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The King led Lilith away, and the rest of the group was led to chambers to clean themselves after their journey. Eventually, a palace attendant gathered them in the dining hall. Tink wasted no time upon entering the room, and bounded to a chair and began piling a plate high with food. The rest of the group found seats surrounding the Kind at the head of the table. They all selected from the vast array before them before settling down to eat.
“Your Highness,” Bob began after sampling the roast pheasant on his plate, “while I applaud your actions in handling the treachery you found in your own castle, I fear the consequences.”
The King placed his large turkey leg on his plate and chewed thoughtfully for several moments.
“Elaborate, if you would, mage.”
“Your Highness, I do not personally know your former Chancellor, and my experience with your son is, if you will pardon the pun, short,” Bob answered. “Unfortunately, my association with Norman is more intimate. His being in this kingdom was not the result of chance, he had a plan. Norman historically does not give up his prizes easily.”
“Then it is your opinion that he will return to this kingdom to exact some sort of vengeance?”
“I do,” Bob answered, nodding. “In addition, I do not believe that vengeance will be his sole purpose. He will attempt to regain the power he has lost. I also fear that he will not be alone in his endeavor.”
Bob paused for a moment to allow the implications to sink in before continuing.
“We have already seen that Prince Don has a number of men loyal to him outside of the kingdom. Lilly has told us of an elite army with their loyalty to the Chancellor. Norman, although he possesses a large number of character flaws, does also possess a significant command of the magical arts. This is a formidable opposition, and I do not think it would be wise to take your son’s parting threat lightly.”
Silence fell over the table as everyone realized the truth of Bob’s words. Even Tink had stopped eating mid chew.
“Magician,” the King finally broke the silence, “You paint a very bleak future for my kingdom, as well as me. Do you have any suggestions for these issues, or are you merely attempting to ruin my meal?”
Bob was silent for a moment, brow furrowed in thought. When he spoke, he chose his words carefully.
“Your Highness, without more information regarding the current state of affairs in your kingdom, I hesitate to make any further predictions with any certainty.”
“And yet,” the King countered, “You have made a conjecture.”
“Yes,” Bob answered with a sigh, “I have. But I fear that I may further disrupt your meal if I voice it.”
“A king does not ask if he does not wish to know, mage.”
“We have seen the outlying provinces of your kingdom. The towns and villages showed obvious signs of poverty. The roads were in a terrible state of disrepair. When we entered your courtroom, a man was requesting assistance to feed his family. If one man has the courage to complain to his king, there are likely a dozen more that do not. You, and your court, reside in this rather opulent castle as your people slowly starve. I do not believe that will cause your citizens to have a great deal of loyalty to you.”
“Is there more?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Bob continued. “I expect that the higher qualified guards and troops have been living lives free of repercussions of any of their actions, have been paid well by the chancellor to keep the populace in fear. Because of this, I have no doubt that they would rather continue under the rule of the Chancellor than you. I believe that by morning, the best of your army will have disappeared, following the trio just banished.”
“Bob,” Tink said after an audible swallow, “As much as I like you, you can be very depressing.”
“Thank you, Tink, but you may wish to hold that statement until I have concluded.”
“You mean this gets worse?” asked the King, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Sam and Lilly nodded as Bob continued.
“Again, sire, it does. Your son may not have lived his life as if he wanted the crown, but he has always expected it. I fear that like any other spoiled brat, he will throw a tantrum when something he perceives as his is taken away.”
“You small companion speaks the truth,” the King sighed, “You depress me. Please dispense with the long winded, although accurate, explanations.”
“You have banished three people who, in one way or another, had planned their future not only on being in this kingdom, but having a substantial control over it. I believe they will return to take your kingdom by force. They have at their disposal the kingdoms highest trained troops, a recognizable royal figure who will be promising a change from the current conditions, and a formidable magician.”
Bob paused for a moment, and locked eyes with the King.
“You have at your disposal a large palace and a bunch of peasant farmers who are not very happy with their King.”
“I was wrong,” Tink commented, glaring at Bob, “You were actually able to get more depressing.”
Silence ruled the table as the travelers looked at the King, who stared at his plate in moody silence. The King suddenly rose to his feet, his chair clattering over behind him.
“If you will excuse me,” he told them with a slight bow of the head, “I believe I will retire for the night. If you require anything, please notify a member of the palace staff.”
In moments, the King was gone, leaving the companions seated at the table staring after him.
“Wow, String Bean, do you do party planning?” Lilly asked. “You sure know how make a great dinner party. And after he paid double what he had promised, too.”
“You heard everything I was telling the King,” Bob retorted, annoyance in his voice, “yet you said nothing to contradict me. Perhaps you would have preferred to take the money and run, but my conscience would not have allowed me to do the same.”
Lilly shot to her feet, clenched fists pressed down against the table in fury.
“Run away?” She snarled through clenched teeth. “Are you calling me a coward?”
“Not a coward,” Bob snarled back, “but perhaps a bit morally ambiguous. No kingdom deserves what I believe is on the horizon for this one, and while I do not take responsibility for it, I know I played my part. Therefore, I feel it is my responsibility to inform the King, and his people in an attempt to lesson the damage done. Free of charge!”
“So now I’m an immoral coward that won’t do the right thing unless she’s paid, is that it?” Lilly demanded in a shout.
Bob had started to rise from his seat in conjunction with the rising volume of Lilly’s voice. He now stood in fury at her verbal onslaught, his outline becoming fuzzy with barely restrained magical energies.
“Lilith,” he said with forced calm, eyes closed, “You are not angry with me, you are angry because you know that I am right. I urge you, for your own sake, to SIT DOWN!!”
As Bob shouted across the table, Lilly took a half step back in shock. Her warrior training took over, and refusing to show weakness in the face of the enemy, she stepped forward until her midsection was pressed against the edge of the table and she was leaning as far in Bob’s direction as was possible without toppling over.
“Mage, nobody talks to me like that, and I mean nobody. I don’t care what you have done for me or my grand-daughter, but you better prepare to defend…”
Her words were cut off abruptly as she suddenly found herself once again seated in her chair. Sam stood behind her, having forcefully propelled the seat behind Lilly’s knees.
“SHUT UP!” Sam ordered her grandmother, cuffing her upside the head with an open palm.
“And you!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger across the table at Bob, “You sit down and get those magics under control!”
Bob did as ordered, looking a bit red faced at Sam’s outburst.
“By the Gods,” Sam muttered, “My grandmother? More like a three year old.”
Lilly had not had an opportunity to calm down, and the insult started to bring her back to her feet. Sam’s hand clapped on her shoulder and kept her in her chair and off balance.
Bob sat with his eyes closed, and a faint buzzing ceased as his outline solidified. A lingering scent of ozone hung over the table.
“Now you two have a choice,” Sam told Bob and Lilly in a much calmer voice, “you can both stay here and get your differences talked out, or you can go out in the courtyard and fight it out. I’m going to go to bed, and tomorrow I will see what I can do to help the King and his kingdom.”
Without another word, she turned and walked rapidly from the dining hall, motioning with a finger for one the quivering servants to lead the way back to her room.
“You both know where I stand,” Tink told them as she stood on her chair, “Always with Sam. But if you decide to go outside, come get me first. I wanna watch.”
She bounded from her chair and followed Sam at a run, her tiny sandaled feet slapping on the marble floor.
Bob and Lilly looked at each other across the table, each chastened in their own way. Finally, Bob broke the silence.
“I suppose that the tension caused me to allow things to get a bit out of hand.” He admitted.
“Yeah, I suppose I did the same,” Lilly offered. “I get riled up pretty quick when I get yelled at by my youngers, and especially when I know they’re right when I don’t want them to be.”
Lilly raised her eyes to look at Bob across the table as she once again stood.
“Between you and Sam, I have been put in my place more times in the past few days than the past few decades. Truce?”
Bob reached across the table and took her proffered hand in his own with a smile.
“A wise man knows the importance of compromise, and graciousness.”
“Just keep in mind,” Lilly said with a wink, “I am much stronger than you are, in case this ever comes up again.”
Cracking and popping noises emerged from the handshake as Lilly increased the pressure of her grip. Bob winced, and then returned the wink.
“And you would be wise to remember that physical strength is not the only kind one should be wary of,” he told her as a spark shot from between his fingers to blossom into crackling branches of energy that chased themselves around their clenched hands.
Lilly gasped in shock, and then broke out into a huge grin. She redoubled her efforts, arm swelling as she poured more effort into crushing Bobs hand. Bob returned the grin as the lightning raced faster and faster around their hands until is was a pulsating glow. Sweat broke out on their brows, and by an unspoken agreement, they released their grips simultaneously, hands flying upwards through the sudden laughter.
After several minutes of hand rubbing and chuckles, Lilly spoke.
“I like you, Bob,” she said. “I am starting to see what Sam sees in you. Get some sleep; we have a kingdom to save tomorrow.”
Bob stared in shock at Lily’s retreating back.
“What Sam sees?” he whispered before calling out to Lilly. “Sleep well, Lilith. It is my pleasure to count you among my few friends.”
