Inheritance

Chapter 41: Good and Respectable

One by one, every noble in the ballroom came before the king, had a few words with him, and then left—until, suddenly, the ballroom had gotten very quiet.

Eory looked around and everyone was gone but for him, the king, Kori, Pollyanna, and a few guards standing in the corners of the room.

Pollyanna noticed that, about an hour ago, the queen had excused herself and taken her six-year-old with her. That did not bode well, and it made Pollyanna hyper-vigilant.

The room was so quiet now that Eory's footsteps echoed when he approached the king.

Laurence sat up straight in his throne and couldn't help but turn his nose up at the approach of Eory and the Arrozan Sword. He could see nothing but King Herin's features in the young man's face.

Everyone in the room was tense.

Fear of the unknown hung in the air as Eory's ominous footsteps came to a halt before the king. Eory did a bow and fell on one knee before the dais. Pollyanna reluctantly followed suite with a curtsy and stayed on both knees next Eory. On Eory's other side, Gershom was silent and well mannered and didn't even pant.

The fairy kept his head and eyes down and said humbly, "I await your judgement, King Laurence. Have I performed well tonight?"

Sweat rolled down Kori's forehead in fear as she awaited the king's response.

Laurence looked upon Eory with a consternated expression. He cleared his throat in a moment and replied, "you have, Eory. Many of the nobles were quite taken with you, and the ones that weren't couldn't claim that you had been rude to them. You have done extremely well."

Relief overwhelmed Eory. It felt as if the stress that had made it hard for him to even breathe had stopped constricting his lungs and heart. He nearly jumped for joy, but he managed to keep his composure.

While still kneeling, he asked, "then... Am I free to go, Your Majesty?"

The room was deathly silence again but for gentle breathing.

Laurence took a deep breath. "You are, but I would like you to do something for me, first."

Kori looked panicked and wondered what the king had in mind. She was already ready to protest.

Pollyanna's muscles were tensed and she was ready to spring into action if necessary.

Eory just kept his head down as stress once again strangled him about the throat and made it hard to breathe.

"You behaved admirably, but as usual, Pollyanna was poorly behaved during the ball and proved she is a menace to society. She threatened two nobles and even shoved you. I'm afraid I must require that you order her to be executed or imprisoned forever since she seems to obey your every whim." Laurence said evenly as his fingers fidgeted nervously.

I don't know whether Pollyanna is required to follow his orders, but this is the best way to find out.

Everyone was still; they were all trying to process what he said and what it entailed for each of them.

Pollyanna was furious and felt the most panic she had in ages. Her life was always secure in the hands of Eory's ancestors because they would always need her to protect them from treason, assassins, and revolts. Not only that, but she and Eory's ancestors had respected each other greatly and had similar philosophies.

She expected Eory would pick the king over herself. She hated him for it; the two of them had every opportunity to escape, but Eory's need to be accepted as decent and kind overwhelmed logic at every turn. And now, the king seemed like he was going to reward Eory for his kindness and the only one to die would be herself. She seethed in rage at everyone in the room and wished them all terrible deaths.