“You think me a pawn!?” the knight captain booms, his voice shaking the hall they stood in

“You think me a fool who would absently follow the heedings of a corrupt man? 

You think I would yield to your orders, and lay my life down for that which has forsaken me? 

That which would forsake the innocent men, women and children kneeling beyond those doors. Wearing bags around their hands and their hands tied behind their backs, like cattle awaiting slaughter.” 

The knight takes off his metal helm, holding it by his side so his eyes could meet those of the man on the throne.

“How foolish is a man, who seeks the counsel of those who have never left castle walls? 

How foolish is a man, who would push steel against the throats of his most loyal subjects? The ones who defended and clothed his family for generations. 

How stupid is a man, who would cast aside his dignity, betray his morality and trample his principles, just to satisfy his infatuation with power? 

You have lost your way, your highness. For that, the man I swore an oath to is no more.” As the knight ushers the words, he draws his sword from his waist.

“So too, then, am I free of that oath’s binding.” He raises his helmet over his head, sliding it over his determined eyes. His voice now booming through its metal slits instead.

“I see no paragon of excellence before me, only a tyrant. Our noble leader, replaced by a cowardly fake. 

In honor of the man whose bloodline my forefathers and I swore to protect, we will now bear responsibility for our failures.”

The knight captain turns to the iron-cladded warriors lined up along his path to the throne. Men who once marched under his command.

“Draw your swords, those who would protect this pretender! 

I have come to behead your king.”