Phoenix Rising

018

The king was already waiting in front of the palace's great hall by the time the entire procession came up the stone steps towards the ornate wooden doors, with the rest of the court officials standing together in wait. Crown Prince Ru-quan walked ahead, smiling as he said a word or two to the Shadow Lord who was just a step behind. A broad smile stretched across the king's face when he saw them approach.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the princes greeted the king respectfully before stepping aside to make way for the Shadow Lord.

"Your Majesty," he said, kneeling before the king with his head bowed.

"Rise, rise," the king said quickly, bending over to place his hands on the man's shoulders, gesturing for him to get to his feet. "Zhenghuan, you have finally returned." He patted the man on the side of his arms fondly, his eyes glistening a little as he looked upon the latter.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," Zhenghuan said. "My father would have liked to have made the journey with me, but the security of our borders is the top priority and he could not step away. He has asked that I pay my regards to you on his behalf."

"Your... father, of course." The king's smile stiffened slightly. "He has always been one of the kingdom's most loyal generals. The kingdom and I are grateful for his service. Come, come, let's not stand here all day." Placing his arm around Zhenghuan's shoulders, he ushered the young man into the great hall and the others followed suit.

It was a rare occasion that the king granted seats to court officials, a privilege that was only accorded to those that he held in high regard. Today was one of those days, but even then it was only the Shadow Lord and the princes that were allowed to sit in the king's presence. The king had not even demanded for the Shadow Lord to remove the silver mask he wore on his face, something that would have been considered a mark of great disrespect if it had been anyone else. The Chief Minister and the other officials remained standing respectfully in their usual court positions, but no one dared voice a single word of complaint.

"The southern tribes have been restless lately, haven't they?" the king said solemnly.

"They've tried to push boundaries a little but we've managed to fend them off so far," Zhenghuan replied.

"Unlike the other kingdoms, the southern tribes are but small, scattered groups. They are being foolhardy to think that they have a chance of pitting themselves against us," the crown prince said, offering his opinion on the recent border strife.

The land past the southern border of Duan was arid and dry, often subjected to extreme weather conditions like droughts or sandstorms. That was why the three kingdoms had never attempted to conquer that piece of land, leaving it free for the nomadic tribes that continued to make it their home. The tribes had lived in a terse co-existence with the kingdoms for many years, occasionally attempting to encroach on the territories of Duan and Shon because of the fertile lands they owned. However, they had never succeeded because the infighting between the different tribes had always overshadowed their efforts to widen their territory.

The other officials murmured their agreement to the crown prince's remark. They had never thought of the southern tribes as much of a threat to the kingdom's sovereignty, hence they had all thought that the king was making much ado about nothing by celebrating the recent victories.

"That may have been the case in the past, but we have reason to believe that things have changed," Zhenghuan said. "I'm sure the capital must have received our reports while we were fighting against the invading tribes. Did you not notice a difference?"

Many of the officials pursed their lips, annoyance flashing in their eyes. By saying something like that, the Shadow Lord was questioning their ability to analyse the situation for themselves. In other words, he was indirectly accusing them of being incompetent.