Chapter 2: Assassination
Derman walked out of his chambers, passing palace guards in the hallways, nodding to them as they bowed to him, hands resting on their scabbarded hard-steel swords, hard-steel weapons were the only things that could be used by strengthened ones in combat.
All these guards were handpicked strengthened ones, and all of them were visibly on edge.
To many of them, in their minds this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, if fighting started and they supported the winning side, they and their families futures would be assured.
However, all the guards that were posted on duty near his chambers for the past three days were already his, their loyalty unquestionable, he made sure of that by taking good care of their families financially.
There were not many strengthened ones in the kingdom, about 360 identified ones, this out of millions of the population.
They were a great asset, one of them as a guard was worth more than 10 normal soldiers, and many nobles and merchants tried everything they can to have the some under them, sometimes even going as far as to threaten their families or oppress them financially.
Derman had people with instructions to bring him word, whenever one was being forced, he would then save them and take them under his wing.
Because of this oppression, many potential strengthened ones escaped to other kingdoms, or went directly to the military, once they were recruited and proved their potential, their families would be protected and no one would dare threaten or harm them, the military has proven many times over that it was very, very protective of its own people.
Many strengthened ones in the military did not like him, mainly because he was not one of them, while his younger brother was, in fact, if he was one, or if his brother was not, then there would have been no doubt about the succession.
It was not really necessary for a king to be a strengthened one, the current king was not one, however, when Kalan, his little shit of a brother, was found to have great potential for training to become one, the kingdom split into two factions.
One, which was mostly the military, wanted Kalan to be the next king; and the other faction, composed of some noble families and government officials, opposed it mainly because they did not want the military to have too much influence over the throne.
Approaching the king's chambers, he stopped and took a deep breath, steeling himself to what could happen inside.
Whomever the king chooses this night will be his successor after his death, which was not too far away according to the doctors and shamans who examined him, his successor would be the second most powerful man in the kingdom second only to the king.
And as the king was too sick to attend his duties, the one he chooses will be the actual king in all but name.
The kingdom does not need two kings-in-waiting, nor would it need another prince once a king-in-waiting was chosen.
And If his brother Kalan is the one, then Derman will not live to see another day.
He and Angar had spent the last three days planning for that very outcome.
Pushing open the doors, he was greeted with a ghastly sight. The king, his father, was lying on his bed, and had a knife in his chest; his blood was spilling all over the sheets.
He also noticed that the trapdoor that was camouflaged in the wall besides the balcony was partially opened, telling him someone escaped, in a hurry.
Horrified and shocked, he didn't go through the trapdoor, there was no need for him to do that. Derman opened his mouth to call for the guards, only to remember that there were no guards outside the doors, Kalan must have removed them somehow so they don't interfere.
'Dammit' he thought, he would not have entered the chambers if he had noticed their absence, but he was so nervous he did not even take note of the oddity and just barged in.
Kalan played him good, which surprised him. His brother wasn't really very smart, most of his plots were petty and sometimes even laughably cute, so him playing Derman this way was shocking 'This is someone else's plot' he thought.
He knew that his brother was cruel, but he never thought that he would be this cruel, to kill his own father, even though they were never close with him, even though he never cared for them, he was still their father.
'And now, I am the one who killed him, according to sad and heartbroken king Kalan' He thought angrily.
Working his brain hard for a way to escape this bleak situation, his only solace was that they couldn't kill him just yet, regicide was a heinous crime in the kingdom, but the law was clear, royal blood cannot be spilled through execution.
Members of the royal family must first go through trial and be judged by court, only then could he be executed with the rope.
Hearing footsteps in the halls to the sides, he knew who it would be, the timing would be almost perfect and the plan would be successful, all hail king Kalan, except that Derman would eat his own feet before letting him get away with killing their father and taking the throne.
Slowly coming back through the doors, he adopted a horrified look of terror and confusion on his face, and then he screamed while pointing toward the king's body "Assassin! Assassin! To arms! Help the king!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone