Nobles

Ch. 23: I'm not ready

If he had thought it had been boring to sit in some hut and wait for new casualties or for an attack plan on some camp, Philo got that revised as he sat in the great conference hall at the Palace and listened to councilman after councilman be so dull and uninspiring as humanly possible.

Yes, they were telling about state affairs. Most of it were cold, hard facts. Statistics and numbers on shit he already knew. It was their job, and it was his job to listen. But, seriously.

No. Just no.

Philo wanted to go back to Skylar and listen to her babbling about learning Maridi, or what she had seen when opening malls and visiting schools or homes for the elderly. They way she was fascinated with everything gave him some new way of viewing a lot of things.

Her enthusiasm with learning about the country and its people was infectious. Everything she saw with a refreshing naivety and joy, something he needed because he was still stuck with his memories of what had been. What the country was really like, he was not sure of, he had only seen war and devastation. 

Skylar slowly erased those images in his mind.

"Alistair?"

"Yes, Sir?" Philo snapped out of his daydreaming of Skylar and turned his attention to his father who was looking at him with a not too impressed expression.

"Did you hear any of what I just said?"

"Ehm, yes?"

"Very convincing, son." Conrad sighed like he had been given a halfwit for a son. Rolling his eyes dramatically like Philo usually did. "The councilmen and I have been talking for some time about me stepping down next year..."

Conrad looked expectantly at Philo.

At first, Philo just sat there absorbing what his father had said.

Stepping down?

That would mean...

"As in I become King?"

He felt physically ill. He wanted to throw up on the polished conference table. Hell no, if he was going to become king at thirty-four. Ever if possible.

"That was the general idea, Alistair." Again, Conrad sighed. "Unless I have a child out there born before you, your mother would be pissed to be honest."

Some of the councilmen chuckled.

Conrad smiled encouragingly at his son. "Alistair, it's your birthright."

"That's not a right, it's an obligation," Philo raged. "I can't be king, I won't."

"That's not a choice. You've always known that."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Philo got up and started pacing. He needed to work out his nervous energy. It was too much pressure. Too much information and just, too much.

"Why the hell can't you be king? In all fairness, you already are." Philo stopped his pacing and faced his father. "Why fix it if it isn't broken?"

"That's the center of this. It is broken. Your mother and I ruled the country before the war, we knew the country, the people, and the time we lived in. Now..." He looked at his son and hoped he would understand. It would take time to convince him and school him for the duties, but a positive attitude would go a long way. "We don't know the country and the people now. This is your generation, your time. A lot has changed, and you can bring Maridioch into this century."

Ok, Philo had to admit it. His father was right about some of it. The world had changed since he had been actively ruling. A lot had changed, not only in Maridioch but in the world. The political changes and technological advances made set them back to what felt like the stone age.