Shadow Eye

In the fictional country of Ryeland in medieval Europe, a lonely servant is working alone. He had been given this job months ago and was willing to do it for little pay. As the cleaner for multiple rooms in a castle, his job was cleaning the floors and walls. Failing to do so or doing a lackluster job would mean both a beating and reduced wages.

One night, he heard his lord and one of his bannermen talking. “My men are ready,” said the bannerman, “there are enough of us to campaign for a few years.” The lord seemed pleased to hear this news, which surprised the servant as he had always known him to be loyal and distant from politics.

“If your men are ready, we will have enough troops to march on the capital,” said the lord, “I have been waiting for years for this moment.” “I have wanted to be king of this land my entire life, and now, I have the chance to make it happen.” The lord continued to laugh, giving the servant an uneasy feeling as he stood about twelve feet away from the conversation. The servant was also careful to not make any sounds as he knew that if he was discovered to have been listening, he would be executed for being a spy, whether that accusation was true or not.”

The lord continued the conversation with his bannerman. “What do you think of the loyalty of the other lords and bannermen,” asked the lord. The bannerman responded by saying most of the other lords and bannerman were loyal to the current king and would not join in the lord’s usurpation. “That is fine. We can attack next month when the king is away on business with many of his loyal lords. If we can kill the ones who remaining in the kingdom, we should have enough soldiers to kill the king when he and his allies return.”

The bannerman then asked how the lord planned on paying for the usurpation. “I know a place where we can get money,” said the lord, “there is a rival neighbor that is willing to give us money if we agree to give them what they want.” The bannerman then asked what the rival kingdom wanted in return for the money. “They want some of our more distant land. We haven’t been able to effectively control them anyway, so it is to our benefit that we give them to them.” The bannerman then asked if the lord was sure that they wouldn’t betray him once he was done with the revolt as they would be badly weakened afterwards.

“I am aware of that,” said the treacherous lord, “which is why once we are done with the king, we will march to the lands that we promised to them in order to prevent them from trying to invade us.” The bannerman then commented on how they wouldn’t have the numbers or resources to mount an effective resistance to the enemy kingdom if they decided to invade them.

“I am aware that we will be weakened from the war,” said the lord, “but I believe that we can mount an effective defense if we work together.” The bannerman seemed nervous by the lord’s words as he knew that the kingdom would be badly weakened from the revolt planned by the lord to the point that it would take a few years before they could effectively rebuild. When the servant heard this, he was shocked by the lord’s plan, not only by the treachery, but also due to the disregard he had for the safety of the kingdom.

The lord then tried to end the conversation with bannerman by trying to reassure him that his plan would work. “I know that the revolt will be costly,” he said, “but I also believe that the other lords and bannermen will join us once we defeat their allies after they leave for business.” “They will know that we will be the better choice then the feeble king. They will also know that our neighbors will want to try to invade us again, and because of these reasons, they will back my coronation for becoming king.”

The bannerman wasn’t convinced by the logic of the treacherous lord. “My lord,” he said, “the lords and bannermen you are talking about are some of the most loyal in the kingdom.” “I believe that they would rather die than betray their king.” The lord, however, smiled when he heard this.

“I am aware that they are loyal,” said the untrustworthy lord, “but I have a plan.” “Once we take over the capital, I plan on taking their family members hostage. Afterwards, they will have no choice but to support my claim to the throne.” The bannerman appeared uneasy when he heard the final steps of the lord’s plan but didn’t argue with him.

“Fine,” said the bannerman, “if that is your plan, then I will go along with it.” The lord seemed pleased that he was willing to support him even if it meant unpleasant choices. The bannermen then began to leave the room, and to avoid being seen the servant hid in a closet that held rotting food and garbage.

After both of them left, the servant opened the door and left the room, smelling worse than he expected. “Well, I have heard it for myself,” said the servant to himself, “I was warned by the king’s spymaster that he had heard rumors of a revolt against his majesty, and he is correct.” The servant then contemplated telling the spymaster what he heard or not.

The servant was conflicted by that decision as he had lived his entire life in the kingdom peacefully even if it wasn’t a comfortable life. He had known no other life than working in the castle and wasn’t comfortable moving outside of its walls. On the other hand, he was loyal to the kingdom and its king, knowing that if the lord betrayed the king, it would cause a massive about of damage to the kingdom that would take years to heal.

“I really don’t know what to do,” he said to himself, “I know that one of the king’s spies is in a nearby inn, and if I wanted to, I could tell him about what I learned, and all of this will be over long before the lord attempts to overthrow the king.” The servant continued to think about these next actions, knowing that the fate of the kingdom and his life hanged in the balance.

“If I tell the spy, then everything I have ever known could be gone in the blink of an eye,” thought the servant, “and the life I planned for my family will also be gone.” The servant continued to think about what he was going to do next, but finally decided that by not telling the spy, he would be inviting more trouble and damage to the kingdom and his life if he didn’t.

“I need to tell the spy,” said the servant to himself, “if I don’t, I am not sure that my current life will exist if I don’t with the inevitable war coming.” “I also am not sure that the lord could win the war anyway.” The servant then decided to meet the spy in the tavern and snuck out of the castle using a secret entrance that was known only to the servants.