Why does Nigel hate Varian so much?
Varian, 7 years old.
Nigel watched as Quirin's boy came in the front door. He dashes to the side of the room and stands respectfully. The queen looks at him and asks, "may we help you?"
"yes, but it can wait, your Highness." he says bowing.
He fidgets until she asks again.
"my dad said I could watch until you weren't quite so busy so I could asks you some questions." the words tumbled out of him in a energetic mess.
Nigel rolls his eyes. The boy shouldn't even be allowed in here.
"very well, how many questions do you have?" the king asks.
"quite a few actually."
"and of what nature are the questions?" Nigel asks.
"um... rules and requirements of maintaining a kingdom, among other things." he says, waving his hands around. "I wrote a list on the way here." he pulls out a two foot roll of paper.
"do you mean to rule a kingdom?" Nigel asks.
"no, no, no, just trying to determine if you two are qualified for the job. Wait, that came out wrong. um..." he smiles sheepishly as he rethinks his words, "if you are justified in being royalty. No, wait, that's worse."
the king looked insulted but the queen smiles gently at him.
"it's alright, Varian. Perhaps by watching, some of you questions will be answered." she says.
"maybe. Thank you, your Highness." he bows again and stays quiet.
A peasant comes in asking them for advice. After the king gives it to him Varian speaks, "e...excuse me, may I speak?"
everyone looks at him and the King nods.
"actually, I know of a much simpler and more practical way of fixing your problem. You see..." he gives detailed instructions and the peasant listens carefully. He looks to the king for permission.
"go ahead with his idea, as he may know more about the subject." the King says.
The man bows and leaves. The king smirks at Nigel, "he may have your job someday."
Nigel scowls slightly and watches Varian closely.
The boy had fallen asleep before the proceedings were over. Nigel attempts to wake him with a soft kick. "wake up."
the boy rolls over, mumbling, "in a minute."
he rolls his eyes and retrieves the boy's father. Quirin kneels and shakes him gently until he's awake.
"wha...?"
"you fell asleep."
"really?"
"yes. Would you like to go home and save the questions for next time?"
Varian stands and wipes his eyes, "no, no, I'm ready. Here it is." he walks before the royals and bows. He opens the scroll, "which would be more effective, being a tyrant or being fair?"
"being fair, of course." the queen answers.
"how do you identify which one you are?"
"by how the people respond to you." the king says.
"yes, it stands to reason that a tyrant would invoke fear in his subjects. But what if your people fear you but are working under the impression that you're better than other kings so they don't openly despise you?"
"what do you mean by this?" the king asks.
"they understand that you're grieving the loss of the princess so they don't hold against you your reaction to crime, but, you methods seem extreme in some cases."
"do you think we are being unfair, Varian?" the queen asks.
"to a degree..." he says uncomfortably.
"what would you suggest?" she asks.
"consider the consequences of the decisions you make, as they may backfire on you."
"you have experience in such matters?" Nigel asks scornfully.
Varian smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his head, "quite a lot, actually."
"your Majesties," Nigel says, turning to the royals, "the peasant boy is quite young and inexperienced in the realities of running a kingdom. He has no right to question your authority. Perhaps he should return home before saying something that may deem him a traitor." he looks back at him, "besides, he is quite obviously tired."
"very well. Quirin, take you son home and discuss his questions with him. We have other duties to perform but we may answer more of them if we can on your next visit." the king says.
Quirin bows and scoops up his son. The boy watched Nigel, trying to figure out what to think of him.
What do ya think?