Slave to King (eBook)

John in the South

John was sitting looking out the castle window enjoying his morning quiet time. He and Prince Fred had spent the last few days out raiding, raping, and terrorizing the farmers. John always enjoyed these trips. However, he was still amazed that he was now a permanent member of the prince’s top advisors. This was accomplished with help from the Brothers. John told himself he would always remember his humble beginnings and planned never to go back to them.

John knew that when he was an infant, he, his mother, and Ethan had been taken to live in the Brothers’ village. Even if he was too young to remember, he knew it was the best day of his life as it set in motion his life’s work. At age five, he and Ethan were taken to live and train with the Brothers. Both John and Ethan had done well and finished the eleven years of training. It was only the last day that Ethan had beat him in single combat, knocking him out.

When John came back to full consciousness, Ethan was gone and John was the last member of the twenty boys that had started in his group at age five. He was not sure if the Brothers would allow him to live since he lost his fight, but in the end, Senior Brother Pi said, “John is in,” and that was that.

John spent a few months going on minor missions for the Brothers and found he loved to travel and have the freedom to live his life. He knew his eleven years of training would serve him well, but he was very happy to have all of that behind him. He also learned quickly that the rules that were strictly enforced in the Brothers’ camp were not all strictly enforced when you were out on a mission. John’s first lesson happened on the very first mission. After killing a man they’d had a contract to kill, the other two Brothers searched his pockets, took the money, and split it three ways. John was pleased to have the coins.

After a few months of short missions, John was sent to the Southern Kingdom to make inroads with Prince Fred, and he had thrown himself into the task. His training, along with some help from a Senior Brother, allowed him to make his plans and execute them, becoming the prince’s closest friend. He had started slowly but built on each meeting until he was spending more and more time with the prince.

Once John had gained Prince Fred’s trust, they began riding out together. John soon learned that the prince had a cruel streak, and John liked that. This was the first time he could allow himself to act as he wished and not fear punishment or at least correction from a Senior Brother.

Once a Brother was out on his own, he could do as he pleased with a few hard and fast rules. You never hurt another Brother. Not ever. You always completed the mission you were given no matter what you had to do. And you never, under any circumstances, left any witnesses. It just was not done as the Brothers protected their reputation with the kingdom’s people at all costs. The people feared the Brothers, and that allowed them to act with impunity. And fear was simply good for business and had to be protected. It was explained to John in very clear terms that they would even sacrifice a Brother for the good of their image.

Only the prince knew of all of John’s crimes, but John believed that did not matter as the prince had been involved in most of them and had done as much or worse. Besides, who would bring the prince to justice? He was the prince, and no one dared say a word about what he did. Anyway, they never abused, raped, or killed lords and their families, even the richer merchants or other people with standing. No, they did their “pleasure business,” as they referred to it, to the poor people and preferred farmers.

John hated farmers. If he were honest with himself, he could not tell you why; he just did. They were useful to plant and grow food but nothing more. They were dirty, smelly, and had nothing of real value to steal. So, he killed all the men and raped all the women over the age of twelve and then killed them. Any child under twelve, male or female, was just killed and left where they fell. Farmers were like rats, John would say. You kill them, and the next day new ones take their place. The more he raped and killed, the more he enjoyed it, and he found new ways of completing his “pleasure business.” 

He also had to do the normal duties of a friend and advisor to the prince. He had to attend gatherings and parties, which John did enjoy. He liked mingling with the upper-class people in the kingdom. John enjoyed the fear they had of him. John enjoyed chasing the lords’ daughters. It was a challenge, and he enjoyed the chase. He also had to sit in long meetings on the most mundane topics, and that he did not enjoy. Just yesterday he had listened for three full hours as they discussed water levels in the castle and how to improve the water quality. John did not care and only acted like it had importance in his life. If the people died from a disease they got from the water, you simply went out and got more people from the farms and fields and replaced them.

John had gained about ten pounds since leaving the Brothers, but he was not fat. He was still strong and young and knew he could kill any man, other than a Brother, that he needed to. The idea of continuing to exercise and train for hours each day never crossed his mind. He did not need it. He was Brother trained, and others were not.

John finished his last bit of breakfast just as a runner from Prince Fred knocked on the door. John called for him to enter, and the boy said, “Sir, Prince Fred would like you to meet with the king and Prince Fred in one hour in the great hall.” John nodded and waved the boy away. The boy ran off, his mission complete.

John called for the servant girl to bring him a fresh, hot cup of tea. When it arrived, he considered what he could do with her for an hour. He decided it was not worth his effort and told her to get out and not come back until she was called. She also ran off, relief showing on her face. He did not always send her away, and she had learned he liked to cause pain.

John drank his tea and enjoyed his morning looking out the window. This was nice. He liked it here and decided he would stay. To hell with what the Brothers wanted. He knew once the old king was dead, he would be Prince Fred’s closest friend and have a free hand in the land. Yes, that would be a better life than living under the Brothers’ thumb. But he had to be careful. If he moved too fast, the Brothers could, and most likely would, turn on him. He knew he could not win a fair fight with the Senior Brothers, and the Brothers had killed members that displeased them in the past. John figured he would have to find an edge before he broke free. John longed to be free and have power. He wondered what it would be like to be able to do anything he wanted any time he wanted to do it. The thought pleased him, and he decided he would do anything he needed to gain that kind of power.

John also knew that Ethan had defeated him in single combat, but that was luck. He knew he was as good with a sword as Ethan. Next time he would win. He also knew that somehow Ethan had killed Brother Sam. This was harder for John to understand as Sam was very good with a sword. John knew he could not have won a fight with Sam. How Ethan could have done this was not known, and John was trying to find information on how this happened.

John needed to do two things. First, he had decided to move his mother to the castle with him and had already summoned her by sending a simple message to Senior Brother Pi asking for her assistance. He would care for her here, and she would not have to work. John was not very close to his mother, but she was the only family member he had in his life, so he would bring her to be with him. With Sam dead, he knew she would be taken by another Brother to cook, clean, and share his bed if he did not get her out of there, so he put his plan in motion. John had no real friends in the world, and he needed his mother. She had always been behind him and did what she could to help him. He wanted to develop a closer relationship with her. Second, he would kill Ethan at some point. Ethan had beaten John in single combat and had killed Sam who protected his mother, leaving her with no protection. Ethan deserved killing for both of these things, and John had decided he would do it. However, he was in no hurry. He had been taught to make a plan, then execute the plan when the time was right. Rushing was always a mistake. John let his mind enjoy the thought of killing Ethan and relaxed.

John waited until five minutes before he was to be in the great hall before getting up and walking out the door. John was not a servant to anyone, including this king, and would not waste his time waiting on the king. He arrived at the meetings about one or two minutes before they started. He knew he had to be careful, but he would do things his way.

Prince Fred and his father, King Hank, were both waiting when he walked into the room. The prince smiled at his friend, but the king was vexed. When told to be in the great hall in an hour, any other advisor would have been at least fifteen minutes early so the king would not have to wait on them. But not his son’s favorite advisor. The king was not sure about this Brother-trained young man, but he always gave his son what he wanted. The king had another son, but he was only five and too young to matter. He also had four daughters to whom he gave little value other than marrying them off to some lord he needed support from. No, Fred was the son who would take over the throne, so he gave him what he wanted. The king did...