of Skeleton undead and Zombie undead, male and female, The Holy Kingdom of Deagoth wasn"t known to be racist, or gender biased on the whole. The way it was put by The Holy Witch King previously, "We all have a Skeleton within us." The Kingdom of Deagoth"s crest was a symbol of Holy Undeath. The skull on the crest wasn"t so much to show they were undead, but that by being dead, they were brought closer to each other in the embrace of death.

Jack looked down to his right, casting his gaze on the first Official seated in the Unlife section. Looking at his Grace, the Official stood up.

"Unlife Official Thompson requesting permission to speak."

[Using their names to request permission to speak is so convenient. I have no idea who any of these Officials are.] Jack inwardly praised.

Jack tapped his Femur Ferula. Clink.... Many Officials shuddered, why was The Holy Witch King so cold today? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the tomb?

Unlife Official Thompson was a zombie. Thin and tall, His skin a shade of gray, wearing merchant vestments, he spoke. "Southern Boneyard workers are on strike. They are demanding more compensation for the work they provide. We can all understand wanting more money, but we pay the same for all Boneyard workers. If we increase the wages of the southern Boneyard workers, then we will need to increase the wages of all the Boneyard workers, least they form a union!"

It had to be known that the Officials were fearful of a union forming among the workers. If all the workers banded together and forced a shutdown, this would cripple the supply of Building material and other useful products. This would have a rippling effect on the whole economy. The worst part about this issue is that the two houses couldn"t come to an agreement on this issue. Every time the House of Unlife sent a proposal for increased pay to the House of Undeath, it was immediately rejected! The House of Undeath always stating that they couldn"t bend to the threats of the workers.

[What"s a Boneyard? I mean, I know it"s a place full of bones, but what are they using them for exactly?] Jack was full of questions. The Book he absorbed didn"t contain a list of resources used by the undead or the kingdom.

All eyes were on Jack now, while Leslie was still absent absentmindedly sitting on his chair arm. She had started to lean against The Holy Witch King, coming into contact with his shoulder pauldrons. She looked very delicate compared to their ma.s.sive size.

"I will answer all issues, one by one, once I have heard everyone." Clink....

Jack was using his rod as a gavel. If the Officials knew this they would surely cough their souls out! They a.s.sumed this was done out of impatience, and displeasure.

Startled, Unlife Official Thompson quickly spoke, "Of course, your Grace." He quickly sat back down, and began to wipe the black sweat that beaded up on his brow.

Jack glanced back down at Lucius, signaling with his eyes. Lucius picked up on this. "Next issue." Grand Minister Lucius"s voice rang out.

This time War Marshal Verruca Spoke up, as a War Marshall she sat with the Officials of Unlife. "War Marshal Verruca requesting permission to speak!" War Marshal Verruca was a large female zombie. Dressed in heavy plate armor, she looked like a gold plated tank! She was a head shorter than Jack, but just as wide. She didn"t, however, have her helm on, and her face could be seen. She had a childish face with red irises and long teal color hair that had green highlights, which bore a stark contract to her hulking build. The Holy Witch King in full regalia was ma.s.sive, but War Marshal Verruca was close to this size without her armor. With it though, she was an army of one.

Clink.... Jack"s rod rang out, again.

"I have been held here in the City of Saigunrai for a year now! Me and My army should have been sent to the Northern border..." Dissatisfaction oozed from her voice.

Jack"s eyes slowly descended to see Verruca, when he heard her sing-song voice. [Wow! This is a female undead hulk that has such a feminine voice. Her voice is more girly than Leslie"s...!]

The War Marshal stood fearlessly under the gaze of The Holy Witch King. [This one seems to be very bold and righteous... Noted] Jack thought. "To the North is the Republic of Stonedge, what have they been doing to warrant Our War Marshal Verruca to pay them a visit?"

"They have been raiding the small towns and villages for the last year and a half. We have taken quite a bit of losses, and We are quickly losing the trust of the people in that region. In addition, the Republic of Stonedge has been showing designs on taking the Glowstone mines to the northwest. I can take my forces, and rout them in three months" time!" War Marshal Verruca said with a firm tone, but with her sweet sing-song voice, felt out of place.

"Interesting... And, who may I ask, is stopping you. I presume the houses have good reason." Jack"s tone sounded slightly icy. This was something the Officials hadn"t expected. The Holy Witch King had always kept the same tone, no matter the situation. It was always warm, and refreshing. This felt more like... The Angel of Death...

While the Officials were silent in shock, even War Marshal Verruca and her fellow War Marshals were dazed.

Cliiiink.... This time the Femur Ferula heavily hit the Throne floor. This brought back a lot of the Officials from their internal thoughts, and surprise. Some of the Officials with lesser mental ability started coughing, others... rattling.

[With all the noise made by these undead, the phrase "Silent as the grave" is a lie...] Jack was greatly displeased. Something was weird going on, and it wasn"t the undead.

"Grand Minister Lucius. Who held War Marshal Verruca from her friendly visit to the Northern border?"

A friendly visit? Many Officials caught a nervous tick from this question... Who here didn"t know of the "Idol of Slaughter!?" This was the nick name given by the people to War Marshal Verruca. If she wasn"t tied up by The Nation of Borda a thousand years ago, The Holy Witch King wouldn"t have had to call down his Holy Hymn, and be forced into entombment.

Only one other War Marshal was known this well, War Marshal Ken! He was known as the "Whisper of Death." Unlike Verruca, who was a Holy Templar Knight, War Marshal Ken was the opposite as an Holy a.s.sa.s.sin Grand Master . He was short, lanky, and agile. His Holy quick blade had quietly slayed countless enemy generals, in a shine of light from the dark. He was currently deployed; defending the Southeast Border, against the Great Tomb of Neolith. It was also widely known, that War Marshal Ken was head over heels for War Marshal Verruca. The only problem was that War Marshal Verruca didn"t care in the slightest. The Holy Witch King and War Marshal Verruca were the two most well known bachelor and bachelorette of the kingdom, respectively.

"The House of Unlife has proposed sending War Marshal Verruca and her army many times. However, it is the House of Undeath that has denied the proposal to vector forces."

"Oh..." Jack responded. A hiss of breath was heard from the zombie Officials in the court. It had long been known that "Oh" was used by The Holy Witch King to show his understanding, but also his dissatisfaction. His Grace"s tone was low when he spoke this "Oh." This had many Officials worried, for their unlife. This was never a concern, before, but now with the impending "cleansing," it was needless to say more.

"War Marshal Verruca. We will have a meeting, soon. Stand by for the moment, and keep your dissatisfaction for Our enemies." Jack calmly spoke. He felt like he was playing his part extremely well.

With the clanking of armored plates, War Marshal Verruca gave a Deagoth Military salute. "I look forward to meeting in his Grace"s presence." A smile curled at the edges of her lips. It was only now that Consort Leslie roused from her day dreams. She just so happened to be mindlessly looking at War Marshal Verruca when she smiled. Consort Leslie knew this type of smile women folk made... Leslie had yet to realize that she was propped up on the arm of the Throne, leaning against The Holy Witch King.

War Marshal Verruca sat back down.

Clink....

"Again, next issue." Lucius called out.

Murmurs had finally started to circulate among the Officials. Jack waited patiently on his Throne, while overlooking the Officials.

[So now they start to murmur it up, these sorry Officials. How much have they lined their pockets? It seems that it"s the House of Undeath that is causing problems. If I recall correctly, the Holy tome I absorbed said they are made of the clans of the Kingdom... One representative per clan... Undead clans, huh? Did entire clans become undead to form them? Do they adopt to keep the clans going?" Jack was pondering how the clans worked.

Suddenly, Marquis Mark stood up and calmly spoke, "Undeath Official Marquis Mark requesting permission to speak."

Jack"s gaze shifted to what he considered was a new complainer. [Wasn"t he present at my re-awaking? An Undeath Official? All the c.r.a.p I"m going to have to deal with is most likely his House"s fault...] Jack was pondering what he was going to bring up.

Clink....

Marquis Mark inwardly frowned, but nothing could be told from his skeletal face. "The People and the Kingdom face a great crisis. The two biggest trading companies have merged to form the "South Eastern Undead Trading Company, and are currently running a monopoly on surrounding resources and trade."

Marquis Mark let this soak for a moment, then continued, "With this monopoly, the new trading company has crushed most of the resisting merchants, and have raised the prices of most common goods. Our counter measures can only last so long, as we release surplus from the kingdom to bring down the market prices, so they stay in affordable reach of the people."

This had been the single most important issue to the Undeath Officials. While this was definitely an issue for the House of Unlife, they were more concerned with the encroaching enemy forces surrounding the kingdom. Many Officials, not just those of the House of Unlife, felt that their kingdom had become a big piece of juicy meat that was being eyed by all the other countries.

Jack pondered for a moment, "What are the surrounding countries doing to combat this?" Jack"s question exploded in Marquis Mark"s mind... This wasn"t The Holy Witch King he knew. The Holy Witch King he knew would make an "Oh.," and then resolved the issue or moved on to the next issue. Why was it like this?

"Ah.... Your servant is ashamed to say, he doesn"t know." Marquis Mark spoke, if he had a face it would be completely red. Luckily his skeletal face provided a great poker face, much like Jack"s face.

"Really? I find that hard to believe...." Jack paused and leaned forward on his Throne looking down at him, "...Marquis Mark."

Many Officials pondered the meaning of this statement; however, the House of Undeath Officials didn"t look so good. Most of them were rattling, and one zombie Official who didn"t have enough mental fort.i.tude started sweating large amounts of black sweat. He was dabbing his brow continuously... failing to remain low key.

Jack had confirmed by this reaction that the House of Undeath did not have the best interest of the kingdom in mind, seems they were in cahoots with this new Trading Company.

Jack sat back in his seat. "The price of goods weighs heavily on the kingdom and its people, if they remain too high. With the people unable to purchase goods for day-to-day requirements, then it is the same as if the Trading Company isn"t selling at all." Jack"s heroic speech echoed among the Officials. It could be seen that the Officials of Unlife were nodding their heads, while the Officials of Undeath tried to remain pa.s.sive.

Jack once again rested his back into his chair; no longer leaning forward.

Clink....