It was just a typical day in the Nocturne Kingdom. Marin dealt with his kingdom affairs with Loid, Helva and Harrel. Doctor Eisen tended to patients (sometimes unwillingly), and Marge ordered new books for the library. Bob Galrus managed imports for the castle and his general store while Sherry ordered the cooks to prepare fresh food. Maids cleaned, guards guarded.

  And of course, Rudolf manned the lookout.

  Rudolf was the best lookout, according to himself.

  “Ha! Get up on your cart, will ya?” Rudolf chuckled to himself while he spied on people through his binoculars. From the high tower he was stationed at, he was currently looking down on a merchant who just lost his footing trying to get back into his horse-drawn carriage.

  The merchant had instead banged his shin into the wood, and fell back to the ground, hopping about.

  Rudolf was entertained. He reached his hands into a bowl of pretzels besides him and snacked as he observed everyone he could who were out in front of the castle.

  “What are youuuu doing back so soon?” He spoke to himself, observing a worker who must’ve returned to a spot they had just been at.

  Rudolf obnoxiously munched and munched his crunchy pretzel pieces, as he got crumbs in his long wispy blonde mustache.

  He continuously adjusted the focus on his binoculars as he fixated on different people.

  “Now who are you guys?”

  Rudolf dialed in on a new cart that just appeared from behind a mountain.

  Three people. That’s a nice cart. That’s a DANG nice cart.

  ...Wait a second.

  Rudolf frantically spun the focus dial on the binoculars. He zoomed in as much as he could.

  “Could it possibly be?” He said to himself in just a whisper.

  The three individuals in the high-quality metal carriage wore fancy suits. All three of them had sunglasses on.

  White collars, black ties, sunglasses… HOLY MOLY!

  Rudolf spat the remaining pretzel pieces still being chewed. He threw the binoculars down to the splintered table besides him.

  He knew exactly who it was. In an attempt to launch himself out of the chair as fast as possible, his foot got caught in one of the legs. His own leg broke the chair’s wooden one off cleanly, and forcing Rudolf to fall sideways.

  “Damn it!!!” He yelled, fighting the pain. The merchant who banged his shin earlier wasn’t so funny anymore.

  Rudolf found himself back on his feet quickly. He had to hurry. The RAM agents had finally arrived.

  He did his best not to stumble again as he flew down the wooden spiral staircase. Each stair creaked as he hastily descended them. Once again, he hoped this wouldn’t be the day he fell through the steps.

  Landing on the brick base, he bolted through the entrance way, running down a hallway until he saw a fellow guard on shift.

  “What is it now Rudolf?” He asked, almost annoyed.

  “They’re here! The RAM agents! Get outta mah way!” Rudolf violently pushed the guard to the side with the wooden item in his hands.

  He began running again.

  “What are you holding??” The guard yelled from behind. Rudolf ignored the question. He half didn’t hear, half didn’t care.

  Rudolf wheezed as he descended several more flights of stairs, sprinting down hallways. When the castle dwellers saw the guard running by, they knew something was urgent, and stayed out of his way.

  The lookout guard burst into the main office.

  “RAM’s here! I saw ‘em! The black suits have arrived!” Rudolf bellowed into the castle’s office for anyone to hear.

  Helva, who was rarely found not working, happened to be sitting back in her chair with a cup of coffee and a book in hand. The presence of Rudolf startled her greatly, but had to gently place the mug down while swallowing a fresh sip.

  As soon as the procedure of slowly placing the mug down to avoid even the smallest splash had been accomplished, she became frantic.

  Helva started snapping her fingers at a maid. “Go get the King!” She ordered.

  “I don’t know where he is!” The maid whined.

  “WELL GO FIND HIM!” Helva fiercely demanded.

  The maid rolled her eyes and left the room.

  Helva stood up, and began placing her knitted sweater on. “Harrel! The agents are here!” She yelled loud enough for Harrel to hear from the other room, as he hadn’t come out yet.

  “I heard! I’m getting ready,” Harrel echoed out from a further office behind the main one.

  Helva came around the desk, ready to walk out, when she saw Rudolf holding a wooden pole in his hands.

  “What’s that?” Helva asked the lookout guard while she studied the snapped off end of the wood.

  Rudolf looked down and realized he had, without thought, been grasping the broken leg of his chair this whole time.

  “That’s uh… Sorry.” Rudolf quickly hid it behind his back. “Don’t mind it.”

  Helva didn’t have time to follow up on it. She simply walked passed him and to the hallway.

  Word spread quickly throughout the castle, and soon most of the staff knew the situation. Marin was notified minutes later, who stopped what he was doing to meet the agents at the front door of the castle. The day had finally come, and it was no less of a surprise than he had expected.

  Marin knew that many, many years ago, he had his castle added to RAM’s official list of recognized kingdoms. He knew there was a process that the agents carefully went through to approve or deny the request.

  He just for the life of him couldn’t remember how it went. If he had any inkling of what they looked for, he could have better prepared. Helva had a rough idea, but even she had no knowledge of what exact parameters the agents would test for, as it wasn’t freely given out.

  Marin was at the front door with his second in command, Loid. Helva, the main secretary, and Harrel, the castle’s accountant were now all standing together with the grand front doors wide open, waiting for the cart that was drawing dangerously close to the entrance.

  In the carriage were three agents from RAM. More specifically, two, and one director.

  In the middle was Director Hegris. Quite the tall man, sitting a head taller than the two agents on the left and right of him. He was slender, dressed in the typical black suit, with a bowler hat on. His hair was long, with strands of greasy brown hair falling out of the hat in various locations. On his long nose was a pair of sunglasses, concealing his eyes. This matched the same sunglasses on the two agents beside him.

  Speaking of the agents, it was a man and a woman in equally sleek black suits and tie. The man had short tidy brown hair while the female’s black hair was pulled tightly into a bun.

  They all looked quite intimidating, whether that was unintentional or on purpose was unknown to Marin yet.

  The cart pulled up. The two agents stepped off, with the Director following last. Now standing, Director Hegris had become two heads taller than everyone else present. His height was now a match for the knight Sygol’s.

  The strands of hair, stuck together from the grease they were frozen in, fell just past his shoulders. A servant quickly took the reigns of the horse-drawn carriage they arrived in. It was a valet service that kingdoms were expected to have.

  The servant whipped the reigns of the horse, steering the carriage away to the stables on the side of the castle.

  The three RAM officials stared at the four kingdom admins. The seven of them all stood in silence, fixated on each other for an uncomfortable moment.

  “This is it?” Hegris finally asked in a disappointed voice, not seeming too impressed with who was presented to him.

  “Welcome, Sir, to Nocturne Castle,” Marin said, ignoring the comment.

  “Where is Sullivan Marin?” Hegris asked.

  “That would be me,” the masked king spoke again.

  The Director took a few steps towards Marin, and leaned forward, craning down at him. He removed his sunglasses, and placed them into a pocket in his trench coat. His eyes had dark bags under them from a lack of sleep. They never went away, and had become a defining feature of the tall director.

  “What kind of King wears a mask to hide his face from his subjects?” Director Hegris’s words were accusatory. They were piercing and hot on the ears of Marin.

  Despite this, Marin had come prepared. He knew very well that his mask was going to be brought up. He had answers already for almost any concern.

  “The kind that doesn’t require showing it to earn the loyalty and support of his subordinates,” Marin said back without a passing moment.

  Hegris didn’t respond.

  “...That, and I am quite deformed, I’m afraid,” Marin finally added as a last ditch effort.

  The director’s tired eyes narrowed as they attempted to see through the light blue crystal lenses of the mask.

  “Hmm.” Hegris finally stood straight back up after a moment. “You’re just as mysterious as this castle. I don’t believe your claim, but that’s not for me to dispute at this time.”

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  That was threatening. Marin wasn’t sure how to react to his response.

  Before he could dwell on it longer though, Hegris turned to look at the two agents to his left and right. They had stood stone-faced, not a word said this whole time.

  “Go ahead and begin your scans. I will make conversation with the staff here while you work,” he commanded them.

  Both the agents who still wore their sunglasses peeled off from the Director, walking in opposite directions. They stood outside the castle walls as their palms rose into the air.

  A crisp, bright yellow laser of horizontal light escaped their hands. It landed on the exterior of the castle, highlighting every subtle flaw and crack in the chiseled stone it was comprised of.

  The agents kept the ray of light flowing, slowing moving the scanner up and down as they studied the structural condition of the building.

  Light elementals, all of them, Marin remembered. RAM’s entire agency comprised of exclusively light elementals, due to the unique toolkit that light offered them. That hadn’t changed in the two hundred year long gap in his life.

  “It’s good to meet you all, I suppose. I am Director Nathan Hegris.”

  Harrel spoke out. “A Director? Here? We had not expected one of RAM’s highest authorities to make an appearance today,” he said on behalf of everyone else.

  “Consider it a treat. I’m highly interested in the events unfolding here. Now, as my fellow agency workers give your fancy castle a scan for any imperfections, let me ask, how did you come about bringing this castle back from the dead?” Hegris asked.

  The wording hit a little too close to home for Marin. It was almost like he knew his secrets, but just didn’t. The director so far had given him a large amount of uncomfortable feelings, but he did his best to oblige.

  “After traveling for many years, I decided to embrace my destiny as King of Nocturne. I am the heir to throne, so naturally, I-”

  Hegris cut Marin off. “The HEIR, you say? And what PROOF do you have of that bold claim?” The director fiercely demanded.

  Marin raised his gloved hand, showing the golden ring with the King’s seal on it.

  Hegris’s eyes widened at the sight. The Director who had it all figured out, who been so expertly calculated finally displayed a level of unexpectedness.

  “Let me see that…” He said quietly.

  Again, Marin obliged. He easily slipped his seal off of his finger, and offered it up to the lengthy director.

  Hegris grasped it in his fingers, holding the ring a decent length away from him as he intently studied it. No one made a movement at the intense situation.

  Marin was quite nervous. He had no idea how this meeting would play out. At any moment, the Director could lunge for his mask and rip it off, revealing his secret. He could immediately pocket the ring, claim it wasn’t Marin’s, and have him arrested.

  Marin debated attacking the Director with his ice element if something like that happened. That would be a terrible decision in the long run though, seeing as he would become an enemy of the government. That would force him to go into hiding and become a recluse, losing his King status and kingdom entirely.

  That was even if he could actually defeat the Director in combat. RAM’s Directors were understood to be the highest leveled masters of the light element.

  Marin kept spiraling as Hegris took his time studying the ring. He had to keep it together.

  He had too.

  “It’s the very same…” Director Hegris finally said. He then looked over to the masked Marin. “Where… where did you get this…?”

  “My father, who got it from his father, and so on,” he lied.

  Marin’s closest friends, Loid, Helva and Harrel all knew the real truth, but stood their ground behind him, ready to confirm any story Marin spun in support of their undead King.

  “It was recorded that King Marin in the 600’s never married. Never had children,” Hegris stated from his knowledge bank of Nocturne’s history.

  “I’m afraid that it was all kept secret. I don’t know the exact details myself, but I was always told he had a hidden lover.”

  Hegris chuckled, then began laughing at the absurdity. “Really? Did he now?!” He laughed more, it was a very uncomfortable laugh for everyone listening. Marin was slowly heading down a bad road with the Director that may end up with some serious accusations.

  “And the King’s name had been passed down all the way to you, I’m guessing?!”

  “Yes.”

  “Not to a masked grave robber who stole his jewelry? Not one concealing their identity to hide the false truth? You dare try to pass yourself off as a royal descendant?!” Hegris said with a massive, evil grin on his face.

  “That’s besides the point!” Helva finally yelled out from behind. She had enough of this bully who kept insulting Marin. It was time for her to step in and remind the Director the laws of his own agency.

  “Your code does not state that the ruler of a salvaged kingdom have to be of the same lineage as the former! Even if this was not the true heir, the original King Marin from before forfeited his Kingdom upon his disappearance.

  No one has made claim to the castle in the last two centuries! The masked man before you has every right to the throne according to your own laws!”

  Marin was relieved that Helva had said something.

  Loid was too. He already had his hand in a gripped fist, wondering what the ramifications would be for punching this guy in the face.

  Hegris scoffed. “Don’t recite my own expertise to me, woman. You’d do well to respect the government’s leaders, seeing as you were once the mayor of that lowly destroyed village that we passed on our way up here.”

  The tension had become immense. After a moment, the director took a deep breath. It was getting heated, but he knew not to overstep his bounds.

  He handed the ring back to Marin. At this point, the King was relieved to get it back.

  “That very seal on the ring in your possession was used to stamp documents we have in the archives at Irongrip,” Hegris started. “Original Nocturne documents from the early 600’s. I know the ring to be legitimate. But how you got it, the story you told me, I don’t think is.

  Yet again, I understand it’s not in my power to discover the truth. Perhaps one day it will be. Until then, I will leave it alone…

  Ah. Pardon me, but I appear to be receiving a call. What terrible timing as well.”

  Director Hegris turned away from the four of them, as he took several steps outside.

  Facing away from them, he placed two fingers on his right temple.

  “What is it?!” He demanded.

  Marin had break in the tension, finally. He exhaled, turning to his friends.

  The three of them didn’t look too much better. They hated this Director. The only thing stopping Hegris from discovering Marin’s secret himself was his obedience to the law he upheld.

  Director Hegris was speaking with Director Forlee through a light wave connection. It was a skill that light elementals appreciated greatly.

  Hegris was a fair distance away, but not far enough to not be heard by one listening closely.

  “...What? And there’s a vote for it?...NO! My vote is NO! Who’s the thick-headed blundering…”

  Hegris stopped for a moment. He scowled. “...Duropolis,” he slowly said, seething at every syllable of the name.

  “You tell that fat, bearded pile of lard if he thinks for a second we are going to WITHDRAW our troops, and let those Kingdoms fight to benefit his…”

  There was pause as Hegris listened to the director at the other end of the light wave.

  “...Well then I’LL write up a resolution! The embargo ends when I get back to Irongrip! And I swear, if I have to…”

  The four Nocturne admins stood, staring at the Director as he ranted with two fingers stuck to his temple.

  “What do you think he’s talking about?” Loid asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m getting the feeling that his attitude towards us isn’t exclusive. He seems to be quite… passionate in all his affairs,” Marin analyzed.

  They waited patiently for Hegris to end his call.

  “...And do you know where I am? Do you know how bad of a time you picked to call me?! I’m standing in front of them right now!

  ...Yeah, now I’m going. Don’t call me again until I say.”

  Director Hegris finally brought his two right fingers down from his temple. He took a few seconds to stare out at the mountains in front of him as he weighed large, nation-impacting decisions in his mind.

  Finally, he turned back around to Marin, and approached him again, adjusting his tie.

  “You’ll have to forgive me, but even out here, I can not escape the duties of keeping my fellow rulers in check. I sometimes resent the fact I learned Telepathy, but it was a requirement for joining the agency.

  Anyways, what were we talking about?”

  Before Director Hegris could get an answer, the two RAM agents who had been scanning the castle with their light waves had just rejoined.

  “Sir, we finished our inspection on the outside of the castle,” one of them said.

  Hegris sighed. He brought up his wrist, checking the time on a flashy golden watch.

  “Let’s continue on with the program, then. I’m eager to see the development of the Kingdom, but I want to be out of here by sundown,” The director announced, ending any further conversation with Marin on the current controversial topic about himself.

  Marin was then happy that the agents had finished scanning his castle, however nervous it made him. Nothing had been worse than the horrific interrogation from the Director.

  He was ready to give the RAM officials a tour of Nocturne. Stepping inside, they all looked around. One of the agents produced a clip board and began asking questions on business in the castle while the other agent started scanning the interior of the castle, looking for flaws.

  Hegris seemed to be in another world as he studied every corner. Every once in a while, the Director made a comment, but it was nothing threatening in nature compared to how he was acting earlier. It was odd, the more he saw of the castle, the more mellow his attitude became.

  Thankfully, every aspect the agent brought up, Marin had a satisfying answer for. The agents checked box after box of requirements the castle met, while writing extra comments that Marin couldn’t see.

  The Director did no writing or scanning himself, it had become clear that he was indeed just here for the tour, leaving the tedious inspection work to his two underlings.

  As the tour concluded, it had become clear that Nocturne had every facility online for Kingdom status. Every time an agent wanted to cross examine what he had in his paperwork from earlier filings, it had lined up correctly.

  The Director informed Marin though, that while Nocturne was meeting the requirements, it would come down to a vote from the council in the end.

  When asked, Hegris wouldn’t give his thoughts on the likeliness of whether it would pass or not.

  “All the evidence will be presented to the board, and from there, they will make the decision.”

  Harrel asked him a question.

  “Do I have a vote in the decision? Yes,” Hegris answered. “But I’m not sharing my answer. In a month, you’ll receive a letter either declaring your Kingdom status, or one denying you.”

  After the lengthy tour was over, and the agents were satisfied in seeing what they needed to, all of them stood back at the Grand Hall entrance.

  Their carriage was already being called back to the front for them.

  “Well, I have to say. Regardless of whether you are who you claim to be or not, I can see that you’ve respected the castle, and have restored it to state that I can appreciate. You’ve convinced me that Nocturne will be in good hands under your rule, Marin.”

  It was a shocking, polarizing statement from Director Hegris.

  “T-Thank you, Director,” Marin stumbled out, ecstatic he had finally won him over, even if he still was not fully trusting.

  The cart had been brought to the front by a servant. The two agents took no time climbing in.

  Before the Director did the same, he got close to Marin, and leaned down to him a bit.

  “Before I go, I have one final question,” Hegris said in his serious tone.

  “Sure.”

  “Do you know a man by the name of John Reech?” The Director asked Marin.

  It was silent for a moment as Marin pondered. Of course, and as always, Marin could not recollect the name of anyone he hadn’t just met in the last few months he had been alive.

  Marin loathed his ignorance, but had to live with it.

  “I’m sorry. I do not,” he finally answered.

  “That’s fine. Just wondering.”