Heroes of the Fall

[Ladorak]

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With apologies for absence

Carolinus stepped forward, several long strides were enough to bring him into the Titans shadow, to feel as dwarfed as any man who looks up to see the sun blotted out. He bowed deeply, with all the stiff elegance he could muster after more than a century away from the White City. Despite the massive distance between them and the Titan's towering height Carolinus' parade ground voice easily carried upward 'I am Carolinus. Appointed protector of Markien. Knight of the White City. The Watchman. These are the titles I claim.
'Where first meetings are made such litanies are matters of courtesy, of honorable conduct amid those unknown to us. In this case my introductions herald far more than simple deference to common custom.'

When he said next was hard for him. To yield even slightly in his faith in his father seemed a betrayal of his life with Cireo, to bend even slightly in his conviction in some way invalidated much of the happiness he had felt with her
'I do not name myself son of Baz'Auran, nor by the title the people of Markien have placed upon me, Carolinus'Ka'Baz'Auran, a title I never desired. It is true, yes, I am my father's son. I am the child of he who committed a great crime against you. I have seen the deadlands, they were harrowing. They winnowed away much of the faith I had in my father's justice. There is no mistaking the very-real emotion in his voice, as it quivers with restrained rage and sorrow, doubt and fear. It is the voice of Baz'Auran's most loyal son suddenly realising his father's imperfections. It is the voice of a man who has been fighting the mounting realisation that he no longer believes in that for which he has sacrificed everything.

'I did not know what happened here, I swear it. Had I known I would have decried my father every day until your punishment was reversed, even if the cost of such disloyalty was death. Your sorrow is great, none may gainsay it. Your anger is understandable. His next words were as iron, firm and unyielding, allowing no doubt or contradiction Yet I am not he who wounded your people so, nor are the people of Markien culpable for such transgression. The guilt lies on only one pair of shoulders, and they are large enough to carry the burden alone.
'The oaths I swore are unequivocal, and my duty to them unmitigated. This I cannot change. I cannot be other than what I was made to be... But that does not mean there must be war between us. It does not mean I do not understand what was done to you.'

He held out a hand, not knowing if the huge eyes far above him could even make out such a gesture of friendship 'I am Carolinus, the Knight of the White City. I was made as a shield, a thing to be sacrificed. I was created by my father to fall in place of his more beloved kin. Others who did not have to pay so high a price for their creation, others who paid no price at all. But I am no longer in the White City, and it has been many and more years since I have seen the majority of my kin. I swore other oaths, aside from oaths of duty and loyalty, aside from oaths of sacrifice. I swore to protect the people of the Great Disk, without prejudice.

He raised his voice and powered on, stepping closer to the Overlord as he spoke 'The First People are of the Disk. The First People are honorable folk, I have seen much in your Eye and in Khar Melkar that I have seen in myself. We are of a kin, we are honorable warriors in a world without nobility.
'This war, it is unnecessary. I see now, having witnessed the horror of my path to come before you, that your ire against me is not unfounded, for to you I was only the son of Baz'Auran. But I am more than that. I am Carolinus, and I would choose a higher path, a better path. Please allow me to choose that path. I would have kinship with the Titans, I would bring you under my protection. I would die for you if required. But I cannot allow the rape and pillage of Markien. Those people are already under my protection. With all my heart I wish friendship with to Titans, to begin undoing the terrible wrongs my House has done you, but on this I am unbending. Markien must be spared or there must be war between us.'