Ch 9. Welcome, Prince Cyrus

In a big, rich building that stood in the center of a small city, a middle aged man with a huge round belly and squinted eyes stood outside the entrance of his "palace" with a voluptuous young woman at his side. He was watching as his citizens rang praises and flattered the men that were making their way to him. Their city's soldiers stood at the sides, preventing the citizens from being able to touch the important people. The women, old and young, held baskets of flower petals and leaves that were then thrown at the men that had just arrived in Wulsapa. The men applauded and continued to shout praises and blessings and whatnot. Some music could be heard from some young girls that were dancing and others merely watched as the men passed by, their eyes, however, revealed their admiration and curiosity.

The man who waited at the top of his castle's steps was the magistrate of Wulsapa. He was dressed in green robes with a red cloak and on his body many accessories decorated him. Two long necklaces, both beautiful and expensive, hung from his neck and touched his big stomach and on his wrists, gold bracelets were worn, almost stacking on each other as his arms were a bit too thick to allow the many bracelets to have some space between them. Only two of his ten fingers were left bare while some had two rings. The fashion for men his age at the moment was a beard, the length and style depended on one's preferences, and due to some rumor he had heard many days ago, the longer and thicker the beard, the more noble and wise the man looked. So Ursinus, the magistrate of Wulsapa, had a long beard that had been braided while the top of his head wore a gold headpiece.

Had twenty-first century Idalia seen him, she would've thought he was a walking Christmas tree.

As the hundred or so men finally arrived at the bottom of the steps of Ursinus' "palace," he glanced at the dark red haired young man at the front of the group. Envy and hate quickly sprouted in his heart but he quickly suppressed those feelings down to not reveal them.

Because he was too fixed on the group of men, he didn't notice how his wife, whom was dressed worse than him with equal amounts of jewelry and a pink chitton that seemed a bit too tight to fit her, was entranced by the same youth he envied.

The boy had gotten off his horse while he handed the reigns to a servant. He watched as his favorite horse was led away to be settled in one of the stables.

"Ugh, we finally arrived," another young man exclaimed as he too got off his horse. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders and hooded eyes that were dark brown in color. He stretched his arms before walking up to his friend and swung his arm around his neck. "That trip was really exhausting. I didn't believe when my father told me how tiring it was and laughed when he said that we would feel our bottoms go numb. I never thought it'd be so bad that my rod would also drop."

His friend chuckled, "Nestor, I think you should keep that to yourself next time."

Nestor asked confused, "Why?"

His friend threw a quick glance at an older man that was glaring at Nestor after having heard what had come out of his mouth.

Nestor gave his mentor an apologetic glance before he dragged his friend towards the magistrate of Wulsapa. He noticed the woman next to him that boldly looked at his friend who didn't bother to even look at her. He chuckled as he started to think of ways to mess with the woman. In what ways, only he knew.

"Welcome to Wulsapa, Prince Cyrus," Ursinus gave a short bow to the young man that he detested but nonetheless, had to show to respect to.

"Mmh," Cyrus merely nodded. Seeing that, Nestor found himself about to let out a smirk but forcefully pulled his lips back down into a calm expression.

Hearing the haughty prince's reply, Ursinus wished to beat him but controlling himself he continued to act as a polite host, "I have already prepared a banquet that will surely satisfy you tonight. Rooms, too. I just hope that you are comfortable with what we can offer after receiving such late notice that you'd stop by." The way he had spoken, made it sound as if he wasn't happy nor honored to have one the princes at his home.

Nearly everyone started sweating after hearing how the magistrate had talked to the prince. He had spoken so rudely and informally to him that they feared that Ursinus would be no more. However, Cyrus was really exhausted by this trip, especially now that they were closer to the capital of Milikree. Therefore, because of his tired mood, he decided to ignore the lowly man's behavior, "Mmh. I know that since you're a smart man you would surely do your best to accommodate my men and I." It ended that situation.

Ursinus, however, did not like the outcome since the prince looked barely bothered by him and treated him rudely. He wondered how the next three days would go by.

Hearing footsteps approach them from behind, everyone turned to look at Sir Magnus and Lord Hector of House Orion. The latter looked at his pupil who had a tired look on his face. When they arrived at the top of the steps, Ursinus gave a deeper bow than that which he gave Prince Cyrus.

"Lord Hector and Sir Magnus, may the Gods bless you both," Ursinus greeted them with upmost respect. Standing straight with his huge belly, he welcomed them to "his humble city."

Lord Hector received his greetings well, "Thank you, magistrate Ursinus." Looking around, he asked, "Is everything ready?"

The sun was beginning to go down which meant that dinner would soon arrive. Everyone on the trip was tired and hungry therefore they wanted to quickly eat and then sleep.

"Yes, let me quickly show you to your rooms and we will later meet at the banquet." The noble men were then escorted to the rooms that had been prepared for them while the rest were led to some smaller yet decent rooms as they were only soldiers from poor backgrounds.

Nestor followed Cyrus as they were given rooms close to each other while laughing and talking on the way.

"Hey, the magistrate's wife kept looking at you."

"I know."

"Since she's not the kind you like, can I have her?"

"Do whatever you want."

"Are you going to wait until we arrive at the capital? That's quite admirable of you," Nestor laughed.

At the mention of the capital, Cyrus' thoughts drifted to his family and the troubles and responsibilities that would come as soon as he would arrive.

"Her Majesty is also going to want to have you married, right?" Nestor realized. Cyrus grimly nodded.

That's right, he inwardly sighed. One of his troubles and responsibilities included marriage, a civic act that must be done by all pure royalty as soon as possible. It was also something that he dreaded after witnessing how troublesome it was.

But he knew he had to marry, just as if it were work. Romantic love in a marriage was something he had never seen and something that he considered was too out of reach for him. He had already denied himself the possibility of falling in love, what more a loving marriage.