A drug called Power

An announcement had been made for all the important members of the Royal community to gather in the courtroom before 8 o'clock in the night. There has been chit chat about the sudden call and most of them thought it was about the Princess.

Soon the courtroom was filled with the King's most loyal men including Alec Preston and Sarius Willson. It was the first time the King had called them like that. As soon as the doors opened, every head bowed in respect.

To their astonishment the only one who appeared to lead the session was the Queen but not the King. Many eyes exchanged looks and some even showed slight disapproval as it was against the norms for a Queen to attend the courtroom session in the life of a King. 

Alec and Sarius looked at each other as well. They haven't heard from the King after the Princess was taken away by the sorcerer. They were waiting for the next set of instructions to follow but they never came except this meeting invitation. 

She passed by the King's throne and sat on the smaller chair beside it. She gestured for the bowing men to lift their heads up but herself remained facing downwards. 

After a little while of silence she started, "You all must be wondering why I am here instead of your King." She paused and wiped the corner of her eye with a black handkerchief that matched her plain black gown. "Your and my King left us yesterday night." 

A low murmur budded among the group of men exchanging worried and surprised glances. A few days ago a regular courtroom session had been canceled due to the King not feeling well but this news of his ultimate departure was totally unexpected. 

Alec Preston stood there bewildered, unable to say anything. Where he was expecting the King to call him and assign him the duty of protecting the Princess and there he got this news. 

"It's very hard for me and my children as well. It's a dark time but we need to take the next right step in order to protect our Kingdom from those who have set an eye upon the throne." She kept dabbing her watering eyes with the handkerchief while saying so. 

"But what happened to the King?" A young man who had recently joined the Royal community blurted out.

The Queen gave him a sore look and so did his elderly father who stood beside him. He immediately apologized for the disrespect on the behalf of his son. 

"It's ok Vilder, I understand the concern about your beloved King. It was as sudden for me as it is for all of you. Our King had been silently battling a life threatening disease and it succeeded in taking him away from us." She burst out in tears while saying so but immediately recovered afterwards. 

The man who had inquired felt guilty and apologized as well. 

"Apologies Your Highness but our Prince is too young to take over the responsibilities of the throne and…" A man named Charles who was the oldest among them all and had served with the King from the time both of them were young, said. He left the sentence unfinished but all of them knew what he was intending to say. 

Following from the olden times, there had been some set of rules and norms regarding the heirs of the throne after the death of a King. A Queen is eligible for the throne only if she is married to the King. A concubine or maid can not be crowned regardless of the fact that she had given birth to the King's children. 

Everyone knew that the new Queen was a concubine of the King whom he never married. After the sudden death of his wife, he started bringing this woman everywhere with him and soon ended up having many children and a Prince from her. 

"Indeed the Prince is still young but our Princess Flerona is old enough and well capable of taking over the responsibilities. Her father had always believed in her." She said with a proud look on her face. 

Once again murmurs could be heard swirling around. After the Crown princess had run away from her marriage and the consequences it caused among the common people, the matter had become very controversial. Now that the King was no more among them, their own contradicting opinions were starting to interrupt the matters of state. 

"Silence," Sarius spoke immediately as he found it quite disrespectful of them to speak in the presence of the Queen who already seemed very upset. 

Everyone was pulled out of their little bubble and they became a little attentive towards the Queen. The commander of the military held an important position hence the men were habitual of listening to him after the King, more than the Queen. 

"The news of our King's departure should not break out until our Princess is crowned. This step is taken to ensure the safe coronation ceremony of our heir." The Queen said and stood up from her seat. "A bonus will be granted for all in order to celebrate our new Queen's welcoming. Anyone who will go against our decision will bear the consequences." 

Her last words were laced with an enticing promise for the greedy ones and a hint of underlined warning for the rebels, both necessary for getting ahold of the drug called power.