An Old But Stupid King

"I cannot stand for it, I cannot! This is absolute.." she scowled attempting to find the right word without insulting another royal, "agh," she scoffed waving her hand dismissal. There was no word to use that could be taken in good light. 

"He does not think the masses will simply agree to this, does he? The entire kingdom will revolt and rebel!" She fell back heavily onto her seat, a thunderous thud echoed the room as her counsel looked on in worry. They feared the same thing. 

The shifting of the counsel could be heard, an itch here a scoot there. Nervous fidgeting. "Kesil, that idiot!" she shouted, breaking the unbearable silence, "He's been planning this for years, that fool. He's going to run us into the ground, he'll ruin the alliance and force our hand to invade his land. It's like he's asking for it. Maharai, may you please update us on what laws King Kesil has decreed?" Her eyes fell to the tall, thin, nervous man who was tightly gripping his parchment. He didn't want to give her the news, though, he was certain she'd known what they were simply by word of mouth.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness," he said gravely, his voice was deep and raspy, and terribly tight as he read, it was nigh above monotone, but the queen was alright with it. Any other tone would only seem inappropriate.

"King Kesil of Grisham has decreed the following orders: he has banned trade with all foreign land, he has given permission to desecrate sacred land to build a center of commerce by the sacred Onyx River, he has forbidden any contact with those of Hath, he has allowed the royal guard to enforce their own rules, and lastly," Maharai glanced up at his queen and he pale a bit as she raised a brow at him to indicate continuing, "he has made alliance with Cannite."

Stunned silence met his ears, the only noise came from the clatter of the queen's chair, she was on her feet, leaning on the table with eyes filled with horror and disbelief. The ring of the chair against the stone floor that did not seem to stop ringing now. Tung, tung, tung.

"Cannite," the queen whispered with trepidation, "he has allied himself with those barbarians? The queen's face was pale, her red lips quivered with unspoken fury and fear.

"That is it," she said looking at the table, "that is the last straw. Send out messengers to each of the four kingdoms, Lark, Jezreel, Patterson, and Lakish, by overmorrow we are to meet at the Neutral Lands."

"For what purpose?" a voice asked from her left. She did not pay attention to who. 

"To speak of the only solutions possible," she said looking to the heavens, "war."