Soul Scale

Chapter 2: The Ancients

Early the following day, one of Forte's maids, Adelaide, saw him asleep on his throne. Concerned, she walked over to check on him and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you alright, my king?" asked Adelaide.

As Forte woke up with a grunt, his eyes slowly opened, and he rose from his chair.

"Adelaide? I must have fallen asleep here last night. Perhaps I had too much to drink. Thank you for waking me. I think I'll go freshen up in the bath."

Adelaide looked concerned and said, "Are you sure you don't need anything? I'm happy to help with whatever it may be."

Forte gave a fake smile. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Adelaide."

"Very well then. I'll go tend to your breakfast now," said Adelaide.

"Thank you," replied Forte.

As he headed to his bedroom, Cadence stopped him.

"Good morning. I tried to wait for you last night, but I couldn't stay awake any longer. Is everything ok?"

Forte dropped his head slightly.

"Honestly... No. After the festival, I came here to see if you were awake because I had a few things on my mind. After I saw that you were asleep, I decided not to wake you. I went and sat in the throne room, ended up overthinking, and had a breakdown. I'm fine now, though. Aside from having a splitting headache."

Cadence hugged Forte and said, "I'm sorry that I was asleep when you needed me. I waited a while, but I couldn't stay awake. If you ever need something, no matter what time it is, wake me up."

Forte sighed. "I know... I just didn't want to bother you again. I didn't want to upset you or the baby. I want your pregnancy to be as easy as it can be. You're already dealing with a lot of stress, and I don't want you to miscarry again..."

Cadence smiled. "Forte...Don't blame yourself for that. There was no way we could have known what would happen to her. It's not your fault."

Forte looked towards the ground and let out a sigh.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't...I'm still sorry. I won't let it happen again. I'll find a way to make sure our unborn child sees the light of day. I need to take a quick bath. It's almost time for the daily news in the throne room. We can talk at breakfast."

Forte kissed Cadence's forehead and headed for the throne room. He quickly cleaned himself, got dressed, and went to the throne room. As he sat on his throne, he waited for the kingdom courier.

Forte always liked being the first person in the throne room. It gave him time to get his negative thoughts out of the way so he could appear strong in front of his people, which was even more crucial after his recent mental breakdown.

Forte let out a sigh and spoke out loud to himself. "I know I should be more excited to hear about the goings-on of my people, but I honestly just can't bring myself to care today. I would rather be doing literally anything else."

Forte tended to become mellow and melancholy after the festival. He longed for something different, something extraordinary, and something that would give him some semblance of excitement. Unbeknownst to him, he would soon get his wish...

The council slowly entered the room, followed by his guards, maids, and lastly, his brother. Verdant was always the last one to join.

"Nice of you to join us, brother," said Forte mockingly.

"Your humor never ceases to astound me," mocked Verdant.

Verdant had always harbored secret anger and jealousy toward him. Even though they were born on the same day, their father, Cadenza, chose Forte over Verdant for the throne.