The doors were shut swiftly behind him when Albrecht had entered the throne room. A servant of the royal palace had escorted him there and told him to wait. As one of the royal messengers from Ayumir, he’d seen quite a few of them. He found it interesting to investigate them with his eyes. A red carpet formed a straight path ending in a little staircase on which the throne rested upon, tall stain glass windows were placed next to it. Pillars of marble supported the high ceiling, a balustrade had been built around the room aloft. Banners hanged down from there, like overseers, a shiny, yellow sun on pure red ground adorned them. Albrecht took a closer look at the guards from afar. They wore red, high-quality armour. They held shields, that, naturally, showed the royal emblem as well. Albrecht was excited to meet the ruler of Solaria, but…he was concerned about the meeting as well. For one, it was his first time delivering a message to king Elsurion, the successor to the throne, after his father, king Elias had perished. For another, rumours had started to spread around the royal family. Rumours about them being ‘wicked’. That they would use blasphemous ways of sorcery, of magic to control their subjects, to hex others! The messenger shook his head. Rumours. Nothing more than rumours. He could not believe such things. He had delivered messages a few times, king Elias always seemed like an ordinary man to him. A king, a ruler, of course, but there was nothing supernatural about him in Albrecht’s’ opinion. The rumours started a few years after the son of king Elias was born…

The door was opened. Albrecht looked up, there he was, king Elsurion. He came in walking through a door on the left-hand side. Elegantly, he walked towards the throne and sat down, with no haste at all, as if he was not even noticing the messenger. Albrecht was starting to wonder when the king spoke: “Come forth, messenger.” His voice. Something with his voice was…not right. Or was Albrecht starting to imagine things? Albrecht took a step forward, his legs started to tremble a little, and another step. The gap between them closed and Albrecht felt more uneasy with each passing second. Upon reaching the little staircase before the throne, he kneeled before the king and spoke:

“Your Highness, king Elsurion, I bring to you word from our kingdom, from our ruler, his royal highness King Leopold II.”, he held his head low until the king answered:

“Of course, messenger. Rise, and let me hear his word.”, there was this tone in his voice again.

“Yes, sire.”, Albrecht answered. He rose, and looked at the king for a moment, focusing on him. He wanted to know why he felt so uneasy. The king’s presence was intimidating to Albrecht, even if the king was so young. There was something in his eyes, the messenger felt like prey, like a sheep to a wolf. Albrecht blinked a few times, to clear his mind. No, he must be seeing things, everything was just fine, he told himself.

“Messenger? Is something the matter?”, the king asked.

Albrecht snapped out of it. “No, king Elsurion. Nothing at all. I apologize, I will deliver our message at once.”

Albrecht took out the scroll he was assigned to deliver and broke the seal. He began reading:

“Your Royal Highness, King Elsurion of Solaria. I will not bore you with unnecessary details. I, unfortunately, must terminate our trade agreement regarding the fruits of our mines. I have decided to replace our agreement with a much more lucrative one. As Solaria has proven to be a very trusty trading partner, we would like to leave the trade of the other goods unaltered. I ask you to sign this document as a sign of your approval.

- Leopold II”

As Albrecht finished reading, his arms began to grow weak. Albrecht was terrified as he, naturally, was not allowed to know the message beforehand. He let the scroll sink and stared at the king Elsurion, to await his reaction. The king did not even flinch. Albrecht was no merchant, but he knew how precious the arcane crystals were. They were Ayumir’s prime good. As far as Albrecht knew, arcane crystal deposits were rare in Aurelia, king Elsurion could consider himself happy to be Ayumir’s trading partner. Now, his king's message stated to simply take that away from Solaria. Plus, Albrecht was the unlucky one to deliver it. What would king Elsurion do now? Kick him out? Imprison him? Kill him? Dear Ayumir! No, he did not want to die! He must be upset about this news! Albrecht still dared not to move. After an eternity (or at least what felt like one), the king slowly rose. He walked over and grabbed a quill from the table that stood a few feet from the throne, under one of the windows. He turned around and examined Albrecht.

“Will you, eventually, hand me the scroll to sign, messenger?”

Still stupefied, Albrecht blinked a few times. He, eventually, broke free from his fear and handed king Elsurion the scroll. His hands were visibly shaking. The king gently took it, signed it and returned it to Albrecht. Albrecht stumbled back a few feet. The king’s eyes were too much up close.

“Bring your ruler my best wishes. We will happily keep on trading with Ayumir. I have other pressing matters to attend now. You will be escorted outside, I wish you safe travels.”

One of the guards walked Albrecht out of the throne room. Albrecht had no opportunity to say something, the doors were shut behind him again. Trembling, he stood there. A servant was waiting outside and led him back to his escort. The servant bowed and left him be. No threats, no harm, nothing. The king did not even get upset. Albrecht took a minute to take a few deep breaths. One of the soldiers who had travelled alongside him, asked: “Messenger? Are you alright?”

“No! I mean…yes! Of course, everything is fine…it’s all fine.“

Albrecht sat on his horse. The party set out for the city gates, to begin their way home. If they made haste, they could reach a small village not far from here to spend the night in a tavern. He did not tell them what happened inside or how terrified he still was by the looks the king gave him.

As soon as the messenger had left, Elsurion’s expression changed. He did not look so relaxed anymore. His eyes glowed in anger. “Sarenya.”, he said, clearly suppressing his fury. The woman appeared beside him, leaving her hideout behind the throne. “Yes, my king?”

“The messenger will have an ‘accident’ before he reaches the city gates.”

“It will be done.” Sarenya nodded and vanished.