148 Chapter 145 A Former Prince (2/2)

”Alright, Victor, Theodore. What have you come here for?” asked Joseph, leaning back in his chair.

”Theo is fine, Lord Joseph,” said Victor, setting his fork down and turning towards him. He had mostly finished his plate for the second time, and had been debating a third, when Joseph started to speak.

Victor was only seven, having been a year younger than Joseph. He had been trained to be a king, and that knowledge might help Joseph become a better king.

”We come seeking asylum,” he said slowly, but his voice was strong and he met Joseph's eyes.

”Could you explain why?”

His eyes turned a little teary, so Joseph looked over at Theo.

”All of the royal family was murdered, Lord Joseph.”

”Even the first prince?”

”Yes, after the king,” Theo paused, glancing at Victor, who nodded while ducking his head. ”After the king pa.s.sed, the first prince, with the backing of several n.o.bles, had himself crowned king. At the ceremony, there was a new person who I had never seen before. He claimed his name was Dra.s.sa, but no one knew where he came from. The first prince seemed to know him quite well, and took his counsel over everyone else's, every time. Any of the informants, the n.o.bles sent to investigate him, disappeared. We received word that all of you went north and disappeared into a blizzard. Even though many were convinced the king's death was not Sir William's fault, the king insisted it was.

”He called for a large ball, to celebrate the traitor's demise in the north, and the sealing of the eastern gates. All of the n.o.bles were required to attend, as he was planning to announce the new directives for the kingdom, and everyone knew the chances would be slim if they were there, but completely gone if they weren't, that they might influence his proclamation. It was also expected that the prince would be looking for a bride through the a.s.sembled n.o.bles, so the wives and daughters were encouraged to attend.

”The morning of the feast, Victor came to me after he went to the kitchen to get a plate of breakfast. Since the new king took over, the treatment of Prince Victor had continued to decline. He didn't recognize a single person in the kitchen. I took him and we fled. The n.o.bles arrived at the venue and the doors were shut. Everyone, including the new king, were killed.

”Dra.s.sa has taken control of the army, as none of the commanders survived, since they were all n.o.bles, and attending the party. I don't know what happened to all of the n.o.bles who remained on their estates, but we heard word of several houses being sacked and the families executed for harboring fugitives of the crown. We have been running and only barely made it through a southern mountain pa.s.s I knew about from smugglers. We followed the edge of the wastelands thinking it would be the only place you could be hiding from the central kingdom's armies, after I received a revelation about you over a month ago.”

Joseph gave a start, and glanced over at his father and Stella, who were also looking startled. Theo must have the system! What were the odds? No, Joe, that wasn't actually a question he wanted answered…

”Do you know what happened to Walter?”

Victor paled while Theo nodded.

”He was executed by his family as a way to avoid censure from the crown for a.s.sisting the traitors.”

Joseph nodded sadly. He had a.s.sumed that was the case. Theo was eyeing him.

”Lord Joseph, the young prince has been greatly affected by the brutality of his brother's short reign.”

”OH!”

RELIEVE MADNESS.

Victor's color immediately seemed to improve.

”I feel…better.”

Victor stared at him firmly.

”I don't intend to stay for free, Joseph. I know a lot about being a king, and Theo is the one who taught me. I'm sure you could learn it really fast if you had a tutor like Theo.”

”How did you know I wanted to be a king?”

”Um. Most of the people in the north, who stayed, or went back home, said they wished they had gone with king Joseph into exile after my brother took the throne. We heard it a lot of places. Do you not want to?”

”No, I do want to learn more and I am a king, I suppose, already. I'm just waiting to have enough land to claim a kingdom. I intend to claim all of the wastelands after I fix it.”

”Wow, that would be as big as the western kingdom, Joseph. Maybe even bigger.”

Joseph smiled. Had he been this cute when he was seven? He wasn't sure.

”It's at least twice as big. The G.o.ds have declared that I am not allowed to use time magic, so we will just have to move on. You can rest and we'll talk some more in the morning. You are safe here, so sleep well.”

Victor nodded with far more energy than he had when he had first arrived, but Joseph could still tell he was exhausted.

Stepping outside, he saw that the movie was just finis.h.i.+ng, so with a sigh he turned towards his room. There was to be a meeting in the morning after breakfast and he had a lot of things to plan out.

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