09.

Royal fools

This was it, his first meeting, the day he makes or breaks the respect these old advisors (don’t) have for him.

 

He sits to Jongin’s right where he had known he’d be, but happy that his husband had asked for a chair like his to be made for the next meeting. To the king's left there is Kim Joonmyeon and standing behind the prince are his right-hand man and wife. The arrangement seemed odd to Kyungsoo, but he didn’t comment on it.

 

Standing behind him he had his own guard while Jongin had nobody, a show of superiority, of “I don’t need a guard, you can’t touch me here”. It was as silly as it was necessary, a message that a king always needs to convey.

 

A map of their land and neighboring kingdoms was splayed on a large table before them, separating the royal family from the half dozen elders that made up the council.

 

"My king" one of the men spoke up " we’ve gotten word from the frontier that King Park has tightened surveillance of his borders, we have reason to believe he is planning to attack" he said, triggering a loud murmur all around the room "we must counter before he does".

 

"He has yet to make a move, let’s not rush to take violent measures" Joonmyeon dares say what he knew king Kyungsoo was too shy to say, not wanting to over step his boundaries. Any other day he would have encouraged the elders, sure that a display of their strength would be best to ward off any attempt at a possible overtake, but he knew now that war was never the answer.

 

"And wait so he can have the upper hand?" another one of the elderly men spoke up "we should attack when he least expects it, before he has time to gather an army of his allies" he suggests.

 

"Who are his allies to begin with?" Kyungsoo spoke up, a question he already knew the answer to. He didn’t dare make his first intervention with any kind of statement.

 

"The Son" princess Soohyun provided "But now that I am here, and my people are our allies, the troupes won’t make it without facing my father’s wrath as they cross our territory" she offered with a smile, content with making herself useful so soon, to make them see the value of their newly acquired ally.

 

"The Son are small and weak, it wouldn’t make a difference" one of the council members said.

 

"It may be a small patch of land, but it is full of riches" Kyungsoo clarified, getting a glare for countering the elder "their alliance isn’t for bellic purposes but for mutual economic gain. The trading ships must make the long way around the land, it is very inefficient" he summarized.

 

"Are you suspecting they’re attacking to take a portion of our territory so that they can trade by land?" the King spoke for the first time.

 

"Nobody’s attacking anyone" Kyungsoo reminded him "they have strengthened surveillance; my guess is that they are trying to sneak merchant carts along the border".

 

"That’s a bold assumption to be making with such limited information" another one of the men spoke reasonably.

 

"You’re right, so we should be gathering more information, not rushing to attack" he admits.

 

"And if they see it as hesitation and take advantage?" the man from the first intervention spoke again.

 

"Advantage of what?" he asked as if amused "I asked to gather more information, not to call back the soldiers from the border and surrender. We don’t need to let our guard down, but let’s not make hasty attacks either".

 

"We’ll be giving them time to build their army" one of them said, and Kyungsoo was losing track of who said what, they all seemed to be on the same side as a collective mind; what was the point of so many of them if they all thought alike, he wondered.

 

"If they’re planning an attack, they already have, if they aren’t, they have no reason to start now as long as we show no intentions to attack them first" he reasoned.

 

"I see no point in this" the first guy spoke again, Kyungsoo remembered him as he seemed the keenest on instigating conflict "we’ve never lost a war, and now more than ever, with the alliances we’ve made, victory is assured" he boasted.

 

"It is true, but the last war is still relatively recent, the allies you’re so confident of have yet to fully recover, avoiding another one would be wisest" he proposed with a frown, not liking the man’s stance one bit.

 

"We don’t need them, we can rely on our own strength" he claimed with confidence.

 

"Our own strength took a hit as well in that war" Joonmyeon spoke up, angered by the man’s seeming belief that their army was invincible while he was living proof they weren’t.

 

"It’s been over ten years!" he exclaimed.

 

"So, just because there hasn’t been a war in almost a decade, should we start one?!" Kyungsoo spoke with his voice raised for the first time. He knew men like these, eager to prove their strength just because they could, unmindful of the consequences; his grandfather had been one of those men, and while he hadn’t lived to witness the worst of it, he saw the sequels his rule had left, the miserable state of his kingdom because of it. He hated men like this.

 

"Yes!" the elder exclaims passionately "Don’t you see? They’re becoming cocky, looming our borders waiting for the right time to attack, we must show them their place. We can’t look like cowards in front of our potential enemies" he declared with a heated glare zeroed in on the young king as if nobody else was in the room.

 

"You speak of cowardice, yet I don’t see you guarding the border" he replied, much more calmly "It is not cowardice or bravery, it is lives; thousands of soldiers and civilians, of lives that would be lost just so you can sit there comfortable, safe, and claim to be the bravest one. Those who trust their words over their swords when enemies rise aren’t weak, they care" he said with a hand to his chest as if in pain, but it wasn’t for show, he was indeed in pain; he hated nothing more than war for the sake of it, fire and blood shed just to prove a point, it made him physically ill to envision the bodies of innocent soldiers littering the battle field as the men who screamed “War!” suffer none of it yet they pat their own backs and feast to celebrate a victory they didn’t fight for "We won’t attack unless legitimately provoked, we will wait and gather information, figure out their true intentions; if I’m right, we’ll give what they want, if I’m wrong, we’ll see what can be accomplished through diplomacy, and if you’re right and it is an overtake that they plan then we’ll defend the land with all that power you’re so proud of. I will not let the likes of you lead us into a war with no purpose" he ordered with a tone that left no room for questions.

 

"That is not for you to decide" one of the other men, one he recognized as having been quiet the entire time, spoke up. It felt like a bucket of ice thrown over his head, a reminder that he was in no position to dictate orders like he owned the place, his eyes opened wide as did his mouth, but no words were formed.

 

A quick side glance let Jongin know that the short remark was all that was needed to disarm the previously vicious king into an uncertain quivering mouse, one with firm ideals but too afraid to share them because it isn’t his place.

 

But there’s the thing, it is his place.

 

"You?" he asked with a frown to the man who had just spoken "He is “your majesty”, “my king”, whichever you prefer, but don’t speak so lightly to him" he reprimanded "You all seem to forget that he is not an outsider, and he is not without authority, he is a ruler of this kingdom and to him you pay your respect" he ordered with severity, glaring across the room. The elders were a combination of flabbergasted and indignant, while some even nodded with small smiles, proud of the display of authority from a king they had mistaken as soft hearted (both of them) "It will be done as he has said, this meeting is over" he dismissed with finality.

 

As the small group of elderly men trails out of the big room, Do Kyungsoo stands quietly watching his husband for his reaction; the man looked undeniably angered and while his words spoke loud and clear of who the anger was directed to, the shorter of the two couldn't help the anxiety that bubbled inside of him, especially because he noticed Jongin was pointedly avoiding eye contact.

 

The room cleared and the tan male has yet to direct his attention to him, rather busying himself with looking over the map as though he didn't already know it by heart.

 

"Let's say your assumptions are right and they want simply a land trading route" he spoke up while still not looking at him "Do you propose we let them pass through? Because I, in all honesty, don't think I can trust them" he confessed.

 

"Well, I do" he replied simply. His royal family and the Park had always been, while not allies, on good enough terms that he knew they could be trusted. In general, he adds mentally, because he has yet to meet the newly risen king "But I see why you'd hesitate and I believe we can reach a better arrangement".

 

"Such as?" he asked, finally turning to look at him, but there was some tension in his shoulders.

 

"They can be allowed to pass through the territory of King Choi. It is what's most efficient for them, safest for us, and Choi isn't in a position to oppose the decision" he proposed while giving the princess a look, receiving a nod to his unspoken question. A soft chuckle from the king brought his attention back to him.

 

"Whenever did you get so cunning?" he asked in an amused tone, but Kyungsoo merely smiled in return without answering, nodding as he turned to leave, guard on his tail.

 

"Brother" the king called, his previous smile dying on his lips in a flash after his husband left the room "I want you to arrange for constant surveillance on that man" he ordered, referring to the elder, knowing that his brother already knew which "He is upset at Kyungsoo and I'm afraid he may seek revenge. If he does anything that'd lead you to suspect Kyungsoo might be in danger, I want off with his stupid head".

 

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Tamykana
Finally done editing and published a new chapter of Royal fools 😃😃 I cut down a lot of filler and joined some chapters that were too short, so it only has 13 now where there used to be 17, but the core of the story remains.

Comments

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hfkhan #1
I came back after so long and am so glad to see this fanfic is still being updated. I'm going to go back and re-read!
Trishiali #2
Chapter 24: Can't wait for the next one
fadoua15 #3
Chapter 23: averry good story hop u finde time to continue it
slowjinjin
#4
Chapter 23: angst. i love and hate it
ArmyCaratExoL
#5
Chapter 23: Hopefully Jongin will focus on the fact that he missed Soo and loves him and not be all angry that he left in the first place.. a fight is really not the first thing that should happen when Soo comes back :)
sparkl3ysparx
#6
Chapter 22: The words too and but can be so harmful sometimes. But negates anything said before it and too can add someone into a situation that is unwanted. They both need to just release some tension, then talk it out. They both want to help each other. I can't wait to see what happens.
ArmyCaratExoL
#7
Chapter 22: nooo Soo, don´t misunderstand :(
ArmyCaratExoL
#8
Chapter 22: What? it´s over? not even a single kiss or anything!?
uwujongin
#9
Chapter 19: Okay I mean you totally explained it and I love how the queen is being treated equally by Jongin and all, but I can't help but feel a jab now and then when the characters mention the term queen as someone you can step on and less important ;-;
uwujongin
#10
Chapter 9: Let him roast a little, ksoo, he deserves it >.>