The Forgotten Princess Rose-Chapter 292

Zayne entered the throne room right beside Gage and already he gathered the attention of the men in the room. Many looked like they were seeing a ghost while others appeared not happy with his return. They hadn’t succeeded in getting rid of him just yet.

Gage walked to the throne to have a seat. Everyone in the room should be nervous at the moment since even Gage was.

Zayne found his spot at the bottom of the throne.

"My brother and his crew are back safe. I have to thank everyone who wished for his safe return and those who did what they could to come up with a plan to get him home. I’ve been a little hard on all of you these last few days and now, I am thinking of rewarding those who were helpful in this time," Gage announced.

Gage looked around the room at some of the men who had been utterly useless smiling like they were going to be rewarded.

"A lot of you have been in the palace from the time I was a young boy and while I admire your dedication to the palace court, there needs to be a change. Your views are old as with your age. I need people who understand that times are changing and their views cannot be based on old norms. I will get rid of some of you."

"My king!"

Zayne looked at the man bold enough to speak up when he should have been one of the first ones to go. It was a treat to hear Gage inform the court some of them would not be here for much longer. Gage was finally doing something right.

Virgil, a man of the court, lifted his head to look at Gage. "We have served your family for many years and have more years to give to you. One small incident like this should not be enough to shake what has been here for all these years."

Gage was bored of this repeated argument. "The world changes day by day but a lot of you are stuck in the past. Wanting to hold onto what was said by those who were around when we were not. We must change with this changing world or we will be left behind. The exam will be announced in three days to allow young men of all families to enter the palace."

"All families?" Virgil laughed. He would allow men from common families to take the exam. "My king it would be a waste for those from common families to take the exam. They won’t have time to waste during the testing part to not work and earn money to feed their family."

"I shall take care of that. Why must it always be men from your families who manage to enter the court? That is how you have been spreading your roots in my palace. No more of that. No one here is safe aside from the men I intend to reward. Now, we have the matter of my brother," said Gage.

Virgil glanced at Zayne who was watching him like he had done something wrong.

"Virgil, how kind of you to speak up first. You were one of the men who brought up my brother’s wife Rose recently. Do you remember what for?" Gage asked, wanting the culprits to say it for Zayne to hear.

Virgil looked down at the floor. They were called here for this? "We were speaking about the prince suddenly going missing. It was unlike him so we thought there was something at play here. The only difference was his wife. We did not know much about her but Hugh has brought us news."

Zayne looked away from Virgil to Hugh. He remembered clearly the night Hugh stood with the others and saw Rose for the first time. He knew the group would be back at some point with news from Rose’s home.

"Hugh? You came back home early this morning. Don’t you have something important to do? You have a new queen who needs to be told of our kingdom’s ways," Gage said, confused by Hugh’s early return.

Hugh stepped forward to greet the king. "I felt the need for one of us to personally return to inform you about the queen. She has much to learn. I think it is best to go with our decision to put someone from our kingdom on that throne-"

"Like my brother?" Gage interjected.

Hugh didn’t want that. It was too dangerous to give Zayne his own kingdom to rule. "No. Another relative since your brother is now married. Or, if you would be so kind. You could have one of the sons from the men in the court marry the young woman to guide her."

Gage laughed at the ridiculous idea. "You think I would put one of your sons on a throne? Are you serious? You can’t be helpful with the throne you serve so why would I do that? Why would I give you that power? My brother picked the princess to be queen for a reason. You were to guide her but it is good you have come home."

"My king, I bring news of the woman the prince has married. It is disastrous," Hugh announced. Did Zayne think he could keep it a secret forever?

Gage held up his hand to stop Hugh from talking. He called out a list of names for who were to leave the throne room and in the end, only a handful of men remained with Virgil and Hugh being in those few.

"Continue," Gage allowed for Hugh to speak.

"There was a talk there of his wife. Of how she came from a brothel. Her father is a lord but we cannot overlook a brothel. We must call her to be questioned about her past. The prince also failed to let us follow tradition to check that she bled," Hugh said, knowing the king couldn’t overlook these things.

Zayne left his spot in search of a sword since he left his behind after speaking to Rose. He wanted to keep his promise but it was hard when these fools spoke too much. He would have to ask Rose for forgiveness.

Hugh kept his gaze on Zayne as did everyone else in the room. He was used to the unpredictable prince knowing not to take his eyes off of Zayne. "I only speak the truth. I mustn’t be harmed for speaking what I know. The prince did things without thinking of tradition."

"It is a tradition that I want to change. What man wants to allow another man to enter a room and check that his wife has bled? It wasn’t that long ago that you fools wanted to be in the room while the act was done. I am concerned about your minds," Gage said, getting to his feet.

Gage could almost read Zayne’s mind that he was going to kill the men left in the room and he was going to need some help. "Why must you see a man and woman be intimate? I am sure there are more reasons for it."

"My king," Virgil pleaded.

Gage smiled. "Don’t plead to me. Do it to him," he pointed to Zayne. It was terrible luck for these men that there were swords all over the throne room.