“Are you well rested, Lord?” the chancellor asked.
“Indeed, I am not, sir, for I have been in communiqué with the fortress through the night, and we still do not have a solution.”
“Perhaps I might make a suggestion?”
Ethelred looked sceptical, “perhaps you might.”
“Your highness could ask all the court if they’ve any ideas.”
“That is... an excellent idea,” he said as his shoulders slumped, and he gazed up at the fortress as it flew overhead.
The chancellor smiled, “shall I send messengers to call the lords forth for a parliament? Is here a reasonable place, on the edge of the pit?”
“Yes, send messengers, and here will indeed be fine,” Ethelred said in a quiet voice.
A few hours later, the forty or so lords and ladies of the court were gathered for the parliament; there were only a few on the king’s right hand side. “I have called you here to attempt to our current dilemma: how shall we transport those in the fortress to the ground. Have you, my lords and ladies, any ideas?”
“I suppose it is too far for a ladder or a rope?” Asked Lord Harold, who was responsible for the Summer Keep.
“Indeed,” King Ethelred IV responded. At that one word answer the assembly began to talk all at once amongst themselves and within their factions.
“Lord King,” one voice rose above the others. One the king thought he should recognize, but couldn’t place until Albert’s lord, drunk as usual, forced his way to the front of the assembly and said, “Lord King, perhaps we should use the artefact? It would solve this issue in no time whatsoever.” There followed a cacophony of voices as all the other nobles as every one of them hurried to be the first to approve and or disapprove of the idea; everyone except the chancellor who smiled and the king who did not.
No comments:
Post a Comment