Going around my duties.

Say I sent you, he will tend to you, go now." I decided and moved my focus to the other one.

"I heard you are about to get married, Stephen. Is that true?" I waited for his reply and continued "For you, I have a house in the city, a nice one, able to fit a whole bunch of children with few servants, too. So you can have your family close. I'm also going to knight you. It's outrageous you are not a one yet."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" he gasped and tried so hard to keep from trembling.

"I value loyalty over anything else. You might leave now, we are going to talk about some serious matters." I sighed and had to raise my voice again, pointing at the free chair "Not you Peter. You will sit here. It's your spot from now on. That is my punishment for you."

I watched him nervously take his seat, clearly differ from the nobles dressed in expensive fabrics. 

"Did you catched the topic as you waited?" I teased him as I took a brief look through the report piled on the desk. 

"Yes, my lord. But I'm not sure if I live up to the requirements to be here. I - never learned how to read." he muttered, clearly ashamed.

"I'll appoint you a teacher, then. You can just listen for now. Branko will go through important stuff with you, he has always been helpful." 

Branko nodded and reached across the table to shake his hand.

My exceptionally good mood didn't abandon me even when the discuss unfolded. It was clear they tried to be better mannered than days before. 

Although they didn't like that man who almost died today, the fact that I reminded them how easily replaceable they are made the bigger impact.

I stopped listening a while ago.

"Fuck." I groaned and flinched when my head bob a bit as I nearly fell asleep in the comfortable chair.

"Fuck this. I'm going to train with Isac. Summarize it up and write it down for me to read later." I stood up and walked around the table. 

But we didn't train. We played chess as we used to when we were boys, sitting in complete silence, interrupted by a few "good move" or "I'm not that stupid" mutter. 

 I was so calm and relaxed.

"Are you nervous? They are about to arrive in just a few weeks." Isac gingerly moved his tower to block me.

"Jake is my friend. I have known him for over 10 years. It will be fine." I brushed his concerns aside.

"Jacob is not in power. His older brother is, you know that." 

"Of course I do. But Aaron is a naive dumbshit. He is not able to do anything without his lieutenant. There is no way he could be a problem to deal with -" I halted my thoughts as I watched one of my servants open the door, then close them back again and stepping by my side with quiet:

"Sir? That member of Her Highness guards came as you requested. He is waiting outside, should I let him in?"

"Hmm." I gave him a nod, amused by the idea of his possible requests.

His weight in gold, so he could retire and enjoy the rest of his life? High title and lands? Women? Military unit? Whole village?

I would give him all of it. I was ready to give him anything he could think of, but his request made me confused.

"Take a chair and sit with us. Did you just say you want longer shifts?" I had to make sure I heard him right. But It was obvious he said he wanted to work both morning and afternoon.