"You shall spend the rest of today drafting the marriage docunts with Rylen, and you will be required to be in attendance regardless of ti or place."
Thomas jerked his head up, forgetting he wasn’t supposed to look Caius directly in the eye. "Marriage?" he asked with a frown.
"Do I have to speak more clearly, Thomas?"
"No, Your Majesty." He shook his head, making sure he heard correctly. "You’re getting married to Rose?"
He didn’t think it was anyone else, but he wanted to know just to understand what was going on here.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Caius asked coldly.
"No, of course not. I wouldn’t dare go against Your Majesty. I am just confused because I assud I was getting punished."
"And you are! Your life hangs on the efficiency and secrecy of this union. Should anything go wrong, best believe I won’t hesitate to have your head."
Thomas stared at Caius with a dazed expression. He truly couldn’t believe his ears. Not only was the King not going to punish him, but he was also going to marry Rose.
He couldn’t figure out when things had changed this quickly. He was surprised the King was going to actually marry Rose. He knew just how important she was to the King, but surely, this wasn’t sothing that could easily happen.
"What do you say, Thomas? Your silence tells nothing."
"F-forgive , Your Majesty. I was just curious about how this was going to work out. Surely, the lords won’t agree."
"Do you disagree?" Caius asked, staring hard at the young lord.
"Of course not, Your Majesty. I absolutely support your union."
He also knew Caius’s marriage to the princess was fake. After all, he had helped the King execute that. However, at the ti, the King didn’t tell him why, and it wasn’t his place to ask.
He assud the King didn’t want to marry the princess, but he didn’t think it was because he wanted to marry Rose. But it should have been clear at the ti. Thomas just didn’t see a situation where the King would marry soone of such lower status.
Thomas no longer thought like this. However, just because he didn’t, didn’t an the rest of the nobles didn’t, and he could only imagine the number of obstacles they were bound to run into should the King marry Rose.
"Well, there you have it, Thomas. If I have your support, then you have no reason to be worried about the others. You only need to show your support, and if the others will follow suit should be the least of your concerns."
Thomas nodded as he listened to the King’s words. He could hardly believe this. "Is Rose aware?"
"I should hope so," Caius said with a laugh. "Carry on, now, Thomas."
Thomas bowed low and said, "I shall do as Your Majesty wishes."
"I am counting on you, Thomas."
Thomas nodded and exited the room without a backward glance.
Next, Caius summoned Maximus, and this went pretty fast. The lord didn’t ask any questions and simply agreed to everything Caius said.
"Do you not have anything to say about this, Maximus?" Caius asked. He still found it a little difficult to blindly trust Maximus even though the latter had proven he could be trusted.
Maximus shook his head. "No, Your Majesty," he simply stated, offering no explanation.
"Very well. You may leave."
Maximus bowed and did as he was told while Caius watched him suspiciously. He told himself there was nothing wrong with being suspicious, and he needed to confirm that Maximus was truly for the crown before he assigned him to the next task.
Other than the docunts, a few other things needed to be in place but plans were almost set. The priest had to be inford, and Caius intended to send a letter out and guards to bring the priest to the castle without informing him what this was about.
The only thing that might not be ready in ti would be a wedding dress, but he was certain Rose could find sothing adequate for the occasion.
Another wedding would be carried out, one in which she would be able to plan the entirety of the grand wedding and decide what she wanted. But for now, this would have to do.
A soft knock pulled Caius out of his thoughts, and the door opened to reveal Henry. The butler hunched his back as he approached the table, bowing as low as his back would let him.
"Your Majesty sent for ."
"Yes, Henry. I would like to make a few changes to the seating arrangents during alti."
Henry did his best to hide his shock, but he knew whatever it was the king was about to say was going to be a difficult task for him.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Starting from lunch today, I want the seat by my right side empty."
"Empty?!" Henry couldn’t help his tone. That seat was currently occupied by his mother. It had been that way for as long as he could rember.
"Is there a problem?" Caius asked.
"Y-your M-majesty, p-please f-forgive m-," Henry’s voice would not stop shaking, "but that is currently Her Majesty’s seat."
"And?"
"I-I don’t think she will be pleased about that."
"I do not care what you think, Henry. I have given you an order."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Please forgive . What about your wife?"
Caius winced; it sounded as though soone had scratched tal with a sharp object. "The princess," he simply stated. "You shall refer to her as the princess."
Henry wished the ground would open and swallow him. He was unsure what his offense was, but sohow he had only managed to make the King angry.
"Yes, Y-your M-majesty. What about the princess?"
"Put her next to Mother. Since they enjoy each other’s company so much."
"And you want this done before lunch?"
"Shall I begin to question your competence, Henry?"
"N-no," Henry shook his head hard enough to rattle his old brain. "I shall get this done right away."
He shuffled his feet. He was in a terrible situation. The Queen was the worst to go against, but Henry feared what he would have to endure at the King’s hand was more fearso than the Queen could ever be.
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