81 Need (2/2)
”No!” The old man was defeated and he knew it, but he was confused. ”My daughter watched you absorb the power of the wind crystal yesterday, it took all the way into the night to absorb such a small amount. It's impossible!” He began rummaging through his robe to find the other Crystal. When he found it, Will looked at it through the man's pocket. ”Ah!” The man yelped as he dropped the stone. It smoked from the carpet, leaving a burn mark under it.
”You're done, Duke.” Will collected the stone and allowed his flames to go out completely. ”Knights!” Will summoned two of the guard that stood watch over his father. ”Take them to the dungeon!”
The knights looked to the king for approval. ”Did I ask you for his approval? Take them, now!” His voice grew and the men jumped.
Two knights took the Duke and his daughter from the entrance to the dungeon almost the moment his voice sounded.
Will looked back at his father with a look of pity. ”Father, try to understand that this is for the best.” He spoke softly.
”You usurped my authority so easily.” The king looked lost. ”Is this not my kingdom?”
Will's expression hardened when looking at his father. He didn't want to, but he knew he had to break him of his delusions. ”No, it isn't. Not since a few moments ago.”
King Ragnos looked into the eyes of his son in disbelief. His face remained calm, but when he spoke, it was like thunder after a flash of lightning. ”Explain.”
”You denounced your right to rule when you begged the enemy to spare me.” Will's tone was like a knife stabbing his father in the chest. ”You gave up the entire kingdom to Bloomstar when you thought he was going to kill me. You gave in at a turning point and you made the wrong decision.”
The king looked as if he were about to explode. ”When is it a sign of weakness to put someone else above yourself?” He yelled at Will. ”I thought he was going to kill you. I couldn't lose you again!”
”That's the thing, father.” Will looked down on the King. ”My life is not more important than the lives of thousands. The thousands you threw to the Duke as bargaining chips. If he had been the one within the flames, he would have killed or enslaved them all and taken your resources as his own.”
Will knew his words were harsh. He knew he was chipping away at his own father, but the right thing was not always the easy thing. He had to get the King to notice what exactly he was going to do.
”If you were a righteous King, you would have put aside your feelings for the good of the kingdom and taken the Duke out.”
”The system that you have in place is flawed, father. Do you not care that there was slavery within your lands? Do you not care that there were poor lining the streets of many villages within the kingdom?”
Will pointed to Maya. ”Did you not care that your own knights took advantage of those many poor and exploited them for their own personal amusement?”
Maya looked away from Will. She knew that would always be a sore spot for him.
”No more, father.” Will shook his head as he looked at King Ragnos. ”You have five months.” He held up his hand. ”After five months, if you have not brought order to this land, I will find someone who will.”
The Crimson Prince walked past his father without looking at him and stopped next to the door. ”There will be no banquet celebrating my return home until I have returned to a place I would be proud to call home.” Will pushed the door open to the courtyard. ”I hope with all of my heart that you are able to do that, father.” With that, he left the castle with Maya by his side.
”Do you think you went overboard just a little?” Maya asked as she kept up with his pace.
”Not at all.” Will said as he stared forward. ”This incident proved to me that Ragnos was right. Even though Aremesis is no longer a threat, there's still something much worse.”
”You mean the other you?” Maya guessed. There wasn't much else that could be the cause of Will's worry.
”No, the threat is the people. The threat is growth and change. Without a firm hand, our neighbors will come to us in swarms and suppress us. They will take all that we create and greedily horde it for themselves. As long as there is separation between the kingdoms, there will be war and turmoil.”
Will did his best to smile at Maya. ”Lets put this behind us for now. My father has five months to bring order to Ebonhart and we have a home to move into.”
Maya knew that Will had closed that conversation for now. Through spending enough time with him, she was able to pick up the signs and dropped it.
”Would you like to pick up our new furniture?” Will smiled with a childlike glint in his eye.
”No need.” Maya smirked at him and took a gem from her pocket. ”I took care of that trip while you were filling your Crystal.”