Chapter 8

“Ealdormen, I have gathered this council for the heir apparent.” Ealdorman Leif Deshanel slowly stood from his chair addressing the five older gentlemen gathered around the large wooden table.

“We should discuss young Raiden Zanzibar’s reign, and this new woman he is fond of.” Piped up a man sitting on the side of Leif. He had long, thinning gray hair that fell to his sunken cheeks with a large gray mustache buried under an elongated crooked nose. He was going blind guiding him loyally as his large brown Newfoundland dog, Rexus. All of the Ealdormen wore long white robes to signify their long-standing loyalty to the kingdom; they were the oldest of men there. They were put on the council to help govern the kingdom, some would say more powerful than the monarchs themselves. They could deny any heir out of fear for the wellness of the realm, and sentence any man they deem fit to death for the same reason.

“Quite right, Ealdorman Silas Tryon, quite right!” A bal