Bonds (Part 4 - The King)

[Unknown time, Unknown place]

A 6 feet tall young man with a well-proportioned body and shoulder-length hair was walking through knee deep snow. There was no tree in the surrounding and the climate was blowing snowy wind. A normal human being would have a hard time surviving in those conditions, but that man was walking through the snow at a constant pace. In fact, he was wearing nothing on his upper body, as if he was mocking the harsh conditions.

His hairs were of the same color as the snow and his eyes were green like a lush forest. He was showing no sign of struggle while walking through the snow. It was like nature was taking his test, and he was beating every obstacle with ease. But then appeared nature's most difficult obstacle.

There was a big polar bear standing in the man's way, ferociously glaring at him. But, the man stood firm, refusing to back away or change his path. He kept on walking forward fearlessly toward the bear. The bear was not going to allow any creature in his territory to show dominance over him, and the man was clearly refusing to bow down before the white monster. The bear roared as if warning the whole surrounding that it was his territory and no one could disrespect him. Then he charged toward the man fiercely.

The man was clearly in front of death, but when the bear pounced at the man, the bear felt a heavy blow on his furry chest. And the next moment, the bear fell on the snowy ground breathing his last breath. The man decided to show the bear mercy and ended the bear's pain by delivering a killing blow to his heart.

...................................

[April 1915, a month after the promised day]

It was night in Othon, the capital of Drachma, and the streets were illuminated from the gaslight lamps. The most important place in the whole of Drachma, the King's palace, was shining like the moon in the night. And on the top floor of the palace, a middle-aged man was looking at the beautiful city, standing at the balcony of a hall. He was wearing a furry coat, made from the polar bear he killed a long time ago. He was enjoying the silence, but suddenly he heard the doors to the big hall opening, and footsteps of 2 men broke the silence.

Both the men were one of the most powerful figures of Drachma. The first man was wearing a higher rank Drachmann military uniform. He had a bulky body with a height of 6.5 feet, making him look like a monster. His fair complexion was contrasting in the presence of his black hairs which were combed backward and his bushy handlebar mustache. One could easily guess that he was in his 50s by watching the few fresh wrinkles on his face. His name was Clifton Kozlov, the Marshal of the Drachmann Federation, the man above all the military forces and weaponry of Drachma.

The second man was around the age of the Marshal, but he was shorter and thinner than him. He also liked to comb his shoulder-length black hair with strands of white, in a backward fashion. But his brown complexion was uncommon in Drachma. Moreover, he liked to wear a black round neck suit with a red shawl around it. One could easily confuse him for an Ishvalan, but his eyes were black unlike the scarlet eyes of the Ishvalans. His name was Sieglaff, the Prime Minister of Drachma, the man responsible for all the internal affairs of the country.

When both of them entered inside the hall, they stood at a distance from the man wearing the polar bear coat, and let him know their presence as a formality,

"My King," Both of them said after bowing their head

The man turned around and walked past them to sit at the head chair of the oval table in the hall like a true ruler. Both of them followed him and asked for his permission to sit, which the King granted by nodding his head. So, both of them took their seats, opposite each other. After everyone was settled, the discussion was started by Marshal Clifton,

"Bradley is dead. And, the new Fuehrer of Amestris is Grumman. He was a General posted at the East City" Clifton said

"This time I hope you are not going to attack Briggs, just because an Amestrian told you something" Sieglaff mocked Clifton by bringing up one of his subordinates mistake, who attacked Briggs on his own after receiving some information from the Crimson Lotus Alchemist, Solf J. Kimblee

"General Semenov acted on his own, good thing he died out there, otherwise I would have killed him myself for leading so many of my soldiers to their death" Clifton fisted the table with anger

"Maybe because you are not a capable leader" Sieglaff insulted Clifton

Clifton couldn't take on the insult and reply fiercely,

"How dare you doubt on my leadership capability?"

Suddenly, they both got interrupted by the man heading them,

"Sieglaff," He called very calmly

As soon as both of them heard their King's voice, they stopped quarreling.

"Yes, my King?" Sieglaff responded to the King

"Did you find out what happened at the central command of Amestris?" The King asked Sieglaff

"Yes, my King. A battle happened there as you know. According to our sources, an unknown young man appeared from beneath central command. He was so powerful that no weapon was working against him, he was also able to produce human beings from within his body…."

Sieglaff told everything that happened during the promised day. While finishing his verbal report, he said,

"I tried to find out who that young man was. We were unable to find much about his history except that, he was below the central command the whole time and, the homunculus referred to him as…"

"Father," The King interrupted

When the King completed the sentence, Sieglaff and Clifton started looking at him with surprise because it was a piece of information which was known to some handful of people in Amestris. So, Sieglaff got curiosity and said,

"Did you know him, my King?" He asked very politely

The King thought for a moment and replied with a "No"

Sieglaff didn't ask any follow-up questions due to the respect he had for the King. Instead he drove the conversation to the main issue, and said,

"Bradley is dead and Amestris is looking very vulnerable for the first time. I propose we make a plan to attack Amestris"

"Minister Sieglaff, do you really think we couldn't have beaten Bradley and his army of alchemists? Our force is far more terrifying than any country, it is just that our King didn't want to attack Amestris" Clifton sounded dissatisfied

After listening to Clifton, the King stood up and started walking toward the door. Both Sieglaff and Clifton were confused on why he was leaving the room without making a decision. But then their anxiety disappeared when the King spoke while facing his back to them,

"Fine Clifton, you have my permission to prepare for war. I am bored of this cold weather anyways. I wonder how the Fuehrer's residence feels like" The King said

The King then left the room. That was the first time, Sieglaff and Clifton listened to something related to war from the King's mouth. They were excited, now that they were allowed to conquer Amestris for real this time.