Chapter Text
Ever since the very first sparks of rebellion had begun to ignite kindling across the land, Jeremy knew that leadership would not be easy.
Leadership was a balancing act, treading the line between what had to be done and what the people wanted while navigating the treacherous terrain that called itself politics. It wasn’t something most thought about when organizing an uprising, not in-depth at any rate, but Jeremy had seen one too many squashed insurrections to not know better.
Of course, when one proves themselves invaluable as a leader and advisor, one is usually expected to lead. That was something Jeremy had forgotten at the time, to focused on leading the people of the kingdoms to realize that they had come to see him as, well… Their own king.
And so, with a chunk of land awarded to them from The Mad King’s domain, an uprising successful, and a surprisingly substantial amount of resources, Jeremy was crowned “The People’s King”.
Jeremy didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but in all honesty, he hated it. He didn’t want to be king, he didn’t want to continue leading the people. When he had begun to spearhead the discontent mobs of peasants, he had only done it so that they (himself included) would finally have the respect they deserved. He did it because he was tired of working for thrones who had all too often forgotten who they represented, or that not all people were able to live as they did.
He didn’t do it for his own thirst for power. He didn’t do it so that he could be told what kings are meant to do, how they are meant to act (How many damn forks did someone even need ? It was just excessive!). He didn’t do it so he could sit back in the heart of his fledgling kingdom, giving orders and writing laws that affected people who he hardly saw in person anymore.
He had done it because it needed to be done, action needed to be taken.
Being a king was 90% inaction , and it was really starting to get to him. He felt lightning under his skin, itching and chafing, telling him to go out, do something. He wanted to go forth and adventure into the unknown once more, not caring if he returned or not. He wanted to do many things.
But, he was a leader, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. His people needed him, especially in such a fragile state. He couldn’t let all he built be torn down so easily, he had to reinforce it, strengthen it, make it so that, if something did happen to him , his kingdom would continue on.
In fact, he had been so busy working on plans to beef up their infrastructure that he hadn’t even noticed the young person enter his chamber until they cleared their throat, startling the king.
“Oh,” Jeremy said, hoping that he didn’t look as embarrassed as he felt “Sorry. I didn’t see you come in. What can I do for you?”
The messenger, obviously unnerved, fidgeted slightly before digging around in their bag, frantically looking for whatever it was they were meant to deliver to Jeremy, as if their life depended on it. That was another thing Jeremy hated about being king: anybody who hadn’t known him before were either in awe of him or afraid of him. He didn’t know what kind of rumors circled around the other kingdoms, but if they left young messengers afraid of giving him his mail and young men and women asking him to bless them (as if he were a mage, or a cleric), they weren’t the kind of rumors Jeremy wanted floating around.
“Relax, kid,” Jeremy said, turning around slowly, his hands raised in a surrender position “Take your time. I’m not gonna get angry just ‘cause it took you a minute to find my message.”
The messenger seemed to ease slightly at the assurance, but still made rather quick work of shuffling through their bag before finally pulling out a single letter with an orange seal pressed into it. Jeremy took it, looking at the ornate seal, recognizing the crown on the emblem to be that of King Ramsey, The First King (And, to some of the more bitter followers from the rebellion, The Stagnant King) .
(Sometimes, Jeremy caught himself wondering just how many titles he would earn as King, or if he would simply be “The People’s King” for all time.)
“Thank you,” Jeremy said quietly, so he wouldn’t spook the poor kid “Do you need compensation, a place to stay, anything like that?”
The messenger tilted their head slightly, a lack of understanding shining in their eyes. Jeremy knew that the other kings, while not perfect by any means, weren’t heartless. They paid their staff and kept them safe. Why was the kid confused?
Oh, right .
“Oh, uh, Compensation. It means like, get paid.”
The messenger beamed up at him, a small giggle erupting from their mouth as they nodded. Jeremy couldn’t help but smile back, eager to help.
“What can I do for you, kiddo? Gold? Food? A place to stay? Whatever you need, I’ll do what I can to get it to you.”
As the messenger slowly pulled out their nearly empty coin pouch, Jeremy nodded, taking a rather large handful of coins from his own pouch and putting it in, laughing as he saw the kid’s eyes widen further before gawking up at the king. Jeremy simply ruffled their hair.
“Alright, get going. Try not to travel while it’s dark, though! We don’t have many paths set up yet, so you may need to stay somewhere during the night, or get someone else to escort you wherever you’re headed next.”
The messenger nodded before bolting out of the room, and Jeremy released all the air from his lungs in a heavy sigh as he looked at the still-sealed letter. The orange wax was emblazoned with King Ramsey’s crown, a simple thing that somehow managed to still exude royalty, two chicken feathers sprouting behind it triumphantly with an egg in between them, as if the images could serve as wings and a halo for the crown. It was a somewhat strange design to some, but having seen that kingdom’s wilds and farms, it made perfect sense to Jeremy.
That king really enjoyed chickens, to the point where he managed to create ones that could create materials out of thin air . Plus, there was a certain symbolism behind it, the old “Chicken or egg” question, the birth of something new that would in turn create more new, etc.
With another soft sigh, Jeremy decided to forgo the use of that stupid letter-opener he had been given after being crowned and snapped the wax apart, opening the letter up to read. His eyes scanned it once. Twice. Three times.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
---
Dear Newly Crowned King Dooley,
Welcome to the ranks of nobility, adventurer! I’m sure that a man of your history and prowess is sick to death of all the pomp and circumstance we use around the public, and to be honest, so am I, so let's cut to the chase:
While some inter-kingdom traditions are bullshit (like the Towers of Victory) or an excuse for us to dick around (The Kingdom Games), there’s a few we do take seriously. You’ve already taken care of most of them, but there’s two in particular you have to do.
First is The Banquet. This is one that everyone knows about, where all us kings get together for one whole month, eat together, live together, and have the whole land sing songs of peace and blah blah, you know that. We both know it's coming up, and, as always, I’m hosting it. You have to come, otherwise, well… It’s kind of a dick move, you know?
Second is The Vow. I’ll explain it in person, but this is probably one of the most important traditions we have, so please don’t be late to The Banquet.
Sincerely Yours,
King Geoff Ramsey
---
“Soooo,” Matt said slowly, looking up from the letter “You’re pissy because you got invited out for dinner?”
“Matt--”
“I’m just sayin’, sounds like a pretty good deal to me. You get to finally get out of the castle, spread the word about our kingdom, and eat free food. That’s like, heaven.”
“ Matt --”
“You think they’ll have donuts? I remember going to the festival once, this one vendor dude had the best donuts. The best . Hey, think they’ll let you bring a plus one, because if so, I’m totally--”
“Matt, please ,” Jeremy said, raising his voice slightly and finally cutting Matt off “I’m pissy for two reasons: One, there’s still a lot of shit I need to do so this kingdom doesn’t fall apart during this stupid celebration and two , I have no fucking idea what this ‘Vow’ is. There’s no record of it anywhere! It’s freaking me the fuck out!”
“Maybe they’re hazing you,” Jeremy’s former guildmate offered “Like back when we first joined the Hunter’s Guild. They’ll have you do some stupid or gross shit in private, laugh about it, then welcome you to the secret king club.”
“As much as I wish that was true, I don’t think it is, Matt.”
“Then what do you think it is?”
Jeremy didn’t know how to respond to that. All he knew was that he had a bad feeling, although it wasn’t the first time he had felt something like that. Many a bitching session was had by Matt back during their guild days about Jeremy “No Fun” Dooley telling him not to touch something, or to not go a certain way, or a number of other things, but Jeremy had grown up learning to trust his instincts, through both tradition and experience. He knew when something fucky was going on, or when it was about to happen.
Of course, Matt grew up in a very different place, one where instinct was overruled by logic. Despite Matt’s tendency to break the traditions of his home kingdom, that was one he liked to stick by.
“If you say you have a bad feeling about it, I’m going to defect back to King Ramsey’s kingdom.”
“It’s not defection anymore, technically. You’d just be immigrating back.” Jeremy retorted, trying to change the subject as subtly as possible. If Matt noticed, he didn’t say anything, giving a sharp bark of a laugh.
“Okay asshole , fair point.”
“You know, the more you say shit like that, the less inclined I am to bring you.”
“Okay, one , like you’d bring anybody else, considering you don’t have a proper court aside from me yet, and two , with all due respect your majesty , go fuck yourself. I’m getting those donuts one way or another.”
It was Jeremy’s turn to laugh, soon accompanied by Matt’s laughter once more. It was nice, the two of them sharing the moment, as if it were the old days, as if Jeremy hadn’t had the weight of a whole kingdom thrust upon his shoulders. As the laughter died down, Jeremy looked up and down Matt.
The same place that seemed to always know when something was bad also told him when something was a good idea, and it was fairly positive that taking Matt with him was a good move.
“Alright, you’ve made your point, but please don’t start anything. I don’t want to accidentally ignite another war.”
“Oh come on , we’re only going to a kingdom that hates both magic and technology to meet with several others that branded us as dangerous renegades and only gave you this land so you’d stop kicking their asses! What’s the worst that
“I hate when you say that…” Jeremy groaned, setting off another set of giggles from Matt before the two parted to prepare for the trip.