“The better.” Another voice entered our conversation, making us turn our heads to the door. “It seems that your son has learned a lot after your trip to Middle Earth,” he continued as he approached us. “Gonzalo, stand. There’s nothing to worry about,” he added, passing by Gonzalo.

“I thought you were still in the meeting. How did it go?” Mother asked, kissing James on the cheek.

“They were getting difficult, especially with their demands. They want to benefit from the cause and at the same time, claim all the glory that will be received from the plan,” he explained.

“Well, that’s a shame. It would’ve been a wonderful opportunity to showcase our partnership with them,” Mother frowned. “And their products have potential to be a good source of revenue for the kingdom.”

“Oh, don’t worry yourself too much, my wife. There are a lot of opportunities out there,” he smiled at her, holding her hands. “Anyways,” he slowly turned Mother around to face me, putting his hands on her shoulders. “What are you two arguing about?”

Mother and I just looked at each other, waiting for one of us to tell James what was going on before he arrived.

“We’re not arguing, to be exact,” I started, putting my hands behind my back. “I was just explaining to Mother that I’m fully capable of going back to work and that you would agree with me on that matter.”

Mother looked up to James and he looked back at her, talking with their eyes. “Well, if your mother was the one who gets her way, you would be staying in bed until we say so,” he said after a sigh. “However, you are your own person, and if you think you can handle a few reports today then do so. But don’t strain yourself. The Medicine King said that you may be feeling better but your wounds still need a bit more time.”

“You’re agreeing to what he wants?” she asked him, confused.

“Amelia,” he gave her a light squeeze on her shoulders, “If our son thinks he can get some work done without forcing himself then we should let him. Should he feel that he overused his body today, we’ll be here to tell him we told him so.”

My eyes widened and my brows furrowed, surprised that James is completely on my side. Usually, when my mother and I disagree on something, he would side with her and that’s understandable. A king should side with his queen as the queen does for her king. But in this conversation, Mother is outnumbered.

“Well, can’t we, at least, limit the number of reports he will be doing today?” she insisted on her demands. Her persistence made me smile and caused James to chuckle, amused by her stubbornness.

“Mother, I’ll be fine,” I walked to her, holding her hands as I reached her. “You need not worry about me. James said it himself: if I feel too tired, you will be there to scold me for it.”

She sighed as she bowed her head, defeated. “If you say you can go back to work, I trust you,” she smiled as she caressed my hands. She then turned to James, “It’s incredibly hard to win a conversation when I’m against the two of you. You both have the same mind,” she remarked with a smile.

James let out a smirk. “Well, he is my son. He has more of my qualities than I thought,” he said, a statement that I couldn’t agree with because I don’t see any kind of resemblance between the two of us. “If I may, my queen, I would like to have a word with Robert for a moment.”

She nodded and turned back to me, kissing me on the cheek. She whispered, “Don’t work yourself too much. If I find out that you did, I will be forced to take away all of your reports.”

I let out a small laugh as she took a step back. “I will take good care of myself, Mother.”

“All right, my darling, don’t pester the child too much. He will be fine,” James reassured her, pulling her closer to him by her shoulders. Mother did her curtsy and after he laid a kiss on her hand, she smiled at us one more time and left.

James walked closer to me, clearing his throat. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I feel better now that I’m out of bed. Thank you, Your Majesty,” I made a quick bow, “For asking about my well-being.”

“Please, Robert, there’s no need to call me Your Majesty,” he suddenly put his hand up, interrupting me, “I prefer you call me by my name when it’s just the two of us.”

I nodded. “Is there anything that you would want for me to do?” I enquired.

“No, I just wanted to see for myself if you’ve recovered,” he smiled. “Your mother worried too much about you and to make sure she wasn’t overreacting about the situation, I had to come.

I nodded again.

“Also, I don’t want this to hinder your responsibilities once you take over the throne, especially when you need to go to another kingdom,” he added.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty--”

“Hm?” he quickly stopped me again as he raised his brows, reminding me of what he just said a while ago.

“Oh, forgive me. I meant, rest assured, James,” I emphasized his name, “This experience hasn’t caused any kind of trauma on me. I won’t let this matter stop me from fulfilling my role as king.”

He smiled, seemingly satisfied with my reply. “I’m happy that you’re facing this with bravery and integrity. You have become worthy as a future ruler of this kingdom.”

“If I may, James, I would like to have a meeting with all of the crew members of the ship,” I continued my reply. “They have served me valiantly and they deserve all the recognition as well.”

His eyes widened, surprised. “I didn’t know you already have close relations with the crew.”

“They vowed to serve me until the very end on that night. I would like to return the favor for what they did for me and Mother,” I explained.

James began to think about my request. The captain showed his loyalty and was willing to sacrifice himself for me just to make sure I returned home alive. He deserves more than just a reward of gold.

“If you must then I allow it. When would you like to have them come over?” James asked.

“I’ll be the one to invite them here to the castle. All I need is your blessing, both verbal and written so I could do whatever is needed without having any sort of problem,” I explained.

He nodded slowly. “I’ll write a royal proclamation and have it announced in the whole kingdom. The people should know about it, seeing that you want to give them glory for your safety.”

“Thank you, James,” I bowed.

“Well, I know you still have other things to do so I’ll take my leave,” he said after a deep breath. “If you feel like you can’t keep working anymore, take your rest.”

“Yes, James,” I replied but inside my mind, I’m already rolling my eyes with this reminder. He and Mother are too anxious about it. They can see that I’m perfectly fine.

“I will see you later today,” he bids goodbye. I gave my bow and he walked out of the room.

Gonzalo finally walked up to me with all the reports. “My deepest apologies if I arrived at the wrong time, Your Highness,” he quickly bowed.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Gonzalo,” I reassured. “As you can see, everything turned out perfectly fine. His Majesty is on our side on this matter.” I gestured to the table and he put the documents there as soon as possible. “You also heard that I will be inviting the captain and his crew members here.”

“Yes, young prince. Is there something you would like for me to do?” he inquired.

After a bit of thinking, I remembered one small thing that I know I would be needing his help with. “If it’s not too much trouble, Gonzalo, I would like for you to create a speech for me,” I grabbed one document from the pile. “I don’t need something too long, too formal, or too emotional. I just want you to create some sort of foundation so I could change what I need for the speech.”

Gonzalo didn’t answer, he started thinking about my instruction. He replied, “But young prince, you’re known for creating amazing speeches for His Majesty. Why would you need my help?”

I shrugged and said, “I will be attending to these reports as long as I can. At the same time, I need to have a speech prepared before they arrive. I know you’re the only person I could trust.”

Gonzalo nodded. “As you wish, Your Highness. When would you like for me to write your speech for you?”

I sat down on my chair and returned to the report I was looking through before Mother entered. “The sooner you can, the better. I know you have many things to do so if you have some spare time, you can do that.”

Gonzalo bowed his head. “With your permission, I would like to create the speech right now, in front of Your Highness’s presence.”

“As long as it won’t be any trouble with your daily activities, you may,” I smiled.

He bowed again and stood. “I’ll go and get some paper and a pen, young prince. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, putting my full attention to the report as Gonzalo left the room.