Alex stood in the middle of the throne room, though he was nervous,he dared not to show it. The hall was divided into two with some of the chiefs having loyalty towards the royal family while others were scheming for their chance at royalty. Alex spoke with his voice resonating in the silence.
" It's an honour to stand before you the chiefs of Calluria . The king before his demise had the virtues of what a good king possesses and contributed to our kingdom's development with all that he could in both effort and wisdom. I thank you all for working with him in his reign and your loyalty towards the royal family".
He stared at the faces of the chiefs, some nodded in agreement while others smirked at him. The eldest chief, Commander Nnamdi stepped forward, adjusted his cloak and stroked his beard.
" My prince, we all felt the loss of the king and pray for his soul to rest in peace. We must start the procedure of crowning the king. It has not been long you returned and we would want you to learn and get more accustomed to the ways of rulership before it is time. We the chiefs have had discussions about this and we request that you choose a chief that would rule in your stead till you are ready".
Alex frowned at this statement. He knew that this was a scheme but he had to be smarter.
No later, did the murmuring start and some of the chiefs were nodding in agreement to the eldest chief.
Alex raised his hand to silence the chief.
" Thank you for your suggestion,I will put it into consideration and give you an answer". He smiled and left the throne room.
Alex went straight to his room hoping to figure this out. Walking towards his room, he heard some ruckus going on inside. He fastened his pace and stepped in to see maids putting bags into his closet.
" What is going on hear!" He roared.
The maids froze and turned to him stammering " the.. the queen told us to put these bags in your room".
" Get out" he ordered .
They ran out of the room petrified.
Alex looked at the bags and left to his mother's chambers. He had questions to be answered.
The guards noticing his demeanor as he approached them, quickly announced his arrival to the queen and was told to let him in.
Storming into the room, " Mother, what was the meaning of the stunt you pulled by letting those maids into my room without my permission and who owns those bags".
" Mind the way you speak to me, remember I am you mother".
He stared at her blankly waiting for a reply.
" Well those bags belong to your bethroted, she would be moving in with you".
" No way, I will not accept this".
His mother calmly took a sip from her tea " that is not for you to decide, accept her and treat her well".
He sat on the seat beside her exhausted and confused.
" To other matters, how was the meeting? Did those greedy men show their colours"
He nodded slowly" indeed they did. They request that I hand over to a chief to rule since it hasn't been long I returned.
" Nonsense, these men are very daring."
" Don't worry mother, I have an idea in mind"
" Okay, I trust you have a good way of handling this". She leaned back on her chair with and stare seemed distant.
" I would be leaving now"
" By the way, her name is Salma".
He stood up and left knowing he would have to prevent himself from getting married to this girl by every means possible.
He laid on the sofa analyzing his day and wondering how he was going to get out of this mess.
There was a knock on the door. He sat up ," that's surprising, the guards did not announce who this person was".
He walked up to the door and he was met with a lady , looking down at her feet and twirling her hands around the fringe on her dress.
" How may I help you" he said with a hint of irritation in his voice.
" Good evening, my prince, I was asked by the Queen to come here. I am Salma".
" Well, tell the queen that there won't be any need for that and ask her to come and get your bags from my room as they are discomforting me" slamming the door to her face.
She stood dumbstruck, her feet felt heavy and suddenly she could not move. The feeling of embarrassment overwhelmed her and the fact that she has been waiting to see him all her life made it worse. Hot tears filled her eyes but she refused to cry, she composed herself and went to see the queen. This was not the welcoming she expected.