Laissezfairia: Freedom Promised

By W.C. Lyons

Evil Magistrates rule the planet. Who can stop them? A frightened, naive, frail young Prince? His nurse maid? A widowed mother of ten children? A collection of oddball geniuses? Can these people restore Laissezfairia to its former glory? Not likely. But they're going to give it their best shot.

Mr. Lyons (no one ever c

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Dec 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648957055

W.C. Lyons

Mr. Lyons (no one ever calls him that but he hopes someday someone will) lives in Maryland with his beautiful wife and pictures of his clever children, patient relatives and friends. This is his first novel. Sequels in the Laissezfairia series are in the works. His earlier short stories and news of his upcoming novels can be found at wclyons.com. (Most of the short stories are family friendly but "Ensnared" is a wildly inappropriate story that should not be read by anyone under the age of forty. It was submitted for a Pushcart Award, go figure.) Mr. Lyons hopes you enjoy this book.

Book preview

Alliances

The King found it something of a struggle to keep up with the long-legged Jones and had to break into a jog to keep up. It wasn’t long before they were knocking on the door of the Captain of the Castle Guard.

A deep authoritative voice answered the knock, Speak!

It is Jones and the King.

Within a matter of seconds, the doorway was filled by the Captain of the Guard.

Not sleeping well, Captain? asked the King.

I always sleep like a log until I don’t need to, Sire, said the Captain.

Show no fear, the King thought. Acting, it’s all about acting.

Captain, the King said with all the authority a slight thirteen-year-old boy in a sleeping gown could muster. The Magistrates are planning to poison me at tomorrow’s dinner.

How did you come across this information, Sire?

Mattie.

Mattie’s word was gospel in the Castle. The Captain had no doubt of the immediacy of the threat.

What is your command, my Liege? asked the Captain.

Throw them out, the King said with all the solemnity he could muster.

The Captain broke into a wide grin and found himself thinking that this kid had more of a backbone than people thought. The King found the grin reassuring and began to understand that he really did have help.

Excellent, Sire! Nothing would please the Guard more than tossing the Magistrates out. I trust their staffs and assistants should be removed as well.

Of course.

Shall we bring about any harm to them other than some severe dragging and pushing?

No, said the King.

Sire, I’m going to tell you something you may be too young to believe or appreciate. The Magistrates are broken beyond repair. Many of their assistants are simply here for a job and a paycheck and might be able to change. But the Magistrates themselves have killed, cheated, and abused too many people to give up what they have. They’ve spent their entire lives trying to climb to the top, and they have no intention of giving up that power. There is wisdom in charging them with treason and executing all of them. There will be those who call you a tyrant, but the Magistrates won’t be around to challenge you, the Captain said in the most solemn tones his deep voice could produce.

Are there people who are actually beyond…redemption? asked the young King.

In my experience, yes.

I…don’t want to begin my reign with blood on my hands. Can we just stick to the severe dragging and pushing?

There may be wisdom in that decision as well, Sire. Jones, rally the guard, we will have a time of it tonight.

The Guard was always expected to do the right and honorable thing, but doing the right and honorable thing is often a tedious and humbling task. Tonight, however, they were being asked to do something that they had dreamed about ever since they understood the evil of the Magistrates. Tonight, the Guard would be allowed to do something that they would thoroughly enjoy: they were being ordered to remove the Magistrates from the Castle.

The orders were given, the Guards leaped out of bed, were into their uniforms, and were assembled in the Grand Entrance in very short order. They were split up into groups and descended upon the Magistrates’ chambers. In no time at all, they were smashing in doors and dragging out sleep-deprived Magistrates in their night clothes into the hallways and happily demeaning those people who had made everyone’s lives a living hell. It was the most fun the Guard would ever have.

After giving the order for the ousting, the King realized that his sleeping gown did not project the type of image he wanted. He retreated to his chambers to get as royal as he could. When the King thought himself presentable enough to witness the exodus, he went to the castle wall above the main gate to say farewell to the cancer that had plagued the planet.

He arrived in time to witness the brightening of the eastern sky. As the Magistrates and their staff were dragged out into the cold winter wind, the young King began to realize that he was now the most powerful person on the planet and the most vulnerable. He hadn’t bargained on any of that when he went to bed last night.

He watched as the last of the Magistrates were dragged off the Castle grounds and then to a spot on the field where they had been thrown together. The last memory the Magistrates would take from this infuriating and humiliating experience was that of an incompetent child playing dress up, hiding his face from the wind, and waving goodbye. To say that they were an angry lot would be a gross understatement.

There was a brief stand-off in the field beyond the castle walls as the Magistrates attempted to engineer a challenge to the Guard and retake their positions. Even though they outnumbered the Castle Guard five to one, it was clear that bureaucrats and toadies were no match for fit, disciplined young soldiers. Seven hundred or so of the fit-looking toadies had been ordered to take on the guard and over run them, but the defeat of the toadies was decidedly lopsided. They left the field of battle bruised and humiliated. The King had never seen such action and was pleased that he was being protected by such an impressive force. He wondered how people could do such dangerous things. As King, Wane Figgins wondered if he would be able to send young people to war as easily as the Magistrates sent their toadies and the Captain deployed his guards.

Mattie interrupted the King’s thoughts.

Your Highness, said Mattie, there was an undercurrent in the Magistrates’ complaints as they were being ousted from the Castle. I heard Magistrate Torquemada making plans with other Magistrates. They plan to convince the people that you have staged some kind of a coup and you are going to take over the world. Sire, they may still win the day. You have to go out and speak. People don’t pay enough attention to things to blame a group of Magistrates for their problems. It will be much easier to blame a single person.

I thought that this would be the end of it. The Magistrates are gone and uhhh…I could make some proclamations of one sort or another and…

No, Sire. Capa City is the capital city of the planet, and if the Magistrates fan out and start telling unchallenged lies about you, this may end up being the shortest reign of a King in history, said Mattie.

The King grimaced and said, Perhaps I should have killed them all.

There is no room for doubt now, Your Highness, you have to believe that you did the right thing. The people need to know that you are the one in charge.

Wane Figgins turned to Mattie and said, So many people seem to want to be King. I wish I was one of them.

I’ve seen you standing in front of mirrors and pretending to speak to throngs of people. I’ve heard you practice projecting your voice in the old dungeons and basements below. I saw the change in you when you spoke to Jones and ordered him to take you to the Captain. This is not an ideal situation, but you need to rise to this occasion and explain to the people what has happened and do what you can to convince the people that you have their best interests at heart. Your parents were killed because they were good people. It’s obvious who the enemy is. Some people work hard all of their lives to be great. Some people are born into greatness. But greatness is calling you right now, and you have an entire planet to take back from that den of vipers.

Mattie, would you like a promotion? There’s a very nice crown and a very large chair that come with the position, said the King, trying to lighten the mood a little.

I do hope you’re joking, said Mattie.

I am…I guess. I suppose I’m just procrastinating.

The people respect Royalty, you just need to speak to them. Royalty has never been mistreated when they’ve spoken in public. Citizens have always listened before, and they’ll listen this time. It’s time to lead, Your Highness, said Mattie quietly. You’ve been brilliant so far.

The Captain of the Guard was not told of the plans to send the King out to speak to the people, he was engaged in preparation for a possible attack on the Castle. He did not know that four of his guards, two on horseback and two to sit with the King in a horse-drawn carriage, were being used on this poorly planned endeavor.

A tall carriage with a flat roof that could be used as a makeshift stage was used for the trip into the Capital. Mattie hoped that the appearance of the young orphaned King would make for a much more sympathetic figure than craven Magistrates in their night clothes.

The King readied himself as best he could. He gathered his thoughts and imagined himself giving a grand speech that would show the people of Capa City what a plague the Magistrates had been. He was as ready as he could be, and for the first time in his life, the King traveled beyond the Castle walls without his parents.

Royal visits into Capa City were made several times a year and were always made without incident. The people in Capa City had been so beaten down, it was assumed that those ragged souls did not have enough life left in them to pose any danger. The extra guards on horseback were thought to be there just for show.

As the King made his way into the city, he encountered people running beside his carriage, shouting things he didn’t understand. People in Capa City had never responded to Royalty in such an outrageous manner. The guards on horseback took positions on each side of the carriage to keep people away from the King. If the young King had had a better understanding of the outside world, he would have recognized that something had changed. If the guards had been more comfortable giving the King guidance, they might have turned back. But the King was determined not to look like a coward and the guards were just as determined to not overstep their authority, so they all kept pressing forward through the angry