Chapter 8

In the Morgue….

After he had been discovered from his ship and his body retrieved back to Eleftheria, it was kept in a freezer at the morgue. Orion Darkwood was in a comatose state and was currently experiencing various scenes from his life. Right from childhood down to the moment his life was nearly taken from him. 

Though everyone including his father believed that he was dead and that normally, he should be buried right now. But according to Eleftherian customs, when a royal dies, their bodies are not hastily buried in the ground but preserved so that the people can pay their last respects to them. This process takes up to 14 days, and hence when the ceremonies are done, then and only then could they be buried.

But right now, it was kept in the morgue as preparations are being made for the entire country to be able to view his face. Although the ceremony could be watched on TV, Eleftherians consider it rude to do that. Hence thousands of them would journey all over the country just to see their beloved Prince in the flesh one last time.

At this moment in Orion's mind, a young boy was seen playing chess with his father in a very vibrant garden at a majestic palace. The young boy looked very confused at this moment as he contemplated his next move. His older opponent just looked at him calmly with a smile on his face before he spoke.

“Well, my son! What's your next move?” You have been lost in thought for the last three minutes. Are you afraid of losing this time again? All your pawns are almost gone and you have left your queen vulnerable.” Drake Darkwood taunted.

The young boy who was Orion Darkwood at the age of eight looked up at this moment and replied.

“But father, all my pawns are gone. And I cannot move recklessly or my king will be checked.” Orion whined. “Ever since you sacrificed your queen. I have been quite confused.”

“Oh! And why is that my son?” Drake Darkwood asked in amusement.

“Because you have taught me about chess. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and yet you didn't hesitate to sacrifice it in your last three moves.” Orion said, baffled. 

“Yes indeed. The queen is the most active piece on the board. At the beginning of the game, you had decided to concentrate all your pieces activities on your queen while I evenly spread mine throughout my army. 

“Besides” Drake continued, “You rely too much on your queen and neglect the other pieces who are just as important. One thing you must know, my son, is that in life no matter how powerful a person is, they alone cannot win the game of life. They need people around them who will help them to achieve victory.”

‘One tree by itself cannot make a forest.’ Drake advised sagely. “You can't do it all alone. You need to have allies and friends who see the same goals as you do. Who wants what you want? I sacrificed my queen for greater advantage and now I have you trapped.”

Drake Darkwood said with a smile on his face as the expression on his son's face became even more unsightly. 

“That's not fair.” Young Orion protested.

Then Drake's tone became suddenly serious.

“Remember this, my son. All is fair in war. This was something that led to our defeat five centuries ago.”

“Really!” Orion's little eyes widened as he asked in shock.

“Yes, my son! Each one of us felt comfortable in facing our own business, whatever happened with the other nations- their suffering or pain- was none of our business?”

“That's why when war broke out between Modena and Liberio back then. No one bothered to lend Liberio who was on the losing end a hand because we thought their woes had nothing to do with us.”

“They were occupied and brutally murdered. Yet our ancestors did nothing to curb the threat that was Modena. They weren't as strong as they are now, which means that an alliance between the remaining five nations could have solved that problem.”

“Moreover,”  Drake sighed, “Our ancestors were lulled into a false sense of security centuries ago. Because after Modena won its war with Liberio, they made no move for ten years.”

“Why was that father?” Young Orion asked curiously.

“Perhaps, they only bid their time to launch a preemptive strike on all of us. But history taught us that was not the case. The Modenians used the principle of ‘divide and conquer’ on them. They knew that our ancestors were divided and to prevent them from uniting against Modena sowed the seeds of discord between those ten years.” 

“Their spies invaded the other five nations, took up important military and political posts, and started inciting the leaders as well as the people to attack their neighbors. After all, Modena already did the same to Liberio, and from the Modenians' occupation, one can see that their economy is booming better than it did ten years ago from using Liberio's resources to fuel itself.”

“Ha, Human greed,” Drake shook his head, “After having a precedent, the leaders of the remaining four nations targeted themselves which led to a war of resources. They fought a brutal war while Modena's spies wreaked havoc from within.”

Drake Darkwood further added, “Being focused on each other. The most dangerous enemy was moving in the shadows. It was when they mobilized their troops to each of the five nations' doorsteps that they all realized that they were playing for fools. In one devastating move, the militaries of the four nations crumbled.”

“With a weakened military force from years of fighting each other, Modena who didn't join in used their strength to show our ancestors that they were outmatched. Their war machines were frightening, knowing that fighting with them will lead to irreparable losses and perhaps even cause their nation to go into nonexistence.”

“Our ancestors conceded and promised to exceed their demands out of a sense of fear and safety for their people. All of which brought about the humiliating terms in the Treaty of Metus where one of the terms states that we must disarm our military and we mustn't try to create any opposition then and in the nearest future.” Drake said.

“So that's why we don't have an army under our flag, Father, even though my history teacher told me our nation had a military of its own with our symbol five centuries ago and not the one carrying the insignia of Modena.” Orion nodded in realization.

“And Mr. Pitcher also said that we must break that clause secretly if we are to have any hope of freedom. Because to honor an agreement that keeps us weak is foolish according to him.” Orion further revealed this to his father.

“Did he now?” Drake narrowed his eyes at his son's words before he thought to himself, ‘It seems that I will have to replace that history teacher. His influence on my son is becoming too strong. Those words are enough to have Modena set its sights on us.’

“What other things did he tell you about the Treaty of Metus?” 

“Mr. Pitcher refused to tell me more after class ended today but he promised to talk more about it at our next class,” Orion answered truthfully.

“I see.” Drake smiled, obviously having other thoughts from the cold glint in his eyes.

“Please tell me the other details of the Treaty of Metus, Father?” Orion asked after being quite intrigued by learning about the events that led to the state of things on the continent.

“That's a lesson for another time, my boy,” Drake winked then said, “Now, let's go have some lunch.”