fractalsfrozen

Written for Sighardt Week!
Part 1 of ????
Inspired by the world of Junkenstein's Revenge, Reinhardt Wilhelm and art by Enot Friedrich

King Reinhardt the Lionhearted

Reinhardt had only been the king of Adlersbrunn for a few weeks, but the level of the previous ruler’s cruelty and depravity seemed to be endlessly revealing itself. His guard had called him to one of the lower dungeons…said there was something he needed to see. Nothing could have prepared him for what had been found. In a dark, cold cell, laying on the ground was a naked figure with pale blue skin

His grandmother had told him stories about them…the fae…the magical spirits of nature that lived in the mountains surrounding Adlersbrunn. Reinhardt had never seen one before…but he knew immediately that this was the nature of the creature before him. It fit the description completely….though this one was indeed a poor specimen.

Its skin was ashen from being kept out of the light for so long. Its hair was long, filthy and filled with mats and tangles. Its wrists and ankles were bound in rough iron that burned the flesh it touched. Nails on fingers and toes were longer than they should be from lack of use. It should have horns, according to his grandmother, but from where Reinhardt could see, there were none.

The king turned to his guard.

“Fetch me a blanket and the keys to its restraints.”

The guard paused.

“Sir? I don’t think that’s wise.”

Reinhardt asked again for the blanket and restraints, calm still, but with an edge in his voice that let the other man know he would not ask again.

“But…but sir….if we let it go….it could kill us all…freeze our families to death and not have a second thought about it!”

The king looked over the creature on the floor and remembered the words of his grandmother. These fae were harsh, unforgiving creatures. He weighed the warnings of the past and present before nodding, his choice made.

“I will be responsible…and only me. I will take responsibility for this creature and its actions…I just need a blanket and the keys to its restraints.”

A wrong had to be righted. Justice must prevail and it must prevail for all or he was a hypocrite.

When the guard returned, Reinhardt gently wrapped the creature in the blanket. Its skin was icy cold, but it had never been about warmth. It had been about modesty. Fae were vain in those old stories, but also modest. They had no qualms with showing themselves to those they wanted to see them…but to remove the choice was to be indecent…and this pitiful wretch had clearly had enough indecent things done to it.

The guard returned with the requested items and gave them to the lord of the castle. Using the guard’s lantern, Reinhardt was able to locate the locks for the fae’s restraints. Unfortunately, since it had been held so long, the iron of its manacles had burned into its flesh. Removing them would be painful, but it had to be done.

The king gently laid the blanket over the restrained creature and gently patted its side as he leaned in to whisper to it.

“I’m sorry to have to hurt you more…but I need to get these things off of you. I will set you free, I swear, but first I must remove your bindings.”

Reinhardt worked at the feet first. The manacles creaked from age when he got it loose before they fell open. The fae twitched briefly, giving a quiet hiss but offered the king no resistance. When he moved onto the hands, though, the fae faintly trembled. Reinhardt’s laid a reassuring hand on its shoulder.

“We are almost done, my friend. Thank you for trusting me.”

It was more likely that the creature did not have the ability to resist and that being bound in iron had drained its power so that anything other than existing was impossible. Reinhardt paid it no mind and focused on the task at hand. The wrist cuffs were at last removed and the fae gave a soft whimper, but no sooner had the bindings hit the floor, then its clawed hands flexed and it opened its eyes. They glowed blue in the darkness, catlike pupils growing round as they drank in the sight of the man who had removed its bindings.

The king immediately bowed his head.

“I am sorry this injustice has been done to you. One of your kind should never be so disrespected. I will do all in my power to make amends and make sure it never happens again. I beg that you do not take this out on the families here. They have nothing to do with your captor. If you must have revenge, you may kill me and I will not stop you.”

The creature regarded him, eyes moving up and down, side to side looking him over before a clawed hand reached for his and held it. The fae said nothing, bit its large cold fingers lightly squeezed the king’s hand. Reinhardt raised his head.

“You are kind and merciful. Let us take you out of here.”

With that, he scooped the elemental fat up and made sure its blanket was snugly wrapped around it and began to ascend the stairs up out of the dungeon.

There was much to be done.