A king with a bad attitude must change for his subjects or else face the rebellion. He thinks power can stop it all, little does he know power can become the reason for his fall.
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Book 1 | R...
"Stop dragging it. The wait is killing me; I am not a patient man."
"Is that a threat?" The man in front of him was enraging. Even the word 'enraging' seemed an understatement. Jupiter was riled up, he took pride in himself for being a patient person and he never lost his temper except once. That once was an incident that he would go to any length to get erased from his memory.
"Under other circumstances, it would be but I cannot threaten you at this moment, can I?"
Jupiter's first instinct was to call the king a few names in his mind, though this surprisingly civil behavior between them subdued him and he kept his mouth sealed. He hummed his understanding.
"You cannot, Your Majesty."
Gritting his teeth assisted Edward in keeping his composure. The urge to put his hands on the soldier was strong. If only he could act on it.
"Go on then; lay it on me," he prompted, not un-gritting his teeth.
"Can I speak unbound, the way I talk with a fellow warrior?"
"Just...start!"
"You made the wrong decision the moment you refused to hear their side of the story."
"Should I have let them speak nonsense?"
"If their plea was nonsensical, then why is everyone staring at you like your verdict did not make sense?"
Edward kept opening and closing his mouth, and that gave away the lack of an answer from his end.
"The land taken from each peasant on that border is twenty percent of their owned territory. Meanwhile, the selling price for the crop was increased by ten percent and that is only for the crops that the government buys. Leftovers have the same selling price." Jupiter took a break to give the king a moment to catch up and take in his words. "They are already bearing a loss of ten percent and it will be accompanied by more when they turn up at the market. Even if they increase the price of the crops, there is a fat chance that they will lose buyers. Let us assume they do not lose customers, then it will be your people again who will have to spend more pennies than usual. Either way, it is your people who are losing."
Edward did not care if a few peasants lost a few dimes, but he did care about being a loser himself. He aimed to become the greatest king of his times and he would die - or kill - before he allowed anyone to deter him from his path to victory.
"I appreciate your opinion, sen...Jupiter. You can go back outside while I ponder over your words."
"NO!"
Edward was taken aback by Jupiter's loud yell of defiance. The soldier mostly wore an expressionless mask and the rest of the time he wore an annoyed look. Therefore, the defiance came as shocking. It was also confusing which led him to react the only way he did whenever he cannot make sense of something. With anger.
"What did you say?" As opposed to Jupiter's blaring vocals, Edward's was low-pitched and warning.
Jupiter blanched and withdrew his step. "I am sorry, sir. I-I...ca-can I say something?"
"Hmm..."
"I apologize beforehand but it seems you are turning a blind eye to their crisis. You don't need to validate the truth."
"The reason you are not at my place and I am not at yours is because you need a political mind to make judgments. You don't know shit. You should know that I can not revoke the rights I granted to our allies unless I want bad blood between us. So, keep your people evaluation skills to yourself and get out of here."
"My apologies," Jupiter mumbled audibly and scrambled to the door.
Did the soldier not know how too much of anything – especially formalities – irked him, or did he push his buttons on purpose? Edward wanted to scream at him. He didn't, wanting to give Jupiter the benefit of the doubt.
Now what?! He wondered as the soldier halted with his hand on the doorknob. Their eyes met when Jupiter looked over his shoulder.
"Sir Adam would never have let his subjects suffer in hardship. He would have taken the time and made certain that they are given a chance to put forth their case." Jupiter exited the room in a hurry after saying his piece like the hounds of hell were chasing him.
At the mention of his father's name, Edward stiffened. He went back to his childhood where he saw his father taking care of his four-year-old self after his mother's death. Adam had always been his weakness. The man kept smiling even when he behaved like a brat.
The last thing he saw in Jupiter's eyes before he left was the mirror image of disappointment. The emotion pained him. It may be because his father was always proud of him and never dismayed. The possibility of failing his loving father sent a pang of hurt and guilt through his heart. Or it may be because he never saw disappointment from up so close.
Begrudgingly, he had to admit – he was affected.
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