"By royal proclamation!"
The crier had held the center of Aldoria's market square since dawn, and his voice was audibly paying for it. "King Alexios has passed the crown to his chosen heir! Long live Her Majesty, Queen Felicity Primrose Amabelle Valorian, sovereign of Vraven!"
"And by the Queen's own free word! Vraven kneels to the Primordial Villain! The kingdom, the crown, and every soul within now stand under his protection!"
Criers like him had been shouting the same words in every city of the kingdom since dawn.
Aldoria had already argued the news to death, and moved on to the practical questions, like how they'd put food on the table today. So the market simply flowed around the man and let him work.
The labyrinth gate of Aldoria opened at dawn, and the queue of adventurers formed by sunrise. Guardsman Hadric stood his post beside it the way he had stood it every day since the bounty sheets: sweating under his armor, flinching at every flash of light in the market square.
