5:King Andreas' POV

"…The Royal court"

I always found the proceedings of the noble Court quite boring. I only attend because I have to but to be honest, I was kind of looking forward to this one .

The thrones in the royal court looked exactly like the one in the throne room, it even had the same interior design was the throne room  except it was much smaller and had no round table to hold the other Lords of Valencia.

 I sat down on the new throne and looked down at the commoner from across the room as I should.

"Did you know that the last time a royal court was called to order, my father sat on this throne" I said trying to hold back a chuckle.

"Actually, I did my King" he replied

"Well, aren't you quite learned, Even some of our scribes don't know about the royal Court. Won't you tell me under which Lord's supervision were you taught?" I asked 

"Why don't we leave that business aside, my king".

It would be shame to kill such a promising young common folk, especially when he's starting to get on my good side

Just then a man dressed in a red hood that dropped to his feet covered his eyes walked in through the side door with a crystal ball in his hands. It was Jafar, the royal family's truth seeker. The Royal Court consists of the royal family and at least one truth-seeker, A sage who specializes in clarity of the mind so no lies, no tricks, no illusions.

Unlike the noble Court where the truth is whatever the nobles with the help of the unwise accused come up with, the truth in the royal Court with the help of the truth-seeker is the truth and judgment  passed by any of the royal family members present is final

The truth seeker walked across the royal Court and stood by my side, he swerved his hands over the crystal ball while mouthing something probably a lie detection spell. He stopped the incantation and nodded at me.

"The proceedings of the royal Court will now begin, Accused is your name truly Alaric?" I said

"Yes, my King"

The mist in Jafar's crystal ball turned blue. Blue was the truth, Red was a lie.

"Are the charges against you, True or False?" I asked

"Unfortunately there are true, my King"

The mist remained Blue.

"Are you aware that you are currently in the royal Court, standing trial for Treason!!" I yelled "not some petty theft!"

"I am quite aware of the charges my king". Blue.

"Do you realize that under Valencian law, your crime is punishable by death by hanging", "Were you aware that?"

"Yes, my king I was fully aware of the consequences of my action". Blue.

He was still calm and collected, like he had a plan and I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I was falling right into it.

"The way I see it, you have two options, one we take this as the actions of a commoner who didn't know any better" I began trying to create an escape route for him "and the punishment could be a few lashes or…"

"Death by hanging?" he asked rhetorically

I rose my hand to show the halt position effectively stopping Vladimir's blade from making a swift cut through Alaric's neck. To be honest, I didn't even see him unsheathe his blade, I just acted on instinct. I've lost one too many company who made jest of me in Vladimir presence

"How dare you speak to his majesty in such manner, people have lost their heads for less" said Vladimir you see what I'm talking about perhaps bringing him here wasn't a good idea.

"Leave it be General Verez" I said before turning back to Alaric who still looked like he was in control of everything. "He's right you know and with the way the proceedings are going, saving your neck just now might have been a waste"

"My apologies my king, please forgive my behaviour" he spoke with increasing confidence.

"Why did you turn down Lord Caspian's offer? He's was the best on the table, any other commoner would have taken it but you didn't, why?"

"Lord Caspian scheme was all too easy to see through", "he meant to make me work under him because I possess some level of education, that's why he attacked Lord Talon and Lady Moorde is not?"

He was right, that was where the delegation would have ended if Lord Caspian had retained control of the court like that, this commoner had the insight to understand what Lord Caspian was planning, a feat usually reserved for individuals with incredible intellect like a noble or a royal like myself.

I found myself being more intrigued by the commoner.

"You still haven't answered my question, he's was the best offer, why did you refuse?"

"I don't particularly plan on serving anyone", "anyone other my King of course" he said with a smile.

"Really?", "And how exactly do you plan on serving your king, Alaric?"

"By being under the direct service of the king himself, of course"

"That's a nice proposition, having the fool who cried king work as my wine bearer, I like this idea" I admitted quite excitedly.

"I too like that idea, but may I humbly request for a position that could properly utilize my skill set, my King"

"And that would be what?"

"What about the position of royal advisor?"