"She'll calm down," Arnwald stated a few minutes after Esmyria stormed out. "Just you wait, tomorrow she'll be just as excited about all this as we are."
"More likely tomorrow heads will be rolling," Emerick sighed. He didn't have the heart to tell his father he wasn't the least bit excited about the prospect of taking over Emilious's kingdom.
For one thing, the kingdom in question is in worse shape than Arnwald's had been at the time he and Esmyria took over it. Half-crazed for the past century or more, a great deal of corruption had grown in flourished under Emilious's lack of careful attention. Many, who had been content to wait until the king passed before making their final grab at power, would be furious to find themselves under the care of a new, unexpected interloper. Were that interloper to be a half-blood with no real renown, it would make bringing the corruption to heel that much more difficult.
