Preparations were set, and the retinue was ready to embark.

I had slept well the night before, having wished Zhunil, Berha, Juya, Tet, and Tethra a pleasant night. I promised that I would see them again whenever it was I was to return from the tournament. When I arrived at the palace, I explained to Druzhat, Jeyath, and Zajeya all that I had learned in my brief time in the city.

Worry struck their faces. While Druzhat was understanding of what I said, I faced resistance with the other two.

“Do you truly mean to confront the aristocrats, prince?” said Jeyath. “There is little to be gained during this time of upheaval. Seek not enemies in your own lands. To beget strife now will only lead to ruin in the future. Heed these words!”

“Listen to Jeyath, O prince,” said Zajeya. “This should be a battle you will have to fight for the rest of your life. For even should the aristocrats kneel to your might and judgement, their animosity will linger. Entire nations have fallen based on just that prejudice alone. Great caution must be had when dealing with the acquisition of wealth and its intended recipients. Greed covers those who sit idle in their thrones.”

“Do you suggest me to be greedy, Zajeya!” I said, furious.

“Nay, my prince, only that those whom you seek to confront will cover you in their malice.”

“Do we not still live in the best of times?” I said. “Perhaps prosperity reigned greater before the war with the Demons, but they have yet to cross the border. There is ample land in the distance where the refugees could be moved and the walls of the city expanded to house them. While I don’t know the costs that are going to the war in the north, is there not even a little that can be directed to the aid of the poor and destitute?”

“My prince,” said Druzhat, “you speak from a good place and your mind is of good nature, but that shall not suffice in outwitting the aristocrats who have built their enterprise and place of power over this very situation. I shall do my best to confront them, but do not expect the results you desire.”

“Then what of the coin under the possession of the King,” I said. “Couldn’t that wealth be distributed if we can’t touch the aristocrats?”

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“And what would your father say to that?” said Druzhat.

I hesitated. Father wouldn’t take kindly to his treasury being raided. He wasn’t a miserly man, far from it, but there was his status and position to uphold. To distribute the wealth amassed—meant to be passed among persons of repute and as donations to the Servants–to those who were much lower and didn’t much benefit us, especially during a time of war, was not something to which he or even few others would be in agreement.

“Then is there a way for me to secure trust?” I asked. “My father, or the aristocrats, or both? This situation can’t hold forever. I won’t speak of the going-ons of those lower than us, but heed these words I speak: the low will only suffer so much before they’re thrust to a position where it’s either them or us! That is something we must avoid.”

“Do the people bear so much hostility toward their King?” said Jeyath furious. “Do they not understand that it is by the King’s might alone that they even can breathe in this land and suffer such thoughts. Low? I daresay their thoughts are lowly! Food can be had aplenty on the outskirts of the city if not from the shelters. Coin can be had in the ways of the merchants. Our powers can be wrought for commerce, so why not have them do as such? Prince, you argue for their sanctity of life, yet you distrust the ways that have allowed us to sustain this peace and existence. You are not their servant! You are their lord.”

“No, Jeyath I’m not,” I said with a resolution marked by the fire of my eyes. “I didn’t come to this world to lord over its peoples. I came to put an end the conflicts that have separated us not only from our home but from each other. As the ages pass, I can foresee the dissolution of the orders that mark our livelihood and morals. As the ages pass, I can foresee the rift and distance that will come between us. As the ages pass, I can foresee the Demons passing into myth and legend, for we ourselves become like them in all their monstrosities!”

Jeyath looked to me with an expression that made me think he saw me as mad. He looked to Zajeya who shook his head. He sighed.

“Tell me at least why you speak as such.”

I paced the room, calming my mind and clearing my thoughts. I looked outside the window to see the moon showed full bright in the evening sky. Unblemished and serene, I imagined what Druzhat told me of the sight of the Gods. How that realm we see as just a gray rock was, from their view, a place flowing with honey, ghee, rivers of milk and Svyamah. How the sky shone with the luster of gold. Where the sky never fell to night. And all basked in the glory of the Heavens wrought by the good nature of those beings presiding there.

How I wished to see it all, and bring it to the people of our world!

I turned to Jeyath and said, “Because I saw it once in a life long before.”