Coreopsis 4

     Shyreka was once a war torn land. Two brothers: Simon and Phillip were as different as night and day. They kept the country in battle for 60 years. Over time 75% of the population had been decimated. Simon had tried five times to call a truce. Phillip would never agree. He wanted everything or nothing. 

   Simon had one son. Phillip went without a wife or children. War was his main focus. 

   A woman appeared one night to Simon. She was dressed in a black cloak that covered her from head to toe. She offered to kill Phillip. In exchange, she wanted the next male heir from the House of Morian (Simon’s family line) to marry the female of his generation from the House of Prinee. If this union, when it was supposed to occur was forbidden, no matter in what time the entire line would die. Prinee’s house was powerful and war like but due to the nature of the Morian feud; they refused to get involved. Power wasn’t everything for the purity of the Prinee line was dying.  

   Simon and his wife toiled over this offer for days. His child was a girl. What about his grandchildren? Could he do that to them? There had been one arranged marriage during his linage. It was a disaster. He didn’t want this to happen again. Every monarch had to read the account when they had children. 

   He had tried three times to kill Phillip, failing each time. Mostly, because Phillip was his brother. How do you kill your blood? How do you justify murder? Finally under distress, they agreed.

   Two days after their agreement, the body of Prince Phillip was delivered to Prince Simon by Phillip’s generals. They immediately pledged their allegiance to Simon. And he was in turn crowned King.

   In the shadows, he saw the cloaked figure. Sadness filled his heart.

   At the birth of a child, a member of the opposite house was at hand. Prinee and Morian were populating their houses with girls. During the fourth generation after the death of King Simon, this changed.

   Holding true to course, King Taul and Queen Vespa conceived a girl: Princess Floria. The House of Morian gave a concealed sigh of relieve. Their joy would be shattered when six years later when King James and Queen Rao conceived a boy. With the birth of Orion, the union between the two houses had to take place.

   James dreaded this union so. It ate at his soul. He had read the account passed down by Rao’s ancestors. The thought of having to do this caused him to lose sleep at night. He had watched Floria grow up. She was a monstrous child and was growing into a despicable person. He did not want his son attached to that.  

   By the time of Orion’s birth, Shyreka had been transformed into a thriving city.

   They lived by strict rules so that war would never destroy them again. This growth and prosperity only added to his sadness.