ACT V PART 1 — THE KING’S GAMBIT
A hollow, overcast sky comes about that morning. The kind destined to make history. The gallows have been wheeled out onto the Solan castle’s courtyard, commotion stirring because — “there hadn’t been an execution scheduled, had there?” Common folk check in with their neighbors, whispering their theories and guesses over the formidable morning. A spy that required urgent attention? A council member with a particularly juicy betrayal?
A crowd formed, so large surely half of Solis were present that morning, all eagerly awaiting the spectacle to come. Clearly they are not aware of what had happened throughout the night.
For when the castle door’s open, it is not the king that addresses the crowd. It is a woman dressed in commoner garb, a cloth wrapped to cover her face. She has piercing eyes, and a slinky posture — someone that eerily resembled a snake, you thought.
As for the prisoner, the poor unfortunate soul set to be hung that day? You peer closely to make out the bloodied face, and is that... why, that’s the king of Solis!
And just as soon as you’d realized it, had that Solan courtyard dissented into chaos.
The King of Solis is dead, and overtaking the castle is a rebel group unknown to the four kingdoms. News spreads quickly that Solis is under new leadership. Little is known about the rebel group aside from the fact that they are holding the royal family hostage, they are treating the commoners of Solis with the utmost esteem and care, and no one knows where they came from — or more relevantly: what they could possibly want.