H̶e̶l̶l̶ Hail King || ONC 2021(Longlister)

XIII. First court hearing

In the third week of Edward being coronated the King, he held the first court hearing as circumstances demanded. It was a Tuesday. With the rise of the sun arose a crisis. A disturbance among the citizens was reported early in the morning. The hearing was to be held at 11 A.M.

At ten-forty-five, Edward proceeded to the courtroom with elegant strides. He donned the regal robe with an anelace dagger hidden under his cloak. The cloak was a typical replacement for a cape during sessions in the royal court. They were comfortable when one had to sit for a long duration. On the other hand, capes were made for showing off. They represented glory and exerted heroism when you walk past someone while wearing them.

One of the two ostiaries guarding the entrance scrambled to let their king through. The ministers raised for a second as a gesture of respect for the king prior to retaking their seats. King Edward perched on his designated place – the throne. He observed the stout man at the end of the room. Standing slightly at the front, he looked like the leader. He was backed by a crowd of about twenty. He moved his head in a downward motion once and the session commenced.

"My King, greetings!" the complainant kneeled to Edward who nodded after the gesture - it was his way to return the greeting. The stout man got to his feet, waiting for the signal to put forth his concern. As soon as he got one, he began – "I do not mean offense to you kind sir, but the new land law is causing us unexplainable damage."

"What kind of damage?"

"It left us with little territory to produce crops."

"What about the increased selling price for the same crops? You are getting a higher amount than you used to."

"It is not enough to earn a profit, Your Highness."

"And how do you know that?"

The man grew quiet for fear of offending the king. Their ruler's sharp grey eyes were frightening, to put it mildly.

"Are you speechless now? The grains are not even harvested yet and you are predicting their sales. Am I right in saying that?"

"Yes my king, but..."

Edward halted the man mid-speech by lifting his hand, palm forward. "I need not hear anymore. You are causing a commotion out of nothing. If you face any loss, then you can come to the court again. The door to the courtroom is wide open for all the citizens of Pigeoda."

Defeated and let down, the man bowed and backed off. One can not convince a person to right a wrong if that person does not believe that wrong has been done.

The session ended and Edward rose off his perch. Jupiter straightened up if that was even possible as he had been standing ramrod since the session began. He had watched everything and he must admit he did not like it one bit.

For Edward, the next two days were filled with unhappy looks and sighs. The reason for this treatment towards him was not lost on him. He did not care what others thought of his decision in the court, but their fault-finding eyes were getting on his nerves.

"Jupiter! JUPITER!"

Jupiter jumped a foot high at the booming voice. The tone was so urgent that one would think there was an emergency. However, he had better sense than believing that. In the four weeks of being the king's sentry, he quickly gained an understanding of when he was happy or irritated. At that moment, he was neither because he was apoplectic. Not keen to enrage him further, Jupiter rushed into the chamber.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Grab it."

Wordlessly, he directed himself to the chair. He dragged it near to the bed and sank down.

"A great deal of the royal ministers, nobles, servants and subjects in the castle and outside of it have been speaking sotto voce. They are unfaltering with the belief that my decision was abysmal. Are you of the same opinion?"

Subconsciously, Jupiter's eyes narrowed and his lips formed a thin line. A decision? Decisions are personal and affect oneself whereas judgment affects many and is done while taking into consideration the welfare of the society. The wrong choice of the word annoyed the soldier, switching his brain-to-mouth filter off.

"You want my opinion? The king wants a commoner's opinion?" He feigned astonishment and used the king's own words to taunt him.

Edward's face contorted with rage. He recognized his rant from the day of the hearing. He had cursed the commoner for wasting the king's time. "Quiet, you plebian! Just answer my question."

"As a common soldier, I do not think myself worthy, sir."

"Do not backtalk. I politely asked you for a piece of advice."

"I do not want to give any."

"Too bad. I am stuck here with my thoughts and you are the only one who speaks to me honestly."

Jupiter was stupefied but managed to gather his senses back before murmuring –
"Well, then..."