CHAPTER 9

BACK AT THE KINGDOM

Back over at the palace and the capital city, civilians and nobles alike were trying to help out to recover from the nasty earthquake that trashed their beloved home. The guards and soldiers had announced that the earthquake only happened in the capital city's limits, but stopped before the forest could be attacked by nature's powerful shaking force. People went to work right away to repair buildings and homes. The nobles did the same, helping the city fix their businesses since most of them had family's to take care of. They planned to have everything back to normal by the end of thirty days.

The castle servants and staff were busy cleaning up the palace halls and rooms, cleaning up shattered glass, fixing armor and hanging objects and portraits back upon the walls. The king and his brother were discussing issues on what they should do once Pythor was brought to the palace dungeon. Meanwhile, Queen Misako and the duke's wife Duchess Lora were sitting inside the waiting suite of the royal physician's quarters. They were waiting for Lady Zeah who was scheduled to see the doctor.

Duchess Lora couldn't stand the fact that she and Sir Zane were still childless. It's been eight years. There wasn't any reason why they shouldn't have at least a son to carry on the seed of a knight. Just being childless was a real issue. If Lady Carol and Sir Cole could have their own children than so could the white knight and his wife.

Duchess Lora sighed. "I can't believe eight years have passed by and Lady Zeah has let it slip by. Being childless for so long I can't stand the thought of it. It's either Zeah or Zane but I haven't heard anything from the white knight. My husband told me that he visited the physician a few days ago, but the doctor didn't tell my husband a thing. All he told Wu was that Zane came and see him. That's all. If that were me as a patient, I would want to know every little detail."

"Sir Zane probably told the doctor not to tell anyone else," Queen Misako said, "It's probably his personal business that only a physician should know. Whatever is said inside that room stays inside that room."

"You don't know me as well as you think you do, Misako. I'm not the type of woman who likes having secrets being kept from her."

"What was Wu doing over here at the physician's room in the first place?"

"Well, if you must know, he has been having coughing fits recently. He came to the doctor to see if there was a way to get rid of it. I will admit that whatever tea my husband is drinking has helped a lot. I've finally gotten a full night of sleep again."

"Well that's good to hear. I've been wondering why you've been in such a sour mood lately."

They were silent for a moment until Lora broke it. "Please don't think I'm rude for making Zeah come here, but eight years is long enough to be childless. It's time for Zane and Zeah to have their own children."

"Lora, I've told you this many times before. You can't force people to do what they don't want to do. Whether you like it or not, they do it their own way."

"Well, I believe we'll let the doctor be the judge of that."

A few minutes later, the royal physician, Dr. Munolo, walked out into the waiting suite. Lora and Misako walked up to him. Before Lora could even speak, the doctor raised a hand to say what he had to say first. "I'm afraid to say that Zane and Zeah will remain childless for good. They will not be able to have their own children. Zeah is barren."

"Barren?" Lora said with shock in her voice.

"What about Zane?" Misako asked, "He did come to see you, didn't he?"

"Yes, but as I have said many times, what is said inside my quarters stays inside my quarters," Dr. Munolo said, "Zeah will be out in a few minutes. Please do be patient." And he disappeared back inside the room.

Lora went on a ramage of words once she heard that. "That can't be so. Barren? Are you serious? Never to have children. Never allowed to carry a man's seed. Of all the women in the world, why did Zane have to marry her?"

"Lora, lower your voice," Misako said, "Zeah will hear you."

"At this point I don't care. That woman is nothing! She is not a noble! She doesn't act like one so why should she be one?"

"Zane wasn't a noble from the start, either. You don't have the right to say things like that."

"Zane is married to a woman that is barren. Someone that will never be able to give him the children he wants. What will they do for a son? When Zane returns, we will talk him into separating with Zeah."

"We are not replacing Zeah with another woman for Zane!" Misako never had to raise her voice like that before, but Lora had pushed the limit. The duchess placed a hand over her chest, looking at the queen with fear in her eyes. Misako took steady deep breaths, looking at Lora. "Listen to me, Lora. This wasn't Zeah's fault. No one is to blame for this. Barren women have existed since the beginning of time. It happens. There's nothing more we can do about it. Don't forget that it took Garmadon and I sixteen years to finally have Lloyd. You kept blaming it on me because you thought I was barren. Did I beg you and Wu to have children of your own? No, I didn't. Why did you make me and Garmadon have a son? Tell me that."

Lora stood in front of the queen, giving her a stern look. "It seems you don't know me as well as you thought you did. That's fine with me. You've said something about it and I listened. If you don't like me trying to help others find their true place in life, then I won't do it anymore. Good day, Misako." With that Lora walked out of the room, no longer looking in Misako`s direction.

Misako sighed as she sat there waiting for Zeah. The poor girl came out of the room looking terrible. Tears were still falling from her eyes as Misako wrapped the poor girl in a hug. The queen just couldn't let her go. There was just too much misery in Zeah's heart to ever let go.

Zeah looked up at the queen, releasing herself from the embrace. "Duchess Lora isn't serious, is she? About seperating Zane and I?"

"No, she's not because she has no authority over your marriage," Misako said, "Only you and Zane do."

"She's probably right that my barren state is my fault. I will never be able to let Zane`s seed live on. He and I have had thoughts and discussions about children. We want to become parents. But how will that happen now? Your Majesty, please help me. What will I do? How am I going to tell Zane?"

Misako sighed. She may be a queen, but she's not a miracle worker. "You know what I do when I have to give the king bad news? We would start out with small talk, then the bad news comes up, but we always try to find a way to speak of the bright side. I will admit that there is a bright side to your situation."

"What's that?"

"Well you and Zane have the choice to adopt a child that would love to have a set of parents of their own. There are plenty of children out there that need a home and you and Zane have enough room in your hearts to allow that child to have it."

Zeah nodded. "You're right. I will talk to Zane about it when he returns."

The two women looked up to see Lady Carol walk inside. She curtsied in respect to the queen. "Queen Misako, I came to report to you about the recovery of the capital city."

"Of course, Carol," Misako said, "Go ahead."

"The recovery is going well. There have been dozens that were injured and one of the guards reported to me that few deaths have occurred. Other than that the kingdom is doing their best to repair damage and destroyed homes and buildings in order to return to daily business. Also the king wanted me to let you know that he and the duke are inside the dungeon's interrogation room speaking to the old henchman of Pythor`s from six years ago."

"Why would he be doing that? He won't get anything out of Dareth. Dareth wouldn't know what Pythor would be planning now."

"Perhaps, but he thought he could give it a try."

"How are your children, Carol?" Zeah asked.

"They're fine," Carol said, "The nanny is caring for them until I return. I also came to see if you have received a message from the knights, your Highness."

"Unfortunately not," Misako said, "You're not the only one that's growing worried. After all, my son is with them."

Carol sighed. "I hope they return safely. I trust that they will stop Pythor, but I fear that Pythor may have already won."

"Let's hope he hasn't."

The three women stood there, praying that the knights and the prince were safe. Praying to the Great Sensei helps. He's always watching.

NEXT SCENE:

Over inside the dungeon's interrogation room, the king and his brother were trying to get all the information they could out of Dareth, Pythor`s old evil partner. So far they had nothing. Dareth wouldn't say anything other than "I don't know what Pythor is planning" and "I'm not saying anything other than what I said six years ago," and that led them nowhere.

King Garmadon sighed. He didn't want to push it any further, but when he was in his stubborn phase, he couldn't help himself. "We're not going to close this interrogation until you give us some answers. You told us six years ago that you worked for Pythor for ten years. As long as you've been working for that slitherhead, you should've known what he was planning. You have to know something."

"You're telling the truth," Dareth said, "I worked for that snake for ten years, but I didn't know any of the stuff that he was planning. I just did all the dirty work for him."

"Dirty work? What do you mean by that?" This was something that Garmadon didn't know. He always thought that Dareth worked on everything with Pythor, but this was new information.

Dareth sighed. "I'll go ahead and be honest with you. Pythor wasn't there when your son was kidnapped. I went alone and kidnapped him myself and left the note. Pythor ordered me to kidnap the prince. He has a tendency to leaves scales behind so that's why I break all the rules for him. I did everything for that idiot."

"Why did he kidnap my son?"

"Excuse me? Who was the actual person that kidnapped your son? That's right. Me! So repeat the question!"

"Just answer it!" Garmadon yelled louder than his voice could go. He stood up, his face red with anger at Dareth`s lack of cooperation.

Dareth crossed his arms. "I don't like your tone. I refuse to answer anymore questions."

Garmadon had been pushed over the limit long enough. He balled his fist up, but slowly released the grip he placed on his own hands. He wasn't a violent person, but Dareth had pushed him over the limit. His refusal to do what Garmadon told him caused the king to almost go on edge. Taking a deep breath, Garmadon walked away from the table, looking at his brother. "We're done speaking with him. He's no help to us." They walked over to the door, where Garmadon walked over to one of the guards. "Please return the prisoner to his cell." The guard nodded and went to do so.

Garmadon and Wu walked down the hall. Wu was worried about his brother. "This is not like you, brother."

"What are you talking about?" Garmadon asked.

"You almost harmed that prisoner. What is it that you want him to tell us? He may be telling the truth and doesn't know what's going on." He coughed a bit, but it hasn't been as bad as it was before.

"I'm glad to hear that your cough is under control."

"Thank the physician. He prescribed me a special tea that has kept my coughing from becoming too severe. It has helped tremendously."

Garmadon felt like the walls were swirling around a bit. He looked at Wu. "Brother, do the walls look like they're moving to you?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Forgive me if I'm hallucinating, but the portraits on the walls look like their moving."

"What portraits? There are no portraits on the wall, brother. They are under construction right now."

Garmadon placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. He looked like he was about to fall. "Then why does everything seem to be...moving?" Then he passed out.

"Brother!" Wu rushed over to the king, who had passed out on the floor. He looked to see two guards walking down the hall. "Get a stretcher! Hurry! The king has passed out!" The guards wasted no time and rushed to find a stretcher.

Please hope that the king is okay. What is going on?

LOTS OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING NOW. ZEAH IS BARREN, BUT WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW IS THAT ZANE IS STERILE. GARMADON HAS PASSED OUT AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM.

WE WILL RETURN WITH THE KNIGHTS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. MAYBE OUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.

HOPED YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER.

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