Consequence

Good King Razz looked around. It seemed to him like there were more servants and help in the hall than there were royal retinue. 

He saw his queen gravitate first to her kin Lapa and her husband to be, Gress' father, and then with Lapa to her kin Pala and Zejja, whom Good King RaZ remembered fondly for the spell he spent with her in the harem and then their bed chambers with Queen Ryheza. She was the first they shared. 

He thought of the harem again. He did not even recognize Nita's brother, or the other lover who Zejja had come in with. He looked familiar but the King didn't even know his name. There were always so many hands and so much help around.

Good King Razz supposed he looked sort of like Prince Razzasbel and then he looked around to find the boy and called him over. 

-You will hold the crown, he told his son. With my mother, who will speak to you more than she ever did to me. I do not need this, he added as he looked to Gress' father and then to the group that was growing around Queen Ryheza and Zejja. Even Nita and Gress had joined them, and Prince Razzasbel dutifully followed his grandmother. 

Good King Razz felt like no one was paying attention to him and that suited him. He considered lunging at Gress' father and ending the threat once and for all, but preferred to retreat to his harem. No one would hurt a child King.

There he found Crisa, waiting for him. She had sent all the other girls away.

-Where are my lovers? King Razzasbel asked impatiently. 

-Why, at the feast and across the palace making everything work, Crisa said. You don't work, she said listlessly. Maybe you never did. 

King Razzasbel wanted to object but didn't have the energy.

-What happens to me now? he asked with resignation.

-Who did you give your crown to?

-My son.

That suited Crisa, even though she suspected the prince wasn't. A child was not worth hurting. He could be anyone's. 

-You can stay here, Crisa said.

-Will the girls return? he asked. 

-Probably not for you, she said. But we will find you work.