C28 - The King

Our father, familiar with the palace, easily navigated its labyrinthine hallways and anterooms. I noticed that most of the extravagant opulence was concentrated in the palace foyer. The subsequent areas were well decorated and still beautiful, but much more conservative. There were small golden accents in the stone walls but there weren't any extremely vaulted ceilings or inlaid precious gems. We finally reached our destination; a room set with rows of plush couches. The lines of chairs started nearest a door on the far side. All the way until the last row of sofas right before the door we just entered. In terms of decoration, it was sparse. The room had merely four large portraits of individuals on the wall the couches were facing. These chairs, it seemed, served as a waiting line.

There was already someone sitting in the couch nearest the door. It was a man who appeared in his late twenties, sporting sandy, darker blonde hair. He had clean clothes and they were clearly the nicest ones he possessed. However, they fell short in quality; compared to our attire. I assumed he was a commoner who had woken before first bell and waited outside the palace for first bell to ring so he could be let in immediately. I commended his dedication: waking up earlier than I was ever willing to.

As we approached, he stood up and said, "Your lordships, allow me to give up my—"

"You will do nothing of the sort." The Duke interrupted. "Some other nobles might demand you give up your spot but I will not." The commoner looked conflicted but, having been denied, he merely sat back down. We occupied our spot on the second couch that was only a foot away from the first.

The man on the couch, again asked, "Are you s—?"

The Duchess nodded with a smile, "Yes. We're sure, dear."

The Duke said, "You beat us fair and square. I also won't allow anyone to leap-frog us and unseat you either."

Gratefully, he smiled, "Thank you, your lordships."

After several minutes of bored silence, Anna asked, "What's your name?"

He said, "Ospak Bergfinnsson, young mistress."

Anna smiled and asked, "What are you petitioning for, Ospak?"

He gulped and said, "I'm the mayor of Neneske. A town about thirty miles from here on the road to the Empire. The trade caravans always trash our town on their way through. Their almost one-hundred-mile journey from Tostad causes them to be uh, overly rambunctious, when they finally arrive. I am petitioning to increase my budget for additional guards."

The Duchess smiled and said, "I'm sure your petition will be granted."

He gave a shy smile back and replied, "I hope so."

We sat in silence for several minutes before he asked, "I beg your pardon, your lordships. Who are those portraits of? I see the crown jewels on that man's head, are those the royal family?"

Acknowledging his curiosity, my father answered, "Yes, that's King Koll Oyaluria, his wife Queen Astrid, and their children, Princess Halla and Prince Thorfinn." I looked at the portraits of the royal family that I was presumably about to meet. The King was mostly of northern descent, having light brown hair and fair skin. With the Queen being from the south, having dark hair and tanned skin. They both appeared to be in their twenties and the prince and princess were equally as young. The princess couldn't have been more than ten years old and the prince not more than five years old.

I was engrossed in the portraits of the rulers when another figure entered. A bald, fat man with a disgusting, mean face led a downcast follower a step or two behind. He stepped up to us, his follower stopped a step or two behind. The newcomer spent nearly a minute shifting his gaze between the man on the first couch and our group.

He finally says, "Shouldn't this disgusting commoner have given up his spot to you?"

Before the man on the first couch had a chance to respond the Duke cut in, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Ambassador Iric Arnisson of Loresia," he said with a pompous tone before asking, "And who are you to deny me my rightful spot, Lord…?"

"Duke. Duke Romano Calo," the Duke said scathingly. I could already see the Ambassador's face pale but the Duke continued, "--and I don't appreciate Loresia treating our citizens with such contempt. This man, made it here before we did. Furthermore, we arrived before you."

The ambassador tried to get an apology in before the Duchess cut him off, "As our duchy is primarily responsible for making sure your trade makes it to our shore from across the sea. I'm shocked by how gauche an ambassador of Loresia could be."

The Duke was nodding and added, "The Calo Duchy will be reviewing its position on the republic trade that passes through our ports."

The man stammered out a flustered, "I-I-I'm t-terribly sorry, Lord Calo. If there's any--"

The Duchess said coldly, "You could start with apologizing to the man you called disgusting."

The ambassador winced and turned to the man to give a mumbled, "I'm sorry."

The man immediately waived his hands as if trying to ward off the conversation, saying, "Apology accepted!"

With a pointed comment, the Duke continued their verbal flogging, "Loresia doesn't even have nobility. Perhaps you've been here too long. I will ask the King to request a different ambassador to alleviate your exposure to our country's apparent infectious nature."

The ambassador's already pale face went even more white and he said, "No your lordship, I'm--"

The Duke hissed, "I insist." The ambassador hung his head in defeat. He and his companion moved past us to the third couch. I noticed a metal collar around the neck of his companion. She was a slender, beautiful woman with blonde hair clothed in a revealing outfit. I was already disgusted at him but seeing this made my distaste double.

We spent the remainder of the morning awaiting the third bell in silence. The ambassador didn't make a sound out of fear for additional punishment. The commoner man nodded in thanks to the Duke before returning to stare at nothing. I assumed he preferred to stay clear of the power struggle between the two.