Chapter 6
1254 - Let's Talk...
1254 - Let's Talk...
"I disagree", said one of the councillers. "He's every bit as successfull as his grandfather was."
"Nonsense", yelled another. "How can you dare compare this Saxon", he spat the word as if it were a gob of phlegm, "whelp to our great King Alexander the unforgetable?"
A third courtier, not reknowned for his intellect, held up his hand; a puzzled look creasing his brow into a mass of furrows.
"Excuse me. His grandfather?"
The other two stopped bickering and turned to their companion, annoyed that he had broken their chains of thought.
"Yes", snapped the first. "His grandfather. As I was saying..."
The third courtier, clearly not satisfied by this explaination, held up his hand and waved it.
"King Alexander was King Osric's grandfather?"
Rolling his eyes the second courtier patted the third on the head and smiled mockingly.
"Yes he was, my dear little friend. How else do you think he managed to inherit the throne?"
Confusion stilled reigned on the other man's face.
"But...but... I always thought it was the King's SON who inherited the throne, and Alexander had a LOT of them."
The first courtier, his raging debate with his companion forgetten, kneeled beside the third man and patted his hand.
"It worked like this, my dim witted friend. King Alexander's oldest son was meant to inherit the throne, but when it became apparent that he was a slack-jawed, weak-minded fool", he stopped and smiled nicely at the third man before continuing "who was incapable of producing an heir, King Alexander arranged for him to...er...that is to say, the King was overcome with grief when he learned that his oldest son had fallen from his horse, and reluctantly passed inheritance to his second son, Gilpatrick. Are you following this?"
The other man was nodding slowly so the first man continued.
"King Alexander, God-Rest-His-Soul, was a hardy old devil though, and managed to outlive his son. Therefore, because his son, just like his father, seemed more than capable of producing heirs the inheritance passed to HIS oldest son. Who also seemed to have a tragic horse related accident. Which means that King Osric, the second oldest son, inherited the throne."
He paused, cocked his head to the side, and prodded his listener.
"You didn't understand a word of that, did you?"
Seeming to stir from a daze the third man smiled dumbly. The other man threw his hands in the air and went back to where the second counciller sat, leaving the third man to contemplate his naval.
"Where were we?"
"I was suggesting that King Osric wasn't anywhere nearly as good for our realm as King Alexander, God-Rest-His-Soul, and you were being a right royal brown-noser."
He smiled sweetly as the other man scowled darkly.
"Look", he offered, "King Alexander was famed for conquest and battle. He added swathes of territory to the Empire, covered himself in glory on the field of war, and was famed for his kindness to orphaned animals. Has King Osric done ANYTHING similar?"
The first counciller grinned, almost as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"Granted, he hasn't been quite as homicidal as our late monarch. Nor has he added quite as much territory to the realm. However, I'll wager that the territory that he has added has cost a lot less than that gained by King Alexander."
His companion looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean", he smiled, "that King Osric has added his various French, Italian and Balkan possessions through DIPLOMACY and TALKING, rather than running around behaving like an international hooligan and manufacturing loose claims to other people's crowns."
There was a slight pause before he continued, this time in a whisper.
"It's not treason if the King's dead, right?"
The other courtier spread his hands magnanimously before letting the other man continue.
"The point I'm making is that Osric has conquered almost as much territory as Alexander - it's just that he's done it without killing loads of people and exhausting the Kingdom's treasury."
The two men sat and considered this while the third man drooled quietly to himself in the corner. Eventually, the second man spoke.
"Fair point."
"Thank you."
"He's a bit boring though, isn't he?"
The both peered up at the portrait of the rather melancholy saxon man that hung above the massive fireplace. Eventually the first man spoke, his tone slow and deliberate.
"He might not be as", here he paused and chose his words carefully, "energetic as our previous monarch was, but I think we'll both agree that he's been every bit as effective."
The second man smiled and got up to leave.
"I suppose."
As he reached the door he turned and winked.
"He's still dull though."
When he was gone the third man looked up from whatever deep thought he was in and turned to the other man still in the room. His tones were slow and laboured as if he were rehearsing his words over and over in his head.
"So... Alexander was his grandfather?"
The first man lobbed a book at him before also leaving the room.
---
So, there you go. A bit of a boring update to be honest, because King Orsic has done a lot of talking and not much rampaging. He's a fairly mild chap to be honest, but a hellva diplomat.
Anyway, here's some screen captures - been a while since I've updated them.
VESTE
The Middle East
The Med
Iberia and North Africa
The British Isles
