Made as a scapegoat

Hearing that, Elder Varlam fell on his knees and quickly said, “No…no, Your Majesty, I… I wouldn’t dare to… I would…”

The King cut him off again, “You would, what?”

The King crouched before him to be on the same level as the Elder before grabbing his chin between his fingers. “Seems I’ve been quite lenient with how you seem gutsy in confronting me with your words. Your words show that you are not satisfied with how I rule my Kingdom, and you have your opinion on how it should be done.” As the King spoke, his grip on Elder Varlam’s chin tightened.

“No… no, your majesty, that’s not what I… I never intend….”

“It seems quite well that that was your intention. If not, you would not have returned to show your face before me after I told you to get the f*ck out of my sight. It seems you are eager to know what I am capable of doing to those that go against me. I can do so by starting with you. What do you say?”

“Y…your Majesty, I…I beg your pardon if I’ve offended you w…with my words and actions.” He choked out due to the tightness of the King’s grip on his throat.

“Hmm… do you think that with these few words of apologies, I would ignore your audacities and offenses and just let you go unpunished? Don’t you think that will be unjust? According to you, even a Royal must not go unpunished, much less you, an ordinary Elder. Or are you above the law and Royal families?” The King asked, letting go of his jaw aggressively

“N… no, your majesty. That’s prosperous of me to think I’m above the Royal families and the Law. I would never think such a thing, Your Majesty.”

“Then Elder Varlam, what were you suggesting with your earlier plea? Can you kindly enlighten me?” The King said as he stood and walked back to his thrown.

He sat on his throne and angrily looked toward Elder Varlam, awaiting his response.

Looking more hurried on his knees, he hurriedly responded, “N…no, Your Majesty, there were no suggestions in my plea. I just… I just thought it was the… the basic thing to…to do, to gain some leverage… no, I mean… to show how truly sorry I am for my actions. Nothing more, Your Majesty,” hoping with everything in him that he would be pardoned and that the King was saying all this to scare him and not take action to lock him up, worse, castigate him severely.

“Is that so? Was that your intention?” The King asked, playing ignorance.

“Y…yes, Your Majesty. That was my intention. I meant nothing else but that.” He rushed to say.

“Well, too bad that I took it the other way, and I’ve decided to start by using you as an example.” The King said, leaning forward on his throne and looking down at the kneeling Elder. “Guards, along with her,” the King pointed to the girl while he continued, “take Elder Varlam on tour to the dungeon and put him in the most comfortable cell,” he commanded the guards standing at attention in the court.

“Your Majesty, I…I apologize, your Majesty; I shouldn’t have overstepped your authority.”

“Well, too late now, Elder Varlam. You should have known better earlier that you were overstepping my authority, but rather, you continued, and if I don’t make an example of you, others will think that they can also do as you’ve done. Guards, take him away from my sight, and if he refuses to go gently, drag him out.” The King stated, ignoring Elder Varlam’s pleas.

The court watched as the whole scene unfolded before them in complete silence.

Those murmuring before dared not continue but stood still, hoping and praying that the King did not notice them when they mumbled.

Fear gripped everyone’s heart at the change of events.

They didn’t expect how things turned out to be.

The change was so sudden that they didn’t know what would happen next. Hence most of them became restless and wished for the whole thing to end.

The King’s gazes swept over the court after Elder Varlam and the girl was taken out, and he asked, “Is there anyone else that has an opinion on how things should be done here?”

 No one could muster the courage to say anything out of fear.

When the King waited for a while and received no response from them, he stood up from his throne and said, “Good. Then, this meeting is over.” As he spoke, he walked the aisle and out of the courtroom with the Prince.

After putting a distance between them and the courtroom, the King finally asked the Prince what he wanted to ask him.

“When did you discover this?” The King asked him.