Chapter 2 1

The plain of Bermont that was occupied by the four kingdoms of Ceiptu, Dunab, Blanco and Djon, was is in relative peace at the turn of the century. The plain hadn't always been peaceful; a handful of skirmishes between the kingdoms had occured in earlier times, and sometimes, it had seemed like a full-scale war would break out. But none of these happened. The aging king of Ceiptu, King Quincy, at the height of the furore, organized the other kings into a sort of union, which required them to be present at his palace bi-anually to discuss matters of peace and security. This proved to be effective and soon, the plain was peaceful. This was until Anox, crown prince of Dunab ascended the throne. Anox was erratic, impetuous, impulsive and unreasonably pugnacious. He became the king of Dunab after his father died. Owing to how arrogant he was, rumours spread that Knox was responsible for the death of this father, who had been quite healthy before his premature death. Anox seemed to be in total disagreement with the ideals that King Quincy of Ceiptu held and tried to uphold thoughtout the entire plain. He was a ruthless man and even the citizens of Dunab started to groan under the weight of his oppressive and autocratic rule. King Quincy was to hold a meeting in Ceiptu shortly after Anox ascended the throne of Dunab. Anox, in a show of defiance and impertinence, arrived late to the meeting. He strode into the council chamber clad in an expensive purple robe bejewelled with some of the rarest pearls in the plain, with a scowl on his face. He sat on one of the chairs around the large table. The air in the council chamber was tense with expectations and anxiety, as many of the other kings had heard of the blatant arrogance of Anox. "You're thirty minutes late," Quincy said to Anox in his deep but gentle voice. Anox simply stared into space, not saying a word. "It is important you realise that a lot of the other kings in this meeting have come from their distant kingdoms, and so, punctuality is important." Quincy continued. Anox maintained his silence. The meeting began in earnest with Quincy heading it. This irritated Anox to the point where he reddened and bit his lower lip, but he still said nothing. Various issues were brought up, but top of the list was the new group of bandits that were raiding the towns and night, pilfering goods and livestock, vandalising public property and commiting various other atrocities. King Langdon of Blanco kingdom was complaining about how the bandits had, in the dead of night, ransacked an entire town, and eventually evaded arrest by his guards, when he was interrupted by Anox. "If your kingdom was strong enough, you wouldn't be getting raids from petty bandits." He said, in a rather placid tone. "What?" Langdon spat, a frown twisting his face. "I said if you weren't so yellow-bellied, you wouldn't have a bunch of lowlifes disturbing the peace of your kingdom," he said with more vehemence, turning to face Langdon. "You do realise that this is a very sensitive issue, don't you, King Anox?" Quincy said. "Numerous lives and property have been lost." It got tenser in the chamber; the sound of feet shuffling under the table could be heard. For a minute there was complete silence. "King Anox," Quincy began again, "I think you should apologise to King Langdon, and then we can..." "No," bellowed Anox, slamming his fist on the table, giving everybody a start. Soon, the whole chamber was in an uproar. Violent words flew back and forth from the mouth of the kings and their security chiefs, with many threatening to leave and never return. Quincy, being the oldest and most venerable king Aminat them, tried to maintain order. "Enough," he yelled, his voice rising above the din of the other voices. "Enough of this squabbling, like a bunch of kids." "I am no kid, Quincy, you had better watch your mouth," Anox yelled back, pointing his index finger very close to Quincy's face. Everybody was stunned at the impetuousness of Anox, and stared at him as if he was an apparition that had just suddenly showed up. For a moment, it seemed like nobody was going to say anything, until Quincy's warm voice suffused the air of the chamber. "King Anox, your uncouth manners and impertinence has been a ripple in the waters of today's proceedings," he said. "On behalf of the other kings, I'm going to ask you to immediately exit the chamber room." Anox crunched up his hands in tight fists, ground his jaw and heaved his chest. "You cannot ask me to leave the council chamber," he spat. "I have a right to it as the king." "Yes, you do have a right as king, but your manners are insufferable," Quincy said smoothly. "Please, avoid further embarrassment and exit the chamber immediately." Anox turned to leave, his flowing robe dragging behind him. As he went out through the door, escorted by his three security chiefs, Langdon said, shaking his head, "his father was always so genial." "I know," said Henry, king of Djon. "The most noble man in all of the plain of Bermont." "I think we need to give young Anox some time," Quincy said stroking his beard. He had being close friends with Anox's father and had known Anox as a child; he thought the boy was pert and bold in a way that could offend, but he had also thought all those traits would phase out as he grew. He was surprised at how wrong he was. * Anox was fuming as he sat on his throne inside of his spacious throne room. He couldn't believe that he had been ejected from the council chamber during a crucial meeting. He refused advances from his advicers and guards. "Leave me alone," he had yelled at them. "Who the hell does Quincy think he is?" He said to himself. "He's going to pay, he'll pay dearly." A wicked smile spread across his face and he said, "he's not going to know what hit him."