Page 26 of The White King's Favorite

“I... I am an old man, Lady Tessa, I do not fear the Goddess of Death. However, I did fear to leave our damaged Kingdom in the hands of an even more damaged man. I believed that... if I could bring the right queen to his side, perhaps, then him sparing my life would have had some sort of... fateful meaning.”

Tessa rolled her eyes, a bit upset.

“You made one dangerous bet, Yassim...” sighed Yamino. “However, I’m happy to see you. To be honest, I was worried about what was going to happen to all the candidates.”

“Aren’t you trying to have your niece become Queen?” asked Tessa, frowning.

“Naptunie is a very smart young woman,” nodded Yamino. “I thought it would be better if there was another alternative among the candidates... However, now that I have seen Princess Cessilia, I will suggest she supports you. Naptunie has little ambition of her own, so I believe she will be happy to support Lady Cessilia if... she wants to.”

All three pairs of eyes turned to Cessilia, who was still absorbed by the ceiling. She had to be listening to them because she was close by, her hands were joined and fidgeting a bit. Still, she took a little breath in, her green eyes still stuck above.

“S-Sir Yassim, what are th-those?” she finally asked.

“The ceiling and the columns are made of nacre, my lady. It’s a material made of polished seashells. The one used on the ceiling is dark nacre, while on the columns and doors is white nacre. It’s considered a precious material here, and used mainly for decorations, dishes, or jewelry, a bit like silver in your country.”

“...It’s b-beautiful.” She smiled.

“Cessi,” pouted Tessa. “You do know this is all about you? What do you think of this competition thing?”

Her cousin finally turned her eyes to them.

“C-Counselor, who are the other candidates?”

“Most were introduced by the s–seven noble families,” said Yamino. “Because of the current situation in the Kingdom, they are all desperate to be the family of the next Queen... and perhaps, get along better with the King.”

“Old Yassim here did mention he wasn’t exactly playing nice,” said Tessa.

Old Yamino sighed, patting his huge belly. It was so round under his white toga, it looked like he was about to pop out of his chair at any moment.

“Did you notice the empty chairs?” he said with a sorry voice to Yassim.

“The Cheshi and Kunu Lords... What happened?”

“His Majesty got extremely mad, just three weeks ago, over an argument with the Kunu Tribe. They were arguing about the battle at the border; as you know, this is still a sensitive matter. The Kunu always refused the King placing the Royal Army there instead of Kunu warriors... You know how proud and violent the Kunu Tribe was. They said the wrong... thing, and the next thing I saw was a bloodbath. He... killed the head and all of the Chieftain’s family. After that, the Cheshi Clan stopped attending as a protest. They were never fond of the Kunu Tribe, but they said the King’s ways couldn’t go on anymore. I can’t blame them... They haven’t attended a single meeting since then, but the King has yet to say anything about it.”

Yassim’s expression had fallen a bit lower at each word his friend said. The old man did look very shaken about the empty seats before. Cessilia came to sit beside her cousin.

“Th-the other f-families?” she asked.

“There are- I mean, were, nine lords, each at the head of a tribe, powerful family, or clan,” explained Yamino. “I myself was born in the Dorosef Tribe, but I renounced my privilege when I became a Royal Counselor.”

“The Yekara Clan is the most powerful,” nodded Yassim. “I’m not surprised they are presenting two candidates. They have many lands and a lot of warriors. They took part in all the previous wars of the Kingdom, and turned on the previous King to pledge allegiance to King Ashen.”

“Sounds like people our grandma would love on her bad days...” scoffed Tessa.

“The Dorosef Tribe is very peaceful,” said Yamino. “They were once travellers, but they settled in the Kingdom as fishermen. They aren’t seriously participating in this, and neither are the Hashat Family; they are too new among the lords.”

“The Sehsan and Yonchaa Tribes are among the oldest of our Kingdom. They are probably participating to try and make themselves more valuable to the King. They are not aggressive, though, so I don’t think their candidates will fight too hard for this...”

“I’m more worried about the Pangoja,” nodded Yamino. “That clan is the richest, and very secretive. They have many businesses all across the Kingdom, a lot of informants, and an eye on all the trades...”

“Now that sounds like my kind of people,” smiled Tessa. “So, if I can remember all those names correctly, we have the warrior Yekara Clan, the Dorosef, Sehsan, and Yonchaa Tribes, that shady Pangoja Clan, the somewhat sulking Cheshi Clan, and the already dead Kunu people... Who am I missing again?”

“The Hashat Family, but they aren’t participating. Although, Counselor Oroun is from that family and nominated his own daughter. The ninth family is the Nahaf, and they also have a candidate. I don’t know them too well, they rose at about the same time as our King...”

“Great, now I’m going to have to take notes,” grumbled Tessa. “What about that red-haired woman? She had... light skin, like me and Cessi. Where the heck does she come from to look like that and act like that? I already can’t stand her attitude.”

Yassim was intrigued too. He hadn’t thought he’d return to see his King had really taken a mistress... He felt horrible about it, after he had brought Princess Cessilia all the way here. That woman was the worst outcome he had imagined in his plan, and he also didn’t like her already... He turned to Yamino, who rubbed his round cheeks with a sullen expression.

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