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In the Land of Akielos, there ruled a king named Theomedes, who had two sons. Damen, the younger of the two, was the heir of the realm, as he had been born to the Queen, unlike his older brother, who had been born to the King’s mistress. Although the king loved his older son on account of his mother, he afforded his heir all that was due to him, and in time gave him the lion pin and scarlet cloak that signified his station.
When the older brother saw all that Damen had been given, he hated him. He tried to keep his hatred a secret, but some at court could see the jealousy that the brother carried with him.
Akielos went to war, and Damen led them to victory, by killing the heir of their enemy. This made his brother hate him more, for he was more accomplished with the sword and on the battlefield than he.
Damen’s brother hated that Damen would rule over him one day.
Although Damen had triumphed over his brother in all things, in war, in arms, and in diplomacy, there was still one thing for his brother to win at: love. For they both lusted over the same woman, beautiful and cunning as she was.
Damen’s brother and the woman were united by their desire for power, and so it was that the woman was with child by the brother, but told no one else, so that she may still enter Damen’s bed.
One of Damen’s advisors said to him, “Do you not see how your brother lusts after your power and station? And how the woman you love loves your crown more than she does you?” But Damen was trusting, and over confident, and dismissed his advisor’s concerns.
It was at this time that the Regent of Vere, Akielos’ great enemy whom Damen had defeated, began to plant seeds of a greater plot in the brother’s mind.
The brother said to the Regent’s ambassador, “Come now, let us kill the king and say that my brother, the Crown Prince, is the culprit, so that we may kill him too. Then we will see what becomes of his talents.”
But Regent told the brother, “Let’s not take his life. My nephew, the Crown Prince of Vere, hates your brother more than any other. Send him to me, where his suffering will last longer than simple death.” This idea pleased the brother, and so he agreed.
When Damen’s brother and the woman had their plan in hand, they began to slowly poison the King, so that Theomedes withered away. Both sons took turns taking vigil by their father’s bedside, until finally Theomedes was dead.
So the brother’s soldiers came to Damen; they stripped him of his scarlet cloak and his lion pin, and they bound him in chains in the slave baths.
And the Regent’s Ambassador agreed to take a slave as a gift from the new king to the Crown Prince of Vere. So, Damen was put on a ship bound for Vere, bound and chained as a slave.
But when the kyroi of Akielos heard of the death of Theomedes, they said, “Where is Damen, the Prince, so that he may be crowned King?”
The brother, who had already rang the bells, proclaiming his own kingship replied, “My brother has murdered our father, the King, and so has been executed for treason.” And the brother provided evidence of the King’s poisoning, so they all had to accept his word as true.
And the whole kingdom mourned openly for their king, but none could mourn the Crown Prince, who was thought to be a traitor, except by his closest advisor, who mourned in secret, and wept for him.
Meanwhile, Damen was given to Laurent, the Crown Prince of Vere.
Laurent hated Damen, for he had killed his brother, whom he had loved dearly. He did not care to see what kind of man that Damen was, so he had him kept hidden away in separate quarters. Laurent sent Damen to fight for him in the ring, hoping he would fail, but he was strong, and won his victory, and would not debase himself in the ways of the Regent’s Court. Now, Laurent could not let himself see that Damen might be a good man, for the Regent’s court was filled with liars, and schemers, and people of all wicked tastes, and Laurent could not even trust the food he ate.
Now Damen was well-built and handsome, and after a while, the Court took notice of him, and wondered if Laurent had taken him to bed, as the new King of Akielos and the Regent had intended.
But he had not, and although Laurent was also strong and beautiful, Damen also hated his new master. Damen was wise, and tried not to earn the Prince’s ire, until one day, Laurent summoned him to the baths, and said, “Attend me.”
When Damen displeased Laurent, which he did in all things, for he could only hate his brother’s killer, Laurent ordered him tied to the post and whipped, almost within death.
When the Regent asked why Laurent had so disrespected the Akielon king’s gift, he was brought before the whole Council. “Look,” he said to them, “this Akielon is a great brute, who has disrespected me in the baths! He tried to attack me, but my guards stopped him.”
Although this explanation satisfied the Council, it did not satisfy the Regent. When he saw how his nephew was trying to defy him, he burned with anger. He took away much of the Prince’s earnings and properties, and sent soldiers disguised as Akielons to kill the prince, hoping to spark a war, and to be rid of his nephew so that he might wear the crown for himself.
But Damen saved Laurent’s life, for he disliked the cowardly act, and was honorable by nature. This act granted him small favor in the eyes of Laurent, so Laurent brought him with him to patrol the border as was his duty.
And while Damen was on the road with Laurent, he earned favor in his eyes, by helping train his men, by offering council, and by saving his life multiple times. Laurent began to see that Damen was a man of honor, and when two captains failed him, put him in charge of all those men under him on the border, and he was made responsible for the fort that they had taken. Damen, too, could see that Laurent was a man of honor, and so success came to them in all they did, and indeed a bond was formed between them.
As their own plans mounted to take back their respective kingdoms, Laurent left for the fort of Fortaine, while Damen was left to meet reinforcements to take the fort of Charcy. Before he left, he freed Damen, for he respected Damen as a man, and had come to love him, having the golden collar struck from his neck, and the cuffs as well, but Damen did not take off one cuff, for he had come to love Laurent as well.
When he saw that the reinforcements were his advisor’s men, he said to them, “I am Damianos,” for that was his royal name, “I am the King.” And so his advisor and all his men saw that it was true, and they fought for their true King, and for the Prince of Vere.
After taking the center between the two kingdoms, Damen and Laurent were reunited, and Damen tried to reveal himself to Laurent. But Laurent told him that he already knew who he was, and took the second cuff to wear on his own wrist, to prove his commitment.
And so they marched south to Ios, to confront Damen’s brother and Laurent’s uncle, where neither expected them to work together.
For the Regent had hoped that Damen would seduce Laurent and the revelation of his true identity would crush him. But he was foiled, for Damen was a man of honor, and Laurent had known from the beginning Damen’s true identity.
And Damen’s brother had hoped that being a slave would break Damen’s spirit, and that Laurent would kill his brother for him, but he was foiled, for Damen was strong of heart, and Laurent too, was a man of honor and of wisdom, and saw that Damen’s skills with the sword and on the battlefield would be an asset to him.
In the end, when they reached Ios, they defeated the Regent, and they defeated Kastor, and they vowed to rule their kingdoms from the center, as one empire. That empire stands to this day, for what others meant for evil, worked together for good. The two kings’ likeness are enshrined in the Kingsmeet together, as Damianos, the Chain-Breaker, for he freed the slaves, and Laurent, the Uniter, for he brought together two kingdoms as one.