Kapitel 44: Gone, Buried And Forgotten!
<The Throne Room>
Letting himself deeper into the throne hall, Briceus was at first overtaken by the embattled scenery in the form of banners which stayed drooping from the walls. Between each banner hung a torch; all but a few had been lit to illuminate the sculptures below them; sculptures of late Royal ancestry including his late father's—Lord Voldemort.
By this time, he had just rested his focus on the gems of beautiful artistry displayed in the bow-shaped ceiling amidst the flickering light from the bulky braziers, when his line of thought got disrupted.
"Your Highness!"
The Speaker called out to him in a tone of sobriety.
The coarseness of the Speaker's voice and the intention of the Speaker, Briceus could not have missed that much.
He turned around to catch a glimpse of his much recognized family foe.
"Duke Wauter!" exclaimed the King in an unexcited tone.
Wauter smirked and ambled into the deeper parts of the hall in a bid to close the distance between him and his "Nephew".
"Is that any way to greet your Uncle?" asked Wauter. Then, he snarled as one who had just gotten offended.
"IF I remember correctly, we do not share any relationship with regards to family ties. Never have and I am certain we never will!" Briceus asserted with a click of his tongue.
Something about the present alerted him that he would not like how things would pan out at the tail end of the talk.
In defiance, Wauter simply hummed a sigh and then shook his head lightly.
"It hasn't been exactly two nightfalls since your inauguration as Lord Sovereign and you have begun to lose respect. I am beyond disappointed at you… Nephew!"
Those words had been purposeful even as much as they had flown out of the Duke's mouth with careless abandon.
Briceus' face hardened up.
'What unearthly force has given this man the inclination to be so bold with his words?' pondered the King even though he knew the answer to his question. The answer being that Wauter had always been such a man to ooze out immense courage in his speech. With his Uncle, he knew he had to be as diplomatic as possible especially since the man had never liked him from the start.
Briceus then let out his words.
"Good. Now that that has been decided on, why have you come looking for me? Please be exact! You disrupted my thinking."
"Hm. Should you be so impatient, milord?" asked Wauter who was now of proportionate distance with Briceus.
He was standing directly in front of him and curled his lips to speak again.
"Well then, I guess it is a misbehaviour on my part to delay my response to the King. Is it not? So I shall proceed indeed."
Briceus stayed calm and maintained a straight face while he waited for the man to proceed with his words.
With his arms crossed against each other behind his back, the Duke began to walk in a half circular motion in preparation for his next words.
"It was at a certain time today IF I can recall properly-" Wauter began.
"I was in my own home enjoying the services of my CARE-GIVERS when the sudden realization hit me."
Halting to see if Briceus was even the least bit expectant of his next words, Wauter was left disappointed on seeing how Briceus decidedly refused to let even as much as a single facial muscle twitch.
He then continued his speech anyway.
"So… The thought came to me of how I should have come to congratulate you by now for succeeding your late father's throne."
"Well, that is highly unnecessary, Duke Wauter. There has been too many distractions as it seems to deviate my attention from any such celebration. First with the darkness that had crept in yesterday and then-"
"The maiden I suppose." Wauter hinted wittily.
"What maiden?"
"I don't know. You, tell me."
"I would prefer you speak directly with me and not jump into baseless conclusions," said Briceus reproachingly.
"Baseless? You should have known me well enough to perfectly understand how I think."
'Of course I do. Why else would you come to indirectly ask me about that girl, Elizabeth and hinge it on a congratulatory note instead? Only a man like you Wauter can be so crafty.'
"Yes and I would reiterate the baselessness of your assumptions, Duke Wauter."
'Is this devil seeking subtle means to insult me?' Wauter contemplated and then grunted.
Briceus didn't expect any lesser reaction from the man but to his utter amazement Wauter quickly switched his mood, contorting his hard face into a purposeful smile.
"Well, I don't see any reason why this should cause us to be at loggerheads, Briceus. In truth, I did learn about certain events that had unfolded late into the night yesterday once I had stepped inside the Castle. However you would ask me if I am not too old to give myself completely to gossip. It is a vivid certainty that I am infact too old for such and I would much rather embrace facts a lot more than gossips. Hence I have come on purpose, to make for proper and adequate enquiry," declared Wauter in a peaceful tone that reeked of innocent curiosity.
Briceus sighed softly.
"It is a good attribute to seek verification first on certain matters-"
"True!" Wauter interposed. He then nodded.
The King continued.
"Still, I have no clue as to what maiden you are referring to."
"Briceus!" Wauter charged at first. Next, he cleared his throat to better subdue his emotions. "Ahem! Milord, I would like to remind you that if by this hour you still do not have a maiden of your choosing then it is a matter of certainty that there would be a meeting to that effect by dawn being that forty-eight hours would have passed already upon which you would have an alternative arranged for you."
"Is that more important than the ill ordeal that prevented the maiden selection ceremony in the first place?" Briceus asked somewhat irritatedly.
'Bloody aristocrats! Bunch of Old brains! They seem to prioritize trivial matters and exclude the most important.'
"That! Like you have rightly said, was an ILL ORDEAL with nothing more to it. Why make a case out of it therefore? The country should not be left static because of one unfortunate event. Should it?"
Wauter then paused once he caught a glance of the look of disbelief the King had shot out of his ink-dark orbs.
Waving it aside, he then proceeded.
"The world must continue. Those who died yesterday are already gone, buried and forgotten! You should know better seeing as you have sniffed a handful of human lives so far in your life's journey."
At these words, Briceus shot him a warning glance and even a man as courageous as Wauter cowered in his heart as those eyes revealed such brutal intentions.
'Well isn't he the devil after all? A monster and a murderer!' Wauter scoffed in his mind.
"You know, it is actually a good thing you have an idea of my past history…"
'Hmph! You say it's past like it wasn't just yesterday.'
"...I am guessing you also heard about how much care, devotion and passion I put into eradicating my foes?" asked Briceus in a cool but threatening demeanour which alerted Wauter, causing him to back down at once.
"Hahaha, totally dramatic, milord! There is absolutely no need for guns and fists. News as such will always exist but in any case, I have to leave now," announced Wauter.
"Godspeed!" remarked Briceus then he watched the man make a U-turn to start on his way out.
Once Wauter had covered a few inches from him, he turned around to deliver his actual message to Briceus.
"Your mother, the Queen is hosting a Banquet at the dinner hall tonight as a celebratory remark. You are invited!"
"That is too abrupt. I would not-"
"You will, Your Highness! Now, in that case, I guess I should say—message received?"
Briceus snarled at his clever words but said nothing in a hurry.
"She has a special package for you and don't forget she has always had your best interest at heart."
'Indeed she has!' Briceus mumbled in his heart.
Getting no further response from him, Wauter then sauntered on stealthily towards the hall's entrance.
Watching him depart in such an admirable gait, Briceus cussed under his breath.
"Cunning bastard!"
Then as if he needed something or someone to pin the blame on, he blurted.
"How much longer would it take for Ezekiel and the men to return anyway?"
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein