A Ballad for the Broken (Cadence of the Fallen #2)

Journal Excerpt

Four hundred and eleven years ago, the continent was united under one ruler, one king.

The king was an old man without any heirs.

He was tired, senile, and a turned drunk, plunging the continent into disarray.

Famine, illness, and poverty swept through the lands.

Only the highest ranked nobles—those which hailed from the Great Houses—remained unscathed.

Desperate, many nobles took to the courts to devise strategies for which they could regain their wealth.

Their dignity and livelihoods. Within the courts, it was decided the decrepit king would be overthrown, and the people would elect three new kings to three new kingdoms, inciting a new era of prosperity where the different needs of each region could be better met.

A kingdom in the east, a central kingdom, and one in the west, each divided by a river border.

Each kingdom would abide by its own governance, though all would agree to adhere to a small set of laws scribed in the Beginning, known as Tani law.

And thus, with this new order, the Three King System was born.

— EXCERPT FROM THE RECOVERED JOURNAL, WE SANG THE DAWN. AUTHOR REMAINS UNKNOWN.