CHAPTER EIGHT
“ANY OLD FOOL CAN BECOME A KING”
The next morning, on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, King Kipriyán and his two sons, with Lord Gorázd, Melanthrix, and Siméon, together with their bodyguards and entourage, rode out from Castle Karkára into Westmark in Kórynthia. After several weeks of unremitting heat and humidity, the weather had finally eased. The skies were overcast, and a light drizzle was falling as they exited the Szamár Gate.
They continued down the Gálla Pass all morning, finally reaching the plain around midday. The sun now appeared from behind feathery clouds, but the air remained cool and clear, a refreshing change from Pommerelia’s stifling heat.
“It’s good to be back on our own soil again,” Prince Kiríll noted.
The road was broad and well-kept, marked at regular intervals with granite milestones.
For the first time since Killingford, the king showed some interest in his surroundings.
“Prince Mikíta had a summer retreat near here,” he muttered, seemingly to no one.
“Indeed, majesty,” Prince Arkády responded, “did you ever stay there?”
“In my youth,” Kipriyán stated. “Great-Uncle Víktor brought me here every summer after Papá died, until I came of age.” He sighed. “Then....”
He was silent again for several hours.
When they came within sight of the great ecclesiastical city of Podébrad later in the afternoon, he bestirred himself once more.
“While Víktor was alive, he ruled this place as a direct fief of the crown,” Kipriyán noted. “All of Westmark was his. He never wanted to be Regent of Kórynthia, and he returned here whenever he could. I remember that he sat me down once right across from him, not long before I attained my majority, and looked me straight in the eye.
“‘Kyp,’ Víktor said, ‘any old fool can become a king. It’s just an accident of birth. This is especially true in your case. Don’t ever forget that God passed over several of your kin to pick you instead. You’re special. And it’s a great responsibility that He’s given you. Every time you make a decision, you affect someone else’s life. God will hold you accountable for that.
“‘Your grandmother and I have done the best we could for you, but in the end, you have to make your own decisions. Not all of them will be easy, and you’ll have your share of mistakes. You’ll learn to live with those, or they’ll eat you up from the inside out. I’m not proud of everything I’ve done as Regent, but at least I can say that I haven’t sent too many men to their deaths. Maybe God will forgive me my other errors. You’re young, my boy, you’ll have a long reign. When you get to the end of it, I hope you can still look at yourself in the mirror. I hope you can forgive yourself.’”
Then he began to cry. Arkády and Kiríll looked at each other in bewilderment, but when Melanthrix started to move his horse closer, Arkády shooed him back with a sweep of his hand.
Later than evening they transited back to Paltyrrha.