Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Thirty Three ~ The Chancellor

A crowd gathered at the front entrance of the city as the gates opened for an Airship they had never seen before.

"Make way!" a voice announced from what were loudspeakers on the vessel. "The Chancellor of the Washington Province has arrived! Make way, make way!" As soon as the Airship landed, there were mixed reactions among the crowd. Some were cheering and others were jeering as an old man and a taller young man stepped out from the Airship, followed by what appeared to be a heavily armed military group. The old man looked at the young man and grinned as they walked through the sea of people.

"You see all this?" he asked with a chuckle. "If you marry the Princess, all this will be yours, my son!"

"I don't care about claiming land the way you do, father," the young man replied. "All I want is the Princess. This is not to merge the two Provinces. Hell, we could burn this place to the ground with the power we have, for all I care. All I want is Princess Lenora for myself."

"You hopeless idiot," the old man sighed, rolling his eyes. "You don't know how long I have left to live! I could die on your wedding day, for God's sake! I want you to at least acknowledge the importance of everything I've made here for you!"

"Yeah, yeah, old man rabble-babble." The young man looked around earnestly. "I've heard it all before. Now, where could she be...?"

"Probably in the Castle, airhead!" the old man scolded the young man, slapping him across the back of the head, pointing at the Castle far in the distance. "Damn... we should've brought horses."

"Oh, a horse request, good sir?" The unfamiliar voice came from behind them. It was a man at the helm of a horse-drawn carriage. "I'd be more than willing to give you two a ride to the Castle," he said. "But... it'll be thirty coppers per rider."

"You idiot!" the old man exclaimed, reaching to slap the carriage driver at the back of the head (but the driver dodged it quickly). "Don't you know who we are!? I am the Chancellor of the Washington Province, for God's sake! This here's the future king of your kingdom!"

"Likely story," the carriage driver said nonchalantly. "Regardless of title, you still have to pay. I'll accept a down payment, and you can pay as we go—fifteen coppers a mile with a down payment of ten coppers. Per rider, of course." The Chancellor grumbled angrily and reached into his pockets, pulling out a handful of copper coins. He counted thirty and shoved the rest back in his pockets as he handed the rest to the driver.

"Here's your damn coppers," the Chancellor grumbled angrily.

"If I may, sir," the carriage driver began, "to use proper grammar, you should say 'here are your damn coppers', not 'here's your damn coppers'. The latter, of which was the one you said, is the equivalent of—"

"Shut up!" the Chancellor groaned angrily. "Just-just-just take us to the damn Castle already!" The Chancellor started walking into the carriage, but the driver held a hand out and stopped him. "What now, you condescending, exasperating parasitical peon!?"

"It's thirty coppers per rider, sir," the carriage driver replied, nodding towards the Chancellor's son. "I've said this three times now, sir. Do you have wax in your ears, sir? Or are you simply, dare I say, dull? Though I can't say that would be surprising, considering your lack for attention to your grammatical application in verbal speech." The Chancellor practically had to hold his breath to keep from screaming with anger before he finally breathed to calm down. He turned towards his son and gestured towards the carriage driver.

"Go ahead," the Chancellor said, trying his best to keep a calm attitude. "Pay the... n—nice man, Nicholas."

"Like hell," the Chancellor's son, Nicholas, scoffed. "You've got more coppers in your pockets, don't you?" The Chancellor looked like he was about to blow up from anger. He swore under his breath, taking the remainder of the copper from his pockets and shoving them into the hands of the carriage driver before he stormed into the carriage with Nicholas shortly following.

"You're lucky that we want the same thing," the Chancellor murmured. "Damn kid. I'd beat you in an instant if—"

"Yeah, yeah, old man rabble-babble," Nicholas sighed, crossing his arms. "You seem to forget which of us is the stronger one." Nicholas grinned as if he was proud of himself. "Lenora's gonna love such a strapping, potential prince, wouldn't you say?"

"Strapping?" the Chancellor scoffed. "You're a goddamn goof, that's what you are."

"Shut it, old man," Nicholas snapped before looking out the open windows of the carriage as they rode through the Capitol City of Portland. The sky slowly started getting darker as Nicholas sighed. "Oh, lovely Lenora... you will be mine soon, my love. Just you wait."

"You're nuttier than a squirrel's scrotum," the Chancellor replied as he kept his arms crossed, looking away from Nicholas. "Do you just assume that the Princess is gonna fall head-over-heels for you or something?"

"Not immediately," said Nicholas. "Just you wait, father. Once I turn on the charm, Lenora won't be able to keep her hands off of me. Well... she'll have no choice when you're finished with her parents, right?" The Chancellor chuckled and nodded.

"I think you mean when we're done with her kingdom," he said. "The might of our military will be too much for them to handle, my son. Once they've properly been subjugated and they learn who's boss, Lenora is all yours, I swear it." A grin spread across Nicholas's face.

"That's what I like to hear."