Snippet #1276257

Oliver had been alone in the King's throne room for some time now. Having long since overcome the initial shock of having been declared king pro tem, he was now deeply confused.

Although Oliver could not sympathise with old Astonen's feelings - having never had a woman himself, or even having been in love - he could understand the root of his motivations. The king was shocked and hurt by the loss of his wife, and wasn't in a good state of mind to be making regal decisions. This was a perfectly normal thing for someone to feel after the sudden loss of one who loved someone as much as Astonen loved Brienna.

The ride for vengeance, however? Oliver could not support that motion. Astonen was strong; true, but he was also much older than even the oldest castle guard. The guards would follow his command, yes - they were trained to follow Astonen's every command; the royal lap-dogs of C'elladore. But the guard was not the Order of the Knights of C'elladore. And Oliver knew that the Order would oppose Astonen's mission. They would oppose, but in the end Astonen's stronger will would win out - without a Knight Captain to unify the knights, the Order would not have the willpower to oppose Astonen, and would quickly be subjugated and made to help this campaign. And to what end? A massive contingent of the Order's greatest knights had been killed at the massacre - there was no other word for it - at Lake Lilywillow. The remaining knights were head and shoulders above the Guard, but they were still but stablehands compared to the knights who died at Lilywillow. If they were to face the Yonadoran knights in battle, they would surely fall. And then, as dominoes fell in that ancient game, so would fall the Guardsmen, and then - eventually - his king.

And what of Oliver? No matter how temporary his posting was, Oliver had no idea how to run a kingdom. His place was on the battlefield, leading troops - not ministering to an entire sovereign nation.

There was no more speaking of it. Astonen would have to be dissuaded from this mission, one way or another. Oliver sat in the throne of King Astonen and felt the weight of a nation settle itself upon his broad shoulders. He placed his chin in one open palm, and began to think.