When she did do so, she looked up into his eyes, where she saw the first c.h.i.n.ks in the armor of confidence that he seemed to wear so effortlessly.
His eyes kept darting to the trinkets and then to somewhere below with nervous trepidation, and even his hands kept drumming the throne he was on, as if he was too excited to keep them at his side.
"You"re… Afraid of something."
She blurted this out before she could understand what she was saying, and right after she did, she clasped her two hands around her mouth, and shook her head, as if hoping that that movement would indicate that she had not meant what she said.
Yet, the king"s reaction put her at ease.
First, he looked at her with slight confusion, and then, after looking at his hands and legs, he laughed aloud and said, "It is said that those who look from afar often see the things that we like to hide from ourselves the clearest. None of my sovereigns could have been able to tell what you were able to read in barely a few seconds. And so… I think that my decision to enlist you for this cause was correct. Yes, if I"m being completely frank, I might be slightly afraid, Joselyn. It has been a long time since I"ve felt this way, so it almost feels foreign to me, but now that I think back, I realize that so much more of my life was spent in fear of the future when compared to all these recent years, when I was able to be the king who had everything in his grasp. I"m embarking on something truly dangerous, Joselyn. I have sat, time and time again, calculating the future with the cold certainty of someone who holds all the knowledge of the world in his hands, but again and again, I can only find one path to victory, and that path… Is filled with knives. Rather than fear, it is severe unease as things will not be under my control, soon, but there is no reason to use excuses to hide it. However…what is this I feel, now? A new kind of courage? Where did it come from? It sprung to life after I saw you! Then, that means…right! How can we grow, if we do not get over our fears? Oh, and to think I thought I was perfect enough to be called a G.o.d…but do G.o.ds even need to be perfect?"
Joselyn did not understand half the things that the king said, but she did see that he was helping him in some way.
The latter part of what he was saying was even uttered in almost a whisper, almost as if she had forgotten she was here, but knowing that it was probably an important moment of self-reflection, she did not do anything to disturb him.
Also, while he was lost in his thoughts, she realized that he had also asked her for her help, and remembering what he had done for her, she decided that she would do everything in her power to pay back the man who had prevented her from committing a crime that would have haunted her forever.
She waited for him to snap out of them, and when he did so a few seconds later, she was ready.
"Name what you need from me. I"ll do anything. I kept my promise to you- your bandit army is ready. As I communicated, a significant bunch of them need to be convinced, but the rest will follow you to their death. I am the same. You changed my life, and saved me… So I am ready to do anything and everything that is required of me to make sure that the land I was born into does not give birth to more broken and damaged creatures like me, who cannot even sleep for a few hours without waking up in a cold sweat, pining for those they have lost."
Tears were s.h.i.+ning in Joselyn"s eyes by the time she said the last word, as once again, the beautiful face of the little girl she had lost to the elves who saw nothing beyond their hate for all humans floated in front of her eyes.
"Ah… The goal to leave behind a world better than the one you came into. I think one of my sovereigns would like you a lot. Well, they"re partly the reason you"re here. First, thank you for accepting. Here - take a look at this."
As Joselyn read the parchment she was given, she saw that it was a list of events, marked with time.
Two hours before Noon - consolidation of the people begins.
One hour before Noon - representatives are chosen by popular vote where needed.
Quarter to Noon - arrival of the king.
Five minutes to Noon - official declaration of unification.
Noon - Coronation ceremony.
"What should I…"
"Your job is to make sure that those events happen exactly in the way that it is written in that piece of parchment. I will soon be giving you control of many of the powerful formations I"ve placed here in antic.i.p.ation of those who will be coming, and no matter what happens, you must make sure the unification continues."
"What do you…"
"No matter what, Joselyn. Even if it looks like I"m going to die… The ceremony must go on. Do you understand me?"
The King"s words made her mind go blank. What the h.e.l.l was he saying?
Seeing her confusion, he sighed and said, "This is why I need you, Joselyn. You"ve seen the harshness of the world, so you know that some things must be achieved, no matter what price we have to pay. If I had given this duty to my sovereigns, their love for me would have made them choose my life… I need someone who can stick to the path they have stepped on, no matter what happens. I even had to go to elaborate lengths to make them go to different ends of the continent, where their thrones will bind them and keep them there for quite a bit of time. You"ll do this for me, right, Joselyn? Will you do what is required to cut off the last festering piece of disease-ridden flesh from Angaria? Will you?"
The answer needed a moment, but when it came, it was firm.
"Yes. For Angaria."
Letting out a sigh of relief, the king leaned back and said, "I knew could trust you. The events begin a half-hour right now. I know I"ve said this a lot, but still…FINALLY, IT"S TIME!"
He screamed that last part, clapping his hands together with glee, and even though Joselyn saw that it was slightly forced, she said nothing.
Nodding to her, he turned around and flicked his fingers, making a strange object appear in the room.
It was a wooden coffin, and as the lid fell off to the side, she frowned and saw that the one who lay within was the king she had been speaking to until now.
Turning around and winking, the man she had been speaking to disappeared.
At the same time, the body in the coffin drew in a rasping breath, and as it rose… The world, itself, seemed to welcome it.