Crown

King Razzasbel's crown was passed on to him from his father King Sudinnabo, who had gotten it from his father-in-law, King Dachubben, the father of Nita. 

Great King Dach, as his people called him, had acquired the crown when the first five villages of the realm unified under his rule. 

Great King Dach had melted down his father's crown and recast it with five jewels, one contributed from each of the five villages he had unified. 

Good King Razz did not like this crown. He thought his crown should have a hundred jewels because his realm now had a hundred villages. But not all of them were as wealthy as those first five, and as Crisa advised him, the physical crown represented his connection to the foundation of his dynasty as well as the realm itself. 

Queen Ryheza herself had insisted the King wear the crown to the feast. King Razzasbel always thought it felt heavy but he was glad the Queen told him to wear it now that Nita had appeared and spoken and told him he'd been weighed. The crown was indeed heavy, he thought. 

-This is my crown, King Razzasbel declared as he held on to it and surveyed the crowd before turning back to Nita and approaching her. This crown is the better portion of my weight, he continued as he lifted it to remove it from his head and present it to the people listening in the hall. 

-A crown does not make you a king, Gress' father growled. 

-No, Good King Razz agreed. I am a king with or without it.

Gress' father laughed. You are who you are, he said to Razzasbel. Do not mistake King for your given name. 

-Shut up said Nita, who had been standing at the door with the infant prince the entire as the palace help gathered around her.

The crowd hushed and turned to Nita 

-Here is a king, if you want him, she said as she raised the infant prince. Or a crown, she added as she held him over her head.

-Is he not the reason for the feast? Lapa asked from Gress' father's side. 

Queen Ryheza had recognized her kin and gotten closer to Lapa and away from the King, but had not yet asked her about her father. 

-No, Gress said as he emerged from behind Nita. It's not the child who makes the crown. 

-No, another voice said. It was Zejja, who had arrived with Pala, the other lover, and a retinue from the dungeon. It is the people who make a crown. 

Nita recognized her brother among them. 

For King Razzasbel it was too much. He wanted then only to be able to go visit the harem.