A Man Named Lox
“This war will soon reach its end, my king.” The deep voice addressed the roofless carriage. “What will you do once it is over?”
“Once it’s over?” asked the boy within from his seat on the sofa.
“Indeed. Soon we will have the peace we have been fighting for.” Lox van Lebering turned his almond eyes to the sky. No clouds marred the blue. Sunlight showered down upon the plain, where wildflowers swayed contently in the breeze. “No matter how they struggle, they cannot stop us now.”
He looked back down in time to catch the boy’s black eyes gazing into the distance for a moment before quietly lowering again.
“Then I will have served my purpose,” the boy said. “I will dissolve the Crow Legion and disband the Black Hand.”
Lox had intended to ask about the boy’s plans for himself, not his army, but he knew better than to press the point. Any further probing would only be deflected. With a sigh, he accepted the answer at face value.
“And that satisfies you? Even once war’s fires no longer rage, its embers will still smolder. You will still be needed.”
“It is statesmen the coming age will need, not generals. Peacetime doesn’t have any use for military men like us. We’ll only get in the way.”
Lox nodded thoughtfully. True enough, it was not might that would build the next era, but the will to soothe the people’s woes, to see the land prosper, to reach out to other nations in friendship, and to build a lasting peace. What had once been the stuff of daydreams was slowly becoming reality, but the price would be leaving a large number of soldiers with nowhere to go. War had gripped the land for a long, long time. Few people even remembered what peace was like. Men who had only ever known battle would struggle to exist in a world without it, let alone find success there.
Lox’s concerns must have shown on his face, because the boy cracked a rueful smile. “Well, I’m sure it’ll turn out all right in the end. That’s what we’ve fought for, after all.” He paused. “So, what will you do once the war is over?”
Lox hesitated. “I mean to build a nation of my own, my king. A land free from discrimination, where all may join hands as one.”
“You mean to leave the empire?” The boy’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
Lox nodded uncomfortably. “I do.”
He had expected a lecture. Instead, he received an encouraging smile.
“As long as you won’t regret it. Your position is a lot to throw away.”
“My mind has long been made up. This has been my dream since this conflict began.”
The end of the war would rob many of their purpose, leaving them questioning where to go. Lox would create a sanctuary for those people—an ideal nation where all could join hands in harmony and none need be left behind.
“Let me help you. After all the battles you’ve won for me, it’s the least I can do.” With a low chuckle, the boy stretched out a hand to the sky. “It’s nice, isn’t it? When we started out, we were all marching in step, but now we’re going our separate ways.”
He closed his eyes and smiled, but the sight only struck Lox with anguish. He knew what this boy had endured. A surge of emotion overcame him.
“My king,” he said, “you need only give us the order—” As soon as he spoke the words, he realized his error and clapped a hand over his mouth.
The boy’s brow furrowed sadly. “You can’t talk like that, Lox. Not if you’re going to build a nation of your own.”
He stopped his carriage and climbed out. Lox hurriedly dismounted and matched his pace.
“We’re on the cusp of winning everything we’ve fought for, Lox. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” he said, adding under his breath, “That would be too much.”
Lox heard that last whisper and stopped, leaving the boy to walk ahead alone. Gazing in dismay at his king’s receding back, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, cursing his own foolishness.
“It is for you that I build this nation as much as for anybody else,” he murmured.
Nobody had survived the war unscathed. Even this boy-king had accumulated many sins and collected many scars. That was all the more reason to create a land of peace, where the wounded could heal free from suffering. Neither zlosta nor humans could live alone. They needed the support of others to survive.
“And I will be there for you, my king, until you are healed,” he whispered to himself before running ahead to rejoin his liege.
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