The Golden City_A Medieval Time Travel Romance by Paige Elwood

Author:Paige Elwood [Elwood, Paige]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Max shifted in the high-backed chair that was the Prince’s seat for formal occasions in the Throne Room. The Princess sat perfectly still by his side, her hands folded on her lap and her delicate chin tilted up as she witnessed the procession of Lords to the dais. She was the perfect royal. Imperial, aloof, beautiful. Max wondered what she would have been like as a commoner. He imagined she’d be chasing after the Lord of her lands or a high-born man to be wed to.

The room was filled with all the nobility from the kingdom. Max always found it tedious to entertain so many of them. Far too many names to remember, and none of them ever had anything interesting to say. At best they would try to pluck a morsel of royal gossip from a conversation, but mostly they would simper and cozy up to Max or his father, with the hope of landing a prestigious court position.

Max had no time for the political games they played, although he recognized that his fate once he was king would be to suffer it frequently. Max’s idea of politics was loftier, more Socratic, than these pomp and ceremony events. Regardless, he would have to maintain these traditions if only to keep the lords on his side in case of an attack or an attempted coup. The nobility lived for these events, a reaffirmation of their status as ‘more’ than the common folk in the marketplace outside the castle walls.

His mind turned to his lessons, and an idea they’d picked out as one to explore further: the ruler’s job is to act not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of the citizens of the political community. Were these ceremonies for the benefit of all of the citizens? It was an interesting quandary.

Perhaps, if the Lords would keep their oaths in a time of true crisis, the benefits to all the citizens were obvious. Yet, Max suspected less than half of the fat, sweating Lords in attendance would keep their oaths when faced with a real threat like an invasion of King Benak’s forces. In fact, he could pick out half a dozen that he was certain would seek to capitalize on it, and who would offer up whatever the evil King wanted in return for an increase in their own social status under the new rule.

Perhaps his own position as a Prince made it harder for him to understand their motives. He had a clear path to the highest position in the Kingdom. He’d felt the burden of the responsibility of that, but never the bite of ambition to achieve a higher status.

Each Lord knelt in turn before the King, who was resplendent in his burgundy cloak and ceremonial crown. The Lords recited their oath, and the King offered them the back of his hand to kiss. There were 37 Lords, and each oath was at least five minutes. It was always a long and tedious event, made bearable only by the feasting and dancing that would occur later.

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