The Witcher: My Own Path

(Royal palace, Wyzima, Temeria, Velerad royal advisor)

After nearly three hours of listening to the grumblings of the lords and ladies of the court and various supplicants, King Foltest of Temeria sat on his throne bored with slightly squinted eyes, his cheek resting resting on his right hand. All the energy and vigour he had displayed when we had breakfast together had evaporated like morning dew at a sunny dawn. I almost felt sorry for him, almost, if it weren't for the fact that I had been with him the whole time and that I had done most of the work myself and the scariest thing was that we weren't even nearing the end.

I looked at the documents in my hands and the list of people who had managed to get an audience with the king and who we hadn't yet had time to listen to. "Fuck, but that list is long", I thought with a sigh! 'I'll have to mention it to the King one of these days to limit it to a certain extent, I suspect His Majesty won't complain about such an idea.

"Petitioner Cicero of the Blacksmiths' Guild and, petitioner Andrew of the Craftsmen's Guild, come forward, His Majesty the King will hear your cases, I announced".

Two men, well-dressed and well-fed pushed their way through the crowd of people to report their cases.

Two little pigs, I thought, rather I could guess why the two lords were here today. They want to make trouble for young Tyr, well let's hear it.

When the petitioners reached the designated place that defined the security perimeter for the king, but not so far away that doing their own business turned into a marketplace where everyone was shouting at each other, I noticed fear on their faces, which was not surprising to me, the king can be intimidating, but I also saw hope and greed, which also did not surprise me. People of their social status, i.e. flesh-and-blood bourgeois, businessmen of a generation, could be read like an open book. It is precisely this unsavoury feature that distinguishes them so much from the nobility, although I would not complain if this bunch of venomous snakes could also be so easily seen through.

Foltest glanced at them fleetingly as they knelt before him.

"His Majesty is listening", I urged.

The men looked at each other, not quite sure which of them should, speak first, after a split second Cicero of the Blacksmiths' Guild spoke up timidly.

"Dear King, thank you for allowing me and my friend to enjoy our eyes with your majestic presence, we praise your wisdom and greatness...."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the changing expression on Foltest's face, he was not happy, he was bored with all this incense, maybe on another day it would give him pleasure, but not today. Keeping the king in a relatively good mood was also one of my never-ending duties, so I had to intervene.

"Master Cicero please, get to the point, his majesty still has many things to do and the day is not getting any longer", I urged.

"O.. oo... Of course honourable steward, my apologies your highness. This humble servant, as well as my friend Master Andrew also forever faithful and devoted to you, we wanted to draw your highness' attention to possible problems related to the weakening of the production of our guilds' goods and possible smaller tax payments to the royal treasury".

"Why is this, Master Cicero?" Foltest asked, straightening up on his throne. His bored posture, gone, replaced by concentration.

It's getting interesting, I thought, the royal treasury has always enjoyed special attention from the king, and telling him to his face that you are going to pay less in taxes than you did before involves extraordinary courage or, as in this case, extraordinary stupidity. I may not be versed in all aspects that go on in the capital, but finances also receive my special attention, as well as rich people and their profitable businesses that feed into our treasury, and it so happens that young Tyr is, one of those people.

Aside, I like the boy as much as the king. Only Ser Tyr, as well as his business ventures could have some influence on the Guild of Blacksmiths, and the craftsmen who have so far held a monopoly on their products, I know this, and so does the King, and we also know that the businesses are very similar, but are oriented towards other groups of people and other neighbourhoods. Since the quality of life in the Monastery district and the Old Wyzima has improved, the demand for tools and craft products has increased and this is thanks to Tyr. He himself filled the demand with his own products. The guilds of Master Cicero and Andrew had never been interested in the poor regions of Wyzima because there was no market there, but now that one has appeared, they obviously want it for themselves, pushing young Tyr out of business.

"As you may know, My Lord, the Guild of Blacksmiths and Craftsmen has always made sure that taxes are paid regularly, and for a long time we have been trying to spread our activity throughout Wyzima, providing work for more people and enriching the royal treasury, but since this little lover of inhumans has been flooding the market with goods of dubious quality and origin, probably stolen by sharp-eared people and other monstrosities, we have been suffering great losses, both financial and material. Therefore, we implore you, Lord, for the sake of the kingdom and your most faithful subjects, give the order to scrupulously investigate the activities of this blacksmith from the suburb, and to remind him that there are true righteous people in Wyzima who are dedicated to serving Temeria and can themselves take care of the poor and needy by giving them work to take care of themselves and their families!"

As soon as the last syllable left his lips in what I thought was an endearing monologue, I could hardly restrain myself from contorting my face in disgust and at the same time in disbelief that someone could be so insolent, but I could only sigh in spirit, as this was not the first and probably not the last time someone had the audacity and courage to preach this kind of nonsense in front of the king. I looked at his majesty, expecting a fit of rage, an outburst of cursing, but nothing of the sort occurred, his majesty was still sitting on his throne, staring at the supplicant Cicero. Had I continued to lie in my own bed and the whole events of today were simply a bad dream? I asked myself, unable to believe the king's lack of reaction.

Foltest turned his head towards me and beckoned me to him with a gentle gesture of his hand. I stepped close and set my ear so that only I could hear what the king had to say to me, then he whispered.

"Tell me Velerad, my steward and advisor. A few days ago you tormented me for hours to stop my own tantrums and cursing in public, you told me it was unbecoming of a king in charge of the official affairs of the kingdom..."

I quickly reached into my own memory and indeed, I had pestered the king about this a few days ago, but I did not expect him to listen to me for even a fraction of a second. I returned to the present and focused on his further words.

"...Now explain to me how I am supposed to react when someone comes to my castle, to my house, saying stupid things that make my ears hurt and insulting my intelligence, do they really believe what they are saying, do they think I have no idea what is going on in my city or who lives in it?! Velerad deal with this matter and deal with it well if you don't want blood to be shed here this time instead of harsh words and curses and including yours, have I made myself clear enough?!"

"O.. Of course my gracious lord!"

With a quick short one I descended the stairs from the rise on which the throne was situated and moved towards the fools who had put the King's patience to the test and mine at the same time. With a sweeping gesture of my hand I let them know to move behind me, away from the Foltest. I wanted to get out of the king's sight as quickly as possible, as I did not doubt that he might not fulfil his threat.

The Guild representatives followed me. As we left the throne room, we entered a narrow corridor away from everyone, so as to give ourselves as much privacy as possible. Not that I cared in the slightest, however, it was a matter of respect, not for them, for I had no such respect, but rather for myself and the position I held. As a steward and advisor to the king, I had to take the affairs of supplicants seriously, or at least it had to look that way. When I made sure we were alone, I stopped and looked both idiots in the eye.