"We did it! You and I! We are men of a generation that I never expected to live to see this glorious day when our enemies of old stand defeated on all sides!"
I nodded, as I gripped his other hand. There was a fierce joy to behold in his eyes as he gaspingly said, with all the force he could muster, "Smirnaz is free!"
"Yes my King," I said.
His hand let go of my head to thrust at my chest, "And you are the one who has made it possible! You and the men you lead."
I shook my head, "I would not have gotten far without a king such as you, willing to risk all in the pursuit of freedom. In truth, the glory is El Elyon's because the victory we have achieved together is greater than either of us could have ever brought about by our own devices."
Blood trickling from his mouth the King spoke, "Well said. Spoken like a King. Truly there has never been a more nobler bastard born to woman than you!"
I smiled, not taking offense in the slightest. The King coughed and I thought he was on the verge of passing out, when he suddenly gripped hold of my chest plate armor hard enough to pull me closer and say, "Truly there is no one better qualified than you to be king in my absence!"
Stunned, I stared at him in shock as he moved his intensely staring eyes from me to those that were around us, "Hail your new King!"
As one the Knights bowed low to the ground, even as I began to object, but the King would have none of it, "Benaiah, you and I both know how late the hour is. Without a strong leader the victories that we have achieved will all be for naught."
How to tell him?
"Your highness, even as the prophetic hour is late, there will soon be no more kingdoms to be ruled over by Kings. You do me too great an honor in these last days to make me King."
The King's hold on me relaxed as he shook his head, "Truly, granting you kingship is not honor enough for your exploits these past four years on behalf of the seven kingdoms. Yes, the times of kingdoms will soon be no more I fear, but there will be a Kingdom! A Kingdom not built by men, but rather of El Elyon himself. Benaiah, I need you to lead the people into that Kingdom that even now draws nigh. Will you do it?"
At a loss for what else to do I nodded, wanting the King's last few moments in life to be those of peace and not of concern. He smiled and gave me a faraway look as he said, "I can see it now Benaiah. I can see what we've been fighting for!"