Galen
Galen still wasn’t sure if he had made the right choice. He was sure he had at the time while they were still on Hartholm, and he hadn’t questioned it while the starships made jump after jump to the Kingworth System. Now, on the world his ancestors once ruled as king, that still held the name of his family, he couldn’t help but wonder if he made the right choice.
Anyone would have killed to have the protection of the Imperial Lord General. The Commander of the Imperial Guard of Highpass was the single most powerful member of the guard, and there were few people, among them even lords who could match the power she could command. She also answered only to Galen’s own father, and aunt, the dual lords of Highpass.
Imperial Lord General Cinder had been easy on Galen before now, but more important her retinue had been easy on him. Now that he joined the Retinue, much more was expected from him, and they worked him twice as hard as before. If Galen had harbored doubts that he might have been seen as a favorite, those thoughts were quickly dashed.
Galen had been placed as part of High Companion Watt’s, and High Commander Vanir’s fire-team. High Companion Watt’s was fair enough man. He was easy going, and was a man of few words. Techno-Mage, and High Commander Vanir seemed to be out to get him though. He had Galen under daily training drills with himself, or with other members of the retinue when he was busy. He wasn’t in one of the many training, and holographic rooms on the ‘Long Serpent’, or performing his duties, High Commander Vanir liked to loan him out to others.
Galen could hardly feel his muscles most days as he tried to keep up, and none of it stopped him from performing the duties of one of the aides that served the Imperial Lord General. He had hoped those duties would fall to another, but they hadn’t, and worse was that any free time he might have was taken by him with his duties to High Commander Longhair in command of the starfighter complement of the ‘Long Serpent’. He almost forgot what real sleep was like.
Galen had been looking forward to the stop at the world of Kingsworth since he had first seen it on the list of stops the small fleet would make. It was said that Kingsworth System was the birthplace of House Worth as part of the powerful Clan Aegis. It was at the very least the world where the first Worth Aegis rose to power in Furse space. A home that Galen’s ancestors had ruled as kings before they fled thousands of years to the world which would one day become Worthgard in what was now the Kingdom of Highpass.
The World was still full of worths of all stripes. Sunworth, Ashworth, Worthfist, Starworth, and many more. There were dozens of branches of house Worth, and clans which had risen up through the ages to create their own names, and power. Most were little more than minor branches though, with little to no power outside the star system itself. Galen had been surprised by how many ancient family ties there were.
The world of Kingsworth itself still held the giant statues of the former lords, and kings of House Worth, and the first lords of the clan. Ancestors of his that still stood tall, and strong, those ancestors who had served one of the many Furse Empires throughout the centuries, or ruled as kings in their own right. Just as many had been subject to one lord, or another before the flight of the main branch of the Clan. Weathered by age, time, and damage, some statues held no features at all, and barely looked human. He wondered how old some of them might have been, but knew several were several thousand years old.
Imperial Lord General Helena Cinder had brought him to the old throne of the kings of Worth. It was still in use, but the throne of his ancestor was now in the hands of the Highlord Brooks, one of many noble families which had held it since his ancestors fled the world. It was from that throne that his ancestor fought the many Reap Kings, and Galen was awed by it. The throne was like that of the room itself, it was simple, aged, and weathered. There was no grandeur in it, but there was a beauty that he admired.
It was the throne that made Galen have doubts. His ancestors had once been kings. His father, and aunt were the dual lords of Highpass, king in all but name, and yet he had given himself over to another, and he wondered how his father, and ancestors would feel about that. He was expected to lead, and yet to have offered his submission. Even still though, his doubts didn’t make him feel as though he did anything wrong.
Galen let out a long drawn out sigh. He was thinking too much on the matter, and he knew it. He was a retainer of the Imperial Guard. He was meant to follow. He hadn’t proven himself to anyone, let alone the right to lead. Swearing his oath to the Imperial Lord General could only benefit him if he chose to take advantage of it, and learn directly from one of the greatest warriors of Highpass. He looked at the statue of a man with a crown on his head, and closed his own fist on his chest. He had no idea what ancestor of his was, he would have to study his history, but he made himself a vow. He would become worthy of the honor he had been gifted, but more important, he would become worthy of his name, and his ancestors.
