"But why me?" Darius asked confused, "you have to know how my family is thought of. We have no friends outside of our court."
The King looked at him. "That’s not strictly true. You have some wolves you are friendly with, as well as vampires and witches and I know you have some dragon friends out there."
"A handful, but more hate us than like us." He said.
"Darius, you have a good heart and a good head on your shoulders. You’re just what the paranormal world needs. But I’ll warn you. There will be trying times ahead. The first year, maybe two, of your reign will be fraught with danger but if you can survive that, the paranormal world will settle down and your reign will be long and prosperous."
Darius snorted, "I just have to try and stay alive for the first two years."
"There will be challenges to face, just like I had to when I first became High King. The trick is to surround yourself with an inner circle you trust above all others. I surrounded myself with my family, I gave them all the most powerful roles outside of the council and I knew they had my back. You need to do the same."
Darius thought for a moment, "and what of the council?"
"They are all good people to have on your side. They will have your back, but remember they are the council, your inner circle must be different."
Darius pondered this, "in council meetings can my inner circle join in?”
The King smiled, "well that is up to you and however you want to run things." The King clicked his fingers and two large leather-bound books appeared on his knees. He handed them over to Darius who quickly put down his cup to take them. "Some light reading for you. This will cover the basics of being High King, kind of like a go to manual. Read them and then come back and see me tomorrow." The King clicked his fingers and the books shrunk in size, they both now fitted into the palm of Darius’ hand. "Keep these to yourself, they are for your eyes only." He cautioned. Darius nodded and put them in his bag.
“High Prince?” Darius questioned when he sat back up again, “I’m not a High Prince.”
The Kind laughed, “Of course you are dear boy. You are my heir, that makes you High Prince.”
Darius sighed.
The Kings eyes twinkled, “but on the plus side, you don’t need a coronation to become High Prince, just named as my heir.”
“I guess I should be glad about that at least.” Darius said drily.
The King laughed again, he was so glad he had made Darius his heir, “Oh, and before I forget, your brothers are now Princes.”
Darius laughed at that, at least he wasn’t alone in this.
"Now, I need rest. You and your brothers will stay here for the time being, so you can learn the workings of court and see how or if you want to make any changes, and talk to my inner circle and see what they have to say and what help they can offer. Everyone wants the transference of power to go smoothly."
"Even if afterwards I have to fight to keep it." Darius replied.
"You'll keep it, even without the power of the High King you are strong." He said, sounding more and more tired.
Darius was confused, did the High King mean that he got more power when he became the High King? He was about to ask but noticed that the High King suddenly looked really tired. He stood up and spying the blankets sitting on the sideboard, he walked over and grabbed one, and covered the Kings legs, "Can I call anyone for you sire?" He asked softly.
"No thank you, young wizard. I will see you tomorrow." The King all but whispered, closing his eyes.
Darius nodded and turned to leave grabbing his bag as he went. As he walked out of the Kings sitting room, he saw the kings Major Domo and Derek standing outside.
"The King is resting," he told them.
They nodded and looked sad. "He does that a lot now," Derek said softly. "I will go in and check on him," he nodded to Darius and Adam and went into the Kings sitting room.
"If you will come with me, I will take you back to your brothers," The Major Domo said.
"Certainly, thanks," Darius said to him.
“I am Adam buy the way,” Adam said, leading the way back to the Regents and his brothers in the library.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Darius replied with a small smile.
Adam laughed, “It wasn’t my idea, I couldn’t talk him out of it, and went along to make sure he was okay.”
“I understand, “Darius said, suddenly something caught his eye and he looked down. Adam’s shoes, they looked like black boots and they sparkled.
Adam saw him looking, “I bedazzled them, it took me forever to glue all the black sparkles on them, but it was so worth it.” He said, with a smile.
Darius laughed, “They look great.”
“Thanks,” Adam said, “When I took over from the old Major Domo, he was staid and boring, I tried to find away to be myself and professional at the same time.”
Darius laughed, “Bedazzle away, always be yourself Adam, I don’t want you to be someone you’re not.”
Adam looked at Darius, “It’s not always been this dull here, but with the king dying all the fun seems to have died out. I want to make the kings last few weeks on this plane happy ones, but he is constantly surrounded by sad faces, and when I smile or crack a joke, they look at me like I am mad, even though the king is laughing.”
“I’m sorry Adam,” he said softly.
Adam stopped walking and shook himself, “Enough of this depressing talk, let’s head back to the Regents and your brothers,” They resumed walking, “When you have finished dinner tonight I’ll show you to your suite so you can get settled. Your bothers will need to stay in your suite with you for a few weeks, as their rooms are in use by members of the kings inner circle.”
“As long as I don’t have to share a room with them that’s fine,” he ended with a laugh.
Adam laughed and led Darius back to his brothers.
As Adam lead him back to the library Darius looked around, taking note of his surroundings. The walls were painted an off-white colour and covered in tapestries, pictures and other ornaments, some of which looked really old. He spotted palace guards dotted here and there, all standing to attention, they were wearing the palace colours of blue and gold. At least if he got lost there would be soldiers around who could offer him direction, the thought to himself.
Chapter 3
Chadden Jenkins was fuming, the High King was dying and what happened, a Travellian was picked to be his heir. Did no one but him see this was another trick by the Travellian’s to get the throne? Grandpa Travellian couldn't do it by force so Darius did it through stealth. Even his own Regent couldn't see what was happening. He needed to find a way to stop the Travellian’s once and for all. And being one of the most hated wizard courts in the paranormal world meant he would find support easily enough.