The Monarchy The Burning Lands

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ruck stands there outside the doors and hears his wife.

"it will be alright." he takes a deep breath and fixes his ring making sure it is centered and closes his eyes feeling his wife's hand rub his arm as she whispers.

"I am here ruck." he opens his eyes and nods to her as the doors open and he hears a voice announced.

"his majesty the true king Galvin and lady Galvin."

they walk through the doors and he eyes the large hall as people applaud them loudly. he glances around at the bright lights and flinches at the flashes of the lights and cameras.  he hears the voice all yelling to him.

"Lord Galvin..."  and hears all the hurried questions. he blinks feeling his headache kick in and lady Galvin steps forward and leans up kissing him as the cameras flash and people ask questions which he ignores. his wife escorts him off to a table and sits with him as she comments.

"The media are like leeches. they suck all the fun out of the room." lady Galvin smiles wide as a picture is snapped and she rubs her temples whispering.

"Why do they even let them into these..."

Lady Galvin eyes a man make his way over and she whispers to Ruck informing him.

"one of the Galvin counsel members is coming this way." Lord Galvin remains seated and lady Galvin gets up bowsing her head.

"lord Galvin" she states and the man nods his head as he glances down.

"ruck."

"king Galvin." ruck states and the man nods his head as he lets out a small laugh.

"so formal, my king." the man says it with a hint of annoyance and sits down without being asked casually across from the king and queen. he takes a small sip of the drink placed in front of him and motions around with his hand.

"The media are leeches for a good story. not since the reign of the first Galvin has a king of the Galvin's come to the plateau but you are young. they call you the people's king."

"do they?" Ruck asks not believing what he hears and the man nods his head.

"a peasant boy, half a Galvin accends to the throne. you give them hope but as a Galvin, I am sure you know how important it is to crush that hope. too much of that kind of thing causes wars and unrest in the poor."

the man takes a sip of his drink and Lady Galvin asks sounding upset.

"What is wrong with hope?"

the man motions to Lady Galvin.

"do you not speak yourself, king Galvin?"

"my wife is allowed to speak her words."  ruck states and the man raises an eyebrow as he lowers his voice.

"that is fine but her words should echo your own or not be spoken at all. she is the queen your queen. both of you are young, you are the youngest true king in the history of the monarchy. the only true king to take a throne before age 20 even Dorian was 23 when he ascended to his throne. your age worries the elders and hers a child as the Queen."

"I am not a child." lady Galvin yells and the man raises an eyebrow at the young ladies outburst. he lowers his voice and whispers to ruck."

"and we are aware of the issue..." ruck shifts and asks.

"what issue do you speak of."

"the one in which you have failed to even produce a single heir and it has been months..." Ruck remains quiet and the man pours himself more of his drink as he motions to lady Galvin.

"your duty has been clear as the queen and we all expect that duty to be fulfilled within the week"

"she is the queen how dare you speak to her that way." ruck states and the man lifts his eyebrow annoyed at the two children. he lowers his voice and looks the boy in the eyes.

"We have allowed you to stay upon the throne. many of us going to bat for the poor peasant Galvin but do not mistake our good nature. we expect things from you and you will carry out the Galvin will." Ruck stares down the man remembering his face and the man stops and whispers back.

"if not we will replace you..." the man whispers in a mocking way.

"true king." the man walks away and Ruck sits back staring him down as he hears Lady Galvin.

"my husband are you alright?"

"I will be." he stares after the older man and turns his head thinking to himself and smiles. 

****************************************************************************************

ruck stands there staring out the window at the view of the plateau skyline and hears a robotic voice.

"True king the council member is here..." ruck motions forward and the older man walks in as he stares out at the view.

"True king I assume this is about our earlier conversation."

"shut up" ruck states sounding superior to the man and without hesitation he begins speaking fast and erratic sounding a bit unhinged.

"you speak to me like I was below you like I had no power. I know my power, I know my reach and the council that you sit on answeres to me!" the young king yells at the man and the man looks to his right with a smirk.

"do not be stupid boy respect your elders. even Dorian would not overstep us."

"that is because Dorian was unhinged, crazy..."

"and you aren't boy?" the man raises an eyebrow eyeing the insanity written on the young man's face as he lifts his fingers waving it in Ruck's face.

"your mental stability has been in question from day one and now seeing you like this it's pretty clear your absolutely insane..." the man goes to walk away but Ruck grabs his shoulder turning him around and drives a blade into the man's gut as he yells.

"I am the true king!" he yells into the man's face and whispers to him.

"I will slice your head off and display it for every single one of my men to see. I own this monarchy, I own this plateau, I own the Galvins and I own the council..." he pulls the blade out of the man who falls to his knees and stares up as he speaks firm.

"you are just a child and you will not have a long reign, you filthy peasant..." the man speaks firm and Ruck chops down cutting the man's head off as he is splattered with blood. He smiles to himself as he speaks to the corpse yelling at it.

"I am the true king!"

the robot walks in eyeing the mess and Ruck motions down as he demands.

"have them clean this up.." the robot bows its head and stares off at Ruck who leaves the room and the robot whispers into the communication device attached to its arm. 

"This is not good."

Ruck walks into the room eyeing the blood covering his clothing and hears his wife.

"ruck?" he turns and she eyes him covered in blood asking.

"are you, are you hurt?" she pushes her hand to his outfit and he states outright sounding secure.

"no, I finally feel right..." he smiles to himself and leans down kissing his wife as she stands still frightened of the man drenched in blood. she holds her hands on his arms standing still as he motions to the bed.

"let's celebrate."

"what are we celebrating?" 

ruck looks down into his wife's eyes and presses his forehead to hers as he whispers.

"my victory as the true king."