CHAPTER THREE

"I suggest we surrender" Lander Rein the master of purse suggested and everyone turned to look at him.

The King is disappointed that such a rich and highly respected man would show such embarrassing signs of weakness.

"Surrendering is no option here" the king replied Lander Rein thinking about how much cowardliness he had shown to everyone. 

" He does have a point"

" we would be saving a lot of people if we surrender. Think about the number of men we would be saving if you choose not to fight" Ronald Wilton said hoping he had convinced the King not to go to battle. 

"These men you want to save are ready to die for me. they chose to be knights. they took an oath to do as their king orders and serve him until their deaths." the king said to Ronald Wilton which leaves everyone in shock.

"What a thoughtless and horrible king" they must have thought of him as. 

They probably thought that the king was a foolish one who would allow his loyal subjects to die for no reason because everyone knew that the battle was already lost.

" your grace. I would hate to say this but we have already lost this battle. we should surrender and save the people we can save" Adlar Barrister said looking at the king hoping he hadn't made him angry.

Adlar and King Jonah have been close since they were little. ever since they could swing a sword. 

"Adlar don't use our friendship as an excuse to be rude to me," the king said in a low voice but it was as cold as a winter night.

"Your grace I am deeply sorry if I came off as rude but it is a fact that these knights are also people. they have families and loved ones. I feel it is a terrible thing to allow them to go into battle and allow them to die for nothing" Adlar said.

"But they would always be Knights. And I must say if we surrender we will look weak. I will look weak"

There was an awkward silence in the large room. Everyone was just sitting and then the High priest William Lawson decided to talk. he had been awfully quiet ever since the meeting started. 

" your Highness. I think you are a horrible King because it's only a horrible king that commands his loyal Knight into battle just so he does not look weak. you are a disgrace to be called a king. your father would be disappointed if he was still alive"

"How dare you talk to me like that I am the King" king Jonah said furiously. 

"your father was also a king and a very great king he was. you may wear the crown but you would never be a King"  

"I will have your head for that," the king said furiously

"Guards!! Guards!!!" he shouted and the guards came running in 

"Your highness" the two guards that walked in said.

"put him in the dungeons" the king shouted and they went to hold his hands to his back firmly.

"Sweet Husband. you should calm down. He is an elder and he was friends with your father. he talked out of place I agree but you should forgive him" the Queen said as she walked over to her husband patting his back.

" Shut up you whore. you only attend these meetings because I was being nice. you are a worthless piece of shit and your place is to shut up and sit" the king said as he held her by her neck and pushed her against the walls.

As the king let go and his wife she fell to the ground holding her neck.

"what are you waiting for you shits. take him to the dungeons" the king shouted. 

"The meeting is over. We are going to battle. Go to the villages and tell them that every male of seventeen years to fifth years are going to fight in the battle." 

"We cannot go to the other villages outside of Ashton so let's make use of these" the king said because there was not enough time to gather men from the other villages.

Ashton is the capital of all Calesien. There are a total of three villages in Ashton. Ashton is the largest state in Calesien. In other states, there are either one village or two villages.

As the king walked away the Queen's uncle Ronald Wilton, came running in to see if his niece was okay.

"Are you alright?" he asked worried out of his mind. 

" I'm okay. He's not really like this. he's just tense and angry because of Alwyn. Don't worry uncle" Queen Aries said as she was trying to get on her feet but fell to the ground in the process. 

" careful my Queen. Easy" Ronald said as he helped her stand up. 

" I must take my leave now. Goodbye, everyone." The Queen said as she stormed out of the council room. 

As the Queen got to her chambers, she went to the ground and began to cry her eyes out. 

"My Queen. Are you alright?" Dian the Queen's handmaiden asked her but she didn't listen. she just continued to cry as she hugged the corner of the room. 

Dian confused about what to do or say decided to pull the Queen into a tight hug. As Dian embraced the Queen, the Queen cried even more. The Queen cried so much she might have no more tears to shed. 

After a surprisingly long time, the Queen stopped her tears. Dian had put her the sleep but she woke up as Dian came later in the evening to clean her room.

"Thank you, Dian. For everything" the Queen said with a brief smile. the smile was weak probably because of all her crying.

"I don't mean to talk out of place but if you ever need someone to talk to I'm here." 

The Queen looked at Dian in shock.

"Your grace. I am incredibly sorry. please forgive me" Dian said as she fell to her knees. 

The Queen walked up to her and said

" No don't do that. get up. thank you, Dian" 

The Queen looked shocked at first because it was a strange thing for a common maid to try to be the Queen's friend. The Queen didn't have any sort of relationship with her other handmaidens before Dian except for Jarret. Dian should be seen as brave for having the courage to talk to the Queen in such a friendly manner.

Dian is a woman of twenty-four. she has been serving the Queen as her handmaiden for two years. She started taking care of herself from an early age. Her mom was a whore and got pregnant with a rich man she was seeing frequently at the time. Dian's mother never told the man that they had a child. Dian doesn't even know her father because Dian's mother never mentioned his name.

"Dian. Thank you. And there is something I'll like to talk about"

The queen taps her hands on her bed ordering Dian to sit.

"I feel like the heavens are punishing me," she said 

"Why do you feel so your grace," Dian asked worriedly.

" Well, my husband just hurt me in front of everyone and called me a whore" she said laughing. she was laughing out her pain. she couldn't cry any longer so she laughed out the pain instead. 

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that your grace," Dian said as she looked down.

"We can't have this conversation without a little bit of wine," the Queen said and Dian carried a bottle of wine from somewhere in the Queen's room and poured it into a cup. she gave the Queen a glass and sat back on the bed. 

"You don't expect me to drink alone. it's rude to allow a Queen to drink by herself"  The Queen said.

"I am sorry," Dian said as she stood up and poured herself a glass as well and sat back on the bed.

" I did an evil thing and now the heavens are rewarding me for it."The Queen said as she took a sip out of her wine glass.

She was referring to the hitman she sent towards Jarvis and her sisters.

"Well let's not talk about that anymore. Let's just tell little jokes and drink some wine." the Queen said as she drank some more wine.