Jorl found Tyris's offer so offensive that he remained silent for over a minute. He had many flaws, but stupidity wasn't among them. Jorl knew how powerful his mother really was and angering her would get him nothing but a beating.
"I'm sorry, Mother, but spending the rest of my life taking care of lesser beings is beneath me." Jorl had come for a quick ticket to power, not for a job.
"Sylpha, do you know what your husband and Valeron have in common?" Tyris ignored her son and looked at the Queen in the eyes.
"Neither of them wanted to be King. Meron took the test only to please his parents and the first thing he asked me was to spare his life. He told me that he didn't feel worthy of the Crown, that the thought of thousands of people dying just because he made the wrong decision gave him nightmares.
