The King's Obligation

Panic Begins to Rise

The carriage approaches the castle, home at last. George feels a calmness come over him, he knows that making peace and rebuilding the bridges between L'manburg and El Rapids are far from finished but knowing that they're on the right foot is enough to put him at ease. They come to a stop, George looks out the small window, seeing Bad, awaiting him. He has a gentle smile on his face. The door is opened by one of the knights, George steps out with Dream just behind him. "Welcome back, your highness. I hope all went well." Bad greets.

"Things went splendid, we've successfully reopened trade with El Rapids again," George says.

Bad claps his hands together and grins, beaming from ear-to-ear. "That's so good to hear."

"Yeah, we'll need to draft up a peace treaty and such. Hopefully, we can get that started today?"

Bad winces a bit. "Actually, we might have to put that on hold for a minute."

George raises an eyebrow, concerned. "Why is that?"

Bad scratches the bottom of his chin with his finger, tensing up. "There's someone who wishes to meet with you as soon as possible."

George's stomach tightens, worry creeps up his spine. "Who exactly is it?"

"It's...It's King Eret of Euphoria..."

The words come crashing down on the king. He feels his stomach drop, his face fills up with dread. "K-king Eret?" He asks.

Bad simply nods. "He's requested to meet with you as soon as possible."

"Did he say why he wanted to meet with me?"

The advisor shakes his head. "No, he just said it was imperative for you to meet him at your earliest convenience."

George runs a hand through his locks of hair. Euphoria and L'manburg are on awful terms. During the reign of George's parents. The two kingdoms nearly went to war over the issues of trade and threatening power. Out of all the kingdoms George wanted to confront, Euphoria was nowhere even close to being within the top one hundred. Bad tilts his head, worry meets his eyes. "So, what are you gonna do, King George?"

George stands in silence, thinking. While meeting with King Eret is the last thing he wants to do, he doesn't want to keep them waiting. It'd be rude. So George swallows his nerves and stands up straight. He takes a deep, calm, and collected breath. "Tell him he can see me tomorrow afternoon."

Bad nods, pulling out his book to jot down the king's words. "Can do, I'll send Purpled out right away."

With it, Bad walks off to send the herald off with his words. George sighs heavily, clutching his robe tightly in his fists. Dream comes up behind. "You ok, Sire?"

George shakily nods his head. "Yeah, doing fine..."

He looks up at Dream. "You mind if we take a walk through the orchard?" George asks.

Dream nods, leading the king towards the orchard. "Yeah, we can do that."

The two walk through the apple orchard, it's rich and with the start of fall coming. The leaves begin to change into pretty shades of red, orange, and yellow. Servants are scattered about, picking the best of the bunch, preparing for the harvest. It's a calming place that George often visits when he needs to get a load off his mind. "Nervous?" Dream asks.

"You've got no idea. Look,"

George holds out his hands for Dream to see. They tremble. "I'm shaking already."

His palms sweat profusely, beads of sweat roll off his fingers, hitting the ground like rain. Dream tries to calm the king with his words, speaking softly. "I'm sure it won't be so bad."