8 Royal Court

Princess Aleyria stood before the Throne of Rin.

It was a magnificent throne, the symbol of power in Rin-Turah. It was made of nothing but carved Royal Elwood, the rarest and most durable of all the trees in the continent. Neither gold nor gems adorned the throne. Such petty baubles would degrade the wondrous and marvellous carvings which embellished it.

She ran her hands across the handrest, feeling the intricate rune carvings and the powerful protective magic that dwelled within. Ancient magic.

So formidable was the ancient magic that it was no overstatement to say the throne guaranteed the safety of anyone seating on it. The ancient magicians of Rin made sure of that by carving in layers and layers of Yellow Ranked defensive formations. Even a White Archmage such as Aleyria would find it difficult to pierce its protective spells.

It was a magnificent throne.

Right now, though, she hated the throne. She hated what it represented – deadly power struggles that had almost devoured her beloved teacher.

Aleyria narrowed her eyes as she toyed with the idea of obliterating the throne. Her hand gripped the handrest tightly as a horrifying amount of magical power rose from within her and surged to her fingers.

BAM!

The double oak doors of the Royal Court slammed open. Minister of Justice Aldrian marched in at the head of a dozen other ministers.

Seeing the Aleyria's hands upon the throne, Minister of Justice Aldrian's eyes glinted with slight joy.

"Princess Aleyria." Aldrian hissed. "How dare you lay your hands on the Royal Throne of Rin! Unhand the throne at once!"

A murmur of agreement rippled out from the rest of the ministers.

"Princess Aleyria, only the King of Rin-Turah has the right to touch the Throne of Rin." The burly Minister of Commerce Dylan rumbled in a deep voice. "This is clearly written in the Book of Laws. Surely you know of this?

Standing beside Aldrian, Minister of Personnel Lilian smirked. This Dylan sure was cunning. If Aleyria said no and claimed ignorance, she would seem like a fool in front of these ministers and would have lost face. This would place her in a much weaker position during the court session later.

However if she said yes, then she would be admitting to breaking a law! They would win the battle before it even began.

"Minister of Commerce Dylan, we are currently in an emergency situation. The King lay comatose, on the verge of death. Let us not squabble about such minor issues!" An aged yet authoritative voice rang out.

An old but powerfully built man with pale blue hair walked in. The old serpent of Rin-Turah, Minister of Foreign Relations Velaros.

Five steps behind him, the rest of the Ministerial Cabinet filed into the Royal Court.

The entire cast was now present. The show was about to begin.

"Ah, so it is Minister of Foreign Relations Velaros." Dylan said. He glanced at Aldrian who quickly shook his head slightly.

"Indeed, you are right. In that case, then let us not talk about this anymore. Princess Aleyria, to have Minister Velaros speak up for you, today must be your lucky day!." Dylan exclaimed.

Lilian glared at the blue haired Minister of Agriculture Velanos and then sighed in mock disappointment. Velanos shrugged back at her helplessly.

Aldrian gave a dry chuckle and said "Fine. Let us begin the court session then." He waved his hand and the doors of the Royal Court slammed shut.

Aleyria watched the charade unfold before her silently. Although it might seem on the surface that the Minister of Foreign Relations Velaros was on her side, Aleyria knew that Velaros was too ambitious to be an ally.

Plus, his son, Minister of Agriculture Velanos, was in Aldrian's camp. Who knew what nefarious plans the father and son duo had hatched in secret?

Because the King was not present, the ministers did not proceed with the customary salute and bow. The ministers quickly took their places, immediately sitting upon their lotus seats in 2 neat rows before the throne.

The five great ministers sat on the first row. The Minister of War Rimett, The Minister of Justice Aldrian, The Minister of Commerce Dylan, The Minister of Foreign Relations Velaros and the Minister of Education Belroy.

Behind them sat the other 15 ministers of the Ministerial Cabinet. Together, they control the entire country. At the pleasure of the King, of course. If he was still alive.

Aleyria gazed down upon them coldly. Her eyes studied each and every minister, searching for traces of fear or guilt.

But alas, the ministers were senior politicians in their own right. They had learnt to mask their emotions and thoughts well.

Aleyria found nothing. She sighed. Serpents, each and every one of them.

"Minister of Foreign Relations Velaros." Aleyria finally said.

"Present." Velaros replied in an emotionless voice.

"Report." Aleyria said curtly.

"The Kings, except for King Dirz'On of the Zantrolls, have all left." Velaros reported. "King Dirz'On had denied all allegations of invasion. He claims to be unwell and will leave Rin-Turah as soon as he recovers."

A few gasps among the ministers could be heard.

"What gall he has!" Dylan exclaimed loudly. "Does he really expect to be able see his army invade Rin-Turah from WITHIN our own walls? Insanity!"

"Indeed. Everybody knows that his army is massing at Dur'Ator, the city nearest to the Valgorn Valley on their side. Our scouts report at least 3 regiments have gathered." Rimett added loudly. "And to think that he dares to deny it. He is clearly mocking our intelligence by blatantly lying through his teeth!"

"And let us not forget King Aloxandros!" Lilian said softly but firmly. "They must have poisoned him to 'cut of the head of the snake' before they invade." Lilian smashed her hands together passionately. "We are not pushovers, we must strike first before they do, and strike hard!"

"Yes! I concur!" cried a minister from the back row.

"Yes, I concur as well!" shouted another.

"Me too!" chiped in Velanos.

In front of him, unseen by anyone, Velaros's lip twitched slightly.

"We must attack!" shouted Dylan. "For the glory of Rin-Turah, AND FOR REVENGE! We must avenge King Aloxandros! TO WAR!!" he bellowed with all his might.

"TO WAR!" shouted the other ministers in Aldrian's faction.

"TO WAR!!" Dylan roared again as he leapt up and pumped his fist.

"TO WAR!!" echoed the other ministers as they too jumped to their feet.

"Ministers." a serene and other worldly voice rang out with just sufficient power and at the perfect moment to break Dylan's momentum.

It was Minister of Education Belroy. He was a huge man. At almost 3 meters tall with well defined muscles, he dwarfed everyone in the Royal Court. Even Dylan seemed like a mere boy next to him.

"Calm down. This isn't a playground meeting for kindergarten kids." He intoned. "As stewards of the country, we do not decide to go to war based on our moods and emotions."

"Indeed." Velaros agreed. "War is no trifling matter. We must tread cautiously lest we fall into the conspiracy of others."

"Calm down? Tread cautiously? Conspiracy?" Lilian said in a mocking voice.

"Zantrolls are almost upon us with poisoned scimitars and ravenous borgs, threatening our very survival! If we do not act now, that would be treason!" Lilian cried out loudly.

"Yes! I agree with Minister of Personnel Lilian!" Velanos chirped, amid a rancor of other voices from the other ministers.

Velaros narrowed his eyes in anger. This useless son of his was really useless. It was one thing to go against his own father and join a different faction. But to be so weak and useless even in the enemy faction? What a shame!

His father, grandfather and everybody in heaven and in hell would all be ashamed!

"Treason is going to an ill-advised war, and in the process allow other dangers to stab us in the back." Belroy calmly replied.

"Treason is going to war against the Zantrolls, while knowing that there are 10 other countries waiting to see us kill each other before swooping in to claim our lands." He continued with his mesmerizing otherworldly voice.

"Treason, my dear Minister of Personnel Lilian, is acting upon foolish ideas for personal gain, instead of for the good of the country!" Belroy turned his head to look at Lilian.

Lilian stood up in a blaze of fury as suffocating waves of fire energy rolled off her body. "Are you accusing me of treason, Minister of Education Belroy?" She glared at Belroy menacingly.

Belroy chuckled in his deep baritone voice. He casually pointed at Lilian and immediately a crushing wave of verdant energy fell upon Lilian.

Although verdant energy was inherently weak to fire energy, enough ants can overcome an elephant. In this case, Belroy's verdant energy was so dense and powerful that it smothered Lilian's fire energy.

The crushing pressure threatened to push Lilian off her feet. Lilian gritted her teeth and released more fire energy to resist Belroy. "I do not believe that I will be overcome by a mere wooden mage!" she cried out internally.

Aldrian narrowed his eyes. "Hmph!" he snorted as he too released his ice energy, directing most of it at Belroy.

In an instant, the situation reversed and Belroy was immediately placed in a weak position. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he drew out all his power to resist the two-pronged attack.

Even though the Archmages merely released unwoven magical energy and could not damage each other, three Red Archmages fighting in this manner still released a terrifying amount of energy.

The entire courtroom rumbled slightly.

Velaros frowned. "Two against one is a cowardly act, Minister of Justice Alrian." He pointed at Aldrian and vast waves of earth energy joined in the fray.

The rumbling of the courtroom grew louder.

At this, Aldrian had no choice but to redirect his ice energy to defend against Velaros. The old serpent was not to be underestimated at all.

Aleyria watched the scene unfolding before her coldly. Even though she was more than capable to putting an end to this farce, she stayed her hand. The traitor had yet to make his move.

Suddenly, "WHOOSH!"

A ray of blue light broke through Velaros's weakened magical defense and pierced his head. Blood splattered everywhere as his head exploded in a mass of bloody gore.

Everyone was stunned. Velanos sprang up from behind his father's corpse and bolted towards the double doors.

Grimly, Princess Aleyria stretched out her hand and clenched it into a fist. Space warped around Velanos as he froze in place.

BAM!

The double oak doors of the Royal Court slammed open once more and a Yellow Robed Alexander swept in with a retinue of bowed followers.

"Ah! Thank goodness you're all still here. I was worried I missed the court session." Alexander said brightly.

"King Aloxandros!" Belroy exclaimed in a not-so-otherworldly voice.

"Teacher!!" Aleyria cried out in elation.

WHAT THE HECK?!! Aldrian and his team were stunned.