A message.

Malik was in the throne room with Salam, the king, and Jelani. Jelani was seated with his hand placed on his jaw and a certain anger clouding him. He was fuming.

The king was pacing back and forth; his hand rested on his back, but he would glance at Malik and Salam who stood facing them. He too was fuming too.

"How," he said, his voice laced with a certain anger that was rare. He would usually panic, but this time there was a certain anger, and Malik felt it was directed at him. Not because he shouldn't have stopped this war from happening, which was beyond him, but because they feared that he would take the throne.

"You told me everything was going to be fine," he was standing now, facing Malik.

Malik was calm when he replied, "It came unexpected."

"You are much more than this, Malik. You are supposed to be careful, calculative. This shouldn't have happened."