The throne room

300 years ago, there was a great warrior, who united seven kingdoms in one single Crown. The warrior had a beast. A black great monstrous dragon. The dragonfire melted down a thousand blades, and forged a throne, so high that it touched the roof of the great room, inside a Red Fortress.

Today, the king is not a warrior, not a ruler. He is just a kid. And kids are not good enough to be kings. The kingdom is ruled by King's advisors, like his grandfather, a powerful landlord from the west. There are others. An old Master of the Citadel, with a chain carrying rings of gold and silver. And there are two men. Two smart and powerful men, who came from nothing. Men from nothing are the most dangerous of every men. Those who have nothing to lose, have nothing to fear.

These men like and hate one each other. And that is the key of today's story. A lesson one though the other.

In the throne room. The two men look the Iron Throne.

"A thousand blades... Taken from the hands of King's fallen enemies... Forged into the fire of that black and terrible beast..

Yes... But look again. You see? There are not a thousand blades. In fact there aren't even two hundred.

Is that so? Surely you have counted it...
It's an ugly and old thing, yet it has certain appeal... It's like a beautiful woman... The "woman" of Chairs... It is a shame we only can look at it, but never touched it, let alone sit ourselves in it.

I don't want to seat in the Throne... You should know that its blades are sharpened, we could cut ourselves...

Then one of the man smiled at the other and said: it is flattering... Really, all these years you seeking for me to fall in disgrace... However, it's me who win today, and you lose...

I know everything... I know about your confident, the one who has been informing you of my plans... The one you swore to protect... Well my friend. The fact is your help does not bring her any enjoyment... And she didn't bring me any enjoyment... He was a bad investment on my part... Luckily I have a friend, a friend who wanted to be useful, and that wanted to try something new... Something dangerous... And he paid me generously good for proving him with a great experience...

Yes, it's true. I betrayed you. But I did what I did for the good of the Realm...

The Realm... Do you know, what "The Realm" is? It's like the thousand blades... Not History, but a story. A story we agree to tell each other over and over again, counselor to counselor, father to son, Lord to Heir, King to Prince... Over and over... Until we forget that it's a lie.

But what do we have left once we abandon "the lie"? Chaos, havoc, mayhem. A gaping pit waiting for swallow us all...

A pit... You will always be a good servant, a perfect advisor, but never a Lord... A pit you say? Chaos is not a Pit... Chaos is a Ladder...