Lucy Wickshire 186 Chapter twenty-two 7

"You stand before me, yet refuse to bow?" he scolded the old man.

"You don't sit on the throne well. Forgive me, for not recognizing your greatness." Official Ghuil apologized, but he did not still bow.

"If my memory serves me right, you are sworn to my mother, Official Ghuil." Prince Thelmus said.

"Your mother was a wise woman; this trait must have not been graced you at birth. You are but an impatient boy. That throne, does it feel as you thought it would?" he asked Prince Thelmus.

"So, you have come to mock me"

"Mock? To use that word, you must have acknowledged that you have failed."

"Failed? I just took the kingdom. I have only started." Prince Thelmus scuffed.

"You are sitting in an empty palace. All the maids and attendants have escaped. You have no guard or soldier at your side except those from a different kingdom. This is not a palace any more, It is a wooden shack roofed with gold. Gold or not, it is but a rotting shack. The soldiers of Juhntt have all but dropped their swords or sworn allegiance to some noble house. The ministers, lords and people stay inside, no one daring to come out of hiding. Even your fiancée; the princess of the kingdom you colluded with, is not here with you. This means that Isne, themselves, look down on you. Do you feel powerful?" Official Ghuil asked. Prince Thelmus clenched his fist in anger, but did not say a word.

"You wonder why the king's council have not answered to your summons? You are a king without power. Did your mother teach you nothing? As much as the king has his own army, noble families do too. Most officials are sworn to those families and will not move without an order from their masters. Those noblemen hold the economy of the kingdom in their hands. They are the business owners, farm owners, trade experts. Why do you think the royal family needs the noble houses?" Official Ghuil asked.

"What do I do?" one could tell it took all of Prince Thelmus' being, to ask that question.

"You are a traitor to your people. Many of them died last night. You killed their king, your father and allowed enemies into their kingdom." Official Ghuil said.

"What do I do?!" Prince Thelmus could no more stand the scolding.

"Tradition is a way of life to respect those of whom, this is their life; and those who created tradition itself. A creation which became their pride to keep respected, their way of life. A king is dead. You must bury him right, before you can be king." Official Ghuil advised.

"You wish that I give my father what he refused my mother? That will never happen!"

"The lords of the land, you must call them to your side; if there still be any that remembers your mother."

"They all watched as she died, yet you expect that I, their king, go beg them?"

"Your mother was a Northern Lan Princess. You could try calling Northern Lan to your side. After all, not only was their princess humiliated, their land was taken by the Juhntts."

"Yes, I could do that." Prince Thelmus' eyes shined.

"But, you are still a Juhntt and your mother's son. The woman who shamed her entire kingdom with her infidelity. Even so, you collude with Isne; a kingdom they hate much more than Juhntt. Juhntt is a fresh wound. Isne is a large scar that will never stop throbbing." Official Ghuil countered.

Chapter end