Created Pressure

The evening air of Eulire was chilled, but not bitingly so. It helped being dressed warmly that it provided a moment of calm for a very troublesome day. Most days held a common routine, one that Henri knew well and welcomed. A well measured and scheduled day made it pass almost in a blink. Nothing to disrupt the flow.

Today to his displeasure wasn’t one of those days. As a member of the royal family and First Prince, he understood that not every day could be predicted or managed the same. It was at times part of the charm of such responsibilities. But the break today exceeded anything that he prepared for. It left a lasting stress that he found foreign and annoying. Even if he pushed it down.

It might have been the morning that changed everything, but the afternoon had far more weight to the stress than even dealing with a naive young woman. Repeated meetings and plans had to be changed. Nothing was going to be the same for the future. They created a road to follow and it was filled with rocks and mud.

“Prince Henri,” called Welhem, his attendant. Dressed formally in a dark brown suit, he carried a stack of papers and two books. All items that he had to shelf for the day. “His Majesty’s messenger has arrived.”

Henri turned from the balcony still trying to let the air temper his headache. He maintained his guard for Welhem. “They’re coming then?”

“Yes. I was on the understanding that your meetings ended for the day, sir.”

“Tonight will be long, I’m afraid, Welhem. If you can make arrangements for my meal after. I won’t be attending as usual.”

Welhem set the work down on this desk before going to the door. But he paused before opening, to look back. “Please be sure to at least get a little rest, sir.”

“One day won’t kill me.”

“That's what I worry about. I’ve served you long enough to know that’s how it begins. And the twitching in your right eye tells me it’s the worst yet.”

He coughed while trying to do a self check. There shouldn’t have been anything that slipped through. He didn’t notice anything. “My eye isn’t twitching, Welhem.”

“Most don’t see it, but I can tell. Whatever storm is coming, sir, please watch your health. Or else I’ll have to be annoying.” Henri glanced at him in silence. For anyone else it might have been an empty stare, but Welhem could see the hidden intensity. “More than I normally am for you.”

“Yes, Welhem. You’re dismissed.” His attendant gave a courtesy bow and knowing smile before departing. The lack of nagging was certainly welcome, but the growing pain in his head reminded him that Welhem wasn’t wrong as much as he wished otherwise.

A few minutes of solitude let him slip into his chair at the desk. There wouldn’t be enough to do anything, but he began skimming through the documents. It wasn’t anything that was surprising for him. The first was about some reports coming from Kalendirn over the latest monster populations.

It had been three years since the last culling and without the Saint it was upon them to manage. War was less common thanks to their deterrent. But it did mean the army was left with experience against beasts rather than humans. He grew ever concerned if a nation became bold enough to risk the danger if they could survive. Especially with the nature of the Saint.

For the present, that didn’t seem to be as much of a worry now. It might be sometime before their new Saint was ready, but he knew from past records the power of the Saint was enough to alter battles. A fact that just created another point of stress for him.

He rubbed his forehead trying to push back the pain. It wasn’t leaving. And it started to feel like a dagger being jammed against his skull. Exhaling a sigh, he paused from the reading to lean back in the chair. She really was a new bag of troubles. And his father was bearing most of it, but he still felt the weight.

A knock came from across the room. Henri straightened up and pushed everything down. Mentally he blocked it all out and fixed control over everything. “Yes.”

The door opened with his father and mother entering unescorted. He already knew this was coming. Their whole day had been filled with arrangements surrounding the topic, but they hadn’t had a proper moment to be in private since it was decided. “Henri! How are you feeling?”

Standing up, he walked over to the couch and chair set out to the left side of the room. “You tripled my load.”

“Yes, we did not plan to have a Saint yesterday. But I know you can handle it, son.” King Renald sat down on the couch followed by his wife.

The Queen leaned forward towards him. “Please tell us if you need help.”

“You’ve been preparing me for this. If I can’t handle this much I don’t deserve to be King.”

“But you do not have to do it alone. It is not a solitary position.”

Henri stood up, turning away from them. Engagement offers had been made many times. Until now he had dismissed them as unnecessary, but he could start to see the wisdom from his mother. “You’re not trying to suggest her?”

“No, we have always kept those roles separated. It would give the Church far more power than they need. But you will need to make a decision soon.”

He was relieved to see that his father remained the man that he knew. It would be a bad idea. That assurance gave him enough to turn back around holding the back of the chair. “Setting that matter aside for now. Are you still certain this was the best move? You reigned this long without a Saint. Did you really need to start now?”

The air in the room became still as they brought forth the real topic of the late night meeting. It was a decision his father made. Like with mother, he was only told after it was made, but brought in because of his involvement. The mountain of trouble it brought had to be balanced against the gain. And he was never certain it was worth it.

Renald nodded distantly before snapping to focus. “I could have ignored the whole matter, true. She hardly presented a dire threat to the kingdom. The Church’s power is so strong right now, she would be sooner excommunicated than anyone believes her.”

The heart of the matter. Henri had been trying to see what angle that he had with this decision. And the options remained numerous still for him to pick. “You want to protect her?”

“That certainly is part of it. If Charis heard about her paper, it was going to get out to the wrong ears in time.” The whole event began with his younger brother returning from the Academy with a story of a student getting yelled at by a professor for disruptive opinions. Further explanation from Charis only made it more curious. “But it is more than that. Too many ravenous eyes are on the throne.”

“So that’s what this is. You’ve sentenced the woman to a cruel fate.”

“Crueler is the one where she died. You heard her speak. Scaring her was not going to be the end of this. Curiosity such as hers will only grow more intense.” Henri gripped the edges of the chair tighter. They shouldn’t have been getting a commoner involved in their mess. But he couldn’t deny his father’s wisdom. The path she set herself down was going to be paved in fires and curses. Worse possibly. She had to be aware of the magnitude of what she was doing. The Oracles remained unchanged for a reason. The Church would never allow even the suggestion of something being wrong.

The headache started to push through his defenses. He fought with it to stay back. Moving around, he took a seat once more. “There’s going to be a lot of players on the move the moment it’s announced.”

“Yes, I will shield them for as long as I can, but you will need to prepare her for it.”

“I will do my best. But we don’t know what sort of person she is. She seems rather naive to the world. We’ve rudely pulled her into a den of vipers.”

“Then we better fend them off until she is able to stand on her own.”

Henri nodded though more to his thoughts than his father. There were so many in the court and he could only make a guess right now how they would respond to a new Saint. With how much time had passed, the court had as many that lived without one as did that remembered the long years with.

The future made that dagger to his skull only dig in worse. It started to move into his eye. Perhaps Welhem was right about him. She didn’t deserve what they were subjecting her to. But Henri accepted his place in hell the moment his father named him the heir. There would be no other place that suited someone like him. “Her training will begin in the morning.”