On the other side of the Galaxy, a large rotund man sat gazing at the virtual panels before him. His eyes were crinkled and he was laughing like a maniac.
"Bartleby, another glass of excelsior blood wine! I haven't had this much fun in ages!"
"Your Majesty." Bartleby gave a nod and filled the Monarch's gold wine goblet with the rich red viscous liquid from the large jug by his side.
The Snake Monarch Zare Vartis was quite fond of the mixture of red fruit wines mixed with blood and allowed to ferment. Personally, the odor of fermenting blood and rotten grapes was something that, to him, was stomach churning.
But what did he know. He was just the court jester aka the Monarch's personal aide.
He gave an oily car-salesman smile at the fat Snake Monarch and went about filling the goblet with more of the blood wine.
Whoever heard of a fat snake. The only fat snakes he ever saw was one that had swallowed some prey so large that all it could do was sit in one spot until the prey was fully digested.
This monarch was one such fat snake.
"Bartleby, how many sons do I have?"
"Your Majesty, you have 382 sons and 294 daughters."
"382 sons. I have hundreds of sons but this is the only one I can recognize. Do you know why that is, Bartleby?"
Bartleby could only shake his head. How in the world would he know why a man could not recognize his own children?
"Because none of them look like me!" Monarch Zare Vartis gave a grand gesture with his hand. "The only one who is a duplicate of myself is that boy there."
He pointed to the virtual panels in front of him with the still image of Alekai Vartis sitting inside an Elite Gear surrounded by scorpions and backlit by a dying starship.
Bartleby nodded with a smile as fake as cubic zirconia. There was no way that this exceptional young man with such handsome features could ever be the spawn of this ugly fat Monarch.
The fact that they shared the same last name might have been a purely coincidental chance, except that Alekai Vartis had actually been verified by the Chancellor of Genetics to be the true son of Zare Vartis and his concubine Amber Sai.
"It looks like he's on a starship to come to Taranhara. When is the Prince coming, Bartleby?"
"Your Majesty, Prince Alekai Vartis is not the one who is coming to take up the throne."
Monarch Zare Vartis looked up from the virtual panels.
"Oh? Why is he not coming? And if he's not coming, who is?"
"Your Majesty, Alekai is not the Crown Prince. He is merely the decoy to take the brunt of any misfortune that might befall the real Crown Prince."
Bartleby sniffed and waved a hand. Instantly, the images of Alekai Vartis were replaced with the smiling face of Alexander Vartis.
"This is the Crown Prince, Your Majesty. He is the son of Queen Midalia and yourself."
Alexander's winsome smile, hazel eyes and pale brown hair was in stark contrast to the serious, dark-haired amber eyed son of his and concubine Amber Sai's.
"Do you mean to tell me that one of my sons is supposed to be the decoy for another of my sons?" Monarch Zare Vartis gasped in outrage.
"What kind of setup is it that you people are arranging? Are you saying that one of my sons is less valuable than some ordinary serf?"
"Your—Your Majesty…"
"BARTLEBY!!!" Monarch Zare Vartis bellowed. "How dare you put one of my children in such harm's way?"
"Your—Your Majesty!!!" He held out a hand.
"If you want a decoy, go get a soldier of similar height and weight! How dare you take one of my own sons and turn him into a bullet shield?"
Monarch Zare Vartis' eyes turned bloody red. "Do you understand that Alekai Vartis' life is far more valuable than your own filthy hide?"
"Your Majesty, it was not me. I would never have the audacity to do anything at that level."
"Who arranged this fiasco???"
"The—the Queen, Your Majesty. Queen Midalia."
For a moment, Monarch Zare Vartis said nothing. Then he gestured.
"Go get my scribe. I need to make a decree."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Bartleby ran off with sweat the size of bullets running down his brows.
Hanging around the Monarch was like hanging out with sleepy lions. Your next breath could be your last.
The scribe who hastily ran to the Monarch's side was Laurel, a man of little importance other than the fact that he was a good scribe and could keep his mouth shut.
He came with his voice recorder and stood at rapt attention, waiting for the Monarch to say something.
"Laurel, take down my decree." He cleared his throat.
"I, Monarch Zare Vartis, hereby proclaim that my son Prince Alekai Vartis, born to my beloved concubine Amber Sai, shall be betrothed to the Princess Tasha Lima. They shall be wed as soon as the Princess reaches age of consent."
He nodded with satisfaction.
"That should do it. Make copies and distribute them everywhere so everyone knows that Alekai is coming within the next couple of years."
He smiled.
"The Princess Tasha Lima should be of age by then."
"Your Majesty, do we send a copy of the decree also to Prince Alekai Vartis?"
"Of course!" Monarch Zara Vartis sputtered. "He should know that he has a father who is looking out for his welfare."
He sniffed with pride.
"Being married to Tasha Lima will nail his success to the brightest, shiniest star out there. The Lima family is second only to the Vartis family in wealth and influence."
"What about Prince Alexander Vartis, Your Majesty?"
"What about him? That mousy boy who doesn't even look like me? He has his mother to take care of him. She got him the Crown Prince position, didn't she?"
Monarch Zare Vartis cackled with glee. "If he wants to secure that Crown Prince position, he's going to have to fight my boy Alekai for it."
His eyes turned hard. "Queen Midalia wants to play games with me? She only knows how to play checkers on a board game of high level chess."
He slapped his hands together.
"Let the games begin."