The King's Servants

Chapter 4

The king was well aware that his tiny servants didn't have very much to do in the mornings ever since they became his personal servants, so he was going to use it to his advantage. He had a plan for how he would get the little ones to tell him even more about themselves. However, Baritorin decided not to tell them what he was planning. It would be a surprise.

The next morning, the children entered the king's presence as normal with his breakfast on their little push trolleys. They greeted the king in their little simultaneous manner, to which the king responded with a big, pleasant smile. The same smile that made them eager to see him each morning. The smile never went away, something each of the children admired.

They were about to take their leave when the king's deep, strong voice called after them. "Children, you don't have any other duty other than to serve me and obey my every command. Am I correct?" asked the monarch. The young humans nodded immediately, wondering what the king was playing at. "Well, since you have nothing else to do this morning, will the six of you do me the honour of joining me for breakfast, perhaps?"

The children all stood with their mouths wide open. They were waiting for the king to laugh, or at least hint that he was joking, but the hint never came. He was dead serious about wanting to have breakfast with them. "People are going to catch flies in their mouths if they are not careful", laughed the king as the children stood dumbfounded by his request. Their reaction had been priceless, but he was still expecting an answer.

The children were brought back to reality by the booming laughter that soon surrounded them. Their shocked expressions were replaced with excited smiles. That's when William quickly caught his siblings' and the giant king's attention. "Um, could we have a moment to ourselves, King Baritorin?" asked the young man, much to the surprise of everyone, especially the king.

The king answered saying it was alright, but he was still confused as to what William was plotting. Once he answered, William pulled all his siblings into a group huddle and soon they were whispering away about something.

"WILLIAM! Are you trying to get the king to dislike us?" whispered Jack in a rather annoyed tone. "Or do you not want to have breakfast with the king?" continued a worried Ella, wondering why William was gathering them together.

"Whoa, relax everyone! Of course I want to have breakfast with our royal guest. I gathered you guys in a huddle because I think we should thank him by doing that thing where we say things simultaneously. He seems to really like it", replied William, a bit put off by his siblings' accusations. "Oh..." whispered all the other kids as they realised their brother's intentions. They decided the sentence they would use and immediately returned their attention to the waiting king.

Baritorin was getting more and more worried by the second. To make matters worse, his breakfast was getting cold. The children soon stopped whispering and were facing him once again. "Is everything alright, little ones?" questioned Baritorin, "You know if you don't want to have breakfast with me, I will not force you to", he finished with hints of both sadness and disappointment embedded in his voice.

The king's sad words made the children feel bad. But they knew what would cheer him up in an instant. They all, finally, answered the king saying "We would absolutely love to have breakfast with you, King Baritorin. We can't believe you actually asked us in the first place!" The children's reply warmed Baritorin's heart and cause him to put on a big, happy grin.

"That's a huge relief, my little servants. I thought I was about to be rejected! Now, go and get your utensils from your room and meet me back here. I think you deserve to benefit from the cook's hard work as much as I do", said the king with a rather playful tone that made the children laugh.