King Niall

King Niall

To Niall,

Happy Birthday!!

You’re getting to be an old man now so here is an exciting story about how even an old man can be adventurous. I especially think you’ll like the ending… Love Nicola xxx

My thanks go to: Niall, for the inspiration of the storyline, Various other friends for the characters and their bizarre phrases, Tom for creative input and editing assistance, And Atkins, for not giving me enough work to keep me occupied…

Chapter 1 Once upon a time there was a grumpy old King. He ruled over his Kingdom of Edinbaland wisely and justly, but he became miserable. He had been brought up to treat other people kindly and fairly. After his father had died he had taken over ruling the land. The years passed and he found little pleasure in them. He attended huge banquets and visited other wonderful countries. His court jester Coung, despite being the best jester in the whole kingdom, could no longer make him laugh and none of the good news from his advisers made him smile. The kingdom was prospering but he was still miserable. When King Niall had been a young boy he had spent his summers at his father’s palace in Buckstone. He and his best friend STC had whiled away their time playing in the nearby forests; building forts, terrorising the wildlife, and flirting with the local girls. STC was the prince of the neighbouring Kingdom of Dunfermland. STC had been his nickname for almost as long as Niall had known him. He had earned it one day when they had been playing in the forest and the rare super-toad had hopped past. It was rumoured to bring good luck to whoever was fast enough to catch it. The boys immediately gave chase. They followed it all over the forest and eventually STC managed to catch it. Unfortunately, he then fell into a marsh. Niall had to think on his feet and had grabbed a fallen tree branch and pulled his friend to safety. They decided that the toad was not as lucky as people thought and so from that day Niall called his friend STC, supertoad catcher. Over the summers the two boys flirted with all the girls from the area but only one ever really caught Niall’s interest. Jenna was the daughter of one of the local Lords. She had often joined them for their games and, next to STC, was his closest friend. When she was old enough to be considered a woman however, her father arranged an advantageous marriage to the son of another Lord. Jenna had heard of the boy’s reputation as a gigolo and, rather than be forced into the marriage, ran away. Her father searched the kingdom for her and Niall had often wondered what happened to her. His own father had died before arranging a marriage for him, which meant that he had to select his own bride. He had met various young women from other royal families but none of them stood out. His advisor, Joe, had then invited all the most beautiful girls from throughout the kingdom but none had been what the King was looking for. They were mostly spoiled and vain and he absolutely refused to take a wife simply to produce an heir. If worst came to worst, his brother would take over after him, though Niall considered that as the very last resort. Gradually he began to care less and less about his subjects. He never neglected his duties as King but no longer took any pride or pleasure in his role. Joe noticed but couldn’t find any way to induce Niall to become more involved. Joe had become Niall’s closest friend, as STC was too busy with the affairs of his own kingdom and Niall found it hard to confide in anyone else. This meant that he was lonely and Joe was running out of ways to distract the King from his boredom, though he did suggest spending more time in the gym. Niall soon found a very different way of keeping himself busy.

Chapter 2 Recently Niall had heard some rather disturbing news. There were rumours spreading of peasants going missing. While peasants often died by the dangers of the land, those disappearing without a trace caused even more fear than the known terrors that were already in abundance. Every week another young man would go missing. Niall had Joe keep him updated with the current theories. Some believed that the King was behind it. Others, that the young men were going into hiding to start a revolution. Most, however, suspected the dark and creepy scientist living in the old mansion. This was with good reason. As the months went by the mansion had grown more and more neglected. Nobody had seen Professor Fraser for many years. The last anybody had heard, he’d gone slightly crazy. He had told people he was going to write a book and had locked himself away. Until the disappearances, everybody had presumed him to be dead. Niall had actually been a close friend of the Professor before he separated himself from the world. They had often done experiments together as Niall had a keen interest in science. He decided to stop by the mansion to see what Thomas was doing. He really hoped the rumours weren’t true but was afraid that the years cooped up alone could have loosened Thomas’ mind further. So Niall put on one of his outfits that he kept in a secret part of his closet. He’d realised years ago that he couldn’t wear his usual robes when trying to blend in with the peasants and so had Joe arrange an ulterior wardrobe. He slipped out one of the side entrances with only Coung to keep him company. They made their way up to the mansion. As they approached they noticed that only one light was on in a room near the back of the mansion. Getting closer, they heard muffled cries. Niall shuddered. The rumours must be true. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to face Tom without some of the palace guard but decided to try. As they walked past the windows of the old house Coung began to feel nervous. He wasn’t worried about dealing with the scientist. However crazy he might be, he was unlikely to be any kind of match for an experienced ninja such as himself. It would be tricky protecting the King though. He had been protecting Niall for a long time now but a crucial part of the plan was that Niall knew nothing about it. Coung had seen the King slipping out earlier in the evening and convinced Niall to let him tag along. The King was doing a great deal of good for the Kingdom and the ninja community didn’t want to risk his security. They knew, however, that Niall was quite a proud man and would object to being shadowed. They both peered through the lower windows as they walked past and what they saw startled even Coung. In each room there was a young man surrounded by various pieces of experimental apparatus. They were nearly all in pain and one or two had already died. Coung shuddered at the depths of depravity that people could go to in the name of science. He exchanged a sidelong look with Niall. Despite the scenes of torture, Niall seemed intent on confronting his old friend. He didn’t like where this was all heading. His ninja sense was tingling.

Chapter 3 They walked up to the door and Niall knocked firmly. There were immediately sounds of shattering glass and curses. Angry footsteps stormed towards the door which was then thrown open to reveal the mad scientist they had come looking for. He didn’t look like the crazy scientist of legend with shocking white hair and big glasses. In most respects he looked quite normal, but when you looked closely you could see that his eyes weren’t quite focusing, he hadn’t washed in months, his lab coat had dull red stains which it was best to avoid thinking about and shadows under his eyes revealed that he must be sleep deprived. As he opened the door his expression of anger gave way to surprise as he recognised Niall. He quickly put on a smile and greeted his friend, welcoming him in. As they walked through the hall way Niall studied the extent of decay of the once grand building. Thomas didn’t seem to notice however and chattered on about the good old days. As they reached the parlour he turned to Niall and continued to smile. “My old, old friend. It is amazing that you’ve stopped by to visit me. I often hoped that you would one day come and see what new experiments I was working on. The idiots in the villages don’t appreciate how important my work is but I am sure that you will understand. I have been experimenting with a new discovery called electricity. Unfortunately, the easiest way to produce it is from the energy of humans. Many of them have died from exhaustion. It is a shame, but necessary for the advancement of science. Come and see my work.” He then led Niall and Coung down another passageway. Niall noticed that Thomas was very cautious when walking through doorways and remembered his friends’ bizarre beliefs about doorways being portals to other worlds. He was not looking forward to seeing exactly how far Thomas would go for science but felt that he had to witness it first hand before deciding what to do. As they entered the room Niall was stunned. The room had not changed much since their days of experimenting together, except that there were now wooden wheels mounted on the wall with young men chained inside them. The wheels resembled those found on mills and were supported by an axis and then connected by various wires to other apparatus around the room. “Come in, don’t be shy. This is no different to when we were boys. You see the wheels? When the young men run they turn the wheel which then produces electricity. I have been trying to discover uses for this power and it seems to be unlimited! For the last few years I have been using dead frogs as the subjects. If you apply electricity to certain muscles they will spasm as if they were really alive! This is of course not particularly useful. I also experimented on snails and was able to make them re-grow their heads after being decapitated. If that worked on humans it could be a huge break through. So I have decided that this will be the next stage. I don’t think that it would be as likely to work on somebody who has been dead for too long so I will select one of the young men in the wheels.” Niall couldn’t believe how crazy his friend had become. He was enslaving men to produce electricity and now planning to murder one. He must to do something about it. Then suddenly, he noticed something. One of the victims strapped into a wheel was a girl, and about his own age. She had been silent since they entered the room and hadn’t taken her eyes off him. Those were eyes he recognised. It took him only a moment to realise who she was. As soon as he remembered he had to work very hard to prevent himself from killing Thomas on the spot. He turned to the Professor and asked him, teeth gritted, “Where do you get the subjects from?”

“Don’t worry about them” Thomas replied, “They are only peasants that I find wandering in the woods. They are of no value outside these walls.” “What about that girl?” Niall asked, pointing to the young woman. “She was my very first” Thomas smiled in remembrance. “I met her in the woods. She had run away from her family to avoid a bad marriage I believe. I brought her back here and gave her shelter. That was just at the beginning of my experiments. I thought that nobody would miss her so I simply kept her for myself. Since then I’ve realised that young men are more useful as they usually can keep running for longer. Really I’m surprised that she has lasted this long, though I don’t use her as often now.” Niall shuddered at the ease with which Thomas spoke of such things. He pretended however that he was interested in Thomas’ work. They spoke briefly on how it all worked and then Niall made his excuses and left, promising to come back soon. Coung was relieved that his services hadn’t been required and once they had returned to the castle he left Niall to mull over the problem alone. He planned to keep a close eye on him though. Chapter 4 Alone in his room Niall still found it hard to believe how completely mad Thomas had become. He was hindered in his thinking by his anger at what he had seen. A plan slowly formed in his head though. He needed to punish his old friend and also prevent him from continuing his experiments, but he wanted to give him a chance to save himself. He would have to arrange things very carefully. A few nights later and everything had been prepared. He had written to Thomas telling him when he would visit again and asking him to postpone the experiment until he arrived. He had then spent a lot of time in his private chambers looking into the designs of Thomas’ experiments. He now felt ready to face the Professor again. He just hoped that his friend would come to his senses in time. This time Niall approached the old mansion alone. He was not afraid of his old friend and had not wanted anybody else to know about the nights events. He did, however, still feel uneasy walking up to the dilapidated building in the middle of the night. He let himself in and headed down the same corridor as before. Entering the laboratory Thomas glanced up briefly and smiled, before returning to his measurements. Niall noticed in horror that Thomas was measuring the width of a dreadful looking burn on the chest of one of the young men. Once that was completed Thomas welcomed him properly and provided him with a pair of old goggles. Niall found it slightly ironic that in this dank, dusty and dangerous laboratory Thomas still insisted on wearing safety goggles. He took them without complaint though. “Now it is your turn to see the power that I can produce. I have prepared the apparatus and the subject is ready.” “Wait! I… I understand the importance of your work and can’t wait to see it in action,” Niall hesitated, as this was the trickiest part of the plan. “I can’t bring myself to experiment on an unwilling subject though. I don’t judge you for your actions” he quickly added, “but I cannot do the same. If anybody ever found out it would be dreadful.” Thomas looked at him for a few minutes trying to think of an alternative. Then he sighed, “There is really no other way I’m afraid. I could show you the frogs but they are really not as promising as I had hoped.” “Hmmmmm… Can you at least show me the beginning stages?” Niall asked. “It would be meaningless without a subject.”

“If I wasn’t actually going to carry out the experiment would it not be possible to find a volunteer?” Niall suggested casually. He couldn’t afford for Thomas to feel forced in anyway. He needn’t have worried though. Thomas’ thoughts were solely on the problem at hand. “I tell you what. I myself will volunteer. I can direct you in adjusting the wires from the board I have set up.” With these words the Professor went across the room and, with Niall’s help, strapped himself onto a large wooden board. He then proceeded to describe to Niall how everything must be calculated and measured. Chapter 5 Niall grew nervous as the time approached when Thomas would expect to be released. Once everything was ready he took a deep breath and turned to face Thomas. “I’m sorry Thomas but I haven’t been completely honest with you. I came here fully intending to get you onto that board. I’ve been studying the calculations myself for the last few days so now have the entire force of your contraption aimed at your heart. It will also be a great deal more powerful than your previous experiments as I’m sure that all these young men will run as fast as they can when they know they are about to be released. I really can’t believe that you think science is a good enough reason to keep people prisoners and experiment on them. That young woman that you’ve been torturing is an even older friend of mine than you are and I have to put her welfare above yours. I really hope that you’ll see sense. If you let me destroy all the equipment and promise never to experiment on humans again then I will release you. Otherwise… well, I’m sure you can work out what will happen.” As he said this, Niall went across and attached the ends of the wires onto Thomas’ chest. “You will have only a minute to decide what to do before I tell the men to begin running. It won’t be long after that until you’ll be out of time. Please do the sensible thing and save yourself.” The professor simply looked at him and asked, “Is that red wire in a different place? I thought you had set it slightly differently to my instructions. Wait! I understand, you’ve changed the order of the …” He continued to figure out how the apparatus had been set up until Niall interrupted him. “Thomas. If you don’t make a decision soon, you will die! I need your word that you won’t experiment on anymore people.” “Now does that simply include humans or all living creatures? What if they are already dead?” Thomas pondered as the young men started to run. “How do you propose to monitor my activities to prevent me from breaking my promise? What if I leave your kingdom and start all over again elsewhere? You haven’t really thought this through… With the changes you made I could revolutionise medicine, make illness a thing of the- Urk!!" he continued pointing out supposed flaws in Niall’s plan and questioning the conditions until it was too late. Niall couldn’t quite take in what had just happened but knew that in some ways, it would be how Thomas would have chosen to die. After all, it proved the capability of his invention. He still couldn’t quite believe what he’d done but set about releasing the other young men. There was little chance of their recognising him with his disguise so he wasn’t worried about any of them revealing who had rescued them. They all thanked him and rushed back to their families.

Chapter 6 Finally he found Jenna. As Niall began to ask her about what had happened she interrupted him. “Before all that we have to find the other girl who is here.” “There’s another girl? I thought that, apart from you, he only experimented on men?” “He did,” she explained “but he found another girl who was really clever and forced her to become his assistant. He kept her in chains most of the time and forced her to help by threatening to experiment on her brother.” As she spoke she led him through the mansion to another room. There they found the assistant. She was a beautiful young woman, with long chestnut brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes that were full of life. Niall couldn’t take his eyes off her. They quickly released her from her chains and explained what had happened. Jenna also broke the news to her that her brother and the rest of her family had all died. The Professor had mentioned it one day but forbidden Jenna from telling her. At the news she wept, remembering them as they were when she’d been taken. She also cried for the years of her life which she had lost and the things she had helped the Professor to do. Niall and Jenna comforted her as best they could but knew that nothing they could say would really help. Once the girl had rallied herself they decided that they should leave the mansion as it was nearly morning and they didn’t want to spend another moment in the dark and creepy house. Niall invited them both to stay at his castle. They accepted and had a pleasant walk together through the kingdom as the sun rose. During their stay at the castle, Niall and Jenna had long conversations about their childhood and the things that had happened since. Jenna was proud of Niall for ruling the kingdom so wisely but sensed that he wasn’t very happy. She did however notice that he lit up when he was around the girl he had rescued. She herself was taking quite a fancy to one of Niall’s courtiers, Nicholas. His father was Lord Brook and he was a flamboyant young man who was great fun to be around. While Jenna and Nicholas were spending time getting to know each other, Niall was getting to know the mystery woman. She refused to tell him her name as it reminded her too much of the past. No matter what he tried he couldn’t find out where she had come from. Eventually he told her that she should just choose a new name. She thought about it long and hard and decided upon Dawn, since that was when she had begun her new life. They spent many more hours together over the following months and even Joe noticed that something was developing between them. Then, one night, Niall invited her to a candlelit dinner. It wasn’t an amazingly romantic night but being in each other’s company was enough for them. At the end of the meal he took her out onto the balcony and, haltingly, told her that he loved her. She gently smiled and kissed him. Then he asked her to marry him. There were no fireworks and there was no music but it was a perfect moment when she said yes. The rest of the night is their private business but he was happy to announce their engagement to the whole kingdom the next day. Not long after, as Jenna and Niall were walking through the gardens she turned to him and announced that she and Nicholas were also engaged. Niall doubted for a moment whether the proposal had been serious as Nicholas had joking proposed to him on numerous occasions, Jenna reassured him though.

Chapter 7 Jenna and Dawn were becoming good friends and began to help each other in planning their weddings. Jenna wanted to get married in the spring in the middle of the forest whereas Dawn liked the idea of an autumn evening by a lake. The weddings were both magnificent affairs. The wedding of Niall and Dawn brought with it the added ceremony of crowning Dawn as Queen. They arrived together in a stunning red carriage (red because Joe said it would go faster). He presented her with a simple crown and a tiara which had been made especially for her, with delicate little geckos hidden amongst twisted strands of silver that looked like vines. Numerous representatives of neighbouring kingdoms also attended, bringing gifts from their Kings. Lord Smith brought a beautiful tablet engraved with roses from the King of Helenburgia, which had been handmade by their most famous artist. Duke Herbert brought a shield decorated with the symbolic red fox, from his land of Carlislington. The strangest present was undoubtedly brought by Sir Carruthers. He came from Aberdeenia and brought a sheep which he seemed to have grown rather attached to. When questioned he simply said, “Sheep are loved a lot where I’m from, so I thought it’d be great for the big wedding night, but what do I know?” The strangest moment however was when a man in a pitch black and navy blue uniform ran up to Joe, very aggressively, and asked in an authoritative voice, “What do you know about cameras?!” Joe of course hadn’t a clue what a camera was and said as much. The man looked around more closely, started swearing under his breath about “Bloody time travel” and ran back into the forest, leaving Joe rather confused to say the least. He was in fact a policeman from the future, Officer McGuiness, who liked to play around with time travel and jump into key moments only to cause havoc. On this occasion it hadn’t been the confusion he had planned though he no doubt would have been pleased with the result nonetheless. Niall felt like the happiest man alive, but the kingdom still had problems. People soon stopped discussing the royal marriage and turned back to more worrying concerns. Niall decided that he needed to sort these problems out. One by one he tackled notorious villains across the land. Tonight he was paying a visit to a horrible old man who lived in a nearby town. His name was Jonathan and he was a cruel Lord. He cheated all his servants and friends alike. One minute he would be paying homage to the King, as was right, and the next he would be plotting ways to steal his throne. He would then boast to other acquaintances that he was close friends of the King, although they had never actually met. Of course, he changed friends daily so they probably never had the time to find this out. Niall knew that to take out this possible enemy would also benefit a lot of innocent people who had been suffering under Jonathan’s tyranny. He had taken time in planning tonight’s outing. Usually he always gave those he was punishing a chance to save themselves by renouncing their evil ways. Tonight would be different. Jonathan had caused too many people too much pain. Niall had tried to find out as much as he could about Jonathan. When talking to people, after they had ranted about how evil Jonathan was, they always commented on his obsession with ships and sailing. He often had people killed for calling a ship a boat, or for in any way insulting his fleet of ships. Niall smiled at the wonderful irony of his plan.

Chapter 8 Jonathan was finally sure that everything was ready. His guest should be arriving any minute. He was still a bit unsure of the guest’s identity. In his letter he had called himself Lord Morrisson, but Jonathan had never heard of any such Lord. The letter came with the King’s seal though, so he had replied immediately inviting Lord Morrisson to dinner. The letter had mentioned important business but had not specified further, presumably in case it was intercepted as Jonathan’s post often seemed to be. Twenty minutes later Morrisson finally arrived. By this stage Jonathan was working very hard to conceal his outrage at the Lord’s lateness. He tried his very best at a civil welcome and invited his guest to join him at the table. Once they had finished their meal they sat discussing the recent news. The most popular story in the country’s kitchens at present was a mysterious series of deaths. Every victim had been hated by those surrounding them and so, on the whole, their death was considered a good thing. Jonathan had taken an interest in the morbid tales and found out a great deal of the details. He was not interested in preventing the murders or in catching the culprit, but fascinated with his method. As he told Lord Morrisson of his findings, his guest simply listened smiling. Hours later, Jonathan finally took a breath in his narrative and asked Lord Morrisson of his opinion on the matter. Rather than answer him directly Lord Morrisson leaned close and reminded Jonathan that he was there on an urgent errand, one which must not be overheard by the servants. Instantly, Jonathan dismissed the servants and pulled his chair closer to his guests. Morrisson however leant back in his chair and suggested a walk into the forest. Jonathan was puzzled but agreed. They took a lantern between them and headed into the dark maze of trees. After a while Jonathan asked where they were headed. Morrisson vaguely replied that they needed to be sure of being alone. So they walked on in silence. Finally the trees opened out onto a black marsh. Jonathan shuddered. There were many rumours about the marsh and he had never quite brought himself to visit it. Morrisson however seemed to be striding towards it, unafraid. Chapter 9 Niall stepped out into a rowboat on the water. Jonathan looked a lot less sure of himself than he had in his mansion. Slowly he transferred himself into the boat giving Niall more than one uncertain look. Niall took the oars and rowed them out to the middle of the marsh. By the time they reached a couple of sunken looking boats Jonathan looked ready to try swimming back. That, Niall thought, would ruin the fun he had planned. Finally he stopped rowing and turned around to face Jonathan who was, by now, cowering in the bottom of the boat. “The reason I’ve brought you here is to discuss these mysterious cases that you’ve been looking into”, Niall told Jonathan. At this, a spark of interest ignited behind Jonathan’s eyes. Niall smiled and carried on. “You’re obviously a very intelligent man and have pieced together a great deal of information about the goings on. I myself have also been studying them intently and there is a crucial clue that I want to share with you. I came by earlier and stowed it on that old boat next to us so that none of the servants would have a chance to steal it from me, in hopes of selling it on.”

At this, Jonathan glanced nervously at the boat beside them which was half full of water. Niall noticed the look and continued. “If you just hop over, it’ll be easy enough to spot. The boat’s completely safe as I was there myself earlier.” Jonathan seemed to find the interest of the murders reason enough to trust Lord Morrisson, as he thought him, and so he jumped over into the other boat. In a flash Niall picked up the oars and rowed a few feet from the sunken boat. Jonathan had been looking in the bottom for the clue when he heard the splash of the oars and looked up. He realised in an instant what had happened and the colour drained from his face. Now Niall was completely in control. This could only go as he had planned. “I’m sorry Jonathan” Niall said. He had no need to shout, as the night was silent except for the quiet noises of the swamp. His voice carried perfectly across the waters. “There is no clue for you in the boat. I do have information for you though. Have you worked out who I am yet?” He could see the cogs turning in Jonathan’s mind and the dawn of realisation on his face. He smiled. Chapter 10 Jonathan felt sick. He understood now how easily he had been tricked. There was still hope though. When he had been studying the other murders he had noticed from all the arrangements, there was always a chance for the victims to save themselves. He had always thought them stupid to put whatever principles they had above saving their own life. As Lord Morrisson began talking again Jonathan took in every word, looking for his way out of the situation. “So,” continued Niall, “you no doubt realise your situation. If you stay where you are you will eventually starve. Nobody will ever hear you screaming for help out here. You have only one way out.” Jonathan was paying rapt attention desperate to hear how he could come through the experience alive. Niall continued, “The reason I have come is that I have heard how cruelly you have treated everybody you know. You needed to be taught humility. You are far too proud of your own achievements. The boat you are standing in belongs to your fleet. There are numerous holes in the bottom which is why, you may have noticed, you are gradually sinking. You have a simple choice to make. Stay with the ship to which you have symbolically dedicated your life, or swim to safety. If you choose the latter you must disperse your entire fleet of ships and never sail again. I will know if you break either condition. The choice is yours.” Niall sat back and smiled. He could see Jonathan begin to smirk as he realised that his priority was definitely survival. He was taking no time at all to consider his other options. A few mere seconds later Jonathan had jumped into the marsh. He was a strong swimmer but the marsh was thick, sludgish, muddy water. He slowly made progress towards the bank. Niall watched as Jonathan called out. Something was bothering him beneath the surface of the water. At first it was not enough to distract him for more than a second. Then, the water began churning with the activity of numerous fish. Jonathan was struggling to keep above water now. Niall called out to him, “Oh, did I mention your marsh is full of piranha? Sorry. I probably should have

reminded you.” He then rowed back to the edge as Jonathan was quickly pulled to pieces by the ravenous fish. Chapter 11 Over the next few months Niall liberated many slaves, freed numerous damsels and, more importantly, punished those responsible. He usually felt no guilt over his actions, although there was one vampire whom he’d felt sorry for. Sometimes he wondered whether he was turning into a slight villain himself, but he never dwelt on this for long. He had grown to really enjoy his escapades, and to be fair they could almost be considered acts of kindness, so why shouldn’t he continue. His main doubt was that he should perhaps let his royal guard do their jobs and track the various evil-doers down. He had a huge amount of respect for his Captain of the Guard, Captain Lau, who was an expert archer. Recently however he had been going soft, which Niall thought was the result of meeting a lovely young woman called Lena. Dawn often asked Niall where he disappeared off to and he had wanted to confide in her but was sure that she wouldn’t approve. She wouldn’t approve of him taking the law into his own hands, but she’d also worry about his safety. She usually grew mildly panicked if he so much as tried to cross the road. So he simply asked her to trust him and she did. In return though, if he ever asked where she was going she would say ‘Just to the bridge’ in mockery of his secrecy. Since their wedding they had had a blissful marriage which led to the birth of their first child. To help Dawn care for the baby they procured a nurse called Miss Gibson who had been recommended by one of the courtiers. She was a great help and also became one of Dawn’s closest friends. Miss Gibson also got to know the rest of Niall’s staff and became particularly fond of the head chef, William. Dawn would often see Miss Gibson slipping into the kitchen on the pretext of getting something for the baby and then stay there chatting to Chef Brindley for hours on end. She didn’t mind though as she understood the excitement of falling in love. Joe also noticed that the King kept disappearing. This meant that he kept missing important banquets and meetings with representatives from other countries. He asked Niall what he wanted to tell these important men and Niall just asked him to think of something. So Joe sent messages to the dignitaries telling them that an explanation from the King was in the post. As Niall went for an evening stroll with his wife he looked out over his kingdom. It was thriving under his reign and the people loved him for it. Then he glanced over his shoulder at the Palace behind him. It was full of loyal servants, friends and family who would give their lives for him at a moment’s notice. Finally, he looked at the woman beside him who loved him with all that she had. He was a very lucky man. Most kings spent their lives fighting to keep the few things they had been given and losing the things they had gained for themselves. He could hardly have asked for a more perfect life. Suddenly the strange man from the wedding had appeared in front of him shouting “He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!” Again, Officer McGuiness looked around and realised he had miscalculated. He glanced at Niall and explained, “I was hoping to confuse some early Christians. Never mind. You look confused enough.” Then he disappeared again. Niall and Dawn just looked at each other and laughed.

Chapter 12 The next morning, he woke up early and went down to his personal weapons chamber. He picked up the sword that had been left to him by his father. It had been handed down through generations of McLeish’s and finally been entrusted to him. He then picked up the ninja dagger, which had been a present from Coung. He remembered with a smile the confusion the strange present had caused at the time. It had only been a few months ago that he had found out Coung’s true identity. Coung had shadowed him on one of his excursions and Niall had heard him uttering his ninja mantra ‘Om nom nom’. He had forced Coung to explain himself and then accepted his help as his secret bodyguard. To everybody else Coung was still just the court jester. Niall smiled and put the dagger in his right hand and the sword in his left. He strode down the corridors of the palace, a man on a mission. He killed anybody he met. He reached an outpost of his guards who greeted him, only to be cut down. In all the outcry guards rushed in from the outside, trying to protect their King, only to be killed instantly. He worked his way through the whole palace, finishing in his private quarters. He walked into his bedroom to find Dawn reading stories to their children. He paused only long enough to say goodbye and tell her he loved her, before completing the task he had set upon. He then retired to his empty throne room. He sat upon the throne where he had spent most of his ruling life and wondered what reasons people would come up with for his behaviour. He tried to think what reason he had. In the end he decided it was simply the way he felt the story should end. And on that thought, he slipped into oblivion. The End