"Your highness Princess Nila, Your worship the Chief seer and fellow noble Lords, I Lord Geosefas, the duke of Springhill, have traversed hills and valleys, perils, torments and even near death, to come and pledge my allegiance to the rightful ruler of our land. I would wish nothing but to see your highness crowned as our queen as soon as possible. Only by that shall we bring to an end all attempts by the dark Lord to reign over us. I urge all my fellow Lords to put aside our differences and agree to this. I thus submit!"
The speaker was a middle aged man addressing a group of distinguished individuals inside the great castle of The Old One. On an elevated seat was a an elegant looking young woman dressed in royal apparel. Sitting on both her right and left sides were the various Lords who ruled over various lands of this mighty kingdom. On the right side of the young woman stood an old man whom was referred to as the chief seer.
"Very well Lord Geosefas!" The seer said, " May we get other views from the other lords who have not spoken."
"Your worship Chief seer, even though I have spoken, let me say this to help my fellow Lords and probably save us much of this hassle and tussle. Please allow Me," an old noble stood up and begged. The Chief Seer nodded and the old noble spoke again.
"I mean no disrespect to your highness my princess, neither to any of you my fellow noble men. But let us not forget where our kingdom comes from. This moment in history is not by accident, but it was long ago spoken about by our great forefathers! My lords we cannot go against them by crowning the queen without all aspects of the prophecy being fulfilled."
"And what do you mean Lord Grupa?" another Lord rose up at once. Anger bubbling up in his face, he spoke pointing at the Old baron who had just spoken.
"You know exactly what I mean Lord Ndea. All of us in here know exactly what I am implying! The prophecy states that the princess ..."
"We all know the prophecy Baron Grupa. If your worry is about the appearance of the future king by the side of the princess just before her coronation, then I assure you not to worry any more. Any day soon the said King will arrive from the time beyond!" The Chief Seer spoke up calmly.
"How sure are you?" Grupa insisted. The Old seer glared at him.
"You dare to question my ability to know what the future hold? You dare to question I who lived together in the future with our one and great king?" the chief seer was boiling over with rage but he spoke all the while standing by the side of the princess. The princess maintained a calm countenance all along.
But Grupa was not done yet. He seemed to be having some force driving him.
"Forgive me Your Worship Chief Seer. It is only that without an assurance of when the great king would appear then nothing makes sense anymore. It would be much satisfactory if you would at least tell when exactly should the great king appear! We need some certainty, isn't it so my Lords? Otherwise who knows maybe even the one we all claim to be the daughter of the Old One isn't..."
"Treacherous!"
"Enough of you Grupa!"
"What in the name of the Wise One are you saying old man?"
"What has come over you Grupa! Have you lost your senses?"
All the nobles stood up each with a word of cursing to the old baron. The atmosphere inside the palace was brimming over and could easily get out of control.
"Enough of all this!"
A shrill yet firm voice rang through the hall. Everybody froze at once as if struck by an unseen force. The princess herself was on her feet. She glares hotly at all the noble men before her. Her chest heaved up and down rapidly as she breathed. Everyone shuddered at once! A strong aura of power surrounded her that everything around her started trembling. Even the Chief Seer shook a little and took a step backward. At this moment nobody dared to say a word.
All present held their breath not knowing what the princess was going to say in her anger.
Princess Nila, however, took time as she scanned through the faces that sat on both her right and left. Then when she finally opened her mouth, everyone was stunned.
"Whoever dares to question my legitimacy as the only child of The Old One is none but a spy to the Dark Lord. My father died in this very room when the Dark Lord secretly infiltrated into our ranks. It would be no surprise if he again did it today! For I know him, and he is relentless!"
At this declaration, Grupa was shaking like a blade of grass up against a whirlwind. He quickly clutched at the nearby straws to save his drowning self. It was evident to all that the princess was talking about him.
"Your highness my Lady,,," he began.
"Silence!" The princess shut him up midsentence.
"Lord Grupa, Duke of the Eastern Farlands, Your position as Lord Baron in this kingdom is hereby suspended until conclusive investigation into your contact proves otherwise. I hereby order your immediate remanding in the palace prison. Guards!"
"Waaaa!" all people exclaimed! At that instant four knights walked into the chambers and dragged the baron away. There was mixed reactions from all the present lords. The princess went back to her seat. The Chief Seer consulted her and cleared his throat loudly.
"Noble men, we shall congregate here tomorrow at the same time to deliberate on the way forward concerning this matter. As Chief Seer of this great land, I assure you, nothing shall be done to the contrary of what the prophecies and our traditions dictate! Have a good night!"
Just as the lords began dispersing in groups, Lord Geosefas received a secret communication from his wife. He went aside and after looking at the message his face went pale. Turning around, he saw Lord Goshepa standing and staring at him.
"Is everything alright with you Duke of Springhill?"
"Not at all my friend, not at all. I need to see the Princess immediately."
"No wait! Tell me first. What is it that has befallen you? Come on my friend! Come let us go to a quieter place!"
"Ok but I will be quick!"
Geosefas followed Goshepa outside the King's chambers.