Courtwas dreadfully boring. While he was unopposed to holding it, as it helped reconstruct the bond between he and his people, it did not stop the event from nearly putting him to sleep. He was used to hearingthe same problems over and over again—with Palamecia effectively toppled months previously, the kingdom was in shambles. In his leave, his mother had stepped up once more to smooth things over, but without the proper power of an Empress—something forbidden in Palamecian law—there was only so much she could do.
He had arrived in one piece from his endeavors in a distant war several months ago, and was only now just beginning to get his feet under him. Even there, in that distant realm, he had sought to topple the very Gods themselves, to rule over everything there. The words he could barely make out, the subliminal murmuring he had known since he was seven years old had not ceased, even then.
But now… it was gone. It was as if the clouds had parted on a rainstorm and the sun broke through. The clouds were still there, hanging heavy over his mind and his heart, but the rain…. The tormenting demonic voice, had ceased.
His mother had persuaded him to come back to power, and to, with her help, rule kindly. Rule as he had once promised he would. Mateus agreed, and once more resumed his position of power over Palamecia.
It had been tempting to rebuild his forces and resume his takeover, but he stopped himself.
It was a struggle every day to combat the power-hungry mindset he was so accustomed to. It took effort to think of the right solution rather than the one that would benefit him the most.
At first, anyway, when the problems he heard were new.
It was the usual complaints about damages and shortages and everything else he had left behind when toppled from his thrones, and he was growing weary of repeating himself.
A supportive pat on the hand when one person was dismissed usually kept him calm. Airu, his mother, stood to his left whenever he held court, a pillar of strength not only for him, but for the people that approached. Mateus was an intimidating man, to be sure, and he prided himself on that… but something about having the weathered, sun-tanned blond woman standing beside him brought back some humanity.
A lull in court had him discussing what to do with her when the doors swung open again with the announcement of an unknown visitor.
Mateus sat upright on the edge of his throne.
She wore the armor of a Dragoon, but that couldn’t be right. The Wyverns had all died out when he poisoned their water supply. It was light and mobile…. There was no mistaking it. Furrowing his brow, he rose when she stopped halfway to the throne and did not bow or kneel.
It stirred something in him that he didn’t like, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste.
❝Yes, if indeed there are rumors. I would not be surprised.❞ He addressed, descending the steps from his throne. He heard his mother shift uncomfortably from behind him, but paid her no mind. He wasn’t going to killthis woman.
Not if she didn’t try to kill him first, anyway.
❝State your name and your business.❞
