Lucas was sweating bullets sitting at the Legislative table with Byron across from him and the Emperor at the head of the table to his right.
To his left was the length of the table holding twelve men of varying degrees of brevity and pomposity.
These men could kill a fly just by looking at it with an evil eye. And those evil eyes at the moment was staring directly at him.
They didn't have to say anything. Their mannerisms shouted loudly their lack of enthusiasm.
One portly Legislator stood up. He stroke his long grey beard with a fussy hand.
"Your Majesty. We can't keep doing this. You need to pick a son and stick with him."
"In the space of seven days, three separate Crown Princes had sat at this very same table, being briefed the exact same thing. Are you going to bring Prince Leonardo in next week and make him Crown Prince?"
The Emperor harrumphed.
"Who the Crown Prince is doesn't make a whit of difference." He eyed Grey Beard.
"What makes a difference is you continue to do what needs to be done to keep the Empire from careening into the ditch!"
He sniffed and looked away, towards the bright stained glass window depicting lovers by a rose bush. Why in hell was lovers smooching by a rose bush considered a good piece of stained glass art inside a dull and boring Legislative Hall?
There was more droning of dull protests coming from the twelve stuff shirts.
"The new Crown Prince will take at least a couple of years to learn all the necessary things that he will need to be able to handle daily court duties and to head the legislative sessions."
Another Legislator stood up. He was a mousy sort with watery blue eyes and a thin hooked nose.
"I have to agree. I find Prince Byron to be the most qualified to continue the job. He's been groomed all his life to do this."
"Prince Dante, although very knowledgeable about our day-to-day affairs, tend to be on the…abrupt and caustic side."
"Oh he's a hot-headed dictator is what he is." A red-faced burly fellow thew out. "But I like Prince Dante. You knew exactly where he stood on things. His words are hard to hear, but he's not wishy-washy. He delivers."
"I certainly do!" A voice called out from the doorway.
Everyone turned towards the sudden commotion at the entrance.
The tall figure of the First Prince Dante moved with long-legged strides into the Legislation Hall.
"Dante!" The Emperor smiled and rose up. "What brings you to this—" he looked around at the legislators, "boring place?"
Dante snarled. "The Avians have acquiesced to pulling out of Mother's world, Nymphalidae. They have also accepted the Once and Present King of Emporia, Mattheus Cordera as legitimate ruler."
Gasps rang out across the Legislator Hall.
"Harrumph." Grey Beard cleared his throat. "How did you manage that?"
Dante rolled back on his heels. His head was thrown back as he looked down his regal nose at Grey Beard.
"The old bird Pimpernickel thought I was still the Crown Prince, so whatever I said, he acquiesced to. He also told me that the Avians had made a cash purchase for the entire world of Emporia."
Dante narrowed his gaze. "He just sent me a message a few minutes ago in regards to the purchase details."
"What???"
"How???"
"Has he gone senile?"
"What absurdities!"
The General Assembly of Legislators were muttering to themselves and making a rowdy noise.
"Ahem." The Emperor cleared his throat.
Nobody heard him. They were too busy discussing the three thunderbolt news items that the First Prince had just brought to the Legislation Hall.
Dante snarled under his breath and shot a bolt of energy into the ceiling.
ZAPPP!!!
A chunk of drywall fell to the floor.
BAAAM!!!
Mousy Blue Eyes screamed like a little girl. Everyone else jumped in startlement and turned back to stare at Dante.
He raised his hand and made a quick imperial gesture, popping open a gigantic virtual monitor hovering over the Legislator Hall.
Instantly, the paunchy jowled mug of the balding Grand Duke Howell Pimpernickel popped up on-screen.
"This is a message for First Prince Dante, Crown Prince of Erenveil. I have found the information you requested in regards to the details of the purchase of Emporia."
The Grand Duke Pimpernickel paused and pressed his thin lips together in obvious displeasure.
"I will be traveling to Erenveil on unrelated business tonight. Let us meet and I will give you the information in person at that time."
The Grand Duke was about to sign off when he turned back.
"Oh, one last thing. Please tell your brother Prince Byron, to report to Coraline for his newly appointed duties. We will be expecting him to join his mother and aunt in the very near future."
Byron's face darkened as the Grand Duke signed off the visual message.
"I'm not going anywhere." He growled with finality.
All around him, the men were in an uproar.
The Emperor pursed his lips.
He had three separate but equal problems on his hand.
There was his eldest son who should have been Crown Prince from the start and was currently still viewed by everyone as the legitimate Crown Prince although he was no longer one.
Then there was the 'on-paper' Crown Prince who few people actually knew was the new Crown Prince. The poor boy looked like a lamb led to slaughter because he had no clue how to even be a Crown Prince.
And finally there was the Prince who used to be a Crown Prince, who was now at loose ends and was in danger of being used in this war against his own family.
Of course, what made all this so twisted was that Dante was the one out there in the galaxy doing the serious and legitimate Crown Prince work.
Meanwhile, Byron and Lucas were sitting inside this boring Legislative Hall doing nothing but wasting time with all these pompous turkeys.
He wished…he wished these three boys of his were one person. Each of them possessed a shining quality that would have made this position absolutely positively sing!
Byron had the depth and breadth of day-to-day knowledge about law and order. Dante had the power of execution and the necessary strength to carry out the military duties. And Lucas had the charisma and charm to engage in civic duties.
He sighed. He wished the Emperor position was a triumvirate. A three-pronged structure that allowed for separate but equal ruling to take place.
As the Emperor sat there thinking about his three-pronged structure, the noise within the Legislative Hall escalated.
"…no I am not suggesting that Prince Dante be returned to his rightful position, I am merely—"
"…but that is exactly what you are saying, and I for one am in full agreement!"
"…we can't just bing-bong and yo-yo back and forth like this, it's just not dignified—"
"…but that old bastard is treating the First Prince as if he is Crown Prince. If we say anything to the contrary—"
"…every negotiation position falls apart because Prince Dante is not the driving force behind it—"
"…we can't just endorse Dante as the Crown Prince and then later on say, oops, we lied—"
"…that's right, because then we look like chumps!"
Dante stood back on his heels and watched as the General Assembly of the Legislative Hall chattered back and forth, running through all the possibilities.
The Emperor harrumphed one more time.
"Ahem."
The turkeys continued their gobbledygook of chatter.
Emperor Rex stood up and banged his gold scepter on the table.
BAAAAMMM!!!
Everyone jumped and looked at the Emperor, who had risen from his seat.
"Hmmm." He looked at the scepter, which was once a nice shiny round gold ball on a stick but was now a nicely dented gold ball on a stick.
"They don't make these like they used to."
He raised his eyes and stared into the group of turkeys.
"Carry out my newest decree. All three of my boys will share the responsibility of the Emperor position as of this moment. They will be Co-Crown Princes of Erenveil."
BAAAAMMM!!!
The Emperor banged the mangled gold scepter on the table one more time.
He looked at the warped scepter and handed it over to Dante.
Then he walked out, leaving the Legislative turkeys with their mouths hanging wide open and the brothers staring at each other with astonished faces.