A Shroud of Crowns

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished, and it would do so until the conclusion of her Majesty's burial. In actuality, the first indication to her people that Her Majesty had died away was the rivers in the Queendom of Lubel flowing backwards; the burial had not yet started. Lubel is the first of a monarch's three phases of death; members of the royal family don't just disappear there.

Those who knew Queen Atani well were not surprised by her disappearance; her three sons, the Queensguard, and a few members of the royal family were there when she passed away. In front of their own eyes, she laid on her bedspread and vanished. The Queen's chambermaid was an old woman who started her profession as a young woman for the last Queen; thus, for everyone except one person in the room, this was the first time they had seen this phenomenon. Knowing that the new monarch will be crowned in a few days, the men and women present all bowed their heads in reverence for their departed leader as the funeral procession came to an end.

With a lengthy, monotonous sound that bordered on mourning, the big bell in the highest clock tower rang out once. Five seconds later, it repeated, and for four and a half minutes, it would do so exactly fifty-four times, commemorating the duration of Her Majesty's reign.

The stone stairs leading down from the castle were being walked by Prince Flynn. Ten thousand people live in Mistvale, the capital of Lubel, and the stairs lead onto the main road. Known as the People's Prince, Flynn liked to hang out with the ordinary people, playing cards, betting on snail races, and drinking in pubs. He was skilled at all of these activities. His brothers were the total opposite; his mother's favorite, Prince Carter, the oldest, was haughty, conceited, and a pain to be around. Prince Dravin, his younger brother, was a talented fighter who, even at fourteen, was destined to become the youngest Knight to join the Guard—an honor unlike any other. As such, he could do no wrong in the eyes of the Queensguard.

Questions like "Where did I go wrong with you?" "To what displeasure do I owe this visit?" and "Won't you just behave like your brothers for once?" were often directed at Flynn. He was particularly enraged by the latter; he would never behave in the same manner as his brothers.

During this solitary stroll, Flynn realized that while many people have questioned the three-stage dying process of a monarch, no one had been able to determine the cause of it (as far as he knew). Even the late Queen didn't have such answers, or if she did, she never told her middle son. During those few moments, Prince Flynn decided to follow in the footsteps of others who had tried to learn, but he would be different; armed with his newfound knowledge, he would return to the Queendom of Lubel.

The second step started right away after the first, which was the body disappearing. Every major city would have a simultaneous appearance of the Queen's apparition in its central plaza. The apparition would then wait for a throng to assemble and address them. The Queen's speech could be heard clearly, but the apparition's lips would not move and no sound would emerge. Traditionally, this speech was brief and consisted of the monarch announcing the new monarch and thanking the subjects.

The people of Lubel heard Queen Atani's voice across the Queendom; she said her prepared words just as Flynn arrived in Mistvale. Her toneless, droning voice echoed off the walls and reverberated through the streets. Flynn made a beeline for The Brazen Bull, a place he was all too familiar with, as soon as he entered the city. Prince Flynn often visited the bar, but he also had a room set aside just for him, which he hired annually for the only reason that he needed a place to stay outside the palace. Prince Flynn had realized over the previous several years that he would never inherit the kingdom and that he was the least popular of his mother's three children. He also knew that there would come a time in his life when he would leave Mistvale and embark on an adventure, wherever it may lead.

Flynn had prepared a bag with a few necessities, such as a bed roll, a long hooded coat, a canteen, a few snares, a wet stone, and oils for his blade, and he had left a bow and quiver with twenty-four arrows inside Room 9 of The Brazen Bull. Flynn slid the quiver up and over his head, strapped the bow wood to his back, and slung the bag over his right shoulder after putting on his cloak. This allowed the strap to sit comfortably at an angle. He hurried down the steps to the lower level and spoke to Misty, the innkeeper's daughter and barmaid. She filled his canteen with fresh water from the well and gathered a variety of dried and cured meats, bread, and dry fruits.

As an unidentified traveler, Prince Flynn departed the bar with enough food and supplies to last him for days, as well as his bow and snares, which he could use to collect more. Now he only needed to follow the river.

There was something wonderful about the Crystalbrook, but few knew what it was. It could increase strength and stamina and heal, but only if a shaman was there and gave the right incantation. To yet, humans have only been able to accomplish this accidentally, and no one is sure how or why.

Flynn arrived at the Crystalbrook and saw the upstream river. Knowing that water normally flows downward, it was an odd feeling to see this river pleased to flout its own rules. He waited for his mother's funeral to reach its third and last stage.

The second stage of his mother's death came to an abrupt end when the distant sound of her voice stopped in the city's main plaza, marking the start of the last stage. The corpse would be deposited tenderly in a gorgeously adorned boat, rowed by unseen oarsmen, as they would materialize on the horizon in what they dubbed the Water Funeral. The oars would cease rowing as the boat approached the capital and entered the river, enabling the monarch to be carried through the city by the unnaturally reversed stream, giving the subjects a last opportunity to say farewell. Richer households would sometimes toss flowers, including silver and gold, from the shores of the river.

According to the people, Queen Atani was a good-natured and amiable monarch who had welcomed many of her subjects to hear their stories of suffering and to assist in resolving both significant and sometimes little conflicts.

But behind closed doors, Queen Atani was seen by members of the inner circle as a disgusting person who mistreated her children and her palace employees. She often imitated some of her victims' arguments behind their backs and made fun of how little money they had won. Word sometimes spread that she wasn't as kind as she seemed to be, but because of her dealings with the public, the charges never progressed further.

In all honesty, only a tiny part of him was sorry that his mother had left, and that little part was primarily sad because it meant his older brother would be taking the throne, even though his mother was receiving a warm reception from her devoted subjects on her journey up the river.

Thus, Flynn found himself sitting on the riverbank, waiting for his mother, the missing Queen, to pass upstream. According to legend, the first monarch to rule over all of Lubel was transported down the Crystalbrook by the gods in a boat of delicious ruby red. They all went back to the gods in the same way when each monarch died away. Lords and ladies claiming to be kings and queens were battling for control of all of Lubel at the time, and the region was plagued with conflict. There were up to twenty-two self-proclaimed monarchs, according to certain rumors. However, the realm was too big for one person to rule over; if a local monarch came within striking distance, two or more other monarchs would betray them, kill them, or topple them.

The gods decided to send their own monarch because they wanted the area to be at least somewhat peaceful so that humans might flourish. Some of the local self-proclaimed monarchs first resisted, but eventually they realized there was only one actual Queen of Lubel after some of the rebels were slain and others spoke about treaties with the new monarch.

According to legend, this occurred more than 700 years ago. As the exquisitely designed and embellished boat appeared around the curve, Prince Flynn's focus was diverted from the past and returned to the present. The boat's top was covered with layers of flowers, and he could see some of the money that had been tossed on board glinting as it moved. Last but not least, he saw his mother's corpse and, oddly, felt nothing. He anticipated feeling a little depressed and regretting their connection, and he was even relieved that he would never have to see her again. However, he felt nothing at all, including none of that.

He got up from his seat and started going upriver, following the boat to its starting point on its 700-year-old trip. He could not bear to let it go from his sight.

Flynn could sense that the low, thick fog was here to stay, clinging to the trees like a tick on a dog. In order to keep sight of the boat, he stayed within a few meters of the riverbank at all times. In order to avoid having to make a significant detour, Flynn had to remove his dagger from its sheath on his hip a few times throughout the following sixteen hours in order to sever some thick undergrowth. He encountered little opposition; the only time he had to defend himself was when robbers attempted to take his arm. Three men was insufficient, however, for even though he was the least skilled of his mother's three sons, he was still regarded as one of the nation's top swordsmen. The only time he had to show off his archery prowess was when a lionhawk chose to eat the queen's corpse. His justification for protecting was not to preserve the honor of the deceased queen but rather to appease the gods.

The higher he ascended upward, the denser the forest seemed to become. When he came to a fork in the river, he had to leap over the new fork, which was two meters long, in order to continue on the right. Flynn sprinted up and threw himself over the opening, falling hard and stumbling as he attempted to calm down. Despite being alone, he rose up swiftly as if to avoid shame. To his amazement, he turned to see that the river was empty and that the stream had reverted to normal. Angry with himself for squandering the previous twenty hours, he let out a loud curse. More than anything, Flynn was anxious to succeed in his endeavor; if he failed, he would not return the Mistvale. Flynn really thought his brothers would not want him to return, and he was aware that there would be inquiries about where he had been.

Keeping the river to his right, Prince Flynn brushed himself down and strolled with confidence, now following the stream that was flowing downhill in the other way—that is, the conventionally proper path. A minute later, only fifty meters away, something occurred that Flynn was unable to comprehend or account for.

As he moved forward through the glimmering air, he pulled his sword since he couldn't see anything because of the brilliant sun blazing through a clear sky. Even though he felt sick as he stepped through the door, he kept forward, sword up, and prepared to defend himself if needed. The discomfort went quickly, but the brilliant light remained as he realized he was standing exactly where he was, with the forest trees around him and the river to his right. He kept going until he abruptly emerged into a clearing through the thick, dense shrubs.

The area was surprisingly large, and he was now seeing hundreds of individuals, none of whom had yet to notice him. The simplest route up the mountain was a lengthy trail that wound upwards and ended in front of a big structure at the summit. Flynn followed the paved brick route since it made the most sense. He put his sword back in its sheath after realizing that these individuals posed no danger, alerting those closest to him of his presence. As soon as they saw him, they began to bow deeply and respectfully, bending their knees. Everyone in his line of sight was kneeling by the time he reached the last kilometer.

When he got close to the massive structure, it seemed bigger than at the start of the route. It featured eight big pillars along the front, four on each side of a massive set-back double entryway, and seemed to be constructed of ash white marble. He discovered that the structure consisted of a single, enormous chamber with paintings depicting history that he recognized—history of the mythology he had heard and had been considering only the day before.

Eight enormous thrones stood in a semicircle in front of him, and eight enormous humans were seated on them. Gods, not humans. He had heard about these gods since he was a child. The ones he had always doubted yet trusted in. the people seated directly in front of him.

Grayver, Kunlan, Phaeno, Quona, Theria, Marrus, Daa'ev, and Luscon.

Phaeno, the God of War, said, "Hello Prince Flynn, we've been expecting you," which was the last thing Flynn anticipated hearing.