Royal Housemaster Telra of the Hasken Household sat in her own office that same evening pondering her interactions with the new king thus far. He looked much older than she had expected, given the last king she summoned; around her age, almost. He was fairly handsome too. Slim but not skinny. It was clear he worked out, though his age was beginning to betray his skin.
She reflected on the things he said about his family, the way he talked about them. He was so in love with them, one would have to be blind to miss it. She felt sympathy for him, but he was not the only person to be summoned. Each one came with their own tragic back story.
Robert was not the first to get excited about running the kingdom either. They’ve had their fair share of tyrants in the royal bloodline and most aetheren were egotistical from what she’d read and seen for herself. Obviously, each one plucked from the aether was their own person responsible for their own actions, but the goddesses sure enjoyed picking unqualified individuals, leaving them in such a state more than once.
On the other hand, Robert was sharing some unique ideas. The workers owning the land vs the owners? It sounded completely backwards to her and the other magistrates. It was a fact of nature that the owner of the land was responsible for the land and everything atop it. Anyone other than the owners required permission to even step foot on their territory.
Nevertheless, she was thankful he was taking to all of this so quickly. She wished she didn’t have to push the matter of finding a queen, though it was necessary for the protection of the kingdom and her own piece of mind.
Running the country on her own had been a nightmare already. The Caucus was a massive thorn in her side because they knew the power was tipped back in their favor. No king meant no royal power. Thankfully the Magistrates helped pick up the slack but there were still major problems persisting. The treasury, while not fully empty, was breaking-even whenever taxes were collected. Expenditures will begin to pile up if a solution to the refugee influx from the war isn’t found soon. Trade has also been stagnating after the war pushed up prices. She wanted to pull her hair out just from the thought of it all.
Robert didn’t seem like the last king. He was certainly emotional at first, though they usually are. Since he’s calmed down, he’s been communicative and open. The former king was impulsive and brash. He ran headfirst into a war he knew he couldn’t win and died in a matter of days because of his excitement for battle. Luckily, once he was found to have been slain, a peace treaty was quickly brokered and the war was ceased. Lives were still lost and lands were destroyed long before the fighting ceased.
It had been a string of self-centered leaders as of late and the kingdom had seen far better days as a result. She continually prayed for the goddesses to pick someone worthy this time. Hopefully they answered her prayers.
“I already told you, I’m not talking about a queen.” Robert waved dismissively at the Housemaster as he sipped his tee that another woman with pointy ears brought him.
“Respectfully, Sire…” she took her spectacles off and folded them in her lap, “a Queen is much more than a mate, as you seem to be implying here.”
“Believe me, I’m not speaking about women’s abilities in this world, I’m trying to say that a country doesn’t require matrimony in order to function. Nobles getting caught up on such a silly notion only show that they aren’t mature enough to govern in the first place.” He took another sip of his tea.
“The nobles will continue to care regardless of your feelings on the matter.”
Fuck. This gave him flashbacks to his most recent argument with Rep. Matthews (R-Florida) over whether or not libraries should sell handgun holsters in the book store. People get hung up on the dumbest shit sometimes.
She stretched out an arm and gently placed her hand on his wrist holding his tea cup. He felt a slight jolt from the unexpected sensation of being touched. “You are not required to do anything with your queen that you are not comfortable doing, by law at the very least. If you choose wisely, she could be an incredible asset to the kingdom. She could come with a wealthy estate or sway over the nobles. She could be a boon to your administration. There are many forms a queen could take. If not a lover, then a confidant.”
Heavy is the head, as they say. He reconsidered the idea. She was still insistent upon him producing an heir or ten, but a queen could still play a useful role.
“Think of it like a vice king, if you will.” She’s right. It would be silly to dismiss the idea wholesale.
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“Alright, you win. Maybe a queen isn’t such a bad idea right now.”
“Excellent!” She basked in her victory for a moment before unfolding a folder of applications and placed them into two separate piles. The stack on the left was only three pages tall, the one on the right was at least 20, many more in any case. “These are courtship applications submitted by the noble houses. To your left are my highest rated suggestions, the stack to your right are the rest. Do with that as you will.”
She sat back in her chair and sipped her tea as he began looking over the documents. The three on the left really weren’t all that special to Robert. Two of the names he couldn’t even pronounce and the third one seemed like her only selling point was that she came with a wealthy estate. How was he even supposed to choose before he knew anything of substance about the kingdom?
He dug through the other pile until his attention was finally caught. Priscilla of the De Montaigne Household was the only one above the age of 22. She was 35 and came with a full estate. It was just her and her father as she was a widow.
“De Montaigne catch your fancy? She’s not the worst choice you could make. She’s well outside the marrying age though, being a widow is not very desirable either. That alone will surely earn the ire of a few nobles. Not to mention the fact she’s a part of the Caldwell Coalition; I suspect her application was submitted as a formality.”
“She’s the only one that’s even close to my age.”
“How old are you, Sire?”
“I turned 39 about two months ago.”
“Hmm. I had thought you were younger.” Her blue eyes dug into him.
“I get that a lot.” He blushed as he sipped on his tea again.
“Regardless, she’s unlikely to bear you a child at her age, which should fit your proclivities toward romance.”
He sighed, “I don’t have proclivities toward anything. I’m still married for Christ’sake.”
“How do you know that that is still the case?” She sipped again.
He really didn’t want to think about this right now. “Fine, if I have to have a queen, let’s go visit Miss De Montaigne.”
“There is no need to visit her. We will merely summon her here-”
He put a hand up to stop her, “No, I will be traveling to her. I need to see the lands and people for my own eyes.”
“I would highly suggest against that, Sire. The royal family does little outside the capitol for not only your own safety, but for the peace and mind of your people.”
“They care that much about me despite facing the ruin left by the last summoned king? I highly doubt they would forget the state of their wallets.” He stood from the desk, “No, this is precisely why we must be out there with the people.”
“It is not customary for common folk to mingle with Royalty. In fact, it is usually outside the norm that a sitting king would interact with anyone below the noble class at all, unless they were palace staff.”
“I’m honestly surprised this kingdom has lasted as long as it has. You seem to be an unsinkable ship.” He let out a heavy sigh before heading for the door of his office, “Send a notice to House De Montaigne of my intention to visit and prepare the necessary travel equipment. That’s an order.”
Telra straightened in her chair at his sudden commanding presence, “Right away, Sire.”
“Also, contact the local municipalities between the capitol and the De Montaigne territory and request that an oration platform be prepared in each town square and inform them we will be sending additional instructions in the coming days. Do you understand?”
“You wish to speak in the town squares?” A bewildered look on a face.
“Correct. Bring as much muscle as needed to feel comfortable but I’m telling you, this is how we fix things. I want an update by end of day tomorrow.” He turned around to face the door he had just opened and stopped just before bumping into another maid. The same one he woke up to on his first day, actually.
“Nice to meet you again, Sire, I’m Raina.” She was much taller and older than the one who had brought the tea, now that he was properly looking at her. His eyes linger a little longer than he intended.
“Ah, Raina! Sire, she is your new personal attendant.” Telra exclaimed as she approached them by the threshold.
“Your say is my command, Sire.” She smiled brightly.
“I see… I’ve never had a personal attendant before.” The three of them exited his office together into the hall and headed toward the private wing where the dinner hall was.
“There are no maids in your world?”
He chuckled, “There definitely are maids, I’ve just never had a need to hire one.”
“You were the ruler of your kingdom but didn’t have any maid staff?” Telra asked as Raina followed just behind his right foot.
“Heavens no, I’m a public servant. Besides, the White House would have come with a whole fleet of staff and servants anyway. Also, I wasn’t the ruler yet.”
“A public servant? What do you mean by that?” Raina asked.
“It means I work for the people. The taxes that our people pay go into our government’s budget, not our own pockets.” He sighed again, “though that doesn’t mean people didn’t find ways to profit nonetheless.”
“Hmm, such corruption is rampant here as well, I’m afraid.” Telra said, relieved to finally find common ground between their two worlds.
“Speaking of which, the General. Tell me about him, and be honest. Can I trust him or will he be a liability?”
She thought for a moment, “He can be trusted. He might not trust you right away, but he’s the one responsible for the peace treaty so he’s on your side.
“Then, could you summon him for me?”
“Right now?”
“‘Strike while the iron is hot,’ as my people say.” He offered a hardly apologetic smile.
“It’s not common etiquette to invite anyone into the private wing aside from family and palace staff.”
He about-faced and headed the opposite direction, “Then have my dinner and the General sent to my office, please.”
The two women watched as he walked off on his own.
“What a strange man,” Telra let out.
“Agreed. I like him so far, though. He seems driven.”
“The others were driven too.”
“Yeah, but he seems different. More mindful.”
