The Empire of Ytilaer

Chapter Twenty-One - To Offend a Leader

  As King Estevan read Jax's letter, silence fell upon the throne room. Espen himself couldn't think of anything to say, and therefore, he folded the letter back up and stuck it once again into the envelope. Vassil silently watched him, and after a moment of feeling the new duke's eyes trained upon the back of his head, the king turned around to return the stare.

  However, they weren't able to keep their gaze for long, because Darcy the griffin pulled himself out of Rosalind's grasp to wander towards the throne room door, making the congregation in the back of the room try to shoo away the large, fluffy beast.

  Arax gave an overly dramatic sigh and proclaimed, "Well, since you seem to need time to think and now have a runaway griffin on your hands, I must beg to return back to my empire. I hope you will take seriously the Emperor of Ytilaer's words, King Este-"

  "No!" a voice barked from the other end of the room.

  Espen turned in shock to the far corner of the assembly, where his uncle was being held back by two Noitcif knights. The king suddenly remembered that he had given approval for Engres to watch the coronation ceremony, but now the king began second-guessing if that was truly the best idea.

  "The Emperor of Ytilaer?" Engres snarled, writhing in the knights' grasp. "Jax Whitewood? The usurper, the traitor, the incompetent idiot?!"

  "The one and only true and powerful emperor of the empire, Your Former Majesty," the messenger responded with a mocking bow as four knights led him out of the throne room. "I'm glad to see that you've been spending your time with such inept people."

  "Tell your faux emperor that he'll be yelling 'sacrebleu!' by the time I'm finished with him! How's that for French lingo?"

  But, Arax merely tipped back his coiffed head and laughed as he made his way out of the throne room, into his small hovercraft, and was escorted back through the portal by several griffin-riding knights.

  Needless to say, everyone present in the throne room was glad to see him go, and after much murmuring and side discussions, were anxious to retire back to their houses, or jobs for the time being. Even Vassil, exhausted from his crowning and all the preparations - including the nitpicking of the gentlemen of the bedchamber on his hair and attire, and now the message from Ytilaer - declared that he was going to sit down and read for the next hour to clear his head. Espen thought that he would follow his example, but instead, read and re-read Jax's letter, pondering the ramifications.

  The king sat with many questions stirring in his brain, staring out of his window and watching the knights fly their griffins around some of the closest islands. After an hour had passed, there was a knock on Espen's chamber door.

  "Come in," he answered, absently.

  "Duke La Riviere to see you, Your Highness," Sebastian announced with a bow.

  "Oh... yes, send him in please, Sebastian," Espen accepted gratefully.

  Sebastian seated Vassil in a comfortable armchair adjacent to the king's. He was followed by Espen's chef, Brandt, who placed two large, ice-filled glasses along with a pitcher of sun tea on the small table in front of them.

  "Sorry you didn't get more time to settle in, before..." Espen began, but was cut off by Vassil's, "Au contraire, Your Highness. It was quite advantageous that I was here."