Rex had always been a man of decisive action. After returning to Gilneas, Rex began organizing his own caravan. As the Heir Apparent of Gilneas, Rex was hardly alone; many people depended on the royal family, especially on him. Rex owned businesses and properties of his own. Some were estates granted by Genn Greymane, while others had been established by Rex's predecessor. To Rex, trading with the outside world was an enormously profitable venture.
So, after obtaining Genn Greymane's approval, Rex eagerly drew on his existing caravans to assemble one bound for Dalaran.
Although isolationist Gilneas was self-sufficient, its resources were limited. Goods available outside its borders but unavailable within were as good as gleaming gold coins. With a monopoly on imported goods, Rex could certainly rake in a fortune.
While Rex busied himself with the caravan, the formation of the Knights of the Round Table was also put on the agenda and announced in the capital of Gilneas. The Heir Apparent establishing his own knightly order was a major event, because it meant he was building his own power base. Generally, the nobles of Gilneas would make some gesture of support. Lords would send sons who had no inheritance rights, but anyone hoping for their eldest sons and heirs could forget it. This was not ancient China, where the emperor reigned supreme. Here, a king was merely a greater lord. Lords possessed their own territories, and within those territories, they had armies, taxation rights, judicial authority, and more—all entirely lawful.
No one would abandon his territory to become someone else's vassal. Why give up being king of his own little domain to serve as another man's subordinate? No such fool existed. Sending a son without inheritance rights was another matter. However much a father adored his sons, only one could inherit. If the others were unlucky, they might sink to the status of commoners. Thus, noble sons without inheritance rights generally attached themselves to the royal family. It was a promising path: those who performed well might be granted land and become a new generation of lords.
Rex had to admit that Arthur had influenced his choice of name for the Knights of the Round Table. A great admirer of the order, he decided to follow its example and establish his own Twelve Knights of the Round Table.
On the very evening Rex announced the formation of the Knights of the Round Table in Gilneas, an unexpected visitor arrived at his residence: Darius Crowley, a lord who played a pivotal role in the history of the Kingdom of Gilneas and even affected its fortunes.
The Kingdom of Gilneas would suffer one calamity after another. The source of all its misfortunes, the root cause of its future inability to withstand the Forsaken's attacks, was this very Darius Crowley.
Viewed impartially, Darius Crowley was undoubtedly a heroic figure. He was open-minded, a rarity among a people so fiercely devoted to independence. He had always opposed the construction of the Greymane Wall. This concerned not only the Crowley Family's lands, but also the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Gilneas. Ever since the borders were sealed, Darius Crowley had worked tirelessly to open the Greymane Wall and bring Gilneas back into the Alliance.
As a result, the rift between him and the Greymane royal family grew wider and wider. Eventually, he openly attacked the policies of Rex's father, becoming increasingly brazen. In the end, Darius Crowley launched an outright rebellion and attacked the Greymane Court in Gilneas City. He declared that he would overthrow Genn's tyranny, end the isolation, and save Gilneas.
From an outsider's perspective, Darius Crowley was naturally a hero, from his efforts to persuade the king to his eventual rebellion.
But Rex now stood on the side of the Greymane royal family. No matter how compelling Darius Crowley's reasons were, rebellion was the gravest of crimes.
Without Darius Crowley's rebellion, Gilneas would not have suffered devastating losses through internal strife and descended into chaos. Even afterward, remnants of the rebels continued to operate throughout the kingdom, stockpiling countless firearms in the capital in an attempt to ignite a second civil war. This gave others an opening to exploit, sending Gilneas, once ranked third among the Seven Human Kingdoms, plunging to its lowest point. The kingdom fell, families were ruined, and its people were forced to leave their homes and flee to distant lands.
Rex could not be sure of Darius Crowley's intentions. Had he harbored thoughts of rebellion from the outset, or had he only decided to rebel after failing to persuade the king and losing all hope? The first possibility would make him an outright traitor from beginning to end; the second would mean he had at least spent some time as a loyal subject. For that reason, although Rex knew Darius Crowley was a powerful supporter of opening the Greymane Wall, he had not approached him to seek his support. Instead, he waited for Darius Crowley to come to him.
He had not expected Darius Crowley to show none of a lord's usual reserve and come hurrying to his door that very day. Nor had Darius come alone. A young woman followed behind him.
Rex welcomed the two into the front hall. As a lord, Darius held considerable standing. In recent years, the Crowley Family had relinquished most of its territory in Silverpine Forest because of the Greymane Wall, and the compensation it received within Gilneas could not compare with those lands. This had weakened the family considerably, but it remained a powerful lordly house in Gilneas.
Otherwise, Darius Crowley's rebellion would never have caused such an upheaval. The kingdom had barely managed to suppress it.
"Prince Rex, are you assembling a caravan to travel to Dalaran?" Darius went straight to the point. He spoke with a soldier's directness rather than tact, but that straightforward manner at least spared them a great deal of pointless talk.
"Yes. I'll set out in person in a month," Rex answered with a nod. News of this had spread throughout Gilneas. Most of its inhabitants were content with the status quo, however, and regarded it as little more than a topic for conversation after dinner.
"Then it seems you also intend to open the Greymane Wall, Your Highness." Although Darius had already suspected as much, he still asked the question himself and waited for Rex's answer.
"That's right. Gilneas will certainly open the Greymane Wall in the future." Rex stated this without reservation. He was the only Greymane of his generation, and his position as Heir Apparent was unshakable, leaving him with far fewer concerns. He dared voice an opinion so plainly at odds with the reigning king's philosophy not only because his succession was secure, but also because time was running short. He had no time to handle matters at a leisurely pace. The undead Scourge was only a few years away.
(End of chapter)
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