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, super-
toad 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