Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene V

As on the outside, the seas around Tunida weren't stormy, but neither were they calm. On the balcony of the royal palace the Queen of Tunida stood coolly, in a white dress, dotted with red hearts. She looked like a stern, but angelic peacock. The king stared out to sea as she stared at him, feeling the chill of the cold coastal air as he reflected on how things were going. Despite wearing much less, the queen stood untouched by the breeze.

"You've never liked her have you?" noted the king.

"And you like her too much," came the terse reply.

"Liked, not loved ..and that was a long time ago, before I met you. They were more peaceful times. Then, when I met you, things became even more peaceful - the height of peace. Now here we are. I've wasted that peace. My father, and his father before him - my ancestors, spanning centuries - they all kept a certain peace. Even in times of war. It was never perfect ..it's always been far from perfect, but the waters were always kept at bay. Now everything may wash away."

"They never had black powder to contend with," countered the queen, gently reminding him of the reality that they faced.

"They never had a female Head Treasurer either. I allowed this to happen. I should have thought about things harder - when I had the time to think."

At this point a slightly anxious Prince Reach arrived on the balcony. His state of agitation, and his familial likeness to the king, making him almost the mirror of his brother. The slight frost that still existed between him and the queen making him only more ill at ease.

"I can't stay on this island, I'm helping nothing here," he urged, "I need to be prosecuting this war out on the seas. I need to be doing something. -- You're back now, I have no purpose, you need to let me go."

The King of Tunid sympathised with his brother, and unlike the queen he laid no blame at his feet for the abduction of young Prince Estorie. "Give me one more day," he asked, "..then you can leave and lead our charge. I'm heading out to convene with Maleeva today. It will no doubt be nothing but a formality. War is all but declared, but I need to try it one last time. Once I return you can go."

"We'll put things right," insisted Prince Reach, hoping, in turn, to alleviate his brother's woes. "It's not lost yet."

"Hopefully."

The King of Tunid then looked back out to the sea and up across the misting grey skies.

"Must we be gatekeepers for these unseen gods," added Prince Reach, lamenting the responsibility on their shoulders as he turned to leave.

"It is the way it is," responded the stoic king.