North America / Kingdom of Yorkania (Crownlands of Manhattan): November 19th, 1517.
It was a beautiful day for the world.The birds were chirping their songs as mankind went about their daily routines with smiles on their faces at beauty of the city, but also sad looks on their faces at the horror of it whether it be financially, emotionally or physically, yet if you were to look closely at a kingdom. To be more specific, Inside of a castle, In a throne room you can see noblemen and a few women with serious looks on there faces.
The atmosphere extremely tense.
(Morgan's POV)
"Your majesty, these are the current state of affairs of yorkania." Said percival while giving a beautiful chocolate skinned woman sitting on a throne with unique true sister locks, white baroque-styled hair beneath a black-gold crown, and a luxurious black-and-gold jeweled gown that made her look like a divine empress of judgment.
The gal was silent.
I grabbed the documents and started looking over each and every one of them. My face not changing in the slightest.
I stared down at the stack of parchment in his hand for a moment and said calmly "And here I thought god had given me a break. How foolish of me."
The throne room was silent.
Percival's face twitched slightly but he adjusted his throat and said calmly "The food supply has Improved by twelve percent. The treasury remains stable at three hundred and thirteen million dollars after further investment returns from the booze business and the port taxes. The army is awaiting further instructions on the border. The commoners have already gathered outside the lower hall and the first petitions are ready to be brought forward."
"How unfortunate. They came prepared." I said calmly while resting my chin on the back side of my left hand.
The nobles in the throne room were silent. A few of the women standing beside their husbands had unreadable looks on their faces.
Percival was silent for a moment and said with a slight pause "Also…"
I slowly glanced down at him.
Percival's jaw clenched slightly and said calmly "The royal children have arrived as ordered."
The throne room became even quieter.
The double doors opened.
*BOOOM*
"His royal highness prince gareth de' manhattan. His royal highness prince gawain de' manhattan. Her royal highness princess enid de' manhattan. Her royal highness princess elaine de' manhattan." Said a guard loudly with his head held high.
The four walked into the throne room.
Gareth looked thinner.
Not better.
Just thinner.
His once fat face had sunken in slightly, his eyes had dark circles underneath them and his luxurious attire hung on him in a way that made him look like someone had taken a spoiled prince and placed him inside the shell of a punished dog.
Beside him walked bagdemagus with a cane in his left hand and a smile on his wrinkled face that looked entirely to pleased with the situation.
Gawain walked silently with his hands behind his back. His face still and hollow.
Enid and elaine followed behind them in expensive gowns, their faces tight with resentment, fear and something close to exhaustion.
"Ah. The children." I said calmly with both of my arms spread wide open.
Gareth's fists clenched.
Bagdemagus chuckled and said loudly while bowing slightly "Your majesty. I bring the boy back with most of his bones intact and some of his pride removed. The rest is stubborn fat."
The throne room was silent.
Gareth's face turned red and he said lowly "Uncle."
"Do not uncle me with that voice boy. You sound like a wet mouse begging a cat for mercy." Said bagdemagus calmly while tapping his cane against the marble.
Tak
I stared at Gareth for a moment and asked calmly "Can you stand without collapsing."
Gareth's jaw clenched tightly and he said with gritted teeth "Yes mother."
"Good. Then stand there and look useful. It will be a new experience for you." I said calmly while pointing to the right side of the throne room.
A few of the younger noblewomen covered their mouths.
Gareth bowed his head and walked to where I pointed.
Gawain followed without complaint.
Enid and Elaine hesitated for only a moment before following as well.
I watched them take their places and said calmly "You four will witness commoner day. You will listen. You will not speak unless I command it. You will observe what your father's kingdom became while he was busy producing bastards and bad decisions."
Elaine's face tightened.
Enid looked down.
Gawain's eyes did not move.
Gareth looked as if he wanted to say something but bagdemagus's cane lightly tapped the back of his leg.
Tak
He shut his mouth.
"Excellent. Improvement." I said calmly.
Percival adjusted his throat and said "Your majesty. Shall I begin."
"You may." I said calmly while leaning back against the throne.
Percival turned towards the guards and raised his hand.
"Bring in the first petitioners." Said percival loudly.
The giant double doors opened again.
BOOM
The throne room changed.
The first group of commoners stepped inside.
Not nobles.
Not silk.
Not jewels.
Farmers.
Merchants.
Widows.
Old men with bent backs.
Young men with tired eyes.
Women holding children by the hand.
A few soldiers with missing fingers and scars on their faces.
The smell of outside followed them.
Rain.
Mud.
Smoke.
Bread.
Sweat.
Life.
The nobles shifted uncomfortably.
"How refreshing. Real people" I thought while looking at the commoners slowly.
A gruff man stepped forward first. His hands calloused, his face sunken with stress and his attire clean but worn. He looked like someone who had tried to appear presentable and failed only because poverty had a way of clinging to people like leeches.
He kneeled. The people behind him kneeled as well.
"HAIL. HAIL. HAIL." Said the commoners loudly.
The sound was rough.
Not elegant.
Not polished.
But real.
I stared at them for a moment and said calmly "Rise."
They rose.
The gruff man swallowed hard and said with a hoarse voice "Y…your majesty. My name is michael bailey. I am a farmer from the lower east fields."
The throne room was silent.
I rested my chin on my hand again and asked calmly "And what misery have you brought me today michael bailey."
Michael's mouth opened slightly in surprise.
A few commoners behind him looked nervous.
Michael clenched his fists and said "My land is being taken your majesty. My father farmed it. His father farmed it. His father's father farmed it. But the tax men say the papers show it belongs to house bolton now. I paid what I owed. I have always paid what I owed. But now they say the debt belonged to my grandfather and I must leave."
The throne room went silent.
My eyes slowly moved toward the nobles.
"House bolton." I said calmly with squinted eyes.
A fat middle aged nobleman near the left side stiffened.
"My lord. State your argument, the stage is yours." I said calmly with a wave of my right fingers.
The nobleman stepped forward with a trembling smile and bowed while saying with a nervous smile "Your majesty. This is merely a legal matter of old debt and land claim. The peasant misunderstands the dignity of docu…"
"Do not call him peasant when his hands have done more for this kingdom than your entire bloodline." I said calm and very Immediately.
The hall went silent.
Lord bolton's face paled.
Michael's eyes widened slightly.
I looked at percival and asked calmly "Do we have the records."
Percival nodded and said calmly "The lower east field records were brought as requested."
"Of course they were. Unlike half of this court, parchment knows when to arrive." I said calmly with a roll of my eyes.
Percival signaled for a servant.
A servant hurried forward with a box of documents and placed it before percival.
Percival opened it and started looking through the papers.
The throne room waited.
I glanced at gareth.
He was staring at michael with a strange look on his face.
Not pity.
Not respect.
Something close to confusion.
"Excellent, you need to see what a kingdom actually is" I thought while staring at him for a moment.
Percival finally pulled out a parchment and said calmly "Your majesty. The debt was cleared thirteen years ago. The new claim from house bolton was filed three weeks after king james's death."
The throne room became heavy.
My eyes moved back to lord bolton.
Lord bolton's face was drenched in sweat.
"Interesting lord bolton, very interesting Indeed." I said calmly while staring lord Bolton straight into his eyes.
Lord bolton wiped his forehead full of sweat and said with a stutter "Y…your majesty I was misled by my steward."
"Of course. It is always the steward, the clerk, the wife, the dead father, the weather, the moon, maybe even your hairline or upper lip one day but never the nobleman." I said calmly while slowly standing up from the throne.
The commoners watched me.
The nobles stiffened.
I walked down three steps and looked at lord bolton.
"You tried to steal land from a farmer during a succession crisis because you believed the crown would be too distracted to notice. It is a failure." I said calmly while staring him straight into his eyes.
Lord bolton's mouth trembled.
I tilted my head slightly.
"That was not greed. Greed has ambition and now that this has come to light from now on every room you enter becomes less informed by your presence. Truly disgusting that you are what happens when a title is mistaken for a qualification." I said calmly with squinted eyes.
A small sound came from one of the commoners.
Almost a laugh.
It died immediately.
I looked at michael and said calmly "Your land remains yours. The crown recognizes your claim. House bolton will repay the taxes you were forced to pay twice and provide seed for the coming season."
Michael's eyes widened.
Lord bolton gasped.
"Your majesty." Said lord long quickly.
I looked at him.
He shut his mouth.
"Furthermore. Any noble house found using false debt claims against commoner land during crown instability will have that land seized by the crown and redistributed. I advise the dumb of this kingdom to pray competence reaches them before I do unless you want your head and neck kept completely Intact during my reign." I said calmly while turning back toward the throne.
The hall went silent.
The nobles looked horrified.
The commoners looked stunned.
Michael's lips trembled for a moment.
He dropped to his knees again and said loudly "HAIL THE QUEEN MOTHER. HAIL. HAIL."
"HAIL. HAIL." Said the commoners behind him in unison while dropping to there knees.
The sound grew.
Louder.
Rougher.
The noblemen looked ill.
I sat back down on the throne and said calmly "Do not thank me yet. I have only done the minimum required of a government that wishes not to be eaten by it's own people."
The commoners became silent.
Gareth stared at me.
Gawain's hollow eyes moved toward michael.
Enid's hands tightened around her gown.
Elaine looked away.
Bagdemagus smiled.
"Next." I said calmly while waving my hand for them to leave my sight Immediately.
Percival glanced at me with something like pride before quickly hiding it.
A woman stepped forward.
She was middle aged, dark skinned, tired looking, and held a young boy by the shoulder. The boy's left arm ended below the elbow.
She kneeled.
"My queen mother. My husband died in the navy under king james. My son lost his hand working the docks. They promised us dollar. They promised us bread. We received nothing." Said the woman with a trembling voice.
The throne room went still again.
My fingers tapped once against the arm of the throne.
*Tak*
"Which office was responsible." I asked calmly.
Percival's eyes hardened as he looked through another stack of parchment.
A thin old nobleman slowly started backing away.
my eyes Immediately landed on him.
Of course I saw him.
"Step forward." I said calmly.
The old man froze.
Everyone looked at him.
"What is your name." I asked calmly.
The old man swallowed while stepping forward and saying "Viscount harrow, your majesty."
I stared at him. My eyes boring into his head.
Percival looked at the parchment and said with a cold tone "The compensation funds were released. The office mark belongs to viscount harrow."
The woman looked at the old man with wide eyes.
Viscount harrow shook his head quickly and said Immediately "Your majesty, war compensation is complicated and the common folk often do not understand delayed distribution."
I laughed once.
Once.
Twice.
My face didn't move a single inch and it most definitely did not reach my eyes.
The throne room seemed to hold its breath.
"Delayed distribution." I said repeating calmly.
"Yes your majesty. It is not theft. Merely administration." Said harrow quickly.
I leaned forward slightly and said calmly with wide eyes "Administration is when paper moves slower than hunger. Theft is when hunger never sees the paper. Which one are you confessing to."
The old man went silent.
The boy looked up at me.
His face was dirty. His eyes were sharp.
I looked at the missing arm and then back at harrow and said calmly with a wave of my right hand "Return the coin. Your stripped of your title as viscount of harrow and all ofyour property and dollar shall be confiscated. Get out of my face."
Harrow clenched his fists very tightly and bowed quickly while saying with gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes "Of course your majesty."
"Triple." I said calmly from out of nowhere.
Harrow froze.
"And you will fund a dock injury office under the crown. Widows, injured workers, sailors and ship hands will be registered. Compensation will no longer pass through noble hands without crown witnesses. Get more angry and I will add on more to it and I expect great achievements from your deeds, peasant harrow." I said calmly. A little to calmly.
The ton whispered and a couple laughed.
I raised my hand.
The whispers died.
"Do you know why. Because too many of you treat suffering like a toll road. Every tragedy must pass through your palms before it reaches the people who actually bled." I asked calmly while looking at the ton.
The commoners were silent.
The woman started crying.
I looked at her and said calmly "Do not cry yet. Cry after the dollar is in your hand. Emotion before payment only benefits poets. I hardly ever saw the need to do so. I doubt it would ever come to it."
The woman nodded quickly while wiping her face.
Bagdemagus suddenly burst into laughter.
"GYAHAHAHA. HOO…emotion before payment. I must write that down." Said bagdemagus loudly from beside gareth.
The throne room remained tense.
I glanced at him and said calmly "Royal uncle. Do not make me regret allowing you to breathe indoors."
Bagdemagus smiled and bowed his head while saying "As you wish your majesty. I'll buy you some oil perfume for your breath later on as an apology, we don't want it to stink from talking to much."
I looked back at the commoners and said calmly "Next..."
The doors opened again.
More commoners entered.
And for the first time since I became queen mother of this shithole kingdom.
The ton looked more afraid of the people than the people looked afraid of them.
"Good. Let them finally understand who feeds who. This is what makes a army and a entire kingdom, it's own people" I thought while my unmoving lips stayed perfectly still.
…
THE END…