Brothers II

#21 Praises

“They disagreed again, huh?” The scribe nodded. The King seethed but, *sigh*. “It’s fine… It’s not that important anyway.” He grabbed the letter from the scribe, crumpling it. “I’ll talk to them though, tomorrow.” The King handed back the crumpled letter to the scribe. "Go now."  The scribe nodded and walked away with the crumpled letter on his hand. *Step* *Step* *Step* The King turned around. “What is it, my son?” Prince Macil gave a small bow. “The rebellion of which the Earl of Conterus is involved has failed. The Earl of Alierra, Pren, has unexpectedly surrendered.” Prince Macil closed his eyes, seeing his father’s mood turn even sour. “Did he do anything to patch things up with Korre?” Prince Macil shook his head. “That idiot! Couldn’t even do a thing right!” King Solus paced for a second. “Macil, do me a favour and tell our barons in Conterus to strengthen their defences and get an army ready.” Prince Macil nodded. “Will do, father–“ “Father!” The two turned to the feminine voice who is now running at them. “Is it true?!" Solus frowned. “No–“ “Kired has been released?!” “No it isn’t, where did you get that?” “I heard King Aden talking with his men! My husband has been released!” Solus clenched his teeth. “That–“ Fromena clasped her hands, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Father, can I please go ba–” “No!–“ Macil stepped up, grabbing his older sister's arm. “Please Fromena, father has already talked about this.” “But Macil! Kired is my husband!“ “He wouldn’t be if you just–“ “I’ll take care of this, father.” Macil brought his other hand to Fromena's shoulder– “No! Let me go!” “Fromena please, we’ll talk inside. Our father is really stressed right now.” Fromena furrowed her eyebrows, sniffing her tears before nodding; a secretive glare at her father as they walked away. *sigh*... “Oops.” Solus turned to his side, finding that annoying child smiling widely at him. “You son of a–“ “I’m sorry for that, haha.” Solus glared at Aden, which Aden responded with a wider smile. “By the way, I came here to talk about King Kired. We’re probably in trouble. The probably being in a "yes, you are" level with Kiness. You literally helped a rebellion in their land and took King Kired’s wife.” “Yeah, I know that.” “Well I was thinking of Kiness joining our alliance with Regver, to protect ourselves. We’re friends already anyway.” King Solus raised an eyebrow. “No? We aren't friends, nor are our countries, nor our people. You must be joking.” “Hey! Remember Korre! They’re the most powerful country in Regian. We’ve been in constant conflict with them and with that, there’s no doubt that they wish to unite Regian under Korre. We may only have a small territory in the region but the resources we get from those small territories are vital to us. We need to get involved… hopefully together.” King Solus stared at King Aden… “How about Regver? I don’t trust them.” “Me too but they’re a useful ally in our current situation.” …King Solus let out a quiet groan. “I’ll think about it.” “Okay! I’ll wait! I’ll send a letter to my uncle about my suggestion.” “Wait– what?! You haven’t told him yet?!” “Nope! Along with my nobles but it’ll be fine. They’ll understand, I’m sure of that.” Solus glared at Aden. “It’ll be fine!” He placed his palm on his chest. “Promise.” “Hmph!” Solus turned back, walking away– “Wait, why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to leave yesterday?” Aden spaced out... “I forgot...” Solus frowned. “Leave.” “No, I’m not going to.” Aden smiled. “Huh?” “You haven’t recognised my beard yet!” “...What? No! Leave!” “No! Recognise it first!” “You’ve been here for almost a month! You're the King of Lovuér! What the fuck are you still doing here?! Leave!” Aden clenched his teeth. “I worked so hard for this beard! At least recognise it!” He cried. “Wha– How can you work hard for a beard?! That’s barely even a beard! Fuck off!” Aden crossed his arms and stomped. “I’m not leaving until I get a "real" beard then!” “Wha–... Fine! Congratulations! You finally got a beard that looks like It was constantly pecked by chickens in your sleep! Congrats! It’s beautiful!” Solus’ face twitched. “Aww! Thank you! You’re such a great friend.” Aden let go of his arms. “I’ll be leaving now. Bye, King Solus!” Aden waved his hand with a bright smile before walking away as he hummed. “...Fucking child–“ Solus seethed but he turned around and *sighed*, calming himself and ignoring the man he just talked to, moving on to his next work.

“Thank you for your work Lord Loir, I appreciate it a lot. You exceeded my expectations.” “It’s my pleasure, your grace.” Lord Loir bowed. “You too, your excellency. You made quick and swift work on my orders.” His excellency smiled. “It’s my pleasure, your grace.” “Your grace, if you don’t mind, may I ask you a question?” Lord Loir interrupted. The King flashed his smile. “Of course.” “Why did you let Lord Pren and the others free? I don't disagree with your decision, I just am curious.” “Well, I am avoiding past mistakes of both my father and Odie.” “Huh?” His excellency let out a chuckle. “You weren’t following what's happening during the rebellion, am I right?” Lord Loir lowered his head. “Y-yeah… forgive me, your excellency, your grace.” “It’s okay, Lord Loir. I did keep you busy.” “Thank you, your grace.” “However, your grace, I am wondering why you included the others. You could’ve just spared Lord Pren.” His excellency questioned.  “Well, they like me, love me and are loyal to me. Now that I'm back they have a King that they're willing to serve for.” “How about those that would disagree?” The King halted, his eyes drifting off down the castle walls which they stand. Air whipping their hair around. “Doing something to them will cause nothing but turn the others to be them… They'll learn to love me eventually. If they don't… either way they won’t be a problem.” The King continued, the breeze of spring continuously hitting them but their hair now gently flowing with it. “Brother.” Odie groaned as he moved away from the stone fence of the castle. “What is it again?”

Seran closed his eyes, clutching the stone battlement of the castle. He took a breath, taking in the fresh spring air up above, before slowly letting it out. He looked down, his fists clenched. “Why did I say that? I just said sorry and I immediately did what I was sorry for...” Seran groaned. To be fair it wasn’t really what I was sorry for. “No, it is. He’s still in mourning and I criticised his decisions knowing that he doesn't like it…” But it’s really important though. They’re planning an all out war! Madness! We just got out of a rebellion! “Yeah… Just when I thought that he had finally calmed down after King Kired was released; he had just gotten worse…” Oh for fucks sake, it’s  your fault that he acts like this! *Step* Seran turned around– “Doing something to them will cause nothing but turn the others to be them… They'll learn to love me eventually. If they don't… either way they won’t be a problem.” Seran raised an eyebrow but ignored it. It’s none of his business. “Brother.” Odie groaned as he moved away from the stone fence of the castle. “What is it again?” “It's finished.” "Okay." Odie went back to the battlement. "In the second week, we'll start and wage war against Kiness." Seran's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay." “I am hoping that you’d lead one of our attacks against Kiness or against Lovuér if they decided to join. There’s been talk about Kiness joining the alliance of Lovuér and Regver.” Odie walked away from the battlement and to Kired. Grabbing Kired by his tunic, Odie glared at him; not caring of the presence of his two companions. “If Lovuér joins, put me in charge against Regver.” “They have an alliance but I’m not really sure that they would–“ Odie violently nudged Kired back, making him almost fall– “Your grace!–“ Kired raised his hand at his two companions as he balanced himself. He flashed his smile. “Very well, I’ll put you in charge of the forces against Regver. You have my word along with my promise.” “You almost broke it.” Odie walked away… and at a safe distance, Seran followed; passing King Kired and his two companions. Seran bit his tongue. Korre will be dust.