The kingdom of Alba in the year 905…(Ancient region of Scotland)
"Your majesty you are awaited in the throne room by the villagers , as per every Monday sire" Helton my father's adviser / also my future adviser informs me . Every Monday I welcome villagers to come to the palace and tell me their concerns and complaints so that I can be involved directly in problem solving.
"I will be right down Helton , thank you" being a king isn't always easy, I grew up in a family of two , me and my elder sister Hadassa and of course my parents the the king and queen who haven't retired yet because they want me to get married first before ascending the throne which I don't see the point but I still have to go by the rules, the point is that since it's only me and my sister as candidates for the throne it made me become the next person to take the throne after my dad because I am male, again rules.
But of course let me first introduce myself , I go by the names Tobias Vos III and I am a 26year old young man who is being prepared to take the throne once I find myself a proper spouse to lead alongside me, which will possibly be arranged by my parents. This is how it has been for centuries now so I guess i am to just follow the rules in hopes to get along with my presumed wife.
"Tobias when are you going to stop involving yourself with the commoners?" My dear sister yells while barging into my chambers looking quite upset.
"Hadassa you know it's necessary for me to create a trust bond with the people if I want them to follow me once I ascend the throne. Plus I think we as royals should get more involved with the masses instead of ruling from far" my sister has always refused to mix with the commoners , she says we all have our places in society and we shouldn't try to go beyond the boundaries set , i believe that as a ruler this principle doesn't make sense and will only push the masses further apart and in the end the royal family will be seen as ghost rulers for the people will feel put aside. Of course I don't expect my sister to understand this for she always followed rules as they are without having an opinion of her own and especially ever since her husband who was a commoner died after trying to run away with a mistress using royal funds, since that fateful day she sees the common people as sheep that should be reared with an iron hand and not people to discuss with.
"Tobias you are too kind for your own good and maybe too naive despite your age, the commoners will always be just that and even if you do these sessions every Monday to be present for them when they get fed up of you or anyone else they will turn their backs on you" she said and leaves with a look of sadness on her face , i guess she has yet to get over the betrayal of her husband , i really hope she doesn't stay stuck in that grief for too long , she is still young and I believe even at 34 years old she can find love that will heal her past wounds.
I should hurry up though, wouldn't want to be late to one of these sessions or these people would actually turn against me *laugh
"Well let's not stand here all day shall we , let's get started" I announce my presence to the crowd as I sit on my father's throne.
"Your majesty" they all say in unison and bow to me as courtesy and protocol
"You May all rise" I say so and call upon the first one to tell me of any complaint or struggle he/she is facing.
"Your grace, May the heavens bless you and give you a long happy life , my name is Jacob from the north , I own different farms around the central city and have workers there to help me take care of them , every thing has always gone smoothly until last month when the officials raised the land tax to 10,000 when it was only 4,000 . They didn't give us any explanation as to why they changed it and they kept pressuring us to pay but your grace i didn't have such sums to use in tax as i have to supplement other farms in logistics and so on, now the issue that's even bigger than this is that the officials are threatening us of kicking us out of the farms if I don't pay those taxes . Your grace please have mercy on us peasants who just want to make it in life" the man finished stating his concern and what a big one indeed , I didn't even know of this new tax law which is weird , I will have to check with those officials as soon as possible, my people cannot be suffering like this while I am here.
"Your concern has not gone in deaf ears , i will tend to the matter as soon as possible . And thank you Jacob for voicing the issue out"
"Next one" Helton yells
After the session was over I go to my father's office to discuss the issue of the taxes in hopes that we can do something about it.
"Father i need to discuss something with you" my dad looks up at me and instructs me to take a sit.
"What's the matter Tobias?"
"Well this morning I held the usual session with the kingdom's people and they voiced out many issues that were being a bother these last few weeks and so forth , one of them talked about the raise in land tax from 4,000 - 10,000 which he said was too sudden and it was a burden plus apparently they are evicting those who can't pay the tax from their lands , this is scandalous. Also how come I wasn't notified of this?" I have always been very close to my father even in his status of king, he is always encouraging me to get to know the people I shall soon rule and thus I know he will be on my side in this case.
My father removes his glasses and looks through his drawers and takes out a document that he hands to me saying " We are having robberies in our treasury which makes the economy decline , raising the land tax was to help compensate that gap in the economy and also we have a problem of foreigners buying more land and raising their value to a point we can't buy them on a later date and this is endangering the future generations of our people who risk not having their own land and instead working for the foreigners which I don't think any of us wants to see happen , that's why we are raising the land tax , to control the purchasing foreigners "
" I mean I understand where this is coming from but father this new law is affecting our people negatively and since the main focus is the foreigners can't we have only them paying that extra tax money instead of it being the whole kingdom? " I try negotiating because it's kind of unfair to the population that was born and raised here.
" Okay son i will see what we can do , in the mean time continue the good work , it's great that you stay interested in the affairs of the kingdom for soon you shall take my place on that throne "
" I know father , I shall be on my way then" I close the door and head towards the royal floor.
Since I have nothing urgent to attend to for the rest of the day I might as well go see my sister and propose a stroll in the city to put her in a better mood because she had been isolating in her room a lot and it's been a year already, i would like to have my smiling sister back . Plus tonight is our parent's birthday royal wedding anniversary and we are expected to be all smiling and giving a good image.
"Knock knock " I joke outside the door
"What is it?" Oh lord she really is in a cold mood
"I just wanted to invite you to a stroll to the country market and just the area overall . I know you are not especially fond of the villagers right now but let's at-least try and see , maybe you will actually enjoy yourself" I really hope she gives this a thought, staying in is really bad for her health.
"Hump fine I will be right outside , but we better not be long" she soon comes out and we take the horses instead of the royal carriages for a more adventurous stride.