Each year the Kingdom of Khearia throws a festival in remembrance of one of their most beloved kings who had tragically perished along with his wife and second son. His first son, Prince Fabian, was the only one to survive. Witnesses claimed his cro...
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Whilst the temple's outer shell was deceptively small, the basement was anything but. There was no outside light pouring into the room nor any open flames, only carefully placed lamps on top of hard stone. It was dim, but not dark.
ㅤStacks of books were piled high, a mix of new and old, some appeared as if the pages would crack and disintegrate with a single touch, their bindings unthreading with time.
ㅤJames watched as Alex leaned over Fletcher, who sat at a desk, a book on one side and a page on the other.
ㅤ"So this word means 'shepherd', so it says that the monarch is the small shepherd to how the people are sheep in the same way the sheep can be shepherds." he could hear Alex explain.
ㅤThat didn't sound right to his ears whatsoever but he felt that way about all scholarly drivel.
ㅤJames strolled up to them and scanned the text they were translating, some political philosophy twaddle. Fletcher nodded and copied what Alex had said and James laughed loudly once he found the original quote.
ㅤHe took the pen away from Fletcher mid-writing and Alex scowled at him.
ㅤ"You're wrong." James accused Alex, a smile playing on his face.
ㅤAlex crossed his arms. "No offence, but I'm sure I have a much better understanding of the royal language than you do."
ㅤJames hummed in amusement, Alex had no idea who he was talking to.
ㅤHe leaned down and crossed out what Fletcher had written, much to the man's confusion.
ㅤ"It does say 'shepherd' but it doesn't mean it in the literal sense, this text is pretty archaic. What it's really saying is that the monarchy is a dog bred for herding, a sheepdog, but in this time era they didn't have a word for that so they would call them mini-shepherds. They only had one monarch as well, rather than our three."
ㅤJames began scribbling down the correct translation, the angle awkward on his wrist.
ㅤ"Also, it doesn't say that 'sheep can be shepherds'," James continued, "but rather it alludes to something else hiding among the flock, you can see here that it uses a feminine article for the sheep, when it's supposed to be masculine; indicating something different about them."
ㅤFletcher furrowed his brows in thought. "Now I'm just confused."
ㅤJames handed the pen back to him, standing up straight to savour Alex's reaction. "It's saying that the people are controlled by their monarch, but their monarch is controlled by something that hides in the crowd; a black sheep hiding in a white coat, if you will."
ㅤFrowning, Alex picked up the book for himself and moved the page closer to his face like it would make him understand it better. Thomas came up to peer at it over his shoulder.
ㅤ"You're handsome even when you're wrong." James joked in the language.
