On his way to a meeting, the King got Marcus to tell him what had happened with the Queen, so that he could try to fix it.

Having only been back a short time, to return to his majestic robes of what a ruler wears, Marcus easily caught up with him, before leaving towards this meeting with the Governor’s.

The meeting wasn’t anything particularly important, it was a gathering every so often with as many of them as possible…Most of the time, there would always be at least one Governor that wasn’t there…

Marcus continuously had told the King about this particular meeting upon returning back from Brackan, so the King could not forget about it!

The walk there wasn’t that long, so the King slowed down his pace and concentrated upon what Marcus was telling him…

"…Oh...I see." King Richard said, after Marcus informed him. "I didn't realize I had become that big of a mess. I am sorry Marcus."

Marcus sighed, "I don't believe it's me you owe an apology to, Your Majesty."

The King looked at him and breathed out, "Your right. Ask the Queen when it would be a good time to see her."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Marcus went off to relay the message…Only to find out that the Queen was not in the palace…

As the King finished walking to his next destination, he felt sick.

How could I have done that! Even though she barged in when unwelcome and at a very bad emotional time for me, it doesn't give me the right to punch her. Dammit! No wonder I haven't seen her! What a mess...

Having just learnt upon the fact that not only was one of his own Governors tried to kill him and his children for years, but that this same Governor that had killed his father, it had not been a good time at all.

…I am not normally one to get violent…

This was truth, the King had not hit anyone out of a spar before!

Even though Marcus had told him that he had looked like he was crying when he had punched the Queen, the King still hadn’t liked what he heard…

The Queen had pushed him many times, did she not know when to back off? To leave him be and let him mourn over how his father was lost…How his own Governor tried to kill his children? Why then? Why did she have to barge into his own bed chambers when he was in such a state!?

…Seeing the door to where he was going, the King stopped in front of it and released a breath.

It had taken a while to accept the past, and having gotten used to have drinking alcohol, it was no wonder that he had gotten drunk.

Why couldn’t she just abide by the rules and had not entered?

Why is it that he will obviously have to do whatever needs to be done, for this matter to be mended!?

The King was mad, upset and a bit distressed. It had been a while since he even thought about this too, that there was something else that had made him angry a month or two later. And that was, the Queen had announced another pregnancy, making everyone happy with the news, yet…The King was sure that he had not lain with the Queen for a long time.

There may have been a few nights that he couldn’t remember, but he can never remember letting the rule off for the Queen to freely enter his chambers…

Finally seeing the down points upon his drunkenness from the last two years, the King sighed and put a hand through his hair.

Will this child, that I can’t even remember helping to conceive…Will it make Mahnu upset? And with the Queen not talking to me…

This was a mess!

He wanted the Queen on his good side, so that the news of Mahnu would be easier to handle…But…

Shaking his head, the King decided that business will have to come first right now.

…He had just taken two weeks off, suddenly disappearing without giving anyone notice!

I will just have to come up with a solution to the Queen later…

Walking in, he found the Governors bow at his entrance.

"Your Majesty."

The King sighed and continued to go sit into his chair, at the head of the large table. "I apologize for having come late to this meeting, please take a seat."

The meeting commenced, and slowly, a few of the Governors saw a difference in the King's attitude.

"I am glad that you have returned to your post, Zachary."

Zachary looked down and said, "I still don't think that I should be a Governor, Your Majesty."

"I disagree, you care about your people and land. I remember that you did state your problems and so I believe you are innocent." The King was vague, because the people here didn't know about the God's, but he wanted to state his innocence, nonetheless. He also knew that he and his brother had separated relations from decades ago. They even lived in two different towns! How could he blame assassination attempts on him as well, just because he had the same last name?

"But my brother..."

The King interrupted him. "Your brother did cruel things and now has paid the price of it with his death. I have thought about you and your relation to him but still feel you are a good Governor for Brackan. I just want to conclude that if there are any more skirmishes between you and Sedric, both of you will be demoted. I am sure I have the support of the other Governors upon this statement. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Both Sedric and Zachary said, then the other Governors attending said the same thing.

"How is Valtac, I noticed you've stood in for him again, Rick."

"Still unwell, Your Majesty. But he sends his regards. He hopes that all the royal family will come to see him."

"Yes, he is my father in law. Please ask him when it is a good time."

"The Queen is there as we speak, with the Crowned Prince and Princess. Would you like me to send a message still?"

King Richard was taken aback, as he hadn't known. "I will try and clear my schedule, even if it's for a day. Say that I plan to see him within two weeks."

Silence overcame the room.

Marcus knew why. The King had not publicly ventured out beyond the palace, yet alone Conrella, in the last two years. Upon going to Havlish for his normal reports and a few secret trips out to other places, as far as the Governors knew, His Majesty rarely accepted any invitation to go anywhere else.

"Is there something wrong?" The King asked, looking from one to another.

"No, Your Majesty. We are just surprised as you haven't travelled much lately."

Sighing, the King replied, "You are right, but things change...Let us retire until next time."

They respectfully said their goodbyes and Marcus walked up to the King.

"They already notice a difference." King Richard said, then sighed.

Marcus replied to the King, "It was a drastic change, Your Majesty. One that, I hope, never happens again."

The King sighs once again and continues to walk to his own personal study room. "I need to complete as much as possible, so that I have free time."

Marcus followed him into the room and stood at his usual spot. It was nice to not be standing on egg shells around the King, but Marcus was worried that things could be diverted back to how it was in the last two years, if something bad was to happen.

William, he thought, you must protect Mahnu well.

Marcus was indeed worried, the power that Mahnu had over his King, was truly scary…

***

King Richard focused while working, so that he could visit Mahnu before the end of each day. Visiting her, at first, seemed to be a surprise to both Betty and Donald. But as the days went by, they seemed to start expecting King Richard’s presence at the end of each day, to spend time with Mahnu and end up spending the night with her.

The days normally go by leisurely for them, as they don’t need for anything. Their residence was quite large and luxurious, and they had servants to attend them too…

Food, a bigger roof, beds, blankets…What matters most was easily taken care of…It was just…So much different!

They had a dining room now and a fourth and fifth bedroom!

Then there was also a completely separate room where they could either store some of their things or use it to do sewing or…Whatever they want!

It was a much different place then their small, humble home back in Brackan.

Never in Betty and Donald’s life did they have this type of living arrangement and they were still trying to get used to it!

For them, whom always made things work and came up with some ideas themselves, they found it difficult and even sometimes frustrating now when they are always asked where they were going and if they needed anything.

To them, they never thought of the servant’s shoes, whom wanted to hug their new master’s thighs as they grew to know that the King of Kralaide was often here at this very place!

Mahnu would often tell the servants off for interfering, telling them that she doesn’t need their help to dress or to bathe herself, making the servants ill at ease, but luckily, Mahnu would tell the King stubbornly that it was her who didn’t need their help and so they could only let out a breath in relief!

Upon one of the servants trying to get closer to the King, that servant was secretly dispatched to serve elsewhere, but Mahnu didn’t even notice the change…

Actually, Mahnu was still her own person, one that wanted to do things on her own and being in a new place, and now with no chores to do, she ended up going out to see how different it was here!

The first thing she realized, was that the trees here were mostly around the rich people’s houses and the palace, as the commoner’s area where a lot more densely packed with buildings.

Seeing that there wasn’t as much space where she was able to just climb a tree whenever she wanted to, Mahnu had gotten grumpy upon her first outing…Only to make King Richard laugh upon finding out why she was like that.

On the second day, Mahnu hadn’t come back for a long time and Betty and Donald did their usual of worrying about her. They had no idea upon where to look for her here in this different place and so their panic didn’t subside until she finally came home!

Having to tell her that she can’t stay out for so long, especially since they worry if she doesn’t drink or eat, but also because she is supposed to be a consort of the King, they told her that she must be with somebody!

William had felt wronged, as he had been following and guarding Mahnu all this time! But Betty and Donald couldn’t possibly let a guard make Mahnu eat and drink, so they demanded that Mahnu take someone with her from now on to make sure of this!

On the third day, Mahnu was not just with William, but a servant girl as well…And so…Mahnu felt disturbed, or strange…She didn’t know why, but she felt like she was confined.

Feeling conflicted, because she liked Betty and Donald’s care for her but at the same time didn’t like being with someone that she hardly knew to follow her, Mahnu didn’t venture out that much that day! Well, there was that…And another reason…

William found her antics extremely funny…

Mahnu was completely different to any other girl!

He had never heard of a girl that would grumble because she couldn’t climb a tree…He’d never met a girl that looked antsy when a servant was following them…He’d never met a girl that was happy to get scolded!

But, as these three days go by, he finally started to understand that Mahnu had been alone for so long and probably had never been scolded and it seemed that she had always climbed trees…

She seemed to somehow realize that she knew what to grow in the backyard of their residence too, wanting to do it herself…

Seeing her so determined and thinking that they should have at lease one vegetable and one fruit, even though they didn’t need to grow it at all, made William realize that Mahnu might not remember her past completely but she obviously had done a lot of gardening in her time!

She was a natural!

And yes, William wrote a few of these facts down on some parchment, wondering how many people knew these ideas and situations, when it came to growing or planting something.