Unknown Past

By: K.S. Night

Chapter 1- Back to Before

In another time and place, there was a king who ruled over all the land. His name was Bartholomew Anglescend. He was a good king; wise, kind and very fair. No king had ever been so beloved by his people. It was good for the few years he reigned in peace.

Bartholomew had a wife named Eileen. She was a major part in his life, always there when ruling became hard. Eileen was a very loving woman, and also very beautiful. Her smile could make any man forget his troubles. As Bartholomew ruled, Eileen was always at his side.

Then, Bartholomew’s younger brother, Titus, began to fight for control of the kingdom. He assembled an army of hired warriors and a dark mage named Joshua. With them, he assaulted Bartholomew’s capital city of Ashmed. King Bartholomew tried to fight off his evil brother, but failed. His own mage, named Tobias, was unable to defeat Joshua. After many years of fighting, Titus prevailed. He sentenced his brother and his brother’s mage to death, and took Eileen for his own wife.

Before their executions, Tobias learned that Eileen was pregnant with Bartholomew’s child. In a desperate act to save his master’s kingdom, he cast a curse on both Bartholomew and his unborn child. All who ever descended from King Bartholomew’s family would have a curse scar upon their flesh. The mark would be the shape of the weapon Bartholomew was executed with.

As it turned out, Bartholomew was executed the following day. The weapon he was killed with was a three-pronged trident; one that the descendants of Titus would hold as a symbol of the supreme ruler.

As Tobias was about to be executed, he added yet another twist to Bartholomew’s curse. The descendant who would overthrow Titus’ family’s reign would have the curse scar upon his right shoulder blade, and all others would bear it on their left. Then, Tobias cast another curse upon his own family. A descendant of his would aid Bartholomew’s to overthrow Titus’ family. They would bear no mark, but he or she would be special; gifted as no other would be. As Tobias died, he let loose the last of his magic and finalized all spells cast.

Eileen gave birth a few months later. When she looked at her baby boy, she knew that Titus would kill him. Titus was aware of the curse upon Bartholomew’s family. In an attempt to save her child, she swapped her baby for a stillborn one that had been born to a kitchen drudge that morning. The drudge was given enough money to safely get away and escaped the city with the child.

After she saved her baby, Eileen took poison herbs so she could not be made to tell where the real baby had gone. Feeling like she hadn’t felt since Bartholomew died Eileen lay down and pretended to cry.

When Titus saw the baby, he tried to reassure his stolen wife. She was sobbing hysterically, tears streaming down her beautiful face. It was only when he took her in his arms did he realize she was not crying, but laughing hysterically. The poison herbs had fogged Eileen’s mind, and Titus realized what she had done.

Eileen laughed when Titus tried to find out what had happened to the real baby. Before he could find out, Eileen fell dead in his arms. Titus roared out his fury and ordered a massive search to begin. But, Eileen’s baby was well-protected by Tobias’ curse. Not even Joshua could find the child.

For many years Titus searched. When he died, his son Titano took over and ruled like his father had: cruelly, and by fear. He too searched for Bartholomew’s descendants. He found only one, and it had been a dying old man. His wife had given birth to fifteen children, each bearing the curse scar of a three-pronged trident. Fifteen new heirs had gone into the world and spawned more children. Titano knew that the problem would continue growing and soon there would be Bartholomew descendants in all parts of the land.

When the next descendant was captured, Joshua’s son, Jack, placed a spell over him. All bearing the mark would be easier to find. The only thing standing in their way was Tobias’ curse. It could not be removed, for it had been sealed in the mage’s blood. No blood curse could ever be removed unless blood of the same kind was used.

And so it went for centuries. Titus’ family grew and grew, each colder and crueler than the last. In secret, Bartholomew’s line spread. None were ever born with a three-pronged trident on their right shoulder. No one ever tried to overthrow the Titus line for fear of being killed.

Slowly, the tale faded and was forgotten. Except for those who sought to foil or fulfill it, the story disappeared completely from memory.

Then, a woman found a small child on her doorstep one day. The woman was a slave to a war lord of the desert. The was a child had a strange scar on his right shoulder. She took the child as her own. That very same night had a dream about a great and powerful city. A voice told her that the city’s name was Ashmed and so she named her child Ashmed, after the beautiful city she had dreamt of.

For fourteen more years, no one ever knew about Ashmed’s strange mark, and for fifteen years, nothing happened…

That is, until Ashmed’s fifteenth birthday. The woman died, and Ashmed never knew anything about his true family’s past. It was then that the magic around him began to work.