feigning loyalty

Somewhere in Dumbi.

"There is a spy amongst us," Ramsey was not in a good mood. A few years back, there was a competition between Ramsey and his half-brother Joe.

Joe was a talented fighter but. He had a hot temper. He was proud and arrogant. The council of elders were divided into two. Some wanted ro support joe, but Majority favoured Ramsey because he was not just skilled with the sword, but he was astute.

To this end, the two brothers were made to compete agaist each other. They were already at a disadvantage, so they could not afford to fight among themselves.

The competition was divided into two; one was for a fight between the two brothers, while the other was to stage a war. There were two houses and whoever captured the other house was the winner.

Although arrogant, Joe played by the rule; while playing the game, Ramsey had played a dirty trick to capture Joe's house, so he was named the winner; this result was unacceptable to Joe. He had won in the one-on-one fight; he did not see why Ramsey would be declared the winner when he used a dirty trick.

He felt that Ramsey had played tricks, but the elders supported him. It did not matter if he played tricks. All was fair in war and love. So Ramsey gains the support of the council. A few members were unsatisfied with this outcome, but they had to bow to the majority.

This Majority did not care about the means but the result, they claimed that Ramsey's strength was equally matched with Joe's, and since he won the second round, he had their support.

After the competition, Joe refused to accept the result, so he broke away from the council, not without threatening to kill Ramsey. When some of the council tried to talk him out of this decision, he made them eat back their words. "All is fair in war and love."

Since then, no one knew what became of Joe, but when Ramsey saw the poison that had killed the king, he knew that Joe was not far and was keeping an eye on him.

"How do you know this?" The old general asked

"We agreed that I would shield the king from the attack. The sword was laced with poision. It was fortunate that the king did not want to owe me his life. Otherwise, I would be dead," Ramsey knew very well that the king had died in his stand.

"What? We have to investigate this carefully. If we start asking questions, we might alert the rat," the old general was dissatisfied.

A house divided against itself would fall. He had supported Ramsey even if he knew that the tricks were unfair to Joe. He knew that Joe was more substantial, but he also liked to follow the rules. A man like Joe, who lived by the rules, would never seize the throne.

Ramsey still felt angry, but he did not know who could be working with his half-brother. Back then, he had played tricks because he knew he would be unable to win his brother if he followed the rules. He did not just expect that his brother would become vengeful. He thought his brother had principles, so how could he play dirty?

"What should we do now? The King had died at the wrong time. I am afaird the second family would try to steal the throne," Ramsey worried about this the most. He did not feel guilty that the man died because of him.

"We have to go to the palace first. Moreover, a house divided against itself would not stand. We can just watch them destroy each other and reap the Benefits," the old General was very calm.

Ramsey thought it and felt this was the best outcome. As long as Benedict was willing to work with him, the throne should be his soon.

"I have to meet someone first," Ramsey decided to swing into action. He needed to see Benedict, now that things had not gone as planned, General Daiz should be thinking of ways to get the throne.

If General Daiz were to convince Benedict to accept a marriage proposal, then all roads would be blocked. He had no claim to the throne, and his army was too small to face the royal Army.

Just as Ramsey was ready to leave, the old General's right-hand man walked in. "members of the council have arrived, " the right-hand man was Steward Gay, who handled the matters of the general Residence.

Members of the council would not have dared to meet in the old General house another day, but the king's sudden death had thrown the kingdom into panic, and as such, their movement would not be noticed.

"let them in, send the servants back," The old general said. Although he trusted his servants, it was better to be careful. If too many people knew of the secret, one might dare to leak it for his benefit.

Steward Gay bowed and walked away, Ramsey was anxious, but he knew he needed to face the council members in case he could find the clue of who could be Joe's spy.

In a few minutes, the council members were seated, the atmosphere was heavy, and no one knew where to start.

"How did the king die? I thought your duty was to protect him so he can owe you a life?" General Bruce asked. He had long been dissatisfied with Ramsey's tricks. He had a feeling that they could backfire.

"The old fool would rather die than owe me his life," Ramsey shook his head as he spoke. When the council members heard this, they all had different expressions on their faces. They knew what kind of a man the king was.

In a corner, an elderly man smiled with disdain, he hated Ramsey the most for playing tricks, but he had remained quiet and would not say anything.

"Now that the king dies before the princess has a firm grip on the throne, the second household of Tait would try to snatch the throne. Ramsey stands little chance," an elder said.

"That's right, the second household has a male, so what should we do?" another asked.

"Support the princess; as long as she becomes the queen, we would get married, and I can seize power," Ramsey replied. He had calmed down and could analyse the situation clearly.

"if our support can make the princess the next queen is there a need to support her? General Bruce asked. Indeed why waste their support on the princess if they could use it to make Ramsey king?

" We are small, but the princess is not without support; if we add our support, the princess will become the queen. We must make it clear that I have convinced you all to support her. This will make her trust me; dealing with her after gaining power would not be so difficult, " Ramsey said.

The room becomes quiet; once the princess trusts Ramsey, he could steal her power under her nose without her realising it.

" We would do as you say, " the old general was the first to nod his head. The others gradually agreed to this.

"I need to go; I must be by the princess's side when she morn," Ramsey said and got up. He understood a woman's emotion; when she was down, she valued those that supported her the most.

"Go ahead," The old General said.

After Ramsey walked out, the other men were ready to leave, but the old General stopped them.

"Things are changing; if our side will be successful, we must stick together with one voice. As long as Ramsey becomes successful, our families can rise from the dust," He said.

The men here were all intelligent and agreed with the old general's words. In a corner, one man had a mockery look. He could never trust his future and that of his children on a backstabber. If he dared to fake his love for the princess, he might also be feigning loyalty to them. Who can granuty he would not burn the bridge after climbing it?