The next day, a commotion could be seen in the palace with many of the staff running around in panic. The King had just called for a sudden Royal Court.
In fact, they had all been on edge for the past day because of the events that had happened during the execution. Typically, they had been used to the King taking out his anger on subordinates when disasters like these happened.
In recent times, the one that stood out was when the Dwarve"s Rum had been destroyed by the Church of Rect.i.tude.
On that day, 4 servants and 3 bureaucrats had been put to the death by King Richard who had been furious at his inability in taking revenge on the culprits.
There had even been rumors that he had also invested in the pub and the fighting ring, which led to the Kingdom suffering huge losses due to the sudden removal of such an important revenue source.
The order to call for a Court had only come in 2 hours before the appointed time. Thus, several ministers and bureaucrats could be seen arriving to the Palace hurriedly in groups while whispering about just what the agenda of the Royal Court would be. Of course, many couldn"t help but have sweat appear on their backs, still remembering the days when the previous King had terrorized the Kingdom.
The Royal Court began at 10 a.m sharp with the King entering with the same retinue as he had before, when he met the envoys.
Yet, this time, there was a noticeable difference.
The King"s step had a slight spring in it, while his face also had a slight smile. In fact, some astute individuals even noticed that there was something different about him, but they couldn"t figure out exactly what it was.
After sitting on the throne, he first gestured everyone to take their seats before opening his mouth and beginning the Court right away.
"You all have seen what happened during the execution that we set up in order to bring justice to the commoners. Alas, at the stage we are in, it is not plausible to look for revenge right now."
Admittedly, many had already guessed this fact. The means that the two infiltrators had used had been a clear indication of the fact that they were not forces Lanthanor could go up against right now. Yet, some had still been worried that the King might take a hot-headed decision to seek revenge as soon as possible. Thus, many sighed with relief when they saw the young King speak rationally.
"We need to focus on the welfare of the kingdom while keeping an eye out for any clues regarding the ident.i.ties of those who have had the gall to ruin an official ceremony of Lanthanor. Just as I have done before in the presence of the people, I promise that their blood shall flow and their hearts will be rent, making them regret the day they chose to go against this great Kingdom."
These words sent a chill up the spines of those who had just sighed with relief. That had been Daneel"s intention: to show that the fury he felt was in no way lessened by the rational decision he had had to take. Lanthanor had just too many things to take care of right now.
Calming down, the slight smile came back on Daneel"s face.
"For now, I have three main directives which I want to see carried out in the best way possible. You might have seen that of the 20 ministers who used to be in attendance in Court before I took the throne, only 8 remain. You must know that the rest have fled, or are waiting in prison for a sentence to be pa.s.sed. But even in the 8 of you, there are only two who are completely clean. I have my eye on the rest, and I do not need to point out who I am speaking about."
All of the ministers had gotten up from their chairs when they heard the King speak of them. Indeed, only 8 of them were left, with 4 on each side of the throne room.
In these 8, just as Daneel said, 6 couldn"t help but shake when they heard the King"s words. They had indeed transgressed a few times, but it was nothing compared to the crimes of the others. Besides, they handled very important posts, and were also capable of filling in for those that were not present.
As long time politicians, they very well knew that the King was keeping them around both because of their usefulness and the fact that their infractions did not warrant them to be thrown in prison or directly executed. They knew that they had to prove their worth.
No words were required in order to answer the King. The 8 just bowed low, while 2 among them looked into each other"s eyes with a broad smile among their faces.
One of these was the Righteous Hawk, while the other was the short man who had spoken in the previous Court regarding Eldinor"s demands.
All this time, they had been prevailing with the single hope that a King would come who would turn everything around and give them a chance to show their loyalty to the people they loved so much.
That day has finally come
"Good. Hear the directives, and decide among yourselves the distribution of responsibilities.
"First, gather all the talented blacksmiths and enchanters in the Lanthanor Kingdom. I will be setting up a new "Research Division" which I shall personally oversee. Lanthanor depends too much on the outside for essential trinkets, and now the time has come to put an end to this.
"Second, form a proposal regarding how we can better monitor the people coming in and out of the Capital and the Kingdom. I know we have a record about all the citizens from birth, but we have no way to identify each unless they speak out their name and place of origin. Even then, the system is not good enough to handle imposters. If we had a good identification system, maybe the two infiltrators would have found it harder to sneak in to such an important event.
"Third, give me a reason why all the top enchanters in the Kingdom choose to move to other Kingdoms, making it so that the RnD division in the Palace has accomplished almost nothing in the recent years. I want a thorough report regarding this. You are all dismissed."
With these words, Daneel kickstarted his plan to make Lanthanor self-sufficient. It was a broad ambition, but he had the power of knowledge and the wondrous system, making it so that it would be a crime to dream small.
Yet, all these matters weren"t the reason for the smile on his face that had been there since he had walked out of his room.
In an Energised Training Chamber located underneath the King"s chamber, a figure could be seen seated comfortably with legs folded and eyes closed, breathing in the white mist that permeated the room steadily.
Upstairs, the King had just entered the Royal Chambers. If anyone were present in the room, they would be amazed to see his body disperse into nothingness, almost as if the body were just made of ash which was blown away by the wind. The clothes fell to the ground, leaving the room empty.
The figure in the training chamber got up with a wide smile on his face, using the secret pa.s.sageway present beside him to directly enter the Royal Chambers. Picking up the clothes from the ground, he proceeded to throw them in the basket to the side of the room before being unable to hold the laugh that came to his lips.
In the empty room, the King of Lanthanor chuckled to himself, while hearing the notification in his mind which indicated that his dream of growing in power and handling the Kingdom had finally been achieved.
[Time Limit: 1 hour reached. Fighter Replica dissipated. New clone ready to be deployed.]