Chapter 27 - Vivid Victory

James rubbed the arms of the throne. He felt happy by just sitting on it. He imagined when he would become the real king in future.

His attention was caught by some footsteps coming towards the throne. He looked up and saw General Brewer.

General Brewer was the commander of all the kingdom's Garrison. He continued walking towards him with smart and fast paces.

He went down on a kneel as he came closer to the throne.

"Your Majesty" he hailed James. He must have thought the Alpha King was the one sitting on the throne.

"General Brewer" James called out. His voice was nothing like his father's. They were distinctly different.

"James?" General Brewer looked up in amazement. He was definitely surprised to see James sitting comfortably on the throne.

"General Brewer, I am the vicegerent of your king. You are going to accord me same respect you give to him" James said sternly.

"Your Highness. I hoped to meet the king and discuss some state matters. But in his absence. I will leave" General Brewer stood up.

"General Brewer" James heaved a sigh of relief. He was happy that he didn't give him a hard time before showing him respect. That only made him know one thing. And that was the people were ready for his reign.

"You will report everything you wish to make known to my father. He has appointed me to oversee all the affairs of the Kingdom of Darnley" he roared out.

"Actually, it is not something to bother about. I just want to share a strange occurrence with the king before I take action" General Brewer said casually and accompanied his words with smiles.

"Report, General" James groaned.

"A small size foot soldiers about two hundred of them are marching towards the south gate as we speak. They will be there by tomorrow first light" he reported.

"You call a war against the kingdom something not to bother about?" James said furiously.

"I am sure you are not well versed in the matters of war. A two hundred foot soldiers is nothing to worry about. I will dispatch only fifty of my men to give them what they seek. Suicide" General Brewer laughed.

"Fifty men against two hundred? Are you that careless, General?" James scolded.

"Twenty men is enough for them. They are no match for us at ten men to one. Fifty is just to play it safe" he laughed again.

"A small number of soldiers attacking us like that means the news of the king's health has spread beyond our kingdom" James said thoughtfully.

"The king's health? Is the king not well?" General Brewer was obvious surprised.

"The king is slightly indisposed" James moaned. "And you will dispatch no men without my authorization. I will handle this by myself" he affirmed.

"The king will not stop me from discharging my duties. Why do you want to bother yourself with this?" General Brewer queried

"I have seen you are nothing but a careless General. You can continue fighting a thousand men with twenty men when the king is back. But now that I watch over the kingdom. I won't allow such" he blurted out at him.

"What do you want to do, Your Highness?" General Brewer had succumbed easily.

"You assemble your men for a brief. I will command the war in person" James thundered.

"I will do that" General Brewer abode and made his exit from the palace hall.

Everything was falling in place easily. He mapped it out in his mind. He would be at the battle front and would agree to play by General Brewer's idea of sending fifty men.

They were obviously going to be destroyed and killed. He would let General Brewer got the feeling of committing a mistake.

With the help of Harold to destroy the lives of the soldier using the package he brought to him earlier. He would venture into the midst of the war alone. He would claimed doing that for the love he had for his kingdom and his people.

He smiled broadly until he broke out laughing loudly. The plan was perfect and believable. He would defeat them all and be endorsed not only by his father but the entire kingdom and the armies that would have been wowed by his bravery and triumph.

"Behold, King James of Darnley Kingdom. He singlehandedly stopped a force of two hundred men before he became a king" he hailed himself.

That was what people would see him as after he had achieved this feat.

********************

"Once more" James proposed to hug Julia once again. He was obviously very happy. They had been hugging for a number of times.

He would hug her, walked round his chamber majestically and come back to her for another hug.

She wondered what had made him so happy. There was nothing else that could make him this happy than the realization of the achievement of his goal.

"You are very happy" she said softly.

"Is it that obvious?" he questioned with a lot of smiles.

"I have delivered your message to him and that has put his heart in turmoil" Julia smiled hoping that would garden him.

"I didn't want him to be in turmoil. I just want him distracted" he moaned

"Disturbed is the greater form of distraction, my Lord" she bowed to him.

"By the end of this days, you will see me as the glorious heir to the throne" he danced round and stopped abruptly.

Julia looked in the direction of his gaze to see what had made him stopped dancing suddenly. She saw Harold staring at both of them. He was not pleased at all.

"Harold, you are welcome" James greeted him awkwardly. He knew he had done something wrong in Harold's judgement

"I have something to discuss with you" Harold sounded like he was fighting back tears.

Julia slowly moved away from James.

"But you are jubilating already. I don't want I be a joykiller. It could wait till another time" Harold smiled forcefully.

James nodded. He couldn't say anything at the moment.

Harold turned back to leave.

"Then I think you should share in the ongoing joyful party" he called him back.

Harold stopped and faced him.

"We will be under attack at the south gate by tomorrow" he laughed but Harold was not joining in the laughter.

"Don't tell me you are happy because we will be attacked. Is it the south gate that makes it funny or why is it not funny to me?" Harold was not excited.

"Hear me out till the end before you conclude. I have discussed with the General. I will be leading the war. With my idea and foresight, the war is already won" James grinned loudly.

Harold laughed with him.

"So you are celebrating a future victory. That sounds great" he rushed to him and they hugged each other.

Julia knew they were obviously talking about another thing. She knew what it was. It was a fake war that he had planned to stop by himself.

"Bring us wine. We have to celebrate this" Harold shouted at Julia.

Julia shivered on the spot before steeling to move out. James waved to stop her.

"Someone else had already gone for the wine, Harold" James said calmly to him.

"What is her essence if she couldn't fetch us wine?" Harold criticized.

"Just not let us talk about that" James stopped him. "Come here, Julia. What do you think about this war?" he asked her as she moved closer to them.

"She is a maid and not in any position to talk about this" Harold went off before Julia could say anything.

"Answer me" James urged her as he noticed Harold had made her cowered back.

"For you to decide to lead the war, you are very brave and patriotic" she said slowly without looking at his face.

"That was nice. She said something nice. She is going to drink with us" James exclaimed happily.

Harold looked like hell. He was not happy with any of this.

"There is something I wanted to tell you about her, Harold" James cleared his throat.

"I have promised to make her my queen once I assume the throne" James said sternly. He obviously didn't want Harold to argue.

"I didn't catch that" Harold leaned closer to him.

"You heard me. She will be my queen" he roared angrily.

"James!" he called calmly to soothe him. "Royal marriages are arranged to forge alliance and strengthen a kingdom. You should know better" Harold whispered to James.

"I have made my decision, friend" James clenched his fist.

"So many times, we make wrong decision. There is nothing bad once we are ready to right our wrong. You should change your decision" Harold advised him.

"Harold!" James laughed like a maniac. "I am not telling you this to get your opinion. I want you to start treating like the Queen she would become from now on" he reeled off.

Harold was definitely saddened. He swallowed some saliva in his mouth.

"I have no problem with that" it seemed he had swallowed his anger along with the lump.