Kingdom Come

VI. Dead Men Tells No Tales

Maybe you might be different

Will it kill you to tell me the truth?

What in the hell does a man

Have to do, to be loved by you?

Jaehaera wanted nothing more than to take Finan and go outside to eat their dinner with Sihtric and the others. It felt far too suffocating with the arseling King, and not in a fun way. Either she wanted to be excused with Finan, or pitch herself off the roof.  "The broth was suitable, Lord?" Her mother asked the King. The broth, couldn't fill even a small child. But yes mother, it's great, she thought while inwardly rolling her eyes. She couldn't stand how they ate like mice and rats whenever the King came for his visits.

"Mm, the broth was a delight, Gisela," the King answered kindly.

"As is the ale," Odda added, and Jaehaera smiled at the older man, which he returned.

"You should moderate, Odda," the king told his man, "you have a ladder to climb to find your bed."

"You can always be carried lord," her father teased.

Odda chuckled, "it wouldn't be the first time." Everyone at the table chuckled, except for the King. Jaehaera couldn't help but feel bad for the older man. Her father told her how he had lost his son. Sure, his son had been a prick, but he had still been his son. Everyone manages their pain and grief in different ways. She wouldn't know how she would react if she had lost a son. Hopefully, she would never know that feeling, and neither would her mother or father.

"And I guarantee it won't be the last time," the King commented. What has crawled up his arse and died? Fetch it out before it stinks up the whole room, my Lord King she thought to herself while rolling her eyes. She drank from her cup while glancing at Finan, sharing the same look of annoyance.

"Lord, you make him out to be a drunk," Jaehaera commented lightly and without any traceable annoyance that she had felt inside.

"My head will be sore in the morning, I know it," Odda added gently.

"Well, then it's ale for breakfast, Lord, the only cure," Finan whispered to him like the devil on his shoulder. The two shared a laugh, and so did everyone else. Even the king smiled for a second, now there is a sight, she thought. He had a rather nice smile when it appeared.

"Was my nephew drunk when he was here last?" the King asked.

"Aethelwold is often drunk, Lord," her father answered. "But this last time, he did not touch a drop."

"He mentioned he had been sober for days," her mother added, "which came as a surprise." Jaehaera nodded in agreement with her mother.

"That's a miracle," Odda agreed.

"Not quite," the King answered.

"Aethelwold is not a complete fool, Lord," Jaehaera kept her tone light. Everyone in the room knew she couldn't stand the man, so they all looked rather shocked at her light comment. "If he is idle, then could he not help bring order to Mercia?" she asked.

"He fought well at Ethandun," her father agreed with her with a smile. He sat between his two girls.

"As he is fond of reminding people," Odda commented.

"He's as good a man as Aethelred," her father comments under his breath before drinking from his cup.

"Uhtred, you speak of matters you do not understand," the King told him. And there it went, the small amount of indifference she had built towards the king. It now shifted towards loathing. "Matters that do not concern you, or your daughter."