Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 8: Gold

Kori demanded that she and Laurence speak in his private cabinet alone. It was a room on the third floor of the Great Hall which was tucked away at the end of a narrow hallway.

The cabinet was a small and simple room meant for private conversations between the king and his advisors. It had an ivory desk with a quill and ink set upon it pushed up against the wall opposite the door, and white wallpaper dotted with decorative plants lining the top plastered on the walls.

The king sat in a chair with a red cushion and Kori sat across from him. She took a deep breath before saying, "Laurence, did you truly take out a loan from the elves to help us during the revolt?"

Laurence was hunched over and looking at his worn hands silently. "Why are you asking this?"

Kori bristled. "Because there is an elf in the dungeon who is claiming that he came here carrying a white flag and a missive from his queen! He says he was wrongly attacked by some of your men and thrown in the dungeon! If this is true, it could be grounds for war, Laurence! You told me that the elves helped us overthrow King Herin because you had formed a mutual alliance with them! Tell me you didn't pay for our revolt in borrowed elven gold!"

Laurence was silent as he avoided the waif's gaze. His eyes were glassy and his age was showing horribly.

In a moment, he was sobbing. "I didn't know what else to do, Kori! We had to overthrow Herin, but we didn't have the weapons or manpower to do it! I negotiated with the elves—tried to arrange an alliance between our two kingdoms, but I had nothing to offer them because I was only a cook at the time. So they proposed a different deal; they would supply us with weapons and elves to retake the throne and, in return, we would owe them the money for the weapons they supplied and slaves who they could use as they pleased."

Kori's face lit up in horror. "Slaves! Laurence, tell me you did not sell our people into slavery!"

Laurence gulped and shuddered in shame. He still would not meet her gaze. "I gave them one-hundred fairies. It was more than fair—considering how many weapons and men they lent to us to take the castle."

Kori stood up and took a deep breath with her back facing Laurence. "Maribel does not own slaves, Laurence, and we do not sell out people into slavery! Only elves are guilty of such awful deeds! Not even King Herin was guilty of doing such a vile thing!"

Laurence's eyes widened in offense at such horrible words. He stood up—knocking his chair over—and then grabbed Kori by the shoulders—spinning her around. "How dare you compare me to that monster! It's true he never called his subjects slaves, but you know as well as I that he treated us all as slaves and worse! How could you compare me to him knowing what he did to me and my family!"

His fingers dug into her tiny shoulders until pain coursed through them and Kori backed away from him fearfully.

Laurence watched her cower until she melted under his gaze and backed up against the wall where she sunk to the floor and shuddered. In a moment, she said shakily, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I know what you went through better than anyone else! I know how badly you wanted—no, you needed to dethrone Herin. Please forgive me for being so judgmental."

Laurence looked at his hands with his teeth gritted and couldn't believe that he had dared hurt the woman he loved like no other.

He huddled down next to her and wrapped an arm about her shoulder—holding her close.

Kori's eyes were wide and unblinking. She used her magic to slow Laurence's heartbeat and calm his overactive emotions.

She wanted to put an end to this ugly thing between them; she wasn't even sure she loved Laurence or even liked him anymore after he had signed her surrogate son away, but somehow when he put an arm around her shoulder, everything seemed like it would be okay.

"Laurence, what were you thinking taking their messenger captive?" Kori whispered. "We can't afford a war right now."

Laurence took a deep breath and she felt his muscles relax. "We can't pay this debt, either. The elven queen says that if we can't pay the monthly amount I promised her, that I have three choices; I can pay the debt in more slaves, I can pay the debt by giving up the kingdom's sovereignty and I will essentially be the king in name only, or she will... Take the kingdom by force."

There was dead silence between them and Kori could feel her heart beating faster in fear and rage.

In a moment, Laurence spluttered, "I'm sorry I brashly threw the elf into the dungeon, but I was so angry! I couldn't stand another one of her high and mighty elves come to demand more gold that we didn't have! I thought to myself... That I may as well start a war, myself, if I can't pay the debt."

Kori let his words sink in for a moment as her thought began turning—began trying to think of a way out.

In a moment, she stood up determinedly. "By how much gold are we short?"

Laurence looked into her judgmental eyes for a moment, and then his eyes flitted to the left in embarrassment. "One-thousand gold pieces."

Kori's legs felt weak and she collapsed in astonishment. "We can't possibly expect to tax the citizens that much... They probably don't even have that much..."

There was silence between the two for a time, and then Kori stood up shakily and said firmly, "I'll handle this."

Laurence followed her to the door and asked, "how? I have practically declared war on them!"

Laurence placed a hand on her shoulder as she placed her own on the knob of the door. "Francis seems reasonable. I will have a talk with him."