Decision

"Hello sons, have a sit," said the king, prince Aps and Kristoff both sat beside each other on the right side of the king looking up expectantly at their father.

"Calm down boys, everything is alright; I just want to have an important discussion with you."

"What about father?" prince Kristoff asked.

"You know it has been twenty years since I ascend the throne, according to the citizens, it has been twenty fine and prosperous years, our kingdom is prospering, the people are happy, among the nations surrounding us, we have the finest military strength," the king paused, bowed down and sighed but when he raised his head up again, his face was heated.

"What is wrong father?" prince Aps asked.

"I received intelligence from our reliable source in Dars that king Remus is building his military and there is a possibility that he is preparing for an assault on this kingdom,"

"Father, you mean the mad king who killed his brother and family to usurp the throne?" prince Kristoff asked looking angry.

"Is he stupid or does he think he has the chance of defeating our army? He has no strong allies; most kingdoms hate him and don't want anything to do with him." Prince Aps puts in.

"Everyone knows we have the greatest military strength in all the kingdoms, and we have strong allies in the surrounding kingdoms." prince Kristoff piped in.

"It is ok boys, I understand your points and I appreciate that you possess knowledge of our relationships with our surrounding nations, but I intend to avoid war for a personal reason that you cannot understand," said the king.

 "What personal reason father?" prince Aps asked looking skeptic.

The king looked at his sons with a worried look that suggests that there is something afoot, "Don't worry about my reasons, when the time is right you will know about it but right now I believe the best thing to do is to send an emissary to the king of Esop and remind him not to overstep his boundary, I have discussed this with my subjects and they've agreed that this is the best line of action."

The two princes looked each other in the eyes, and both spoke up at the same time "father I …"

"Please one at a time, am stressed as it is." The king said looking drained.

Prince Aps spoke first, "Father, can you send me as the emissary to Esop?"

On hearing her son say he should be sent to Esop as an emissary, the queen spoke up, "Are you kidding? Why would you ask your father to send you to that godforsaken kingdom, am sure you wouldn't even think of granting this request my love." The queen said pleadingly.

"Come on mother, why are you scared when am the one asking for this, moreover I am to be the future king of this kingdom and I need to prove myself to the chiefs and most importantly the people of this kingdom." Prince Aps said.

"I don't care about that, you've proven yourself more than enough to the people of this nation, but that doesn't mean you should put yourself in harm's way." The queen countered.

The king who has been an observer in both mother and son exchange finally decide it's time to break the silence "Please I am still here so tune down your voice."

"Sorry father." Prince Aps said.

"I am happy son, I believe you just proved yourself to me that your finally ready, you see being the son of the king does not mean you have what it takes to lead a nation, it takes more than that, it takes courage and commitment, qualities you just displayed and am proud of you." The king said looking at his son with a smile of pride in his face.

"Thank you, father," Prince Aps said.

"But that doesn't mean I have decided to send you to Esop" the king said raising his finger, "I will talk to your mother about this and let you know our decision, ok?"

"Ok father." The prince said.

"Both of you are excused." The king said looking worried, he knows he is in for another round of discussion or more of a lecture from his wife and right now he is at his wits end.

"We will talk about this later Onelia, I am tired, and I need to rest, please?" king Neves said.

"Ok we will talk later then, get some rest." The queen said still looking worried.

...............…

On their way out the state room prince Aps cannot help but notice that his younger brother has been unusually silent and he doesn't seem to understand what could have been the reason for that, he decided it is best if he asked him what is running through his mind, although he has some worries of his own, most importantly his request to be the emissary to the kingdom of Esop to deliver his father's message to the usurper, these days he's been going out of his way to prove himself worthy to the king and members of the cabinet, but this time it is different because he has heard rumors of king Remus temper and how little things set it off, he decided to put his worries aside and ask his brother what the problem is.

"What is the problem little brother? You seem unusually quiet."

"Nothing brother, I'm ok," prince Kristoff said looking ahead and staring out into nothing.

"Come on Kristoff, I know something is going through that head of yours, tell me" Prince Aps pressed.

"I am just worried, that's all" prince Kristoff said.

Prince Aps pulled Kristoff to a stop, he puts his right hand on Kristoff shoulder, looking at him the way a concerned older brother looks at his younger brother when worried. "What is the problem brother?"

Prince Kristoff looks into his older brother's eye. "Are you crazy? Do you know what you just did?"

Prince Aps looks at his brother confused and expecting him to explain better what he just said but when he said nothing more he asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I don't know why you would offer yourself up as a sacrificial lamb." prince Kristoff said heatedly.

"Sacrificial lamb? What do you mean by that?" prince Aps asked still looking confused.

"Come on, don't you play dumb with Me." prince Kristoff said walking off.

"Stop there Kristoff." Prince Aps shouted; he walks up to Kristoff who had stopped in his stride. "First of all, I am your older brother and I expect you to talk to me with respect, do you understand that?"

"Yes brother, I am sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." Prince Kristoff said.

"It's ok, now can you be more specific with what you're trying tell me?" prince Aps ask waiting for his brother to spit it out this time.

Prince Kristoff took a deep breath and spoke up. "I mean why would you offer to go the Esop? You know the kind of king they have and I have rumors that him and father does not see eye to eye because he killed his brother who was father's best friend, so how do you think he will view you, he will hate you just the same, so I don't know why you would want to go to such a place."

Prince Aps smiled and slapped his brother lightly on the shoulder. "I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about it from your point of view, but come to think of it, if I go, he wouldn't dare harm me because he knows doing that will be declaring war on us and I am sure he wouldn't want that, at least not now when their military strength is weak." Prince Aps sighed and continued, "Moreover me going there will show that we are strong and not afraid."

"Okay, if you say so." Prince Kristoff said looking unconvinced but dropped the matter.

"Now let us go and have some wine, I need it." prince Aps said.

"No, I can't, I want to go into the city, you know, take a walk." Prince Kristoff said walking away. "I will see you when I come back brother." With that he ran off.

Prince Aps started towards his quarters in a slow walk, his mind overcome with worries already there, coupled with what his younger brother just told him, he knows he is going into a lion's den and as such he must be prepared. "I must devise a plan and be prepared for this journey should in case father decide and agree to my request, but why am I afraid? Am I not the one who asked to be sent on this mission?" prince Aps said thinking aloud.

"What do you say your highness?" one of the maids in his quarters asked.

"What do you say?" prince Aps asked getting out of his reverie, he looks around his surrounding only to find out he is already at his quarters, and he doesn't even know he already is.

"I thought you were talking to me your highness." She said looking confused.

"Oh, don't worry I wasn't talking to you, I was just thinking out loud." Prince Aps said. "Get me some wine."

"Right away your majesty." She said stepping out to get the wine.