ADDRESSING THE PEOPLE

The palace was four by ten kilometers. It was big enough to house different facilities. The emperor's steward went to the military camp in the palace to get soldiers for the mission. There were up to three thousand protesters outside the palace, and making it past them alone would be trouble for the steward.

The palace currently had seven hundred soldiers. The steward assembled two hundred soldiers. The soldiers arranged reinforced carriages, armoured horses, pepper sprays, and got themselves armor.

Soon, the steward and the soldiers were ready for takeoff. Three hundred soldiers were customarily positioned at the gate and fences. At that moment, fifty more soldiers were sent to the gate to prevent protesters from coming in when the steward and the soldiers left.

The steward and the soldiers got to the gate. The gates were opened. Protesters tried to force their way in. The soldiers, with the help of the passing carriages, forcefully kept away the protesters.

The steward and his escorts also had to force their way through the crowd. It was crazy.

Three hours later, the steward and his escorts returned to the palace with more carriages. The other carriages belonged to the ministers and their escorts. Camelot had six ministers. Luckily, the six minutes were here.

Minutes later, the ministers were in a meeting with the emperor in the emperor's office. The doors and windows of the office were all closed. That way, the room was soundproof: no sound could leave nor enter.

­The emperor spoke first, saying, "Good morning, everyone. I'm sorry for rushing you all to my place."

The ministers replied that they were fine with the action. Most of the ministers didn't like the emperor's politeness. They believed that other kingdoms would see him as a weakling and would one day have the audacity to invade Camelot.

His majesty continued, "We have a tough problem... Rather, I have a tough problem at hand. Someone told the people about my plans to upgrade the defence system as quickly as possible. The people know I have secret information that would guide the upgrade process. From what we saw outside and the news we got from other provinces, they didn't take the news well."

The minister of Defence, Han Fire-Tiger, replied, "Your majesty, I think you should tell the people what the information is."

Hon. Arnold, the minister of labor, spoke, "He doesn't need to tell the people anything. What he needs to do now is to find the rat in our midst."

The minister of Defence and the minister of Labour didn't see eye to eye. Han Fire-Tiger replied, "I hope you are not accusing me of being a rat?"

"In here, you are the only person that smells like a rat." Hon. Arnold said.

"You stupid bald imbecile!" yelled Han Fire-Tiger.

"Shut the hell up!" yelled the emperor, pounding his fists on the table.

"Can't you two keep your differences aside and focus on the matter of the moment."

The emperor rubbed his face with his left hand and said, "None of you asked what the information I have is."

Blackstone, the minister of trade, asked, "Can we see it now, your majesty?"

"It isn't in printed format," the emperor replied.

He looked at every minister individually and said, "I found six Danger Dragons. The weird thing was that they were all chained in a pit. The chain doesn't look recent. It looked thousands of years old. The dragons were all chained for a moment before the one that attacked Banxon escaped and then went for Banxon."

The ministers inhaled uncomfortably. The emperor was going to be careful now because he knew that there was a rat among the ministers. He had concluded not to tell the ministers that Danger Dragons could evolve and that there was a possibility that other Danger beasts could as well. Danger Dragons were Danger beasts.

His highness continued, "I have imprisoned the remaining five Danger Dragons. However, my dragon instincts tell me that other danger beasts, more powerful than the Danger Dragons, will rise up against humanity.Camelot has to be ready for battle."

"To the rat among you, the ministers. You can go and run your mouth before your friends. I'm the emperor of Camelot, and I will never make policies that favour the sale of foreign arms and goods in this country."

The other ministers stared suspiciously at Blackstone.

Blackstone defended himself, "I assure your majesty that I am not the rat. I have always shown my support for this country. I have made and suggested policies that have and are supporting the primary sector of this country."

The emperor replied, "I know that you are not a rat, Blackstone. I was talking to the other ministers."

The ministers who stared suspiciously at Blackstone exchanged suspicious looks among themselves.

The emperor called in his steward, and he came in.

The emperor instructed, "Get the sonic beasts ready. I want to address my people."

The sonic beasts were birds that had predatory looks; they had strong curved beaks, muscular, powerful legs and thick grasping talons. They were the size of two years old German shepard dogs. Also, they were Danger beasts but they could be easily tamed. They were rare to find.

An hour later, the emperor was on the parapet of the palace fence. Three sonic beasts were in the air. Because of his dragon providence, he could mind control weak Danger Beasts like the sonic beasts.

"Good day, people of Camelot!" the emperor greeted.

The people booed him.

"I know you all are distressed about knowing about the impromptu defence system upgrade and knowing of the secret knowledge that guides the upgrade."

"The secret information is that I have come to acknowledge that Danger beasts more powerful than the Danger Dragon that attacked Banxon Town and Pine City will rise against humanity very soon. We have to be ready because they can't be killed by ordinary means."

"Pamphlets and posters containing detailed information will be distributed country wide to quench your curiosity. I urge you all to return to your businesses. All will be fine."

The people trusted the emperor's words, and they left the protest to return to their businesses.