A Dance of Two Worlds

The Catastrophe

Chapter Thirteen

The Catastrophe

Real fighters turn their problems into an advantage

Elisium

The Fifth Loop, Year 1, 7th January (5L/1/1/7)

"The moment has finally come. The time to create history. To decide the future of the two worlds and change their fortunes forever."

Thomas's prominent ministers welcomed Solomon at the Gateway of the Royal Mound. Solomon had asked his men to wear their armors and keep their weapons ready to strike. Although he was a guest of the King, and inflicting any harm on a guest was an unforgivable sin, Solomon didn't trust his father's murderer to abide by such trivial rules. Murder was the biggest sin but Thomas didn't have any qualms about it.

Thomas warmly greeted Solomon at the gate of the Grand Palace. "Solomon, my dear nephew! You were a naïve young man when I last saw you, now you have grown into a mature statesman."

How courteous. I must remind him that I left this world because he murdered my family and tried to kill me as well. "I was supposed to embrace my adulthood with a grand ceremony, but thanks to you Uncle, I was robbed of that. And a lot of other things for that matter."

"So much hatred in such a young heart is not good. Some unfortunate circumstances caused some unnecessary confusion back then. We have all the time in the world to discuss that but first, let us have some food."

Dinner. No way. I can't trust Thomas. He won't blink an eye before poisoning us all.

Thomas sensed his nephew's conundrum. "I have invited you into my house and I wouldn't inflict any harm on my guest. Don't you trust me to even abide by the basic values of this society?"

Solomon chose not to reply.

"Ah! You are just like my dear cousin Isaac, always suspicious of everything. Trying to find problems, when there were none. Anyways, I knew such a situation may arise so I have made likewise arrangements."

Thomas showed Solomon around the massive dining hall of the Grand Palace. "All the plates for the feast are arranged on that table. You choose the plate from which you eat, and you also choose the plates for me and my ministers. You choose what gets served to you, and the same thing will be served to all of us. We eat first and then you. If there is something in the food we all die together. My dear nephew, trust me, I am an honorable host."

Solomon looked at Aaron, who shook his head

"I am not convinced either but I can't find a flaw in this arrangement," Solomon whispered to his friend.

"Refusing to eat when invited to a feast will be a bad omen, and also show us in a bad light," Aaron mumbled. "We have to go with the flow, but keep our eyes open."

Solomon and his men sat down for dinner in their designated places. Once everyone had settled down, Solomon didn't waste any time. "Uncle, when will you surrender?"

Thomas leaned back in his chair. "Frankly you haven't left me much of a choice. Your troops look invincible and you have powers to control nature. I can't fight you, but I also have to look after my interests. A tough night of negotiations lies ahead of us, so we better fill our stomachs with this delicious food. A wise man once said 'Always talk to an intelligent person when his belly is full'."

"Tell me, what people will think about me if I strike a deal with my parents' murderer and let him walk away?"

"As per the records King Isaac was murdered by one of his bodyguards, the son of a commoner who was a vocal critic of the rampant corruption in your father's administration. I publicly executed the father-son duo to appease the masses and then organized a massive funeral for the king to show my respect and suppress any conspiracy theories. I am not a murderer in the public's eye."